Thursday, November 27, 2014

SAINTS VITALIS,FELICULA AND ZENO

Vitalis, Felicula & Zeno

 Date unknown.
Feast day: February 14

These martyrs are listed in the Roman Martyrology as suffering at Rome but nothing else is known about them, except that the connection of Zeno with Vitalis and Felicula seems slight. Saint Zeno is the patron of an ancient basilica on the Appian Way mentioned by William of Malmesbury.


The earliest information about St Vitalis comes from an inscription [CIL XI 2 4966] that was originally in the church of San Lorenzo, Terzo della Pieve.  It recorded a poem by Bishop Spes (ca. 380-410), in which he commemorated the fact that he had discovered the relics of St Vitalis and dedicated an altar to him.

Bishop Paolo Sanvitale (who probably had a particular veneration for "San Vitale") translated the relics and the inscription to the Duomo in 1597.  The inscription was broken, probably during its translation but it is known from a transcription contained in a letter written by Paolo Sanvitale and from a fragment that is now in the Museo Diocesano and illustrated above:



SPES EPISCOPUS DEI SERVUS SANCTO VITALI MARTYRI

A SE PRIMUM INVENTO ALTARIS HONOREM FECIT

     A                                                                                         W

MARTYRIS HIC LOCVS EST VITALIS NOMINE VERO

QVEM SERVATA FIDES ET CHRISTI PASSIO VOTAT.

SOLVS HIC E NOSTRIS VICTRICIA DONA REPORTANS

AETERNAM CAELO MERVIT PERFERRE CORONAM

HVNC PRECOR VT LVCIS PROMISSAE GAVDIA CARPAM

ET QVAE VIRGO PRECANS POSCIT CALVENTIA PRAESTET

CORPORIS INTACTO PVRI DECORATA PVDORE

PLVSQUE DATVRA FIDE DECORIS QVAM QVOD PIA PATRI

EXHIBET OFFICIA ET PVRO VENERATUR AMORE

VTQVE PROBANTE DEO MANEAT PER SAECLA FIDELIS

PRAEMIA LAETA SIBI CONCESSO MVNERE SVMME[NS]



SANCTIS LAETVS EGO SPES HAEC MVNVSCVLA (DO



SANCTI VITALIS MARTYRIS PASSIONIS NATALIS DIE XVI

The line “ SOLVS HIC E NOSTRIS VICTRICIA DONA REPORTANS” (the only martyr among us) has been taken to mean that no other martyrs were venerated at Spoleto at the time of Bishop Spes.  However, some scholars believe that the reference was to the specific location now known as terzo della Pieve, which might have been the personal property of Bishop Spes.

In the second part of the poem , Bishop Spes commended his daughter Calventia, a virgin consecrated to God.

The last line of the inscription gives the first part of the feast day as “XVI”.  This has been assumed to be the surviving fragment of “XVI KAL MARTIAS” (14th February).  Two saints named Vitalis are recorded in the martyrologies under this date:

   The Hieronymian Martyrology records that St Vitalis was martyred with 84 soldiers at “ Tuscia Spoliti”, near Spoleto .  This probably post-dates the invention of the relics at Terzo la Pieve: it might derive from it, although that hypothesis does not explain the inclusion of the 84 soldiers.


A relic of the tibia of St Vitalis in a reliquary (1597) commissioned by Paolo Sanvitale is now in the Cappella delle Reliquie in the Duomo.




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