St. Vitus

St. Vitus was a young martyr of the early fourth century, put to death, according to tradition, during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian, together with his tutor Modestus and his nurse Crescentia, who had raised him in the Christian faith. The traditional account tells that Vitus was the son of a pagan senator of Sicily and, converted as a boy, remained steadfast against his own father's efforts to draw him back to paganism, fleeing with his two companions rather than deny Christ.

Arrested and subjected to torments which, the legend relates, left him unharmed, the boy and his companions at last won the crown of martyrdom. Devotion to St. Vitus spread widely through Europe in the Middle Ages, and he came to be counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers and invoked against sudden illness and convulsive disorders — the malady popularly called "St. Vitus' Dance" — as well as the patron of dancers and entertainers. Though many details of his passion are legendary, his ancient cult is well established, and he is commemorated on 15 June.