De sancto Gervasio et Prothasio
The Witness of the Twins
Gervasius and Prothasius, sons of saints, endure the cruelty of the governor Astasius and offer their lives for the faith.
The name Gervasius comes from 'gerar,' meaning 'sacred,' and 'vas,' meaning 'vessel'; or perhaps from 'gena,' meaning 'sojourn,' and 'syor,' meaning 'little.' It is as if he were sacred through the merit of his life, a vessel through his receptivity to virtues, a pilgrim through his contempt for the world, and little through his self-abasement. Prothasius comes from 'prothos,' meaning 'first,' and 'syos,' meaning 'God' or 'divine'; or from 'procul' (far) and 'stasis' (position). It is as if he were first in dignity, divine in his love, and positioned far from the world's attachments. Ambrosius discovered the account of their martyrdom written in a small book placed at their heads. Gervasius and Prothasius were twin brothers, the sons of Saint Vitalis and the blessed Valeria. They gave away all their possessions to the poor and lived with Saint Nazarius, who was building an oratory near Ebrudunum, where the boy Celsus helped him by handing him stones. The fact that Nazarius is said to have already had Celsus with him is perhaps an anticipation, since the history of Nazarius suggests that Celsus was only brought to him much later. When they were all being led to the Emperor Nero, the boy Celsus followed them, crying out; when one of the soldiers struck him with his hand and Nazarius rebuked the soldier for doing so, the angry soldiers kicked Nazarius, locked him in prison with the others, and later threw them into the sea, while they took Gervasius and Prothasius to Milan; Nazarius, however, was miraculously freed and came to Milan. At that time, Count Astasius arrived on his way to wage war against the Marcomanni. The worshippers of the gods met him, claiming that their gods refused to answer them unless Gervasius and Prothasius offered sacrifice first. They were immediately seized and invited to offer sacrifice. When Gervasius told him that all the idols were deaf and mute and taught him that victory comes from the almighty God, the count was enraged and ordered him to be beaten with leaded whips until he breathed his last. Then he had Prothasius brought before him and said, "You wretch, try to live and don't perish in a miserable death like your brother." Prothasius replied, "Who is the wretch—me, because I don't fear you, or you, because you're trying to make me fear you?" Astasius said to him, "You wretch, I am—" "—man, how could I fear you?" Prothasius replied, "By this you prove that I fear you and that you are hurt if I don't sacrifice to your gods." For if you weren't afraid of being hurt by me, you would never force me to sacrifice to idols. Then the governor ordered him to be hung on the rack. Prothasius said to him, "I am not angry with you, governor, because I see the eyes of your heart are blind; rather, I pity you, because you don't know what you're doing. Go ahead and do what you've started, so that the kindness of the Savior may come to me and my brother." Then the governor ordered him to be beheaded. But Philippus, a servant of Christ, took their bodies with his son and buried them secretly in his own house in a stone chest, placing a scroll at their heads that contained their birth, death, and life. They suffered, however, under Nero, who began his reign around the fifty-seventh year of our Lord.
The Discovery of the Relics
Through a series of visions granted to Saint Ambrose, the long-hidden bodies of the martyrs are recovered and honored.
. Their bodies remained hidden for a long time, but during the time of the blessed Ambrose, they were discovered in this way. For while Ambrose was in the church of the saints Nabor and Felix, deep in prayer—in such a state that he was neither fully awake nor fully asleep—two very beautiful young men appeared to him, dressed in white robes (that is, in a tunic and cloak), wearing sandals, and standing with their hands outstretched in prayer. Ambrose prayed, therefore, that if this were an illusion, it would not appear again, but if it were the truth, it would be revealed once more. In a similar way, when the rooster crowed, the young men appeared again, praying with him; but on the third night, when he was no longer sleeping but was struck with awe, a third person appeared to him who looked like the apostle Paul, just as he had seen him in a painting. While they remained silent, the apostle said to him: 'These are the ones who, desiring nothing of the earth, have followed my counsel; you will find their bodies in the place where you are standing, and you will find an ark covered with earth at a depth of twelve feet, and at their heads a small book in which their birth and end are recorded.' He called together the neighboring bishops and began digging himself, finding everything just as Paul had told him. Although more than three hundred years had passed, their bodies were found as if they had been placed there that very hour. Furthermore, a most sweet and noble fragrance drifted from them, and a certain blind man who touched the coffin was restored to sight, and many others were healed by their merits. On the feast day of these saints, peace was restored between the Lombards and the Roman Empire, and for this reason Pope Gregory said: 'The Lord will speak peace unto his people,' etc.
Signs and Wonders of the Saints
The chapter concludes with accounts of miracles performed through the saints' intercession and a reflection on their glorious sacrifice.
He established that it should be sung at the entrance of the Mass, which is why the liturgical offices correspond in part to the saints and in part to the events that occurred on those very days. Augustine reports in the twentieth book of The City of God that, while he and the emperor and a great crowd were present, a certain blind man at Milan received his sight at the bodies of the martyrs Gervasius and Protasius. However, it's unknown whether this was the same blind man or another. The same author also reports in the same place that a certain young man in the village of Victoriana, which is thirty miles from Ivrea, was immediately tormented by the devil while washing his horse in a river, and the devil threw him into the river as if he were dead. But when Vespers was being sung in the nearby church of the blessed Gregory and Protasius, he was struck by those voices and, with a great cry, entered the church and clung to the altar, unable to be moved from it, as if he had been bound there. When the demon was adjured to leave him, it threatened to cut off his limbs if it left; when it was adjured and did leave, his eye was cast onto his cheek and hung by a thin vein, but they restored the eye to its place as best they could, and behold, within a few days, through the merits of the saints Gervasius and Protasius, he was fully healed. Ambrose also says in the preface: 'These are they who, marked by the heavenly banner, had taken up the victorious arms of the apostle; freed from worldly ties, they trampled the ranks of the most wicked enemy of vices, and, free and unencumbered, they followed Christ the Lord. O how happy is this brotherhood, which, by clinging to the sacred words, could not be disturbed by any contagion.' O how glorious is the cause of the struggle, where those whom one maternal womb brought forth are crowned together.
Read the original Latin
Gervasius a gerar, quod est sacrum, et vas: vel a gena, quod est incolatus, et syor, parvulus, quasi sacer per vitae meritum, vas per virtutum receptaculum, peregrinus per mundi contemtum, parvulus per sui despectum. — Prothasius a prothos, quod est primum, et syos Deus, sive divinus, vel a procul et stasis, quod est positio, quasi primus per dignitatem, divinus per dilectionem , procul positus a mundi affectione. Horum passionem Ambrosius in libello ad cáput eorum posito scriptam invenit.
Gervasius et Prothasius gemini fratres filii fuerunt sancti Vitalis et beatae Valeriae; qui omnia sua bona pauperibus erogantes manebant cum sancto Nazario, qui apud Ebrudunum oratorium construebat et ei Celsus puer lapides porrigebat. Quod vero Nazarius jam Celsum habuisse narratur, forte per anticipationem acoipitur, um longe post eum sibi fuisse oblatum ex hystoria Nazarii colligatur. Cum autem omnes ad Neronem imperatorem ducerentur, sequebatur eos ejulans puer Celsus; quem cum unus militum alapis caederet et caedentem Nazarius increparet, irati milites Nazarium calcibus ceciderunt et ipsum cum aliis in careere recluserunt et postmodum in mare praecipitaverunt, Gervasium vero et Prothasium Mediolanum duxerunt, Nazarius vero miraculose liberatus Mediolanum venit. Eo tempore superveniente comite Astasio,' qui eontra Marcomannos proficiseebatur ad bellum, Deorum cultores eidem occurrerunt asserentes, quod Dii sibi respondere contemnerent, nisi prius Gervasius et Prothasius immolarent. Gontinuo igitur tenentur ct ut saerificent nvitantur. Cui cum Gervasius omnia ydola surda et muta diceret et ipsum ab omnipotente Deo victoriam habere doceret, iratus tamdiu eum plumbatis caedi jussit, quamdiu spiritum exhalaret. Deinde Prothasium accersiri fecit eique dixit: miser, vel tu vivere stude et noli cum fratre tuo mala morte perire. Cui Prothasius: quis est miser, ego, qui te non timeo, aut tu, qui me timere probaris?
Cui Astasius: ego te, miser . homo, quomodo timeo? Cui Prothasius: in hoc me timere et te laedi probaris, si non sacrificavero Diis tuis. Si enim te laedi a me nequaquam timeres, nunquam ad sacrificium ydolorum me ipse compelleres. Tunc eum comes in equuleum suspendi praecepit. Cui Prothasius: non tibi, comes, irascor, quoniam caecos tui oculos cordis attendo, quin potius tui misereor, quia nescis, quid facias, Ageigitur, quod coepisti, ut mihi cum fratre occurrere possit benignitas salvatoris. Tunc comes jussit eum decollari, Philippus autem servus Christi cum filio suo corpora eorum rapuit et occulte in domo sua in archa saxea sepelivit et libellum eorum ortum, finem et vitam continentem ad eorum caput posuit. Passi sunt autem sub Nerone, qui coepit circa annos domini quinquagesimum septimum !)
. Horum corpora multo tempore latuerunt, sed tempore beati Ambrosii hoc modo reperta fuerunt. Ambrosio namque in ecclesia sanctorum Naboris et Felicis in oratione posito ita, ut nec vigilaret aperte, nec dormiret integre, apparuerunt ei duo pulcherrimi juvenes vestibus candidis, id est colobio et pallio induti, ealiculis calcati, secum manibus extensi orantes. Oravit igitur Ambrosius, ut, si esset illusio, non ultra appareat, si autem veritas, denuo reveletur. Simili igitur modo canente gallo orantes secum juvenes apparuerunt, tertia vero nocte defecto jam corporevigiliis non dormienti, sed stupenti cum tertia sibi apparuere persona, quae similis Panlo apostolo videbatur, secundum quod in pictura prospexerat, illisque tacentibus apostolus sibi dixit: isti sunt, qui nihil terrenum desiderantes monita mea secuti sunt, quorum corpora in eo loco reperies, in quo stas, duodecim pedum altitudine terra coopertam archam invenies et ad caput eorum libellum, in quo ortus eorum continetur et finis. Convocatis igitur vicinis coepiscopis ipse prior terrae fossor accessit et omnia, pront dixerat sibi Paulus, invenit et licet jam trecenti anni et ultra fluxissent, ita tamen corpora eorum sunt reperta, ac si ipsa hora ibidem fuissent reposita. Insuper vero odor suavissimus et nobilis inde fragrabat, caecus autem quidam tangens feretrum illuminatus est et multi alii meritis eorum curati sunt. In horum sollemnitate pax inter Longobardos et Romanum imperium reformata fuit et ideo Gregorius papa: loquetur dominus pacem in plebem suam etc.
, in introitu missae cantari instituit, unde et officia partim sanctis con23 a veniunt, partim eventibus, qui ipsis contigere diebus. Refert Augustinus in libro vicesimo de civitate Dei, quod ipso praesente et imperatore et multa turba quidam caecus apud Mediolanum ad corpora martirum Gervasii et Prothasii lumen recepit. Utrum autem sit praedictus caecus an alius, ignoratur. Idem quoque refert ibidem, quod quidam juvenis in villa Victoriana, quae ab Ypporegio triginta milliaribus distat, cum in quodam flumine equum lavaret, continuo dyabolus eum vexavit et in flumen tamquam mortuum projecit. Cum autem'vespere in ecclesia beatorum Gregorii et Prothasii, quae prope erat, cantaretur, ille vocibus illis quasi percussus cum grandi fremitu ecclesiam intrans altare tenebat, inde amoveri non valens, tamquam si ibidem alligatus fuisset. Ei cum daemon, ut inde exiret, adjuraretur, ille se ejus membra amputare, si exiret, minabatur: cum ergo adjuratus exiret, oculus ejus in maxillam fusus tenui venula dependebat, sed in loco suo, sicut potuerunt, oculum revocaverunt et ecce intra paucos dies meritís sanctorum Gervasii et Prothasii plene sanatus est. Ambrosius quoque in praefatione sic ait: hi sunt, qui vexillo coelesti signati victricia apostoli arma sumpserant a mundanis nexibus absoluti, nequissimi hostis vitiorum aciem prosternentes liberi et expediti Christum dominum sunt secuti, O quam felix germanitas, quae sacris inhaerendo eloquiis nullo potuit interpellari contagio. O quam gloriosa certaminis causa, ubi pariter coronantur, quos unus uterus maternus effudit.
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