Profile
Monk and hermit in the Gaza region. At age 60 he felt driven to travel to Alexandria, Egypt and work to save the area prostitutes. He had a unique method – he worked as a day labourer; with each day’s wages he would hire a prostitute for the evening; but instead of the usual services, he requested that she spend the night without sin. To those who would listen he would teach and pray, and from each he extracted a promise to not describe the evening. Not surprisingly, this frequently led to controversy, gossip and opposition, but every investigation cleared him of any charge of impropriety. Some writers claim that he met and prayed with every prostitute in the city, and many of them were led to abandon the life and overcome the things that had driven them to it.
- murdered in 625 in Alexandria, Egypt
- he was struck in the head by a man who saw him leaving a brothel; Vitalis managed to return to his hut and died alone soon after, apparently in prayer
Additional Information
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson
Readings
Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart. - Saint Vitalis
MLA Citation
- “Saint Vitalis of Gaza”. Saints.SQPN.com. 10 January 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-vitalis-of-gaza/>