Known as Saint Vitus of Lucania, he was killed at the age of seven for curing the epilepsy of the governor’s son. After curing him, he killed him to make him renounce his faith, which he refused to do. We will learn how he professed his faith at such a young age.
Saint Vitus
Son of a Sicilian sinner. He was born in 290. His teachers were St Crescence and St Modestus. They managed to get him baptised without anyone knowing. Then he tried to get the heir of the governor Valerian to convert to Christianity. What he got was prison.
He was martyred in 303. His body was kept in a cathedral and only taken out in the last days of August for a procession. He was prayed to for a very long time to protect against neurological convulsions.
There is a cathedral dedicated to him. He was a very famous saint in his time. He is used as a holy helper. In cases of illness. His name is invoked to conjure. There is much talk about the dance of St Vitus, as well as when an animal bites someone and has poison (see article: Cathedral of St Vitus).
What is known about him is sometimes contradictory, as it is not possible to distinguish whether what is known about him is only legend or not. It is said that his teachers were people who never existed. When he was only 7 years old, he was very devoted to Christianity.
Though the governor tried to make him renounce his faith by threatening him, he could not take the faith out of his heart. He had great examples of perseverance and faith like his teachers. When he was imprisoned with his teachers, St Crescence and St Modestus were taken out of prison by an angel and from there they fled to the city of Lucania. They fled on a raft guided by the angel who saved them.
The miracles of St Vitus
The miracle of St Vitus brought him to Rome. By Diocletian, who had a son with a very rare disease at that time, epilepsy. When he arrived there, he performed his miracle and managed to save him. But then he went back to prison because the people wanted to worship him and worship the gods, but he refused.
From then on they associated his miracles with supernatural powers and this was the reason for his imprisonment, but the same angel managed to free him and he returned to Lucania where he was martyred. (See article: Christian Healing Prayer).
His fame spread all over Germany. He became one of the 14 holy helpers. He is also believed to be the protector of professional dancers and famous actors. His name is invoked when the weather is bad. When someone keeps dreaming. If you are bitten by a poisonous animal, or not only for that, but for very strong bites.
They put him in a bonfire to kill him. But on the contrary, he came out unscathed and danced in it. Contagious to all who watched, including the emperor. It is said that the tortures he suffered caused him to have seizures, which is why he is associated with the patron saint of epileptics (see article: Prayer for the Sick).
They were all determined to end his life and, together with their teachers, began to try to skin him alive. But immediately there was a great darkness and rumbling. The altars and temples where the Gentiles worshipped fell to the ground, and the Gentiles fell dead. And they were rescued from this death.
Then the same angel took them out of Rome and brought them back to Lucania, where they died with their masters, exhausted from all their suffering. For they had been martyred, but they had escaped unharmed. It is said that they had supernatural powers and never paid homage to the gods.
Whose patron saint is he?
- Epileptics
- Dogs
- Dancers
Prayer to St Vitus
“Love not the world and its vanities. Give your life to the things you long for,
Dedicate your life to it, cease to think of vanities, turn away from your own body.
Dedicate yourself to prayer, the only tangible means of approaching God.
Let go of evil and draw near to all that is true.
I abandon evil. I unite myself to you in prayer by receiving you.
Though some wish to exalt themselves in glory and others in the vanity of riches.
I only wish to surrender myself to you, God, by putting you first.
I surrender my sinful soul to you so that my path may be conformed to my love for you.
Amen.
I invite you to watch a video of St Vitus Lucania
