Saints Vitalis and Agricola
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- For other saints named Vitalis, see Saint Vitalis. For the 7th century Saint Agricola, see Agricola of Avignon.
Saints Vitalis and Agricola were martyrs at Bologna about 304, during the persecution ordered by Roman Emperor Diocletian.
[edit] Hagiography
Agricola, who was beloved for his gentleness, converted his slave, Vitalis, to Christianity; they became deeply attached to each other.
Vitalis was first to suffer martyrdom, being executed in the ampitheatre. By his tortures and by flattery the persecutors sought in vain to win over Agricola, whom they finally crucified.
Both martyrs were buried in the Jewish graveyard.
[edit] Veneration
In 393 St. Ambrose and Bishop Eusebius of Bologna transferred the remains of the martyrs to a church. Ambrose took some of the blood, of the cross, and the nails to Florence, placing these relics in the church erected by the saintly widow Juliana. On this occasion he delivered an oration in praise of virginity, with special reference to the three virgin daughters of Juliana. His mention of the martyrs Agricola and Vitalis in the first part of the oration is the only authority for their lives ("De exhortatione virginitatis", cc. i-u, in P.L., XVI, 335).
In 396 other relics were sent to St. Victricus, Bishop of Rouen, and about the same date to St. Paulinus of Nola and others.
The liturgical feast of the two martyrs is observed on 4 November.
[edit] Source
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. [1]
