Saints Protus & Hyacinth, Martyrs
Ss. Proti et Hyacinthi Martyrum
Saints Protus and Hyacinth were Roman martyrs of the early Church, brothers in the faith who gave their lives for Christ and were buried on the Old Salarian Way.
On the eleventh of September the Church commemorates Saints Protus and Hyacinth, martyrs of Rome honoured from the earliest ages of the faith. Their names are among the most ancient in the Roman calendar, and they were buried in a cemetery on the Old Salarian Way, where their memory was held in veneration and their feast kept from early times.
Roman martyrs
Of the lives of Saints Protus and Hyacinth little can be affirmed with certainty. Tradition has long held them to be brothers, and they are venerated together as having suffered death for Christ during one of the persecutions of the early Church. That they were truly martyrs, and that their tomb was honoured at Rome, is attested by the antiquity of their cult; the particulars of their passion, however, belong rather to later legend than to sure history, and the Church does not vouch for them.
The veneration of these martyrs received a striking confirmation in modern times. In the nineteenth century the tomb of Saint Hyacinth was discovered intact in the catacomb where the two had been laid, bearing an ancient inscription with his name and the record of his burial. This silent witness from the early Church bore out the long tradition of their martyrdom and their resting-place. Where so much else is uncertain, the faithful may honour with confidence what is sure: that these two confessed Christ, and that the Church of Rome has kept their memory with love across the centuries.
The Collect
Patronage
They are venerated as early martyrs of the Roman Church.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar this commemoration is no longer kept on the universal calendar.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saints Protus and Hyacinth?
Their commemoration is kept on 11 September in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Fourth Class feast. In the modern calendar it is no longer observed on the universal calendar.
Who were Saints Protus and Hyacinth?
They were martyrs of the early Roman Church, venerated by ancient tradition as brothers who gave their lives for Christ. Among the oldest names in the Roman calendar, they were buried on the Old Salarian Way, where their memory was honoured from early times.
What is known for certain about them?
The details of their passion belong to later legend rather than sure history. What is certain is the antiquity of their veneration as martyrs. In the nineteenth century the intact tomb of Saint Hyacinth was discovered in the catacomb, bearing an ancient inscription with his name — a remarkable confirmation of the early tradition.
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