Editing Saint Vitus (section)

==Veneration==
[[File:St Vitus Cathedral from south.jpg|thumb|upright|[[St. Vitus Cathedral]] is the main church of the former imperial capital, [[Prague]].]]

The veneration of the martyrs spread rapidly in Southern Italy and Sicily, as is shown by the note in the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum". Pope [[Gregory the Great]] mentions a monastery dedicated to Vitus in Sicily ("Epist.", I, xlviii, P.L., LXXXVII, 511).

The veneration of Vitus, the chief saint of the group, also appeared very early at Rome. [[Pope Gelasius I]] (492–496) mentions a shrine dedicated to him (Jaffé, "Reg. Rom. Pont.", 2nd ed., I, 6 79), and at Rome in the seventh century the chapel of a deaconry was dedicated to him ("Liber Pont.", ed. Duchesne, I, 470 sq.).

In AD 756, [[Saint Fulrad|Abbot Fulrad]] is said to have brought the [[relics]] of St. Vitus to the [[Saint-Denis Abbey|monastery of St-Denis]]. They were later presented to Abbot Warin of [[Corvey]] in Germany, who solemnly transferred some of them to this abbey in AD 836. From Corvey the veneration of St Vitus spread throughout Westphalia and in the districts of eastern and northern Germany. His popularity grew in [[Prague]], Bohemia when, in AD 925, king [[Henry I of Germany]] presented as a gift the bones of one hand of St. Vitus to [[Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia|Wenceslaus]], Duke of Bohemia. Since then, this relic has been a sacred treasure in the [[St. Vitus Cathedral]] in Prague. Other relics of Saint Vitus were taken in [[Pavia]] (they were kept in the church of [[San Marino, Pavia|San Marino]]) by the emperor [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] in 1355 and were brought to Prague.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AbZ-rhlSlxsC&dq=charles+IV+saint+vitus+pavia&pg=PA150|title=Prague. The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437|year=2005 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=9781588391612 |access-date=11 August 2022}}</ref>

The veneration of St. Vitus became very popular in [[Slavs|Slavic]] lands, where his name (Sveti Vid) may have replaced more ancient worship of the god of light [[Svetovid]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mzos.hr/svibor/nameE.htm |title=SVIBOR – The Meaning and the Origin of the Word |publisher=Mzos.hr |date=1996-06-14 |access-date=2013-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305105129/http://www.mzos.hr/svibor/nameE.htm |archive-date=2012-03-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In [[Serbia]] his feast day, known as [[Vidovdan]], is of particular historical importance.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Đorđević|first=Dimitrije |title=The role of St. Vitus Day in modern Serbian history|journal=Serbian Studies|volume=5|issue=3|date=Spring 1990|publisher=[[North American Society for Serbian Studies]]|url=http://www.serbianstudies.org/publications/pdf/Vol5_3_1990-%20DimitrijeDjordjevic-TheRoleofSt_VitusDayinModernSerbianHistory.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.serbianstudies.org/publications/pdf/Vol5_3_1990-%20DimitrijeDjordjevic-TheRoleofSt_VitusDayinModernSerbianHistory.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|pages=33–40}}</ref> The day is part of the [[Kosovo Myth]] — the [[Battle of Kosovo]] occurred on that day; several events have symbolically occurred on that day, such as the 1914 [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|assassination of the Austrian royal couple]]; Vitus was the patron saint of the [[Kingdom of Serbia]].<ref name="CoveWestwell2002">{{cite book|author1=Dennis Cove|author2=Ian Westwell|title=History of World War I.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DR_fheHdCAC&pg=PA72|date=January 2002|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7231-5|page=72|quote=... was scheduled for June 28. This was a significant date for both Princip and the archduke. It was the day of St. Vitus, the patron saint of Serbia,}}</ref> In [[Hungary]] he has been venerated as ''Szent Vid'' since the early Middle Ages. In [[Bulgaria]], it is called Vidovden (Видовден) or Vidov Den (Видов ден) and is particularly well known among the [[Shopi]], in the western part of the country.  In [[Croatia]], 123 churches are dedicated to St. Vitus.

In the [[Netherlands]], Vitus is the patron saint of [[Winschoten]], as well as of the region of the Gooi, where in each of the three largest towns (Hilversum, Bussum and Naarden), the main Catholic Church is dedicated to St Vitus.

Vitus is one of the [[Fourteen Martyrs]] who give aid in times of trouble. He is specifically invoked against [[Sydenham's chorea|chorea]], which is called ''St. Vitus Dance''.

He is represented as a young man with a palm-leaf, in a cauldron, sometimes with a raven and a lion, his [[Saint symbology|iconographic attribute]] because according to the legend he was thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar and molten lead, but miraculously escaped unscathed.

The names of Saints Modestus and Crescentia were added in the 11th century to the Roman Calendar,<ref name=CR>"Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 126</ref> so that from then on all three names were celebrated together until 1969, when their feast was removed from the [[General Roman Calendar]]. Vitus is still recognized as a saint of the [[Catholic Church]], being included in the [[Roman Martyrology]] under 15 June,<ref>"Martyrologium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 {{ISBN|88-209-7210-7}})</ref> and [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] may be celebrated in his honor on that day wherever the [[Roman Rite]] is celebrated,<ref>[[General Instruction of the Roman Missal]], [http://www.salesianer.de/liturgie/igmr2002.htm 355]</ref> while Modestus and Crescentia, who are associated with Vitus in legend, have been omitted, because they appear to be merely fictitious personages.<ref name=CR/>

Vitus is the patron saint of the city of [[Rijeka]] in [[Croatia]]; the towns of [[Ciminna]] and [[Vita, Sicily|Vita]] in [[Sicily]]; [[Forio]] on the island of [[Ischia]], the town of Sapri in [[Campania]]; the ''contrada'' of San Vito, in [[Torella dei Lombardi]], in [[Avellino]]; the town of [[Rapone]], Italy; the Gooi region in the [[Netherlands]]; the Italian colony of [[San Vito (Costa Rica)|San Vito]] in Costa Rica; and the town of [[St. Vith]] in [[Belgium]]. Various places in [[Austria]] and [[Bavaria]] are named [[Sankt Veit (disambiguation)|Sankt Veit]] in his honour.

The saint's feast day is also the subject of a popular weather rhyme: "If St. Vitus' Day be rainy weather, it shall rain for thirty days together". This rhyme often appears in such publications as [[almanac]]s; its origin is uncertain.

Michael J. Towsend writes that "the phrase 'The patron saint of [[Methodism]] is St Vitus' summed up with reasonable accuracy many people's impressions of the Methodist Church. Methodists, surely, are supremely busy people, always rushing around organizing things and setting up committees to do good works. They can generally be relied upon to play their part in running [[Christian Aid Week]], the sponsored walk for the local hospice or the group protesting about homelessness, and they are known, even now, to be activists in trades unions and political parties."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theway.org.uk/back/s094Townsend.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.theway.org.uk/back/s094Townsend.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=A sacramental spirituality for Methodism|last=Townsend|first=Michael J.|work=The Way|publisher=[[Society of Jesus]]|page=100|access-date=4 May 2021}}</ref>