Saint Gervase and Saint Protase (165)

These are two heroic brothers who shed their blood for the Catholic Faith in the city of Milan, in Italy, in the second century. They are called the protomartyrs of Milan. The relics of Saint Gervase and Saint Protase were discovered by Saint Ambrose in the fourth century. Their bodies now repose in the Church of Saint Ambrose in Milan. Saint Gervase and Saint Protase are mentioned always in the Litany of the Saints. They are two of the eleven holy martyrs especially remembered in this sacred litany. The other nine are: Saint Stephen, Saint Laurence, Saint Vincent, Saint Fabian and Saint Sebastian, Saint John and Saint Paul, and Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian.

“The martyrdom of Saints Gervase and Protase,” from a 14th-century manuscript (source).