Richard
de Montbaston et collaborateurs. Martyre de saint Vital, BnF Français 185, fol. 230r;
see https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84260029/f465.image
Martirio
di San Vitale, miniatura della Legenda
Aurea.
St Vital, martyr
Cette fête, réduite à une
commémoraison en 1869 par l’ajout au Calendrier de Saint Paul de la Croix, fut
supprimée en 1960, comme doublet de la fête des saints
Vital et Agricola au 4 novembre.
Deux traditions à propos
de St Vital : il aurait été le père des saints
Gervais et Protais (tradition suivie par la légende du bréviaire de St
Vital, voir plus bas et celles de ces deux fils) ou l’esclave de saint
Agricola (fêté au 4 novembre).
La réforme du calendrier
de Jean XXIII a suivi la deuxième tradition et donc supprimé la fête de St
Vital du 28 avril. Or une question se pose : St Agricola n’est aucunement
fêté à Rome avant les XIIe et XIIIe siècles, alors que St Vital l’est déjà en
595 (titre donné à la basilique de Vestina), et dans le sacramentaire Grégorien
au VIIe siècle.
Cette disparité de dates
nous amène à penser que, malgré les historiens, le saint Vital du 28 avril est
bien le père des deux martyrs milanais plutôt que le compagnon d’Agricola.
ante CR 1960
Eodem die 28 aprilis
SANCTI VITALIS
Martyris
Commemoratio
Missa Protexísti,
de Communi Martyrum T.P. I loco, cum orationibus ut infra :
Oratio.
Præsta, quǽsumus,
omnípotens Deus : ut, qui beáti Vitális Mártyris tui natalícia cólimus,
intercessióne eius, in tui nóminis amóre roborémur. Per Dóminum.
Secreta
Munéribus nostris,
quǽsumus, Dómine, precibúsque suscéptis : et cæléstibus nos munda
mystériis, et cleménter exáudi. Per Dóminum nostrum.
Postcommunio
Da, quǽsumus, Dómine,
Deus noster : ut, sicut tuórum commemoratióne Sanctórum temporáli
gratulámur offício ; ita perpétuo lætámur aspéctu. Per Dóminum nostrum
Pro votiva extra Tempus
Paschale Missa In
virtúte,de Communi unius Martyris 3 loco, cum Orationibus, ut supra.
avant 1960
SAINT VITAL
Martyr
Commémoraison
Messe Protexísti,
du Commun des Martyrs au T.P. I, avec les oraisons ci-dessous :
Collecte
Accordez, Dieu
tout-puissant, à nous qui célébrons la naissance au ciel du bienheureux Vital,
votre Martyr, la grâce d’être, par son intercession, fortifiés dans l’amour de
votre nom.
Secrète
Ayant accueilli nos dons
et nos prières, nous vous en supplions, Seigneur, purifiez-nous par ces
célestes mystères, et exaucez-nous dans votre clémence.
Postcommunion
Faites, s’il vous plaît,
Seigneur notre Dieu, que comme nous nous réjouissons d’honorer dans le temps,
en cet office, la mémoire de vos Saints, nous puissions aussi nous réjouir de
les voir dans l’éternité.
Aux Messes votives en
dehors du Temps pascal, Messe In
virtúte, du commun d’un Martyr 3, avec les oraisons ci-dessus.
Leçon des Matines avant
1960
Neuvième leçon. Vital,
père des saints Gervais et Protais, était militaire ; entrant un jour dans
Ravenne avec le juge Paulin, il vit chanceler dans les tourments un médecin
nommé Urcisin, qu’on avait conduit au supplice pour avoir confessé la foi
chrétienne. Vital s’écria : « Ursicin, toi qui, en qualité de
médecin, as coutume de guérir les autres, prends garde de ne pas te donner à
toi-même le coup de la mort éternelle ». Fortifié par ces paroles, Urcisin
subit courageusement le martyre. Mais Paulin, irrité contre Vital, ordonna de
le saisir, de le tourmenter sur le chevalet, puis de le jeter dans une fosse
profonde et de l’accabler sous des pierres. Cet ordre ayant été exécuté, un
prêtre d’Apollon, qui avait excité Paulin contre Vital, fut aussitôt tourmenté
par le démon et se mit à crier : « Vital, Martyr du Christ, tu me
brûles extrêmement » ; et violemment agité par le feu qui le
torturait, il se précipita dans le fleuve.
Vitalis
of Milan among the saints, in Heaven, Mosaic from the 6th century Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, ,
in Ravenna.
Perticolare
del mosaico della Teoria dei martiri della Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo nel
quale si possono notare (dal secondo di sinistra) i santi Vitale, Gervasio e Protasio e Ursicino
Dom
Guéranger, l’Année Liturgique
Entre les plus célèbres
martyrs de l’Occident, saint
Gervais et saint Protais occupent l’une des premières places. La
vénération que l’Église Romaine professe pour eux l’a portée à honorer la
mémoire de leur père, qui remporta aussi la palme sous la persécution de Néron,
dans le cours du temps consacré à honorer la résurrection du Sauveur. Le récit
liturgique sur saint Vital est court ; mais les traits qu’il contient
donnent à connaître quels étaient ces chrétiens primitifs, que le glaive païen
moissonna dans cette première persécution qui immola, entre autres victimes de
choix, les deux Apôtres saint Pierre et saint Paul.
Le péché est l’ennemi de
l’âme ; il la replonge dans la mort d’où Jésus l’a tirée par sa
résurrection. C’est pour faire éviter ce malheur à l’un de vos frères, ô saint
martyr, que votre voix retentit tout à coup, et vint lui rendre, au milieu des
tourments, l’attention sur soi-même et la force d’âme. Veillez aussi sur nous
avec cette fraternelle charité, ô Vital ! Nous sommes vivants de la vie de
Jésus ressuscité ; mais l’ennemi voudrait nous ôter cette vie. Il s’efforcera
d’abord de nous affaiblir, il nous tendra des pièges de toute sorte, enfin il
nous suscitera des combats. Priez, ô saint martyr, afin que nous soyons sur nos
gardes et que le mystère de la Pâque accompli en nous y demeure à jamais en son
entier.
Bhx
Cardinal Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Station au Titre de Vestina.
Aujourd’hui le
martyrologe de Berne indique : Romae Vitalis Martyris. Il ne s’agit
pas d’ailleurs d’un martyr de Rome, car l’histoire des catacombes est
absolument muette sur son compte, mais seulement de la dédicace du Titre romain
de Vestina, dans la IVe Région ecclésiastique, en l’honneur d’un des plus
célèbres saints de Bologne.
La renommée du martyr
Vital, compagnon d’Agricola, en l’honneur duquel Justinien fit ériger à Ravenne
une des plus splendides basiliques d’Italie, se répandit en effet très
rapidement hors de l’Exarchat, en sorte que la Ville éternelle elle-même voulut
avoir un temple sous son vocable. Ce temple s’élève dans la vallée située entre
le Quirinal et l’Esquilin, dans le vico longo, qui, du Quirinal, conduisait aux
Thermes de Dioclétien.
Le Liber Pontificalis
fait de Vestina, la fondatrice du titre, une contemporaine du pape Innocent
Ier. En effet, une inscription lue par Bosio dans le cimetière de Saint-Agnès
mentionne un certain acolyte Abundantius, Regionis Quartae, tituli Vestinae. Au
nom de Vital furent associés jadis ceux des martyrs milanais Gervais et Protais
rendus si populaires par saint Ambroise. Cependant dans la prescription de la
litania septiformis au temps de saint Grégoire le Grand, il est ordonné
simplement aux veuves de se ranger en procession in basilica beati Christi
martyris Vitalis. Au moyen âge un monastère était uni au Titre.
Les corps des martyrs
Vital et Agricola furent retrouvés à Bologne dans un cimetière juif en 393. A
leur translation prit part saint Ambroise, qui déposa ensuite quelques-unes de
leurs reliques sous l’autel de la basilique de Florence, dédiée par lui. En
tout cas, la tombe des saints Vital et Agricola était à Bologne, comme nous
l’apprend saint Paulin de Noie : Vitalem Agricolam Proculumque
Bononia condit [1].
La messe est celle
du Commun
des Martyrs durant le temps pascal, sauf les collectes.
Autrefois, la fête de
saint Vital était beaucoup plus solennelle. L’Antiphonaire Grégorien assigne
pour ce jour ce verset alléluiatique : Alléluia. Beatus vir qui timei
Dominum etc. Alléluia, Iustus non conturbabitur, quia Dominus firmat manum
eius.
L’antienne pour
l’offertoire était la suivante : Repleti sumus mane misericordia tua,
et exultamus et delectati sumus, Alleluia.. V/. Domine, refugium factus es
nobis a generatione et progenie. V/. Priusquam montes fierent aut formaretur
orbis terrae, a saeculo et in saeculum tu es Deus. Alleluia.
La secrète était ainsi
conçue : Accepta sit in conspectu tuo, Domine, nostra devotio, et
eius nobis fiat suppli-catione salutaris, pro cuius solemnitate defertur.
« Que notre dévotion vous soit agréable, Seigneur, et que l’intercession
de celui dont nous célébrons la fête nous la rende profitable. »
L’antienne pour la
Communion est tirée du texte évangélique : Ego sum vitis vera et vos
palmites ; qui manet in me et ego in eo, hic fert fructum multum. Allel.
Allel..
\La collecte après la
Communion était propre elle aussi : Exultet, Domine, populus tuus in
Sancti tui commemoratione Vitalis, et cuius votivo laetatur officia, suffragio
relevetur optato. « Que votre peuple, ô Dieu, se réjouisse en la fête de
saint Vital, et que celui dont la solennité est célébrée avec tant d’allégresse
l’assiste de sa protection précieuse. »
Lors de la dédicace d’un
temple, selon l’ancien rit romain, la messe était celle du Saint auquel ce
temple était dédié. C’est ainsi qu’à Rome de nombreux anniversaires de
dédicaces de basiliques sont devenus par la suite la fête de leurs respectifs
martyrs titulaires.
[1] Carm., XXVII, 432.
Mosaico
nella Basilica di San Vitale a Ravenna: Vitale,
il primo da sinistra, riceve la corona del martirio dalle mani di Cristo
Mosaic of Saint Vitalis in the Apse of the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy
Mosaico
nella Basilica di San Vitale a Ravenna: Vitale,
il primo da sinistra, riceve la corona del martirio dalle mani di Cristo
Mosaic
of Saint Vitalis in the Apse of the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna,
Italy
Dom
Pius Parsch, le Guide dans l’année liturgique
Saint Vital était le
compagnon de saint Agricola. Il vint à Ravenne au moment où le médecin
Ursicinus, qui avait été condamné à mort à cause de la foi chrétienne, était
conduit au supplice. Remarquant qu’Ursicinus, à cause des tortures effroyables,
allait être ébranlé dans sa fermeté, il lui cria : “Ursicinus, tu en as
guéri d’autres, prends bien garde de ne pas blesser mortellement ton
âme ». Encouragé par cette adjuration, Ursicinus reçut avec joie la
couronne du martyre. Vital fut à son tour arrêté et torturé, puis jeté dans une
fosse profonde où il mourut (vers 70). Les corps des saints martyrs Vital et
Agricola furent découverts à Bologne en 393. Saint Ambroise assistait à la
translation ; il réserva quelques reliques pour Florence. A Ravenne, l’empereur
Justinien éleva la magnifique Église qui subsiste toujours et qui est riche en
mosaïques intéressantes du point de vue liturgique. Rome possède aussi une
église de station dédiée aux Saints martyrs (vendredi après le deuxième
dimanche de Carême).
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/28-04-St-Vital-martyr#nh1
Mosaic
of Saint Vitalis of Milan at the Cappella Palatina in Palermo
SAINT VITAL *
Vital signifie vivant
tel, car, tel il a vécu extérieurement en œuvres, tel il a vécu intérieurement
dans son cœur. Ou Vital vient de vie, ou vital vivant par les ailes. En effet
il fut comme un des animaux divins que vit Ezéchiel, ayant sur le corps quatre
ailes, savoir l’aile de l’espérance, avec laquelle il volait au ciel, l’aile de
l’amour avec laquelle il volait vers Dieu, l’aile de la crainte avec laquelle
il volait en enfer, l’aile de la connaissance par laquelle il volait en
soi-même. On pense que sa passion fut trouvée dans le livre des saints Gervais
et Protais.
Vital, soldat consulaire,
engendra de Valérie, sa femme, Gervais et Protais. Etant venu à Ravenne avec le
juge Paulin, il vit un médecin chrétien nommé Ursicin, condamné à être décapité
après avoir subi de nombreux tourments, mais saisi d'une trop grande frayeur.
Alors Vital lui cria: «,Prenez garde, mon frère Ursicin, vous qui exercez la
médecine et qui avez souvent guéri les autres, de vous tuer vous-même d'une
mort éternelle. Puisque vous êtes arrivé à la palme (Il y avait dans ce lieu un
vieux palmier.( Il y avait dans ce lieu un vieux palmier), ne perdez pas la
couronne que Dieu vous a préparée. » A ces mots Ursicin reprit courage; et se
repentant de sa frayeur, il reçut de plein gré le martyre. Saint Vital alors le
fit ensevelir honorablement, après quoi il se refusa à accompagner son maître
Paulin. Celui-ci fut excessivement indigné, d'abord de ce que Vital ne voulait
pas venir avec lui, ensuite, de ce qu'il empêcha Ursicin de sacrifier alors
qu'il le voulait faire, enfin de ce qu'il se montra ouvertement chrétien, et il
ordonna qu'on le suspendît au chevalet. Vital lui dit : « Tu es bien insensé
si. tu penses me tromper, moi qui me suis appliqué à délivrer les autres. »
Alors Paulin dit à ses bourreaux : « Conduisez-le au palmier, et s'il refuse de
sacrifier, creusez-y une fosse si profonde que vous arriviez jusqu'à l’eau et
vous l’y enterrerez vif et couché sur le dos. » Les bourreaux le firent et
enterrèrent en cet endroit saint Vital tout vif; ce fut sous Néron, qui
commença d régner vers l’an du Seigneur 52. Un prêtre des idoles, qui avait
suggéré ce conseil, fut aussitôt saisi par le démon et pendant sept jours qu'il
fut hors de sens, il s'écriait sur le lieu où était enseveli saint Vital : « Tu
me brûles, saint Vital. » Et le septième jour, il fut précipité par le démon
dans un fleuve où il périt misérablement. La femme de saint Vital, retournant à
Milan, rencontra des gens gui sacrifiaient aux idoles. Ils l’exhortèrent à
manger de ce qui avait été immolé : « Je suis chrétienne, répondit-elle,
il ne m’est pas permis de manger de vos sacrifices. » L'entendant parler
de la sorte ils la frappèrent si cruellement, que les personnes de sa maison,
qui l’accompagnaient, la conduisirent demi-morte à Milan, où elle trépassa
heureusement dans le Seigneur, trois jours après.
*Tiré du Martyrologe
d'Adon.
La Légende dorée de
Jacques de Voragine nouvellement traduite en français avec introduction,
notices, notes et recherches sur les sources par l'abbé J.-B. M. Roze, chanoine
honoraire de la Cathédrale d'Amiens, Édouard Rouveyre, éditeur, 76, rue de
Seine, 76, Paris mdcccci
SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/voragine/tome01/063.htm
4.
St. VitalisThe 140 Saints of the Colonnade St Vitalis – Martyr. Died - c.171 in
Ravenna. Feastday - 28 April. Sculptor - Lazzaro Morelli. The statue is
attributed to Morelli based on similarities with statues that are known to be
from him. The drapery has a similar effect to his statue of Beneficence on
the Tomb
of Clement X. Statue completed - 1665-67. The statue was part of the group
of 24 that were erected at the entrance of the north colonnade between
September 1662 and March 1667. Height - 3.1 m. (10ft 4in) travertine. The saint
holds the palm of martyrdom in his left hand.. St Vitalis was an early
Christian martyr and saint. He was married to St Valeria, and they were
supposedly the parents of Sts Gervase (69) and Protase (68). At Ravenna, by tradition
a basilica was dedicated to him.
Profile
Married to Saint Valeria
of Milan. Father of Saint Gervase and Saint Protase. Soldier. Convert.
When Saint Ursicinus
of Ravenna wavered in his faith on his way to martyrdom,
Vitalis encouraged him to stand firm. This exposed his faith and
led to immediate arrest, torture,
and martyrdom.
Some modern writers contend
that he may have been a character in a work of fiction mistaken for history.
buried
alive in the 1st or 2nd
century in Milan, Italy
with Saint Valeria, Saint Gervase and Saint Protase
early martyr being
beaten with clubs
Additional
Information
A
Garner of Saints, by Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Martyrs
of the First Ages, by Saint Alphonsus
de Liguori
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
MLA
Citation
“Saint Vitalis of
Milan“. CatholicSaints.Info. 27 January 2024. Web. 2 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-vitalis-of-milan/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-vitalis-of-milan/
Pala
d'altare di Vittore Carpaccio raffigurante San Vitale a cavallo fra otto santi,
conservata nella chiesa di San Vidal a Venezia. Il santo è raffigurato a
cavallo in età adulta con l'insolito attributo della scure
Book of Saints –
Vitalis – 28 April
Article
Vitalis (Saint) Martyr (April
28) (1st
century) One of the first citizens of Milan to
embrace Christianity,
and father of
the Martyrs Saints Gervase
and Protase. Taken to Ravenna,
he encouraged in his sufferings the Martyr Saint Ursicinus,
and afterwards himself bravely bore torture and
death, probably under Nero, about the same time as Saints Peter and Paul in Rome.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Vitalis”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
16 October 2016. Web. 2 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-vitalis-28-april/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-vitalis-28-april/
Chiesa
dei Santi Vitale e Valeria (Lecco) - nicchia a sinistra in facciata, con la
statua di San Vitale
St. Vitalis
Feastday: April 28
Patron: of
Ravenna and Granarolo dell'Emilia, Italy; Thibodaux, Louisiana
According to an account
that is doubtlessly spurious, Vitalis was a wealthy citizen of Milan, and
perhaps a soldier. He was married Valeria, and they were the parents of
SS. Gervase and Protase (which they were not). When he encouraged St. Ursicinus to
be steadfast at his execution, the Vitalis was racked and then buried alive.
Valeria died as the result of injuries she suffered when attacked by the
pagans. They were martyred near Milan probably
under Emperor Marcus Aurelius,
but all else is suspect. Feast
day - April 28th.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=598
Vitalis of Milan M
1st century? There are
two 2nd century saints called Vitalis, but the one who is commemorated today
was reputedly a rich man who lived in Milan, Italy. He was happily married to
Saint Valeria with at least two fine children, SS. Gervase and Protase, whose remains
were discovered and enshrined by Saint Ambrose in the 4th century. The only
crime of Vitalis was that he became a Christian. Another martyr was to be
executed in Ravenna and Vitalis stood by him, urging him not to lose his faith
in the face of this final trial. The authorities were enraged. They stretched
Vitalis on a rack and then buried him alive.
His wife, too, was
attacked by vicious pagans and died of her wounds just outside Milan when
Marcus Aurelius was emperor. Because their acta are spurious, their cults have
supposedly been discontinued; however, I still find their names on the revised
calendar and in the canon of the Ambrosian Mass. A conundrum (Attwater2,
Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia, Farmer).
In art, Saint Vitalis is
portrayed with stones in his lap, seated between his two sons, Gervasius and
Protasius, who each hold a stone. He may also be shown (1) buried alive in a
pit; (2) stoned; (3) with a whirlbat; or (4) as a young layman with two sons
(Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0428.shtml
Romallo
(Novella, Trentino), chiesa di San Vitale - Dipinto di Madonna con Bambino, coi
santi Vitale e Marco
Romallo
(Novella, Trentino, Italy), Saint Vitalis church - Painting of Madonna and
Child and saints Vitalis and Mark
St. Vitalis
Martyr.
His legend,
which is of little historical value,
relates that he was martyred by
order of a judge named Paulinus for having encouraged St. Ursicinus, who was
wavering at the prospect of death, and for having given burial to
his remains. St. Vitalis was racked and then buried alive. He was the husband
of St. Valeria who was martyred at Milan,
and father of the more famous Sts.
Gervasius and Protasius. The feast of
St. Vitalis occurs on 28 April, but the date of his martyrdom is
uncertain. The legend makes
him a victim of the Neronian persecutions,
but Baronius gives
year 171 during the persecution of Marcus
Aurelius. The question is discussed by Papebroch in the Bollandist "Acta"
and by Tillemont in
his "Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique". Papebroch
cites churches dedicated in honour of
St. Vitalis at Rome, Faenza, Rimini, Como, Ferrara, Venice, Verona,
and at Jadera in Dalmatia,
but the most famous church bearing his name is
the octagonal San Vitale at Ravenna,
the place of his martyrdom,
built in the years 541-46 and dedicated as
an inscription attests
in 547. This church, which was originally constructed by Julius Argentarius and
restored by Ricci in 1898-1900, is one of the most magnificent works of Byzantine
architecture and mosaic.
Sources
Acta SS. April, III,
562; Dict. Christ. Biog., IV, 463; SURIUS, Vitae SS., IV, 334;
GUERIN, Petits Bollandistes, V, 62; SERRATRICE, Brevi Cenni sulla vita e
sul culto di S. Vitale Martire (Mondovi, 1899).
Webster, Douglas Raymund.
"St. Vitalis." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1912. 27 Apr. 2015
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15486a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett. Dedicated to
St. Vitalis.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15486a.htm
Tela
seicentesca raffigurante i Santi Vitale (sinistra) e Andrea (destra) adoranti
la B.V. con il Bambino e san Giovannino
April 28
St. Vitalis, Martyr
From Fortunatus, l. 1,
carm. 2, p. 33. His acts and the suppositious letter under the name of St.
Ambrose, were written only in the ninth age.
ST. VITALIS is honoured
as the principal patron of the city of Ravenna, in which he glorified God by
martyrdom in the persecution of Nero. He was a citizen of Milan, and is said in
his acts to have been the father of SS. Gervasius and Protasius. The divine
providence conducted him to Ravenna, where he saw a Christian named Ursicinus,
who was condemned to lose his head for his faith, standing aghast at the sight
of death, and seeming ready to yield. Happy is he who, by a perfect diffidence
in himself and a sincere humility, obtains strength and comfort from above in
the fiery trials of his last conflicts; when the devil rages with the greatest
fury, knowing that he has only a little time to compass the ruin of a soul for
ever. Vitalis was extremely moved at this spectacle. The honour of God, which
was in danger of being insulted by sin, and the soul of a brother in Christ
which appeared to be upon the very brink of apostacy, were alarming objects to
awaken his zeal. He who dreaded the presumption of rashly seeking the combat,
knew his double obligation of preferring the glory of God, and the eternal
salvation of his neighbour to his own corporal life: he therefore boldly and
successfully encouraged Ursicinus to triumph over death, and after his
martyrdom, carried off his body, and respectfully interred it. The judge, whose
name was Paulinus, being informed of what he had done, caused him to be
apprehended, stretched on the rack, and, after other torments, to be buried
alive in a place called the Palm-tree, in Ravenna, as Fortunatus and his acts relate.
These acts add that his wife, Valeria, returning from Ravenna to Milan was
beaten to death by certain peasants, because she refused to join them in an
idolatrous festival and riot. The relics of St. Vitalis are deposited in the
great church which bears his name in Ravenna, and was magnificently built by
the emperor Justinian, in 547. It belongs to a noble Benedictin abbey, where in
a ruinous private chapel are shown the tombs of the emperor Honorius, and of
the princes and princesses of his family.
We are not all called to
the sacrifice of martyrdom; but all are bound to make their whole lives a
continued sacrifice of themselves to God, and to perform every action in this
perfect spirit of sacrifice. An ardent desire of devoting ourselves totally to God
in life and in death, and a cheerful readiness to do and to suffer whatever he
requires of us, in order constantly to accomplish his divine will, is a
disposition which ought to accompany and to animate all our actions. The
perfection of our sacrifice depends on the purity, fervour, and constancy of
this desire. We must in particular make our bodies and our souls with all their
faculties continual victims to God: our bodies by patient suffering, voluntary
mortification, chastity, temperance, and penitential labour: our souls by a
continual spirit of compunction, adoration, love, and praise. Thus we shall
both live and die to God, perfectly resigned to his holy will in all his
appointments.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume IV: April. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/4/281.html
Cecco
Bravo (1601–1661), San Vitale in gloria tra i santi Gervasio e
Protasio, basilica della Santissima
Annunziata, Firenze
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Vitalis, Martyr
Article
Saint Vitalis was a
citizen of Milan, and is said to have been the father of Saints Gervasius and
Protasius. The divine providence conducted him to Ravenna, where he saw a
Christian named Ursicinus, who was condemned to lose his head for his faith,
standing aghast at the sight of death, and seeming ready to yield. Vitalis was
extremely moved at this spectacle. He knew his double obligation of preferring
the glory of God and the eternal salvation of his neighbor to his own corporal
life: he therefore boldly and successfully encouraged Ursicinus to triumph over
death, and after his martyrdom, carried off his body, and respectfully interred
it. The judge, whose name was Paulinus, being informed of this, caused Vitalis
to be apprehended, stretched on the rack, and, after other torments, to be
buried alive in a place called the Palm-tree, in Ravenna. His wife, Valeria,
returning from Ravenna to Milan, was beaten to death by peasants, because she
refused to join them in an idolatrous festival and riot.
Reflection – We are not
all called to the sacrifice of martyrdom; but we are all’ bound to make our
lives a conApril tinued sacrifice of ourselves to God, and to perform every
action in this perfect spirit of sacrifice. Thus we shall both live and die to
God, perfectly resigned to His holy will in all His appointments.
MLA
Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea.
“Saint Vitalis, Martyr”. Pictorial Lives of the Saints, 1889. CatholicSaints.Info.
8 March 2014. Web. 2 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-vitalis-martyr/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-vitalis-martyr/
Jan Luyken (1649-1712). Vitalus (Vitalis)
being buried alive. From the Martyrs Mirror, etching
San Vitale viene sepolto vivo, da una incisione
del Martyrs Mirror
A Garner of Saints
– Saint Vitalis
Article
The father of Gervase and
Prothase by his wife Valeria, and a soldier in the army of Nero. Seeing a
Christian physician named Ursicinus being led to martyrdom, he comforted him,
so that he went joyfully to his death. Vitalis gave him honourable burial, and
being denounced as a Christian by his master. Paulinus he was brought before
the governor. When he refused to sacrifice, they buried him alive, but the
priest who had given this advice was straightway possessed by a demon and went
about raving, until on the seventh day he threw himself into a river and
perished miserably. Valeria fled to Milan, but when they found that she was a
Christian they beat her so that she died in three days. 28th
April.
Attributes
Wears armour and carries
a club furnished with spikes; sometimes represented as buried up to the waist
and being stoned.
MLA
Citation
Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.
“Saint Vitalis”. A Garner of Saints, 1900. CatholicSaints.Info.
27 April 2017. Web. 2 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/a-garner-of-saints-saint-vitalis/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/a-garner-of-saints-saint-vitalis/
Affresco
del Tarroni, pittore seicentesco d'ambito bolognese, raffigurante San Vitale
portato in gloria dagli angeli, con tanto di palme e corone d'alloro
Fresque
de Tarroni, peintre bolonais du XVIIe siècle, représentant saint Vital emporté
à la gloire par des anges, avec palmes et couronnes de laurier.
St Vitalis, Martyr
April 28
Another holy saint and
martyr by the name of St Vitalis was a citizen of Milan, of noble descent; the
entire family were Christians, and his conduct was most exemplary. St Vitalis
had served in the army of the emperor, and was consequently on terms of
friendship with Paulinus, the consul, trusting to whose favor he assisted the
persecuted Christians, succored them in their need, and visited tem in their
prisons or in the caverns where they lay concealed.
Paulinus was a great
enemy of the Christians, but, not knowing that St Vitalis was one, invited him
to travel to Ravenna. On their arrival our saint heard that a certain
Christian, named Ursicinus, by profession a physician, had been condemned to
torture, and seemed frightened at the approach of death.
Vitalis, leaving the
consul, ran to the spot, and finding Ursicinus almost ready to yield,
exclaimed:
“How is this, my friend?
Thou hast the crown almost within they grasp. Having already suffered so much,
wilt thou miserably lose it? To avoid these short pains, wilt thou cast thyself
into everlasting torments? Thou hast cured the maladies of others; wilt thou
now condemn thyself to eternal death? Enliven thy faith! Have confidence in
Jesus Christ! Bravely consummate the sacrifice of thyself.”
Upon this exhortation the
constancy of Ursicinus revived, and he gave his life for Jesus; upon which
Vitalis carried off his body and respectfully interred it.
Information having been
given to Paulinus of all that had passed, he said to St Vitalis:
“How then! Art thou mad,
to have acted as thou hast, not being a Christian?”
The saint instantly
replied: “Nay, but I am a Christian, and am proud to be so. Nor am I mad
either. He is mad who gives to wicked men the honor due to God. There is but
one only God: this God we adore, and we glory in dying for his sake.”
Paulinus loved Vitalis,
but his hatred for the Christians prevailed over this feeling, and he ordered
Vitalis to be imprisoned; who, finding himself in the company of other
confessors, made such manifestation of his joy, that Paulinus became
infuriated, and commanded all his joints to be dislocated upon the rack, and
his sides to be torn with iron hooks.
During theses tortures
the holy martyr ceased not to preach Jesus Christ, whereupon he was thrown into
a ditch and buried alive beneath a torrent of stones, on the 27th of April, of
the year 171, according to Baronius.
As St. Vitalis expired,
one of the priests of Apollo, who had incensed the tyrant against him, was
possessed by a devil; full of rage, he cried out:
“Thou tormentest me, O
Vitalis! Thou burnest me.” Seven days after, he cast himself into a river and
was drowned.
The relics of this saint
are deposited in a magnificent church at Ravenna, built upon the place of his
martyrdom.
On the day dedicated to
the honor of St. Vitalis, commemoration is made of his wife, St. Valeria, who,
while returning from Revenna, after the death of her husband, was so beaten and
maltreated by the pagans for her faith, that she expired on the second day
after her arrival at Milan. She is also honored as a martyr.
*as related by St.
Alphonsus de Liguori
SOURCE : http://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/st-vitalis.html
Federico Barocci (1535–1612). Le
Martyre de saint Vital, 1583. Inscription : FEDERICUS BAROCIUS URBINAS P A
D MDLXXXIII
Federico
Barocci, Pala d'altare con Martirio di
san Vitale (1583),
olio su tela; 302 x 268, Milano, Pinacoteca di Brera
San Vitale Sposo
e martire
Festa: 28 aprile
Milano, III secolo -
Ravenna, III/IV secolo
Vitale, ufficiale romano
del III secolo, è citato nelle pagine di un antico opuscolo come figura di uomo
pio e coraggioso. Accompagnando il giudice Paolino da Milano a Ravenna, si
imbatte nella condanna a morte del medico Ursicino, confortandolo nel suo tragitto
verso il martirio. La sua fede incrollabile lo porta a subire torture e infine
la morte per lapidazione, diventando egli stesso martire e fonte di grazie
nella città di Ravenna. La moglie Valeria, desiderosa di riavere il suo corpo,
viene ostacolata dai cristiani di Ravenna e, durante il viaggio di ritorno a
Milano, subisce un violento martirio per mano di idolatri. I figli Gervasio e
Protasio, venduti i beni per dedicarsi alla fede, subiranno la stessa sorte
dieci anni dopo. La figura di Vitale, pur avvolta in parte di leggenda, è
indissolubilmente legata alla basilica ravennate a lui dedicata, ai mosaici di
Sant'Apollinare Nuovo e alle numerose chiese sorte a Milano in onore suo e
della sua famiglia.
Martirologio
Romano: A Ravenna, commemorazione di san Vitale: in questo giorno, come si
tramanda, sotto il suo nome fu dedicata a Dio la celebre basilica in quella
città. Egli insieme ai santi martiri Valeria, Gervasio, Protasio e Ursicino è
da tempo immemorabile venerato per l’impavida fede tenacemente difesa.
Santi VITALE, VALERIA e
URSICINO
Vitale e Valeria, genitori dei santi Gervasio e Protasio, anch’essi martiri,
sono celebrati insieme il 28 aprile. In particolare s. Vitale ha avuto, una
raffigurazione nell’arte molto vasta, a lui sono dedicate la basilica di S.
Vitale in Ravenna, con i suoi magnifici mosaici, la chiesa omonima a Venezia,
dove è raffigurato vestito da soldato a cavallo che solleva uno stendardo, con
lancia, spada e mazza, strumento del martirio della sua sposa Valeria. Ancora a
lui è dedicata la chiesa di S. Vitale a Roma, con gli affreschi narranti il suo
martirio.
Le prime notizie che si hanno di Vitale e Valeria provengono da un opuscolo scritto da Filippo, che si nomina ‘servus Christi’ e a cui sono intitolati i più antichi nuclei di vita cristiana a Milano, come l’hortus Philippi e la domus Philippi; detto opuscolo fu rinvenuto accanto al capo dei corpi dei martiri Gervasio e Protasio, ritrovati da s. Ambrogio nel 396.
L’opuscolo oltre a narrare il martirio dei due fratelli, descrive anche quello dei due genitori Vitale e Valeria e del medico ligure, forse operante a Ravenna Ursicino, vissuti e morti nel III secolo; Vitale è un ufficiale che ha accompagnato il giudice Paolino da Milano a Ravenna.
Scoppiata la persecuzione contro i cristiani, accompagna, incoraggiandolo Ursicino condannato a morte, il quale durante il tragitto verso il luogo dell’esecuzione, era rimasto turbato dall’orrore di trovarsi davanti alla morte violenta. Ursicino viene decapitato e decorosamente sepolto dallo stesso Vitale, dentro la città di Ravenna.
Lo stesso Vitale viene arrestato e dopo aver subito varie torture per farlo apostatare dal cristianesimo, il giudice Paolino ordina che venga gettato in una fossa profonda e ricoperto di sassi e terra; così anch’egli diventa un martire di Ravenna e il suo sepolcro nei pressi della città, diviene fonte di grazie.
La moglie Valeria avrebbe voluto riprendersi il corpo del marito, ma i cristiani di Ravenna glielo impediscono, allora cerca di ritornare a Milano, ma durante il viaggio incontra una banda di villani idolatri, che la invitano a sacrificare con loro al dio Silvano; essa rifiuta e per questo viene percossa così violentemente, che portata a Milano, muore tre giorni dopo.
I giovani figli Gervasio e Protasio, vendono tutti i loro beni, dandoli ai poveri e si dedicano alle sacre letture, alla preghiera e dieci anni dopo vengono anch’essi martirizzati; il già citato Filippo ne cura la sepoltura.
Molti studiosi ritengono che la narrazione sia in parte fantasiosa, riconoscendo nei personaggi citati, altre figure di martiri omonimi venerati sia a Milano che a Ravenna; l’antica chiesa di S. Valeria a Milano, distrutta nel 1786, per gli studiosi non era che la ‘cella memoriæ’ della primitiva area cimiteriale milanese, intitolata appunto alla gens Valeria.
In ogni modo il racconto leggendario o veritiero è documentato da celebri monumenti anche di notevole antichità. La basilica ravennate consacrata il 17 maggio 548, è dedicata oltre che a S. Vitale anche ai suoi figli Gervasio e Protasio, le cui immagini sono poste sotto la lista degli apostoli, mentre un altare laterale è dedicato a s. Ursicino.
Nei mosaici di S. Apollinare Nuovo poi sono rappresentati tutti i cinque personaggi; dall’11° al 14° posto della fila dei santi vi sono i quattro uomini e al nono posto della fila delle sante c’è Valeria.
Numerosi documenti e Martirologi li nominano durante i secoli, specie s. Vitale e s. Ursicino martiri a Ravenna. A Milano sorsero le tre chiese che data la loro vicinanza, confermarono la stretta parentela dei martiri, come era uso costruire allora, la chiesa di S. Vitale, la chiesa di S. Valeria (poi distrutta) e S. Ambrogio dove riposano i due fratelli gemelli Gervasio e Protasio.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/91129
Saint Vital et sainte
Valérie, martyrs : http://orthodoxievco.net/ecrits/vies/synaxair/avril/vital.pdf
Saints Vitalis and
Valeria of Milan: The Iconography : https://www.christianiconography.info/vitalis.html
_-_statue_of_Saint_Vitalis_of_Milan%2C_left_on_the_facade.jpg){kind=link}
