Modestus and Crescentia

The Holy Martyrs Modestus and Crescentia are venerated as the tutor and nurse of Saint Vitus and died in the great persecution of Diocletian, in the year 303. The Roman Martyrology does not mention them, but tradition links them with Saint Vitus of Sicily: Modestus was his tutor and Crescentia his nurse. They brought Vitus to Christianity. When Hylas, Vitus' father, tried to turn him from faith in Christ, they secretly led him out of his parents' house. According to the narrative they found a boat at a river; an angel of Christ entered the boat with them and carried them to Lucania, in present-⁠day Italy, where they lived hidden from the persecutors.

Modestus, with his disciple, had to appear before the judge. They were imprisoned, then tortured, hung on posts and scraped with iron claws. Crescentia came out of the crowd of onlookers, declared herself a Christian and rebuked the emperor for his cruelty, and was subjected to the same torture. At Vitus' prayer there was an earthquake, and an angel unbound them from the posts and carried them to Capaccio in Lucania, where they gave their souls to God. According to other sources they were beheaded, and some say they were boiled in a cauldron. The holy relics of Crescentia are said to lie in the basilica of Saint Martin at Magenta in Italy, but several places dispute the relics of the martyrs. Their cult is later than that of Vitus and surely lacks historicity. They are commemorated on several days, among them 15 June (new style).