Saints, Feast, Family
- Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring -
June 15
Saint of the day:
Saint Vitus
Also known as: Guy, Veit, Vith, Vito
Patron Saint of Over Sleeping, sleeplessness, comedians, dancers, actors, against wild animals, storms, epilepsy,
bedwetting, Czech Republic, dog bites, snake bites, rheumatic chorea, dogs, coppersmiths, youth, and numerous cities
Saint Vitus' Story
According to legend, Saint Vitus converted to Christianity at the age of 12. Valerian, the administrator of Sicily, tried to dissuade him, but was unsuccessful. Many miracles were attributed to Saint Vitus, including the cure of Diocletian’s son.
Accused of sorcery, Saint Vitus was subjected to various tortures but was miraculously saved. He was eventually martyred in Lucania.
A great devotion to Vitus developed in Germany when his relics were moved to Saxony in 836. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
St. Vitus was born in Sicily and was the son of a Roman senator by the name of Hylas. Important in his life was his tutor, Modestus, and his nurse (or maid), Crescentia who were Christian and baptized him, bringing him into the faith when he was between the ages of 7 and 12. (There is, however, doubt as to their historicity and whether or not they were real people.) Depending on the version, either his father learned about his conversion and had the three arrested, or Valerian, the governor, heard about Vitus’ miracles and had him arrested on suspicion of sorcery. Once arrested, Vitus and his companions were tortured by scourging. Other tellings also have the three being thrown to lions, which did not harm them. And in some tellings of St. Vitus’ story, he was locked in a room by his father with a woman who tempted him towards impure acts, through which he prayed. Eventually, the three escaped. There are discrepancies of whether or not they went to Lucania and then Rome or to Naples. But most agree that Vitus was brought before the Emperor Diocletian after his miraculous healings began to be widely known. Once before the emperor, he drove out an evil spirit from the emperor’s son, but after he refused to make a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the pagan gods, was sentenced to death. He was thrown into a cauldron of molten lead, along with a rooster (part of the pagan ritual against sorcery), but exited unharmed. In some tellings, that’s when he was met by a lion that instead of attacking him, kissed his feet. During a storm, the three were able to escape from Rome and were guided by an angel to Lucania where they were martyred or died of the wounds they received in Rome around 303 A.D.
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=140
Prayer:
Relics:
Prague, Czech Republic
the Holy Trinity treasures
Saint Vitus Dance
An interesting note in the veneration of St. Vitus is that in the 16th century in Germany, there was a tradition that dancing around a statue of
St. Vitus would bring a year of good health. As the dances grew wilder, this lead to his association with Saint Vitus Dance (also known as chorea). It also lead to his patronage of dancers, comedians, and entertainers overall.
Recipe:
Legend states a rooster was thrown into the oil with Saint Vitus and sacrificed as part of the ritual against sorcery. A rooster became a symbol for Saint Vitus, and its connection with early rising led to Saint Vitus’s patronage and protection against oversleeping.
Rise & Shine Fried Chicken Biscuits with Honey Butter Sauce
Ingredients
For the Biscuit:
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2 cups All-Purpose Flour
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1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
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1/4 tsp Baking Soda
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1 1/2 tsp Sugar
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6 tbsp Salted Butter, cold
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3/4 cup Buttermilk
For the Chicken:
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2 Organic Boneless Chicken Breast
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2 Large Organic Eggs
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1 cup All-Purpose Flour
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1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
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1/4 cup Organic Milk
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1 tbsp Paprika
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1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
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1 tsp Oregano
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1 tsp Black Pepper
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1/2 tsp Sea Salt
For the Honey Butter Sauce:
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1/2 cup Honey
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4 tbsp Butter, melted
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1/4 tsp Nutmeg
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Dash Black Pepper
Directions
For the buttermilk biscuits:
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Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
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In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk.
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Cut your cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Blend until the dough is crumbly. Slowly add in your buttermilk. Blend until combined. The dough will be sticky.
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Add pastry flour to a flat surface. Knead the dough a dozen times and form it into a ball. Do not over knead. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
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Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough until it is 1-inch thick. Cut your dough with a biscuit cutter.
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Butter a baking sheet and place biscuits close together so their edges touch.
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Bake the biscuits for 12 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven and set them to the side.
For the fried chicken:
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Add cooking oil to a cooking pan on medium heat.
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Cut your chicken breasts into three 3 even pieces. Season both sides of the chicken pieces with paprika, ground cumin, black pepper, and sea salt. Lightly coat each piece with flour.
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Add 1/2 cup of flour into one bag and 1/2 cup of flour, panko breadcrumbs, oregano, and garlic powder into a separate bag.
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Add 2 eggs and milk into a bowl and mix.
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Submerge the chicken into the egg mixture first, add to the flour-only bag, and shake well until coated. Add the chicken back to the egg mixture, place chicken into the panko breadcrumb bag, and shake until well coated.
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Cook each chicken piece for 4 minutes on each side and set to the side when done.
For the honey butter sauce:
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Add honey, melted butter, nutmeg, and black pepper to a small bowl. Whisk (paid link) together until smooth.
Putting the biscuit together:
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Cut the biscuit in half. Add fried chicken piece, top chicken off with honey butter sauce, and place the other half of the biscuit at the top.
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Serve hot.
