June 15
in the Month of the Sacred Heart
Saint Vitus (303).
Saint Vitus, whose name can also be Guy, was a child saint. He was entrusted by his pagan parents to the care of a Catholic nurse, Crescentia, and her husband, Modestus. They secretly baptized him and brought him up as a Catholic. When his father discovered that he had become a Catholic, he handed him over to the pagan governor of Sicily, where he lived, for punishment. Vitus, Crescentia and Modestus all escaped to southern Italy. All three were captured by pagan soldiers there, most cruelly tortured, and then put to death. All three are lovingly remembered by the Catholic Church as saints. Saint Vitus is one of the fourteen Holy Helpers. He is the protector against nervous diseases, epilepsy and paralysis. He is also the protector against the nervous affliction known as "Saint Vitus' Dance."
Saint Germaine Cousin (1601).
She was the daughter of a poor farmer who lived near Toulouse in France. She was born with a deformed hand and was afflicted with the disease of scrofula. Her mother died when she was an infant. Her father then married a most cruel woman who treated Saint Germaine very harshly. The great loves of Saint Germaine were the Blessed Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin. She delighted to roam among the children of her town, and tell them about Jesus and Mary. She died when she was only twenty-two years old. She is beloved in southern France, even to this day, especially in the town of Toulouse. This is the town where Saint Dominic was given the rosary, in the year 1214, by the virginal Mother of God.