Description

Oil Dedicated to St Vitalis (Patron for Bladder Problems)

Prayer to Saint Vitalis of Assisi oil is dedicated to the saint who is patron saint for the bladder.

St. Vitalis of Assisi, O.S.B.  (1295 – May 31, 1370), was an Italian hermit and monk. Born in Bastia Umbra, Vitalis as a youth was licentious and immoral. However, he attempted to expiate his sins by going on pilgrimage to various sanctuaries in Italy and Europe. When he returned to Umbria, he became a Benedictine monk at Subiaco.

Vitalis then spent the rest of his life in the hermitage of Santa Maria di Viole, near Assisi, in utter poverty. His one possession was an old container that he used to drink water from a nearby spring. His reputation for holiness soon spread after his death. He was known as a patron against sicknesses and diseases affecting the bladder and genitals.

On 29 May 2011, a head preserved as a relic, allegedly that of this saint, was offered at auction with an estimate of €1,000 at Annesbrook House, Duleek, County  Meath, Ireland. It was sold to an unnamed movie star from Los Angeles, California, for €3,500.

In November 2016, the head was purchased by a reclusive oddities and antiquities dealer & collector, and permanently resides in a private Gallery located in the Eastern United States.

Tradition of oils

The tradition of anointing with sacred oil is very old indeed. It is used in sacraments and also as a devotional practice. The sick person applies the oil and blesses themselves.  As they do so, they are asked to pray to whomever the oil is dedicated to. The Irish blessings oils do not have miraculous power.  It is God who has the power to heal.  Applying the oil while praying are important ways for us to express our faith in God’s power. Moreover, by doing so we place our trust in God.