The holy martyrs Vitus, Modestus, and Crescentius suffered for Christ during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Saint Vitus, the son of a noble Sicilian nobleman Gilas, was filled with love for the Lord from a young age and healed the sick, converting pagans to Christ. Upon learning of this, the governor Valerian summoned Gilas and demanded that he turn his son away from the faith. Gilas, unable to convince Vitus, began to beat him. Saint Vitus steadfastly confessed his faith and refused to offer sacrifices to idols, for which he was subjected to cruel tortures.
To save Vitus, his tutor Saint Modestus and his nurse Saint Crescentius secretly took him away from home. They found a boat, and an angel brought them to the Italian region of Lucania, where Saint Vitus continued to heal and convert pagans. Later, Saint Vitus and Saint Modestus appeared before Diocletian, who, struck by the beauty of the youth, tried to persuade him to offer sacrifices to idols. Saint Vitus healed the possessed son of the emperor but refused to renounce Christ.
The saints were imprisoned, where Jesus Christ appeared to them, strengthening them. Diocletian, considering the miracle to be sorcery, ordered that Saint Vitus be thrown into a cauldron of boiling lead, but he remained unharmed. Then a lion was released upon him, which lay down peacefully at the feet of the saint. The saints were tortured, and Saint Crescentius, confessing herself a Christian, was subjected to the same torments. Saint Vitus prayed to God for salvation, and an earthquake began, resulting in the death of many pagans.
An angel took the martyrs off the pillars and transported them to Lucania. Saint Vitus, praying, entrusted their souls to God, and their sufferings ended around the year 303. The memory of these saints is also celebrated on May 16. The relics of Saint Vitus were transferred to Prague, where Saint Wenceslaus of Bohemia built a church in his honor.
