Martyrs Vitalis and Valeria of Milan

Martyrs Vitalis and Valeria are venerated according to a later Western tradition as a married couple, parents of the Milanese martyrs Gervasius and Protasius (whose relics were discovered by St. Ambrose of Milan in 386). According to this tradition, Vitalis, a Roman official, witnessed the courageous death of a Christian martyr in Ravenna, came to believe in Christ, and himself suffered martyrdom, being buried alive; soon afterward his wife Valeria, returning to Milan, likewise suffered a martyr's death at the hands of a pagan mob. The historical reliability of this Life, recorded considerably later than the events it describes, is disputed by modern hagiographical scholarship, which notes its late origin and legendary features; nevertheless, the veneration of Vitalis and Valeria as the parents of Gervasius and Protasius became fixed in Western liturgical tradition.