Vitalius of Corfu

Holy Martyr Vitalius of Corfu suffered for Christ together with the holy martyrs Zeno, Eusebius and Neon, after being enlightened by the apostles Jason and Sosipater, on the island of Corfu.

The apostle Jason came from Tarsus and was the first Christian of the city, and Sosipater was from Achaia. Both were disciples of the Apostle Paul, who called them "my kinsmen" (Romans 16:21). Jason was made bishop at Tarsus and Sosipater at Iconium. With the preaching of the Gospel they went west and in the year 63 reached the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea. There they built a church in the name of the first martyr Stephen and baptized many. The ruler of the island put them in a prison where there were seven robbers, whom the apostles brought to Christ; the seven died as martyrs in a cauldron of pitch, sulfur and melted wax. The prison keeper, seeing them, confessed himself a Christian, and his left hand, his feet and his head were cut off. The ruler had the apostles beaten with a whip and imprisoned again.

The ruler's daughter, the maiden Kerkyra, learned of it and declared herself a Christian, and gave her jewels to the poor. Her father tried to persuade her, then shut her in a separate prison and sent to her the robber Murinus, but a bear attacked Murinus, and Kerkyra drove off the beast in the name of Christ and healed his wounds. Murinus believed and was put to death. The ruler set fire to the prison, but the maiden remained alive; then he ordered her hanged from a tree, suffocated with smoke and shot with arrows. After her death the ruler resolved to kill all the Christians of Corfu. The martyrs Zeno, Eusebius, Neon and Vitalius, enlightened by the apostles, were burned.

The inhabitants fled to a neighboring island. The ruler set out after them with soldiers but was swallowed by the waves. His successor ordered the apostles thrown into a cauldron of boiling pitch, but seeing them unharmed, he cried: "God of Jason and Sosipater, have mercy on me." The apostles baptized him with the name Sebastian and, with his help, built several churches on the island.

Saint Vitalius is commemorated on 11 May, in the new style.