“Only the one who perseveres to the end will be saved, and that it is of no use to begin, if we do not complete the work of saving our soul” Saint Gregory the Great

Tarsilla and Emiliana were two paternal aunts of Saint Gregory the Great and nieces of Pope Saint Felix III. Gregory wrote in his homily that his father the Senator Gordian, had three sisters who vowed themselves to God and led a life of virginity, fasting, and prayer in their own home on the Clivus Scauri in Rome. They were Trasilla, Emiliana, and Gordiana. Gordiana, led on at first by the words and example of her sisters, did not persevere but returned to the vanities of the world.

Tarsilla and Emiliana renounced the world together, together consecrated their virginity to God and remained in their house as if in a convent, far removed from the conversation of the world. Encouraging one another to virtue by discourse and example, the two sisters soon made considerable progress in spiritual life.

Once Tarsilla had a vision, in which Saint Felix III, appeared to her and showed her a palace of marvellous beauty, and welcomed her enter her abode of glory. She fell ill with a fever the next day, which rapidly grew worse. While in her agony, with her eyes lifted to heaven, she cried out to those surrounding her, "Make way! Jesus is coming!" Soon after speaking these words, as she gazed at the vision, her soul was delivered from the bonds of the flesh. It was on December 24th. The fragrance with which the room was filled confirmed the vision the virgin had before dying.

A few days afterwards she appeared to her sister Emiliana and invited her to accompany her to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany in heaven. Emiliana was concerned about her sister Gordiana, to which Tarsilla replied sadly that she was to remain in worldly pleasures. Soon after the vision, Emiliana fell ill and joined her sister to eternal glory.

Tradition says that their relics and those of their mother, St. Silvia, are in the Oratory of St. Andrew on the Celian Hill.
-with inputs from Newadvent and Sanctoral

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Adela of Pfalzel
2. Saint Caran of Scotland
3. Saint Delphinus of Bordeaux
4. Saint Boniface of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux
5. Saint Gregory of Spoleto

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