User:Kolforn/sandbox/2

Saint Vincent of Albufeira

Vicente Simões de Carvalho (1598 – 3 September 1632) was a Portuguese Priest in the Order of Saint Augustine and missionary who travelled to Japan and Mexico. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified on the 7 July 1867 by Pope Pius IX. His feast day is celebrated on the 3 September.

Life
Vicente Simões de Carvalho was born in 1590 in the town of Albufeira, Algarve, Portugal. His father was a Doctor. he was baptized and educated at the nearby Chapel of Our Lady of Orada, within Albufeira. Academically Vicente excelled and he was sent north to Lisbon to continue and expand his studies. In Lisbon he learned to speak several classical languages as well as expanding his rudimental knowledge of medicine, learnt from his father, becoming a medical student. He also found a talent for music, becoming a talented musician and singer. He also became an accomplished swordsman. With his moral and pious early upbringing he also embarked on an ecclesiastical career. In 1617 He was ordained to the priesthood at the age of 27.

Missionary work
Four years after his ordination Vicente decided to travel to Mexico and in that country he was accepted into the Order of Saint Augustine. He stayed in Mexico for several years before moving on to the Philippines in 1622. In 1623 he travelled to Japan to continue his missionary work.