Throughout Augustine’s Confessions, there is a lot of historical information to sort through and all of it having much significance. One of the most important and intriguing stories being the discovery of the bodies of martyrs Gervasius and Protasius. This story helped Christianity spread like wildfire as so many were not only inspired by act of dying for ones faith, but also the intriguing miracles that followed.

During this time in Augustine’s life, there was much division between spiritual beliefs of the people. It all began with Justina who was the mother of the child-emperor Valentinian. She was a full supporter of Arianism, which just so happened to be one of the main competing types of Christianity in Augustine’s time. One of the biggest differences between the two were that the Arians believes that the son of God was lesser than God himself. Their relationship and beliefs with the Holy Trinity were of difference than other forms of Christianity during that time. Due to her powerful position as mother of Valentinian, she was able to issue an edict of toleration for Arian worship in January of 386. With this, she demanded that Ambrose surrender all of the basilicas for Arian worship only. Of course Ambrose being the Chief bishop, strongly opposed of this and arranged for his people to hold a permanent sit-in to prevent any military forces from invading the basilicas for use of Arianism. In the end, Ambrose succeeded, and was able to force Justina out.

Due to the situations of Arianism, the timing of these miraculous events was perfect in regard to showing people true Christianity. As the story goes, Ambrose has a vision that miraculously leads to the discovery of two bodies who end up being Gervasius and Protasius. Both were martyred saints, and both of them were completely incorrupt. After being dug out, they were transferred to Ambroses’ basilica where people from all over came to see and experience them. People were amazed by this and others were even healed by these fine relics. One man that had come up to the basilica had been blind for many years, and after just touching the cloth of one of the martyrs, he was cured. After that miraculous event occurred, word spread fast about what had happened and about the appearance of the martyrs. Praises of God became “fervent and radiant”, and people were strongly drawn towards it all.

During this time, saints and martyrs were a concept of much respect and interest for people. Going back to the history of this concept, before Christianity was legal, many were executed in the Colosseum. One of the greatest and inspiring stories to come out of this horrible and gruesome time is the story of Perpetua. This strong woman was more than willing to die for her faith and was not going to let anyone take it away from her. In the midst of her killing, she even helped the gladiator as he was not even willing to take her life away from her. It is examples like this one that helped Christianity flourish throughout hundreds of years, despite the constant struggles of other forms of religion during those times. Due to strong martyrs like Perpetua, people continued to stay strong in their faith and others even became part of Christianity as they saw it as inspiring to be able to die for one’s faith. This support continued on even in the story of Justina, as the people united with Ambrose in the sit in to defend their basilicas. Despite being attacked by the strongest armies in the world, common Christians stuck their ground and protected their lands. Christians were in awe of martyrdom and it continued to grow for years, as the community of christians became stronger and stronger. More people became drawn as they could not believe the incredible bravery and power it took to die for the faith.

Despite being killed in horrible and gruesome ways, martyrs were viewed as heros and powerful figures in the Christian world. Outsiders would be inspired by what they did in their lives and how they stood up for their beliefs. Without these strong martyrs, Christianity would not have been able to spread like it did for hundreds of years. Martyrs and miracles including ones such as the man stroking the cloth of Gervaius and Protasius, changed the life of many and brought so many towards the church during that time. People in the community wanted to be just like them and wanting to do everything that they could for God. They were in awe that such miracles could happen and had never seen such events happen in their lives before, and it continued to draw in people from all over and still does today.