VITUS, MODESTUS, and CRESCENTIA, saints and martyrs. — Commemorated in the *Martyrologium Hieronymianum* on June 15, they appear to be victims of the Diocletian persecution; V. is already found in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary, while M. and C. were added in the Roman Missal (Milan 1474).
The various recensions of the *Passio* (BHL, 8711-12; V. n. in Sicily; 8713-14; V. Lucania; 8715-16 [translation: 8717-23]) are not worthy of credence; instead, the first topographical indication in the *Hieronymianum* regarding Lucania should be considered, which must derive from a local calendar. From the 5th century onward, churches and monasteries were dedicated to St. V. in Rome, Sicily, and Sardinia, and his cult experienced extraordinary development in the Middle Ages, particularly among the Germans and Slavs, chiefly due to his thaumaturgical virtue against nervous ailments, known as St. Vitus’ dance, and against rabies. For this reason, he was numbered among the Holy Helpers (v.).
The relics of St. V. were first transferred to the Parisian monastery of St-Denis (second half of the 7th century), then to that of Corvey in Saxony (836); the head of St. V. was taken from Pavia to Prague in 1355 by Emperor Charles IV. St. V. is depicted either immersed in a boiling cauldron, in which he is said to have been martyred, or holding a small one in his hand with a dog on a leash.