The Life Domain cleric’s Disciple of Life feature works with any spell that you use to restore hit points to a creature, so I know it works with Aura of Vitality to heal 2d6+5 as a bonus action:
Also starting at 1st level, your healing spells are more effective. Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, the creature regains additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell’s level.
But the Blessed Healer feature says it activates for spells you cast:
Beginning at 6th level, the healing spells you cast on others heal you as well. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher that restores hit points to a creature other than you, you regain hit points equal to 2 + the spell’s level.
Am I correct in assuming that using the bonus action to heal a creature with the Aura of Vitality spell only activates Disciple of Life, but not Blessed Healer?
If I’m wrong, then would I be recovering 5 HP every time I heal someone with Aura of Vitality?
This all comes down to what certain phrases mean
Let’s look closely at the phrasing on both of these things and try to figure out what each seem to be intended to mean.
First, lets look at Disciple of Life.
The key word we are looking at here is the word “use”. When we look up the definition of this word in a dictionary, the definition for it being used in this way is:
to employ for some purpose; put into service; make use of
By this definition, this seems to mean that when you either cast a spell or use a spell’s existing effects such that it will restore hit points to a creature, then the ability activates.
Now lets look at Blessed Healer.
The word in question here is “cast”. In this use of the word it is being used to describe the action of targeting something else with a spell, as it specifically says
When you cast a spell … that restores hit points to a creature other than you…
This wording, especially specifically “when you cast a spell”, that it simply means that when you cast a spell, and that spell directly heals another creature when you cast it, then you gain hit points from the ability
Finally, let’s look at Aura of Vitality.
It reads:
Healing energy radiates from you in an aura with a 30-foot radius. Until the spell ends, the aura moves with you, centered on you. You can use a bonus action to cause one creature in the aura (including you) to regain 2d6 hit points.
Since using this spell to heal someone is using the spell, but not casting the spell, then Disciple of Life would come into effect, but not Blessed Healer