St. Vitus
Feast 06-15
Patron of
About
Vitus was a Christian child martyr of Sicily, venerated since the early Church. According to tradition, he was the son of a pagan senator and was converted to Christianity by his tutor Modestus and his nurse Crescentia.
When he refused to renounce his faith, he was subjected to various tortures, from which he was miraculously delivered. He was martyred around the year 303 during the persecution of Diocletian.
His relics were later translated to the abbey of Corvey in Germany, and devotion to him spread widely across Europe. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is invoked against epilepsy and nervous disorders, and as the patron saint of dancers.
Suggested prayer
O God, who delivered the child Vitus from the cauldron and made him a healer of the trembling, grant through his intercession that dancers and all who suffer nervous disorders may find joy and healing in You. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
