Saints Gervasius and Protasius

Vi talis Vital Father of Gervasius and Protasius, martyr at Ravenna. , their father, was a consular personage who had served with distinction in the armies. He had come to Ravenna with the judge Paulinus, whom he assisted in his duties. One day, he saw before the tribunal a Christian named Ursicinus, a physician by profession and a Ligurian by origin, who, after having suffered frightful torments, had just been condemned to be beheaded. The place of execution for the Christians was called the Palm (ad Palmam), because it was planted with old palm trees. Therefore, when the condemned man arrived at the Palm, he became afraid and was about to flee shamefully, when Vitalis cried out to him: Stop, Ursicinus, stop! You who healed others, would you wish to drive into your soul the dart of eternal death? Having arrived through a thousand tortures to the Palm, do not go and lose the crown that the Lord has prepared for you. Ursicinus, hearing these words, knelt down and asked the executioner to strike him; thus he repaired by repentance a moment of fear and died a martyr of Christ. Immediately, Vitalis himself took his body, buried it in Ravenna with all the honors due to his martyrdom, and would no longer resume his duties with the judge. This is why Paulinus had him arrested, less because of this refusal than because he had declared himself a Christian, by preventing Ursicinus from sacrificing, thus rendering to him the crown of martyrdom, and to God a precious pearl that the demon was about to take from Him. Vital Father of Gervasius and Protasius, martyr at Ravenna.

Paulinus had Vitalis stretched on the rack, hoping, through tortures, to lead him to sacrifice to the idols. But the Martyr said to him: It is a great folly on your part to believe that I will throw myself into the error of your lies, after having snatched others from it. Paulinus said to the guards: Lead him to the Palm, and there, if he refuses to sacrifice, you shall not behead him; but, digging a deep pit until you find water, you shall lay him there at full length on his back and you shall crush him under a mass of stones and sand. The order was executed; and such was the torture by which God gave Vitalis the consecration of martyrdom. But the priest of Apollo, who had given this advice to Paulinus, was seized by the demon, and for seven days, at the very place where Saint Vitalis had been buried alive, the new demoniac did not cease to cry: You burn me, Vitalis, holy Martyr of Christ, you tear me in frightful torments! At the end of the seven days, he was dragged away by the demon. The body of the glorious Martyr was buried near the walls of Ravenna, where he is honored by the faithful.

Valeria, his wife, returned to M ilan. Milan Italian city where the saint has an altar and an annual feast. As she approached the city, she encountered idolaters who were sacrificing to Silvanus. They made her descend from her chariot and invited her to take part in their feasts. Valeria replied: "I am a Christian, and it is not permitted for me to eat of the victims offered to your Silvanus." Hearing her speak thus, these savage men struck her so cruelly that her servants with difficulty brought her back, dying, to Milan, where, three days later, her soul flew to Christ. Gervasius and Protasius received, without a will, the inheritance of their father and mother. They hastened to sell their own house, the goods, and the modest dwellings of their parents, and distributed the price to the poor and to the small family of their slaves, whom they set free. As for themselves, they shut themselves in a small room, where they practiced, for ten years, prayer, reading, and fasting. In the tenth year, which was the eleventh since their conversion, they attained the palm of martyrdom in the manner that we are about to recount.

The Roman general Astasius was setting out against the Marcomanni who had just declared war on the empire, when the worshippers of the gods, with their priests, came before him and said to him: 'If you wish to return from the war, to the court of our princes, in the splendor of a joyful triumph, compel Gervasi Gervais Brother and successor of Saint Ternat to the see of Besançon. us and Protasius to sacrifice; for our gods are so irritated to see themselves despised by these two wretches, that they refuse to give us their oracles.' Astasius, upon this denunciation, had them arrested and brought before his tribunal: 'I exhort you,' he said to them, 'to cease your insults against our divinities and to sacrifice to them instead with religious zeal, so that my expedition may be successful.' Gervasius replied: 'It is true, it is from heaven that victory comes; but it is to the almighty God that one must ask for it, and not to vain images that have eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear, a nose and do not smell, a mouth and do not speak, hands and do not touch, feet and do not walk, and which have not in them the breath of life.' Astasius, irritated by this answer, condemned him to be struck with whips garnished with lead, until he expired.

He was taken away immediately, and Protasius was in his turn presented to the tri bunal o Protais 1st-century martyr, twin brother of Gervasius. f Astasius, who said to him: 'Wretch! think of living, and do not run, like your brother, to a violent death.' Protasius replied: 'Who then here is wretched? Is it I, who do not fear you? or is it you, who do not hide the fears that I inspire in you?' Astasius said: 'I, fear a wretch like you!' The blessed Protasius replied: 'Yes, you; for you fear receiving some damage from me, if I do not sacrifice to your gods; and if you did not fear it, you would not try to force me to sacrifice. I, on the contrary, do not fear you and I despise your threats; all your idols are for me like disgusting filth; I adore only the one God who reigns in heaven.' Astasius, to punish this boldness, had him struck with sticks; then, having him raised up, he said to him: 'Well! wretch, why do you show yourself so proud and so rebellious? Do you want to perish as your brother perished?' Protasius replied: 'Astasius, I have against you neither rage nor anger, and I do not even permit myself to condemn you; for the eyes of your heart are closed to the light; incredulity weighs upon your soul and does not allow you to see the things of God. Jesus Christ, my master, did not curse those who crucified him; on the contrary, he asked for grace for them, saying that they did not know what they were doing. That is why I, too, have compassion for your misery, because you do not know what you are doing. Finish then what you have begun, so that the sweet beatitude of our Savior may deign to welcome me today with my brother.' Astasius had his head cut off.

After his torture, I, Philip, servant of Christ, with my son, secretly removed, during the night, the holy bodies; and in my house, under the eyes of God alone, I deposited them in this marble tomb, full of confidence that, through the prayer of the blessed Martyrs, I will obtain mercy from Our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

## CULT AND RELICS.

In the fourth century, all memory of the burial place of Saints Gervais and Protais had been lost. But, in 386, God permitted them to reveal the location to Saint Ambro saint Ambroise Father of the Church cited for a maxim on strength. se; he was preparing to dedicate the new church of Mila Milan Italian city where the saint has an altar and an annual feast. n, which has since been called by his name the Ambrosian Basilica, and which is still known today as Saint-Ambrose the Great. The faithful desired that he consecrate it with as much solemnity as he had consecrated that of the Apostles, where he had placed a portion of their relics. The holy bishop was ready to satisfy this desire, but he did not know where to obtain relics. Immediately he felt within himself a sudden movement and a certain warmth which was like an omen of what was to happen to him. Having fallen asleep with his mind occupied by this thought, he learned the place where the bodies of these holy Martyrs rested, through a revelation that Saint Augustine qualifies as a vision in one place, and a dream in another, and he knew from them that they were in the church of the martyrs Saint Nabor and Saint Felix. He communicated the matter to his clergy: and despite the apprehension or reluctance shown by some of the clerics of his church, he had the earth dug up beyond the bars that surrounded the tombs of these martyrs, in a place that people even avoided walking upon to approach. They effectively found the bodies of two men, who by their length led one to judge that they had been of extraordinarily large stature. The flesh was consumed, but the bones were separated from the bodies: the bottom of the tomb was covered with blood, and one could see all the marks that could lead one to conjecture that they were martyrs. Perhaps their names were also found engraved on the coffin, or on a plate: at least Saint Ambrose did not indicate that he had learned them through revelation.

Before lifting the bones from the earth and singing hymns, various possessed persons were brought to the tomb to have hands laid upon them: it was perhaps the custom to verify the relics of the martyrs through miracles. A woman, from among those possessed who had been brought, was seized by the demon before the exorcisms had begun, and thrown onto the burial site; this was regarded as a first testimony that God wished to give of the merit of his servants. The bones having been pulled from the coffin were placed on litters and covered with some ornaments; they were transported that same day (Wednesday, June 17) to the Basilica of Fausie, which is called today that of Saint Vital and Saint Agricole: and because it was late, they were deposited there until the next day. Throughout the night, prayers were said, and hands were laid upon the possessed, who struggled extraordinarily; the populations flocked there from the city and from outside; a prestigious gathering lasted day and night, as long as the ceremony. The day after, the holy relics were carried into the Ambrosian Basilica, with a religious pomp that was followed by the public rejoicings of the entire city. It was during the procession that the healing of a blind man known to everyone in the city of Milan occurred. He was named Severus and had been a butcher by profession. But having been forced to leave this employment due to the infirmity that had befallen him, he had been reduced to living on the charity given to him by some people. As soon as he had heard what was the subject of the new feast, he had himself led there in the hope of benefiting from it, and having obtained permission to touch the edge of the ornaments that covered the relics of the martyrs, he recovered his sight at that very hour. His gratitude for such a great favor was not limited to publishing everywhere this miracle, which occurred in the presence of an incredible multitude, and on a man whose illness was known to no one in the city. He also promised to serve God all his life in the church of these Saints, that is to say in the Ambrosian church, to contribute ceaselessly to their cult: which he punctually executed. Other people were also healed of various illnesses by the same means. Linens, scarves, and garments were thrown onto the relics, to which they communicated their virtue to also perform miracles; and one saw sick people healed for having only touched these linens. Others were healed by the mere shadow of the bodies or the reliquary of the martyrs, as Saint Ambrose assures, who testifies that the demons themselves declared through the mouths of the possessed that these Saints were true martyrs, and that they were tormented by them. They also mixed the name of Ambrose with those of Gervais and Protais, although he was then far away and occupied with something else entirely, and they believed that this holy prelate was tormenting them as well as these martyrs. Several of them were delivered before everyone.

When the holy bodies had arrived at the Ambrosian basilica, Saint Ambrose, placed between the two chairs, harangued the people on this subject, and we still have his speech in the letter he wrote about it to Saint Marcellina, his sister. This holy prelate had had a vault prepared for his burial under the altar of the new church; the only modification he made to his design was to destine the right side of this vault to the holy relics and to reserve the other for himself. The ceremony of the deposition or burial of the two Martyrs took place on Friday, June 19. The miracles began again as on the previous day, especially with regard to the possessed, through whose mouths the demon loudly confessed the Holy Trinity, adding that those who denied it would be condemned to the torments he endured; he said that the martyrs Gervais and Protais increased his sufferings by the new virtue that God had just given them in favor of the Catholics. This wretched spirit, who loves only lies and darkness, spoke thus especially through an Arian, into whose body he had entered quite recently. Those of his sect, who were then powerful in the city because of the protection given to them by the Empress Justina, widow of Valentinian I, were so mortified by this incident that, instead of taking advantage of it for their salvation, they seized their fellow member and drowned him. If these miracles did not have the strength to convert the heretics, they contributed at least to slowing the fury with which the empress was persecuting the Catholics in Milan. Saint Ambrose, considering this obstinacy of the Arians more inexcusable than that of the Jews and t Ariens Heresy opposed by Columbanus in Italy among the Lombards. he demons themselves, gave a new speech to his people immediately before enclosing the bodies of the Martyrs under the altar: he sent it to his sister with the one he had given the day before, in order to complete the whole history of this translation of which he was giving her the account.

Since that time, the church of Milan has always celebrated this memorable discovery with a solemn feast that soon spread to the neighboring provinces. It even reached Africa at that time, perhaps through the agency of Saint Augustin e, who was sti saint Augustin Father of the Church and spiritual master of Possidius. ll in Milan when the event occurred, and who, as bishop, preached a sermon to his people on June 19th in a church dedicated under the name of the two Martyrs. In several churches in France, their invention was celebrated on March 27th, and their translation, in conjunction with this discovery, on December 11th. The names of these holy Martyrs are still found marked in various ancient and modern martyrologies on May 20th, July 28th, and on other days that seem to be those on which portions of their relics were received in the places where their memory is celebrated; for there was a great distribution of these relics at various times. Some were brought to Africa, where more than one church was built in their name, in accordance with the spirit of the fifth Council of Carthage, which forbids the building of churches to martyrs unless one possesses certain relics of them. Saint Augustine testifies that those of our two Saints performed various miracles there, and he reports a significant one that occurred in one of his churches ten or twelve leagues from Hippo. Saint Severinus of Bavaria, whose life we reported on January 8th, also received some with great respect. Through the ministry of several bishops, he had them placed in the church of his monastery of Faviane, in Austria. Saint Paulinus, bishop, also possessed some shortly after the death of Saint Ambrose, and had placed them in a church he had built at Fondi. They were later seen in many other places in Italy, and several churches in France were provided with them as early as the 6th century. A way was found to multiply these relics greatly by collecting the blood found at the bottom of the tomb, or which miraculously gushed from the very bodies of the martyrs, by mixing it, we might say, with a kind of paste or by soaking cloths in it, which were then distributed to various parts of Europe. This is what mainly contributed to extending their cult in the West, especially in France, where they became patrons of four or five cathedrals and a surprising number of parish churches: one hardly sees any more famous than the one that was built in Paris during the time of Bishop Saint Germain, around the year 560. The Greeks, little inclined to fill their processions and their households with Saints of the Latin Church, nevertheless established the cult of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius among themselves as well. They honor them on October 14th and even perform the great office for them. It is also seen that they were commemorated on the 30th of the same month at Antioch in Syria, capital of the East: which has led some people to believe that some relic of our Saints might have been brought to that city on that day.

In June 1866, Abbé Congnet provided us with the following information regarding the relics of our holy Martyrs: Frederick Barbarossa, the twenty-second emperor of Germany, during one of his six expeditions against Italy, having completely ruined the city of Milan with its churches and palaces in 1162, had the relics removed from the abandoned temples and destined them for various churches in Germany. Among the most famous were the bodies of the three Magi and those of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, which Saint Ambrose had discovered in 387. — These precious bones were shipped on the Rhine. In Brisach (Grand Duchy of Baden), formerly the capital of the Breisgau, the bodies of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius were deposited, as attested by Juan Luis Vives, commentator on The City of God, book XXII, chap. 8: corpora sancti Gervasii et Protusii transiata sunt Brisacum Germaniae a Frederica. — Those of the three Magi were taken to Cologne, where their shrine can still be seen in the cathedral. — T he annal Soissons Birthplace and place of death of Geoffrey. s of Soissons record that, under the episcopate of Charles de Bourlon, the eighty-fifth bishop of Soissons, the Chapter of the Cathedral of Soissons, which has Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius as its patrons, obtained from the Abbot of Munster a quite notable portion of the remains of the holy Martyrs, namely: an occipital bone, a temporal bone, a left femur, and a tibia. The official reports of the magistrates of Brisach and other documents attested to their authenticity, which Bishop Charles de Bourlon also recognized.

The relics of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius were obtained in Soissons by the Intendant of Alsace, who had his brother-in-law as a canon of the cathedral. The Abbot of Munster himself took charge of this precious deposit and came to offer it in person to the Chapter of Saint-Gervais. The canons covered the costs of the shrine. They had it made of silver, enriched with gilded figures and medallions. This translation is celebrated every year throughout the diocese on June 26, the day of the octave of the feast. The ceremony of this translation was most magnificent. All the chapters, communities, orders, and parishes of the city attended this procession, as well as the bodies of the Presidial, the Election, and the constabulary. At the head marched the company of arquebusiers. The shrine of the holy Martyrs was carried for a quarter of a league, from Saint-Crépin le Grand to the cathedral, by two canons accompanied by twelve deacons holding palms in their hands. Along the route, five altars of repose had been erected. The Bishop of Soissons delivered the panegyric of Saints Gervasius and Protasius. The brother of Bussac, Bishop of Meaux, was present at the ceremony in his capacity as Intendant of the province. — We have provided these details as proof of the bishop's belief in the authenticity of the relics of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius, which had been deposited for several centuries in Brisach. — The Cathedral of Soissons preserved them with great care until 1793, at which time their shrines were broken and the holy bones scattered or burned. Nothing remains of them today in Soissons.

An unexpected event occurred quite suddenly in the year 1864. A religious of the community of Sainte-Croix in Le Mans, and superior of an institution established at Les Ternes, in Paris, the Rev. Fr. Champeau, known advantageously for the publication of several esteemed works, announced, through the newspapers, that one had just discovered in Milan, during his stay in that city in January, the body of Saint Ambrose and those of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius, whose traces had been lost since the year 835, the time when Angilbert Pauterin, Archbishop of Milan, had buried them deep in the earth to preserve them from any profanation. It is under the high altar of the ancient church of Saint Ambrose, built by this saint at the end of the 4th century, and in a large and magnificent to mb of Egyptian porphyry, tha tombeau de porphyre égyptien Tomb containing the bodies of Ambrose, Gervasius, and Protasius. t the Chapter of this church believes it has found the body of Saint Ambrose and those of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius. Mr. Fosse Darousse, having appeared to doubt the reality of this discovery and having, in his newspaper L'Argus Scissonnais, shared his sentiment with the public, received directly from Milan a response to the objections he had presented. We are inclined to believe that one could have, at a certain time, detached some bones of the holy Martyrs and left the others in their tomb. Time will clarify the fact that we have just signaled to the investigations of hagiographers.

Mr. Congnet relied on the opinion of Father Papabrock and on the traditions of the Church of Soissons; but he forgot that the learned Bollandist, after having indeed advanced that the bodies of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius had been transferred to Brisach, seeing himself refuted by Saxi, prefect of the Ambrosian Library, had entirely retracted. Moreover, this alleged translation of the holy relics from Italy to Germany is belied by the discovery that Mr. Congnet himself pointed out. Indeed, the evident truth today is that for seven or eight hundred years, the location of the tombs of these three patron saints of Milan was unknown. It was doubted that it would be possible to find them; it was only known that ancient chronicles, of doubtful authority, recounted at the date of the year 1605 a sort of translation of the remains of Saint Ambrose, to which had been joined, in the same porphyry tomb, the remains of Saints Gervasius and Protasius. But where was this red porphyry tomb? In 1864, while making repairs to the church, a crypt was signaled, and it is supposed that this crypt was to contain massive things under the altar. But the presence of a porphyry sarcophagus was only verified during the last fortnight of July 1871.

The tomb was finally completely discovered in the first days of August 1871. The religious world of Milan was very moved by this event. It was agreed that, on August 9, the sarcophagus would be opened in the presence of the archbishop, the Ch apter of t sarcophage Tomb containing the bodies of Ambrose, Gervasius, and Protasius. he cathedral, the clergy of Saint-Ambroise, the chapter, a municipal representation, etc. This is what was done. The sealed lid of the tomb was removed, and, extraordinarily, one first perceived a calm and very clear water, which was not running, which was not brought by any conduit, and which one imagined at first to be produced by a singular phenomenon of filtration.

At the bottom of this crystal water, one could perfectly distinguish three bodies, admirably preserved and dressed in golden garments. The bodies were exactly in the attitude described by tradition: Scilicet quod S. Ambrosius est in medio sanctorum Protaxii et Gervaxii. (Namely that the body of Saint Ambrose is between Saints Protasius and Gervasius.) The head of each of the three bodies looks toward the Gospel side. It has been noted that the skull of Saint Ambrose is smaller than that of the other two Saints. It remains to be seen whether the water contained in the chest was chemically prepared, in the time of Angilbert, for the preservation of the three bodies, or if it infiltrated in any other way. In any case, it has been decided to close and seal the chest, which will be opened again before the civil and religious authorities, and with the assistance of chemists who will submit this water to a scientific analysis.

Allow us, in concluding, to say a few words about the highly celebrated cult of our holy Martyrs in the cathedral church of Le Mans Le Mans Episcopal see and primary place of activity of the saint. . We borrow these interesting details from the learned Benedictine Dom Paul Piolin.

« The cathedral church of Le Mans had three altars; at the entrance of the apse was the main altar; it was consecrated to Saints Gervasius and Protasius, and Saint Innocent placed relics of these holy Martyrs there.

« Innocent was not content with the relics of the Milanese Martyrs, which Saint Martin had given to Saint Victorius, and which the latter had deposited in the cathedral church; he sent a message to Saint Dutius, who then governed the Church of Milan with as much glory as holiness, and he obtained from him new relics, more considerable than the first. Innocent wrote a letter of thanks for such a precious gift, and one notes in his letter the passage where he recalls with satisfaction that these holy Martyrs, being natives of Milan, had shed for the glory of God a blood of Le Mans.

« Already it had pleased Providence to allow the presence of the relics of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius in our city to be signaled by numerous miracles; the devotion of our fathers toward the Milanese holy Martyrs immediately took on a new momentum. Everywhere, at that time, basilicas were being built in honor of these glorious brothers; but, in all of Gaul, the Church of Le Mans was regarded as the principal sanctuary, on this side of the Alps, consecrated to these two Martyrs, and people flocked from afar to honor them there. According to certain expressions in diplomas granted by Merovingian kings to our Church, these princes had adopted as patrons of the monarchy, and as their particular protectors, the very patrons of our Church. Hence came the munificence they showed toward our cathedral and the episcopal see of Le Mans.

« The consecration of the cathedral church, under the patronage of these holy Martyrs, was an event whose memory the people of Le Mans loved to preserve and propagate. We know of an onyx engraved in memory of this consecration, which is one of the most curious monuments of the Merovingian era. This stone represents the two holy Martyrs, patrons of our Church, and designates them by their names; they are depicted in the attitude of protection, and the monument itself, which they take under their patronage, bears the inscribed name of the city of our ancestors, *CAENOM*. The divine hand, an expressive symbol of consecration, which is seen on the oldest figurative monuments of Christians, hovers over the entire group.

« A monument of another kind, and which is also of the highest interest, serves to prove the devotion of the people of Le Mans toward the holy patrons of our Church; we speak of a sou, or silver denier, which is kept in the Cabinet of Medals at the National Library. One side of this coin presents two figures extending their hands, as if to bless and protect a monument placed between them, which is surmounted by a cross, with the legend *CONOMANNIS*; on the reverse, one sees a cross raised on a step. Scholars observe that this coin is one of the oldest in Merovingian numismatics, and that it has no analogue anywhere. Our two monuments explain one another and are intended to recall the memory of the consecration of our cathedral church in honor of the holy martyrs Gervasius and Protasius.

« It was to the devotion of the Merovingian kings toward these Saints, much more than to any other personal consideration, that the Church of Le Mans was indebted for the privilege of minting coins, a right of which it remained in possession for several centuries. Thus, the names of Saints Gervasius and Protasius appeared first on this coinage; later, when the Merovingian royalty, better established, became more jealous of its rights, perhaps also by the desire to circulate this currency in a more extended country, the name of the king was associated with that of our holy patrons, but it had not been so in the beginning ».

We have composed this Biography with the interesting details provided to us by Abbé Henri Cougnet, of the parish of the Chapter of the cathedral of Soissons; Abbé Corblet, historiographer of the diocese of Amiens; and the Reverend Father Dom Paul Piolin, beneficiary of the Congregation of France. — Cf. Acta Sanctorum, ad diem xxx junii.