Vitus, St
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Vitus, St.: (poss. AD 3rd Century) According to an unreliable source, Vitus was the only son of a Roman senator in Sicily. Having been converted to Christianity at the age of 12, he was arrested and brought before Valerian, the governor of Sicily. He refused to recant his faith and was imprisoned. Escaping, he fled to Lucania on the mainland, in the company of his tutor Modestus and a servant named Crescentia. He eventually made his way to Rome where he was said to have driven an evil spirit out of the son of the Emperor Diocletian. When Vitus refused to make a formal sacrifice to the gods, however, his cure was attributed to sorcery. Once more under arrest, he and his companions were tortured but miraculously protected from harm. The story continues that a sudden storm arose which destroyed the temples in Rome and allowed Vitus and the other Christian prisoners to escape. They were said to have been guided back to safety in Lucania where they remained free and unharmed for the rest of their lives.
St. Vitus’s cult remained strong in Lucania for many centuries. In AD 836, his relics were taken to Saxony where they became central to a major Germanic cult following. His feast day is June 15.