[Rank]
S. Vitalis martyr;;Simplex;;1.1;;vide C2

[Rule]
vide C2;

[Oratio]
Grant we beseech the almighty God, that we who celebrate the martyrdom of~
blessed Vitalis, through his intercession be strengtened in your love
$Per Dominum

[Lectio93]
Vitalis was a soldier, and the father of the holy Martyrs Gervase and Protase.~
He went to Ravenna with Paulinus the judge, and there saw the physician~
Ursicinus led out to die, because he owned to being a believer in Christ. As the~
torments went on, Ursicinus seemed to waver a little, and Vitalis cried out to~
him, Ursicinus! as a physician thou hast been used to heal other men's bodies,~
take heed lest thou let thine own soul die eternally. These words encouraged~
Ursicinus, and he endured bravely in his testimony even unto the end but~
Paulinus was filled with fury, and caused Vitalis to be seized, tormented on the~
rack, and finally thrown into a pit and buried under an heap of stones. When it~
was over, a certain priest of Apollo, who had urged on Paulinus against Vitalis,~
was seized by the devil, and began to cry out, Vitalis Vitalis thou art Christ's~
Martyr, but thou makest me to burn thou makest me to burn until in that phrenzy~
he threw himself into the river.
&teDeum
