Letters Separated from the Ambrosian Collection

AMBROSE bishop, servant of Christ, to the sacred virgins.

1. The Feast and Youth of Saint Agnes

Let us celebrate the feast day of the most sacred virgin: let the psalms resound from this side, let the readings ring out from that side: let the crowds of the people rejoice from this side, let the poor of Christ be relieved from that side. Let us all, then, rejoice in the Lord, and for the edification of virgins let us call to memory in what manner the most blessed Agnes suffered. At that time there was a certain virgin at Rome, born of noble lineage, named Agnes, who, contending against the principalities and powers of darkness, in the thirteenth year of her age lost her death and found her life; because she loved only the Author of life. Indeed she was reckoned an infant in years, but she had the old age of the mind in her character: young in body, but gray-haired in soul. Beautiful in face, but more beautiful in faith, and more elegant in chastity.

2. The Prefect's Son Falls in Love with Agnes

While she was returning from school, she was fallen in love with by the son of the prefect of the City. When his parents had made inquiry and found her, they began to offer beautiful things, and to promise more beautiful ones still. At length they brought with them the most precious ornaments, which by the blessed Agnes were rejected as it were dung. Whence it came about that the young man was urged by a greater goad of love, and thinking that the maiden wished to receive better ornaments, he brought with him every precious stone, and glory too: and both by himself, and through friends, and through acquaintances and kinsfolk, he began to assail the ears of the virgin, promising riches, houses, possessions, households, and all the delights of this world, if she would not refuse her consent to marriage with him.

3. Agnes Describes Her Heavenly Bridegroom

To this the blessed Agnes is said to have given this reply to the young man: Depart from me, kindling of sin, nourishment of crime, food of death: depart from me; for I have already been forestalled by another lover, who has offered me far better ornaments, and has betrothed me with the ring of his faith, one far nobler than you both in birth and in dignity. He has adorned my right hand with a priceless bracelet, and has girded my neck with precious stones. He has hung upon my ears priceless pearls, and has surrounded me with flourishing and glittering gems. He has set his sign upon my face, that I should admit no lover but himself. He has clothed me with a robe woven with gold, and adorned me with immense necklaces. He has shown me incomparable treasures, which he has promised to give me, if I persevere in his love.

I cannot therefore, to the injury of my former lover, even look upon another and forsake him with whom I am bound by love; whose nobility is loftier, whose power is stronger, whose countenance is more beautiful, whose love is sweeter, and who is more elegant in every grace. By whom a bridal chamber has already been prepared for me, whose instruments resound to me with harmonious voices, whose virgins sing to me with most righteous voices. Already I have received honey and milk from his mouth, already I have been bound in his chaste embraces, already his body has been joined to my body, and his blood has adorned my cheeks. Whose mother is a virgin, whose father knows no woman; whom angels serve, whose beauty the sun and moon admire, at whose fragrance the dead revive, at whose touch the sick are strengthened, whose wealth never fails, and whose riches never diminish. To him alone I keep my faith, to him I commit myself with all devotion.

When I love him, I am chaste; when I touch him, I am pure; when I receive him, I am a virgin. Nor after the marriage will children be lacking, where childbirth follows without pain, and fruitfulness is daily increased.

Hearing this, the most foolish young man is consumed by blind love, and between the anguish of mind and body he was tormented, panting in spirit. Meanwhile he is laid low upon his bed, and through deep sighs his love is disclosed to the physicians. What had been discovered by the physicians is made known to the father, and by the same paternal voice, the things already spoken by the son are turned again to the petition of the virgin. The most blessed Agnes refuses, and declares that she will violate the covenant of her former spouse by no compact whatsoever. And when the father said that he held the office of praetor, invested with the fasces, and that therefore no man, however illustrious, ought to be preferred before him; nevertheless he began most vehemently to inquire who was the spouse in whose power the holy Agnes boasted. Then one of his parasites arose, who said that she had been a Christian from infancy, and was so possessed by magic arts, that she said Christ was her spouse.

4. The Suitor's Illness and the Father's Discovery

Hearing this, Symphronius the prefect became glad, and sending an officer with great noise, ordered her to be brought before his tribunal. And first indeed he privately urges her with flattering words, then he assails her with terrors. But the virgin of Christ is neither seduced by flattery, nor shaken by terror: but persevering with the same countenance, the same mind, she likewise derided in her mind the one who threatened as she did the one who flattered. Seeing therefore such constancy in the girl, Symphronius the prefect addressed her parents: and since they were noble, and he could not use force against them, he objected to them the charge of Christianity. On the following day he ordered Agnes to be brought before him: and repeating again and again, he began once more to raise the subject of the young man's love.

5. Symphronius Tries Flattery and Threats

And when all his words were failing in vain labor, he ordered her to be brought before his tribunal, and said to her: Unless the superstition of the Christians, in whose magic arts you boast yourself, be removed from you, you will not be able to cast off the madness of your breast, nor give your consent to most reasonable counsels. Wherefore it is necessary that you hasten to the venerable goddess Vesta, and if perseverance in virginity pleases you, that you attend her reverend sacrifices day and night. To this the blessed Agnes replied: If I refused your son, though vexed by an unjust love, yet a living man: a man indeed who is capable of reason, who can hear, and see, and touch, and walk, and enjoy the brightness of this light along with good things: if therefore for the love of Christ I can by no reason regard him; how can I worship mute and deaf idols, without sense and without soul, and to the injury of the Most High God bow my neck to worthless stones?

6. Agnes Ordered to Sacrifice to Vesta

Hearing this, the prefect Symphronius said: I desire to offer counsel to your childhood, and I still delay you though you blaspheme the gods, because I regard your years as below full understanding. Do not therefore so despise yourself, as to incur the anger of the gods. The blessed Agnes replied: Do not so despise the childhood of my body in me, as to think that I wish to have you favorable to me. For faith consists not in years but in feelings; and Almighty God approves minds rather than ages. As for your gods, whose anger you do not wish me to incur; permit them to be angry themselves, bid them speak for themselves: let them themselves command this of me, let them themselves order themselves to be worshipped, let them themselves order themselves to be adored. But since I see that you are aiming at this, which you will not be able to obtain, do whatever seems good to you.

7. Symphronius Warns of the Gods' Anger

Symphronius the prefect said: Choose one of two things for yourself, either sacrifice with the virgins of the goddess Vesta, or you will be prostituted with harlots in the company of a brothel. And far from you will be the Christians, who have so imbued you with magic arts, that you are confident you can endure this calamity with fearless mind. Wherefore, as I have said, either sacrifice to the goddess Vesta to the honor of your family: or, to the disgrace of your birth, you will be a harlot cast down to public abjection. Then the blessed Agnes said with great constancy: If you knew who my God is, you would not utter these words from your mouth. Wherefore I, because I know the power of my Lord Jesus Christ, secure, despise your threats, believing that I shall neither sacrifice to your idols, nor be defiled by alien pollutions; for I have with me the guardian of my body, the angel of the Lord.

For the only-begotten Son of God, whom you do not know, is to me an impregnable wall, and is to me a guardian who never sleeps, and a defender who never fails: but your gods are either of bronze, from which pots are better made for the use of men, or of stone, from which streets are better paved to avoid mud. But divinity does not dwell in worthless stones, but in the heavens: not in bronze or in any metal, but abides in the kingdom above. But you and those like you, unless you withdraw from the worship of these things, a like punishment will enclose you; for as they were melted by fire, that they might be cast into shape, so those who worship them shall be melted by everlasting fire: not that they may be cast into shape, but that they may be confounded forever, and perish.

8. The Choice of Sacrifice or the Brothel

At this the insane judge ordered her to be stripped, and led naked to the brothel, with the voice of the herald proclaiming that Agnes, a sacrilegious virgin, a blasphemer of the gods, was given over as a harlot to the brothels. But as soon as she was stripped and her hair loosed, divine grace granted such thickness to her hair, that she seemed better covered by its fringes than by garments. But entering that place of shame, she found the angel of the Lord already prepared there, so that he surrounded her with immense light, so that no one could look upon her for the splendor, nor touch her, nor see her. For that whole cell shone as if it were the sun radiant in its power; and the more anyone wished to be curious, the more his sight was blunted.

And when she had prostrated herself in prayer to the Lord, there appeared before her eyes a most white robe, and taking hold of it she put it on herself, and said: I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, who, counting me among the number of your handmaids, have commanded this garment to be granted to me. For the garment was so fitted to the measure of her little body, and so conspicuous with excessive whiteness, that no one doubted that this had been prepared by angelic hands. Meanwhile the brothel became a place of prayer, in which all who entered adored and reverenced, giving honor to God for the immense splendor, and went forth cleaner than they had entered.

9. Agnes Stripped and Led to the Brothel

While these things were happening, the prefect's son, who was the author of this crime, came to the place with his young companions, as if to mock the girl, with whom he believed he could exercise the mockery of his lust: but having entered, when he had sent ahead of him young men, fervent and cruelly raging, they came out with great veneration and immense wonder, and he began to accuse them as impotent, and to judge them vain and soft and wretched. And mocking them, he boldly entered the place where the virgin was praying: and seeing so great a light around her, he gave no honor to God: but rushing into the very light, before he could even touch her with his hand, he fell upon his face, and, choked by the devil, expired.

But his companions, seeing that he was delaying long within, thought that he was occupied with obscene acts. And one of the young men, who was familiar with him, entering as if to congratulate him on his mockery, and finding him dead, cried out with a loud voice, saying: Most pious Romans, come to help: with magic arts this harlot has killed the prefect's son. Suddenly a crowd of people gathered to the theater, and various shouts of the raging people arose. Some called her a sorceress, others innocent, others cried out that she was sacrilegious.

10. The Death of the Prefect's Son

But the prefect, hearing that his son had perished, came to the theater with great tumult and mourning; and entering the place where the body of his son lay lifeless, he said with great outcry to the most blessed virgin: Most cruel of all women, you wished to demonstrate a proof of your magic art upon my son; and as he entangled such things and others of this kind, and vehemently inquired of her the cause of his death, the most blessed Agnes said to him: He whose will he wished to accomplish, he himself took power over him. But as for all those who entered to me, they went forth healthy: because all of them gave honor to God, who sent his angel, and clothed me with this garment of his mercy, and guarded my body, which from its very cradle has been consecrated and offered to Christ.

But seeing the angelic splendor, they all worshipped, and departed unharmed: but this shameless one, as soon as he entered, began to rage and to fume; and when he stretched forth his hand to touch me, the angel of the Lord gave him over to that reprobate death which you see.

11. The Prefect Accuses Agnes of the Death

The prefect says to her: In this it will appear that you did not do this by magic arts, if you shall have entreated that same angel to restore my son to me safe and sound. To whom the blessed Agnes replied: Although your faith does not deserve to obtain this from the Lord; yet since it is time that the power of my Lord Jesus Christ be made manifest, go all of you outside, that I may offer him my accustomed prayer. And when all had gone outside, and she had prostrated herself upon her face on the pavement, she began to entreat the Lord to raise up the young man. And as she prayed, the angel of the Lord appeared to her, and raised her up as she wept, and, comforting her mind, raised up the young man.

And he, going forth outside, began to cry out with a public voice and to say: There is one God in heaven and on earth and in the sea, who is the God of the Christians; for all temples are vain: the gods who are worshipped are all vain, and are utterly unable to give any help either to themselves or to others.

12. Agnes Prays and Restores the Young Man

At this voice all the soothsayers and priests of the temples were thrown into confusion, and through them the sedition of the peoples became more violent than it had been, and all with one voice cried out: Away with the witch, away with the sorceress, who both changes minds and alienates souls. But the prefect, seeing such great marvels, was astonished; yet fearing proscription if he should act against the priests of the temples, and defend Agnes against their sentences, he left his vicar as judge over the sedition of the people, and himself withdrew sorrowful, because he had not been able, after the resurrection of his son, to set her free. Then the vicar, named Aspasius, not enduring the sedition of the people, ordered a great fire to be kindled in the sight of all, and commanded her to be thrown into the midst of the flames. When this had been done, immediately the flames were divided into two parts, and on this side and that burned up the seditious people; but the fire touched her not at all.

And the people, attributing this rather to sorceries than to divine powers, raised murmurs among themselves, and countless shouts to heaven.

13. Uproar of the People and the Unharmed Fire

Then blessed Agnes, stretching out her hands in the midst of the fire, poured forth this prayer to the Lord in these words: Almighty, to be adored, worshipped, and dreaded Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, I bless thee, because through thy Son I have escaped the threats of impious men, and have passed through the filthy snares of the devil with an unstained path. Behold, now bedewed with the heavenly dew of the Holy Spirit, the fire beside me is loosed, the flame is divided, and the burning of this blaze is poured out upon those by whom it is ministered. I bless thee, Father worthy to be praised, who even amid the flames dost permit me to come to thee undismayed. Behold, now I see what I believed; what I hoped for, I now hold; what I longed for, I embrace. I confess thee with lips and heart, and desire thee with my whole inward being.

Behold, I come to thee, the living and true God, who with the Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, and with the Holy Spirit, livest and reignest now and always through infinite ages of ages, amen.

14. Agnes's Prayer Amid the Flames

And when she had completed her prayer, the whole fire was so extinguished that not even the warmth of the burning remained. Then Aspasius, vicar of the city of Rome, not enduring the sedition of the people, ordered a sword to be plunged into her throat: and by this end, bathed in the rosy redness of her own blood, Christ consecrated her to himself as bride and martyr. But her parents, having no sorrow at all, with all joy took away her body, and placed it upon their own estate not far from the City, on the road which is called the Nomentana. Where, when all the crowd of Christians gathered together, they suffered ambushes from the pagans; and seeing the multitude of unbelievers coming upon them armed, all fled; but some, wounded by blows of stones, escaped.

15. The Beheading and Burial of Agnes

While she prayed amid so great a host, her foster-sister, the most holy virgin Emerentiana, stood constant and unmoved, and reproached them with these words, saying: Superfluous, wretched, fleeting, and most savage ones, worshipping the almighty God you have slain, and in defense of stones have cut the throats of innocent men. While she said these and like things to the raging crowds, she was stoned by them, and praying beside the sepulcher of the most blessed virgin Agnes, gave up her spirit. There is no doubt that she was baptized in her own blood, who, in defense of righteousness, while confessing the Lord, steadfastly received death. In that same hour a most violent earthquake occurred; and although the sky was exceedingly clear, such flashes of lightning, and such thunderbolts and thunders arose, that the greater part of the raging people expired. Whence it came to pass that from that time none of those who came to the tombs of the saints stirred up any troubles at all.

But the parents of the blessed virgin Agnes, coming by night with priests, took away the body of Emerentiana, and buried it on the border of the little field of the most blessed virgin Agnes.

16. The Martyrdom of Emerentiana at the Tomb

Therefore, while the parents of holy Agnes kept constant nightly vigils at her sepulcher, in the silence of the middle of the night they see a host of virgins, all clothed in tunics woven with gold, passing by with a great light: among whom they also see the most blessed Agnes shining likewise, and the Lamb standing at her right hand. When her parents and those who were with them saw this, they were held as if seized with stupor of mind. But blessed Agnes asked the holy virgins to halt their step for a little while, and standing, said to her parents: See that you do not mourn me as dead, but rejoice with me and congratulate me; for with these virgins I have received shining seats, and I am joined in the heavens to him whom, while placed on earth, I loved with my whole devotion. And having said these things, she passed on.

17. A Vision of Agnes Among the Virgins

This vision was made publicly known by all who had seen it. Whence it came to pass that after some years this event was related to Constantia, daughter of Augustus, by those who had seen it. Now Constantia herself was a most prudent virgin, but so beset with sores that from head to foot no part of her limbs remained free. Having received, however, hope of recovering health, she came by night to the sepulcher of the martyr; and although a pagan, yet with a believing intention of mind she poured out prayers faithfully. While she was doing this, she was suddenly seized by the sweetness of sleep, and saw in a vision the most blessed Agnes offering her such counsel: Act with constancy, Constantia, and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is your Savior, through whom you shall now obtain healing of all the wounds which you suffer in your body. At this voice Constantia awoke, healed, and so healed that not even the mark of any wound remained on her limbs.

Returning therefore to the palace in perfect health, she brought joy to her father Augustus and to her brothers the emperors. The whole city was crowned with garlands, there was rejoicing among the soldiers and their chief men, and all who heard these things, the infidelity of the nations was confounded, and the faith of the Lord rejoiced.

18. Constantia's Healing at the Tomb of Agnes

Meanwhile she asked her father and her brothers the Augusti, that they should build a basilica for blessed Agnes, and ordered a dwelling to be established for herself there. Now this report ran to all, and as many as, believing, came to her sepulcher, were healed, whatever infirmity held them. That Christ does this, no one doubts even to this day. And Constantia herself, daughter of Augustus, persevered in virginity, through whose example many virgins, both of middling and of noble and illustrious rank, took up the sacred veils. And because faith does not suffer loss through death, even to this day many virgins at Rome behold the most blessed Agnes as if remaining in the body, and following her example, persevere manfully and unimpaired, believing without doubt that those who persevere obtain the palm of perpetual victory.

19. The Basilica of Agnes and Constantia's Virginity

These things I, Ambrose, servant of Christ, when I found them written down in hidden volumes, could not suffer to be covered over in unfruitful silence. Therefore, in honor of so great a martyr, I have written down her deeds as I came to know them; and for your edification, O virgins of Christ, I have believed the text of her passion should be sent forth, beseeching the power of the Holy Spirit, that our labor may be found fruitful in the sight of God for your imitation, to whom be honor and glory forever, amen.

AMBROSE, servant of Christ, to the brethren throughout all Italy, eternal salvation in the Lord.

1. Ambrose Explains His Purpose in Writing

In the divine volumes he is set down as guilty who has not been zealous to give freely what he himself received freely; for whatever was to be of profit to the Church of the Lord, he is charged with having withheld, since he was unwilling to hand on to all what he himself had received not to be hidden. Whence the Psalmist prophet sings: I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart: I have declared thy truth and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy mercy in a great congregation. And, as it were seeking a recompense from God for this work, he added: But thou, O Lord, be not thou far from me: let thy mercy not be removed far from me. As if he said to God: as I have caused others to find mercy, so may you not suffer your mercies to be far from me.

Let us therefore open why we have set these things forth beforehand, and invite your minds, who piously feel and believe concerning the Lord, to rejoicing over the finding of the holy bodies.

2. On the Duty to Share What Is Received

So then, in the days of the Lent lately past, when the Lord had granted to me that he made me a partaker of those fasting and praying, being set in prayer, sleep so overcame me that, neither clearly waking nor fully sleeping, I saw with open eyes with me two young men, in the bloom of youth, clothed in most white garments, that is, in tunic and cloak, shod with light boots, praying with hands outstretched. Suffering indeed no heaviness, I was not able to speak with them: but because, as I said, a part of sleep weighed upon me, which did not allow me to bring forth a word in answer to their question. But upon my fully waking, their vision slipped away from my eyes.

3. Ambrose's Vision of Two Young Men Praying

It came to pass then that I besought the mercy of the Lord, that if it were a mockery of demons, it might depart; but if it were truth, it might appear more fully. To obtain what I asked from the Lord I increased my fasting: and in like manner, at the cock's crow, the same young men appeared praying with me.

4. The Vision Renewed Through Fasting and Prayer

On the third night, however, my body being exhausted by fasts, not sleeping but in a kind of stupor, a certain third person appeared to me, who was like the blessed apostle Paul, whose face a painting had taught me, so much so that he himself spoke with me, while the others were silent, saying: These are they who, having followed my admonitions, spurning estates and riches, have followed the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ, desiring nothing earthly and nothing carnal, and persevering for ten years in the service of God in the midst of this city of Milan, have merited to attain to this, that they were made martyrs of Christ. Their bodies, young man, are in that same place where you stand and pray. You will find a chest covered with earth to a depth of twelve feet, which chest you will raise up, and in their name you will build a church.

And when I asked him their names, he said to me: At their head you will find a written booklet, in which both their birth and their end is written.

5. The Apostle Paul Reveals the Martyrs' Resting Place

Calling together therefore all the brethren round about and the bishops of the neighboring cities, relating all that I had seen and heard, in their presence I myself was the first to approach as a digger of the earth; but the other bishops followed, and digging, we came to the chest which the holy Paul had promised: which, when we opened it, we found the saints as if placed there in that very hour, breathing forth a wondrous fragrance. At their head we found a booklet, in which all these things were written down in order:

6. The Bishops Dig and Find the Relics

I, Philip, servant of Christ, buried within my own house the bodies of the saints, which I snatched away together with my son. Their mother was called Valeria and their father Vitalis: who bore them twins in a single birth, and named the one Protasius, the other Gervasius.

7. Philip's Account of the Martyrs' Birth

Their father Vitalis, a soldier of consular rank, when he had entered Ravenna with his judge Paulinus, and Paulinus had begun to seek out Christians for sacrificing, there was brought before him a certain Christian named Ursicinus, a physician by trade, a Ligurian by nation. Then Paulinus ordered him to be tortured in his presence, saying: Sacrifice, Ursicinus, to the immortal gods. But he, answering, said to him: I will not sacrifice to the deaf and dumb, but I will sacrifice to my Lord Jesus Christ. And when he saw that he could not turn him from his constancy, after excessive torments, he ordered him to undergo the capital sentence. Now that place, where Christians were beheaded, had this name, that it was called, At the Palm. For there was there an ancient tree of the palm.

8. The Martyrdom of Ursicinus at Ravenna

Therefore, as we said, when after excessive torments the holy Ursicinus had come to the Palm to be beheaded, he was afraid: and while he wished to escape wrongfully, St. Vitalis cried out, saying: Do not, do not, Ursicinus the physician, you who were accustomed to heal others, wound yourself with the dart of eternal death; and you who through so great sufferings have come to the palm, do not lose the crown prepared by the Lord. Hearing these things, holy Ursicinus set his knee down, and urged the executioner to strike him; repenting that he had been afraid. The executioner, striking him, made him a martyr of Christ. And immediately holy Vitalis, taking up the body of the martyr, buried it within the city of Ravenna with all the honor due to a martyr, and holy Vitalis scorned to come any more before the judge. Whom the consular Paulinus therefore ordered to be seized above all; not only because he had scorned to return to him, but also because he had thereby been detected as a Christian.

9. Vitalis Encourages Ursicinus and Buries the Martyr

Then his servants, seizing him, brought him before him. And Paulinus, seeing him, said to him: How have you been deceived by sorceries, Vitalis, that you do not sacrifice to the gods? To him he answered: I do not sacrifice to the deaf and dumb, but I sacrifice to my God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them, and to Jesus Christ his Son, who with him and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns. Then Paulinus ordered him to be raised on the rack, that through torments he might compel his consent to sacrifice. But holy Vitalis strove to render to God the precious gem which the devil was striving to seize. And answering, he said to him: Infinite folly rules over you: do you think you can deceive me, who have striven to free others from the danger of death or of deception?

10. Vitalis Refuses to Sacrifice Before Paulinus

Then Paulinus the consular said to the Officer: Lead him to the palm tree, and do not behead him if he should refuse to sacrifice; but make a pit in the earth, deep enough that you reach water, and there lay him face upward, and heap earth and stones upon him, and leave him there. When this had been done, God so consecrated Vitalis as His holy martyr, that the priest of Apollo who had given this counsel to the judge Paulinus, being filled with the devil, cried out for seven days as one possessed, there where holy Vitalis had been buried, saying: You burn me, martyr; you torment me, holy one. But after seven days, cast down by the devil into the river, he expired. But holy Vitalis, the glorious martyr of Christ, near the city of Ravenna bestows benefits by his prayers and intercessions upon all who believe in Jesus Christ, even to this present day.

11. The Burial and Death of Vitalis

Valeria, however, his wife, while she wished to remove the body of holy Vitalis, was prevented by Christians, and was often warned in visions not to disturb the holy body, which had been well placed by an evil man. But as she persisted in her intention, holy Vitalis appeared to her more clearly, saying to her: Do not trouble me, woman; for you will never be able to prepare for me so glorious a tomb as the Lord Jesus Christ has ordered to be made for me.

12. Valeria Warned Not to Disturb Vitalis's Tomb

But she, while returning to the city of the Milanese, encountered on the way idolatrous men sacrificing to Silvanus; and when they saw her, taking her down from her carriage, they urged her to feast with them. And when she resisted, saying: I am a Christian, it is not lawful for me to eat of the sacrifices of your Silvanus, immediately, upon hearing this, they slaughtered her with such a beating that her own people scarcely brought her, half dead, to the city of the Milanese, so that within three days she passed over to Christ.

13. The Martyrdom of Valeria

And after their father, blessed Vitalis, was crowned with martyrdom, and their most blessed mother Valeria passed over to Christ, Gervasius and Protasius, having succeeded their parents by right of intestacy, sold the house of their own in which they had been born, and all the goods and small estates of their parents, and gave the whole price to the poor, and made their household servants free-born: and they themselves shut themselves up in one upper room, and for ten years, devoting themselves to reading and prayer, in this manner in the eleventh year of their conversion they attained to the palm of martyrdom.

14. Gervasius and Protasius Renounce Their Inheritance

When the count Astasius arrived, who was setting out to war, which had been stirred up by the Marcomanni, the worshippers of the temples with their priests met him, saying: If you wish to return glad and victorious to our Augusti, compel Gervasius and Protasius to sacrifice to our gods; for our gods are greatly disturbed by their contempt, and refuse to give us a response.

15. Priests Urge Astasius to Compel Sacrifice

Hearing this, the count Astasius ordered them to be seized and brought to him. To whom he said: I urge you, moderating your affronts to our gods, to be zealous in devoted study to sacrifice to them, that my expedition may be prosperously accomplished. Blessed Gervasius said: You ought to seek victory from heaven, from Almighty God, not from unclean and empty images, which are proved to have eyes without light, ears without hearing, nostrils without smell, a mouth without speech, hands without touch, feet without step, and a belly without inward parts, and are known to be without breath. The count Astasius, indignant, ordered him to be beaten with leaded whips for as long as it took for him to breathe out his spirit.

16. The Martyrdom of Gervasius

When he had been removed, he ordered Protasius to stand before him, to whom he said: Wretch, at least be zealous to live, and do not become one dying a violent death, as your brother did. Protasius, answering him, said: Who is the wretch, I who do not fear, or you who are proved to fear me? The count said: How do I fear you? Protasius answered: In this, that you fear to be harmed if I do not sacrifice; for if you did not fear to be harmed by me, you would not compel me to sacrifice. But I, not fearing you, despise your threats, and count all your idols as dung, and worship the one God who reigns in the heavens.

17. Astasius Questions Protasius on Fear

Hearing this, Astasius ordered him to be beaten with clubs. But afterward, when he had been raised up, he said to him: Wretch, why do you show yourself so proud and so rebellious? Do you wish to perish, as you have proved your brother perished? Protasius said: I am not angry with you, neither, nor is justice itself; for I regard the blind eyes of your heart: for the unbelief that reigns in your senses does not permit you to see what is of God. For my Lord Jesus Christ also did not curse those who crucified Him, but rather prayed that it might be forgiven them, adding also this, that they did not know what they did. Wherefore I also have pity on you, because you do not know what you are doing. Do, therefore, what you have begun, that this day the kindness of our Saviour may come to meet me together with my brother Gervasius.

18. The Martyrdom of Protasius

Then the count Astasius ordered him to be beheaded. When this had been done, I, Philip, together with my son, secretly by night took away the bodies of these saints, and in my house, with God alone as witness, they remained in this stone coffin until For at that time, when it came to pass I buried them, believing that by their prayers I would obtain the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever, amen.