Hyacinth and Protus

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Saint Hyacinth and Protus
Martyrs
Died 3rd century, Rome
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church; Coptic Church
Major shrine San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, as well as the chapel of the Propaganda College. Both in Rome.
Feast September 11
Attributes Depicted as two young men, holding the crowns of martyrdom
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For the Polish saint, see Saint Hyacinth.

Hyacinth and Protus were Christian martyrs during the persecution of Valerian I (257-259 AD). Protus' name is sometimes spelled Protatius, Proteus, Prothus, Prote, and Proto. His name was corrupted in England as Saint Pratt. Hyacinth is sometimes called by his Latin name Hyacinthus (in French Hyacinthe; Spanish Jacinto; Italian Giacinto).

The day of their annual commemoration is mentioned in the Depositio Martyrum in the chronographia for 354 (Thierry Ruinart, "Acta martyrum", ed. Ratisbon, 632) under September 11. The chronographia also mentions their graves, in the Coemeterium of Basilla on the Via Salaria, later the Catacomb of St. Hermes. The Itineraries and other early authorities likewise give this place of burial (De Rossi, "Roma sotterranea", I, 176-7).

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[edit] Tradition

The martyrdom of Saints Hyacinth and Protus. From a 14th century manuscript.
The martyrdom of Saints Hyacinth and Protus. From a 14th century manuscript.

Tradition holds that Protus and Hyacinth were brothers. They served as chamberlains to Saint Eugenia, and were baptized along with her by Helenus, Bishop of Heliopolis. Devoting themselves zealously to the study of Sacred Scripture, they lived with the hermits of Egypt and later accompanied Eugenia to Rome. There, they were arrested for their Christianity by Emperor Gallienus (260-268). Refusing to deny their faith, they were scourged and then beheaded on September 11.

[edit] The Graves of Sts. Hyacinth and Protus

In 1845 Father Marchi discovered the still undisturbed grave of St. Hyacinth in a crypt of the above- mentioned catacomb. It was a small square niche in which lay the ashes and pieces of burned bone wrapped in the remains of costly stuffs (Marchi, "Monumenti primitivi: I, Architettura della Roma sotterranea cristina", Rome, 1844, 238 sqq., 264 sqq.). Evidently the saint had been burnt; most probably both martyrs had suffered death by fire. The niche was closed by a marble slab similar to that used to close a loculus, and bearing the original Latin inscription that confirmed the date in the old Martyrology:

D P III IDUS SEPTEBR

YACINTHUS

MARTYR

(Buried on 11 September Hyacinthus Martyr).

In the same chamber were found fragments of an architrave belonging to some later decoration, with the words:

. . . S E P U L C R U M P R O T I M(artyris) . . .

(Grave of the Martyr Protus)

Thus both martyrs were buried in the same crypt. Pope Damasus I wrote an epitaph in honour of the two martyrs, part of which still exists (Ihm, "Damasi epigrammata", 52, 49). In the epitaph Damasus calls Protus and Hyacinth brothers. When Pope Leo IV (847-55) translated the bones of a large number of Roman martyrs to the churches of Rome, the relics of these two saints were to be translated also; but, probably on account of the devastation of the burial chamber, only the grave of St. Protus was found. His bones were transferred to San Salvatore on the Palatine Hill. The remains of St. Hyacinth were placed (1849) in the chapel of the Propaganda College. Later the tombs of the two saints and a stairway built at the end of the fourth century were discovered and restored.

[edit] Cult in England

The parish church of Blisland in Cornwall was dedicated to Saint Protus. It is known locally as St Pratt and St Hyacinth.

[edit] External links

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

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