Litany of Saints
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Protus and Hyacinth

Christian martyrs and saints

SaintResearchedPre-congregation

Feast: 11 September (1962 Missal) · not on the current Roman calendar

Born
300
Died
250
Beatified
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

Protus and Hyacinth are martyrs of Rome, recorded in the Depositio Martyrum of 354 and buried in the cemetery of Bassilla on the Via Salaria, in an area Pope Damasus dedicated to them. Tradition makes them brothers, slaves of Eugenia, daughter of a prefect of Egypt, who entrusted them to her Christian friend Bassilla to be taught the faith; denounced by her husband, Bassilla was condemned with them.

In 1845 archaeologists found Hyacinth's relics still in the catacomb; they are kept at the College of Propaganda Fide.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: they have been honoured as martyrs since the fourth century.

Why that counted as sanctity

Two slaves, taught the faith by a Christian woman, gave their lives for Christ with her.

Sources

Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.

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