medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
John Dillon wrote:
>
> Today (15. June) is the feast day of:
Octave of St William
In the York Calendar, a Principal octave with nine lections.
> 1) Vitus (d. ca. 304, supposedly). We know nothing about V., one of
> the Fourteen Holy Helpers, other than a brief listing in the
> (pseudo-) Hieronymian Martyrology, _In Lucania, Viti_ ("In Lucania,
> Vitus"). His cult is ancient: there is evidence of a church in Rome
> dedicated to him in the fifth century, and from the correspondence of
> Gregory the Great we learn that in the sixth century there were
> monasteries dedicated to him in Sicily and in Sardinia.
>
> V. has a legend (BHL 8711-16) that antedates the Carolingian
> martyrologies and whose earliest version is thought to be of the
> seventh century. According to this, he was a boy of seven years (in
> some versions, twelve years) at Lilybaeum in Sicily (today's Mazara
> del Vallo [TP]), a professed Christian, and a miracle-worker. His
> pagan father had him tortured and thrown in prison in an attempt to
> get him to renounce his faith. But an angel freed him together with
> his nurse Crescentia and his tutor Modestus (in some versions,
> Crescentia's husband), whereupon V., together with these surrogate
> parent figures, removed to Lucania and continued to profess
> Christianity and perform miracles.
>
> Still according to the legend, V.'s fame reached the ears of the
> emperor Diocletian, who called him to Rome to cure his demoniacally
> possessed son. V. obtained this cure but refused to sacrifice to
> Rome's pagan gods. Diocletian then had V. tortured anew and
> imprisoned along with the always faithful Crescentia and Modestus.
> But again they were liberated by an angel, who brought them back to
> Lucania near the river Sele (in an area now in Campania, thus making
> them saints of the Regno). From here they were called not long
> afterward to their eternal reward.
Memorial and middle lessons of Vitus, Crescentia and Modestus.
John Briggs
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