Vitalis

Saint Vitalis of Vaste was a Roman prefect of the city of Vaste in Apulia and the father of the martyrs Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus, in the third century.

He was known for his care in administration and justice. After his conversion to Christianity he made his house a place of religious teaching for his sons and for other young people of the community. Meetings of prayer and instruction took place in his house, led by Onesimus, a priest and Christian philosopher, who directed a Christian circle.

When the persecutions resumed, the emperor sent the proconsul Nigellio to Vaste, with orders to apply the new directives against the Christians of the city. Nigellio ordered the arrest of Onesimus, of Vitalis's sons (Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus), of his grandson Erasmus and of thirteen other disciples. Accounts differ about Vitalis's fate: some say that after the arrest of his family he withdrew from public life, others call him a martyr, who denounced himself after the death of his wife.

He is venerated by the Catholic and the Orthodox Church as a saint of the undivided Church.