Portal:Catholic Church/Patron Archive/August 15 2007

St. Tarcisius (or Tarsicius) was a martyr of the early Christian church who lived in the 3rd century. The only positive information concerning him is found in a poem composed in his honour by Pope Damasus (366–384), who compares him to the deacon Saint Stephen and says that, as Stephen was stoned by a crowd, so Tarsicius, carrying the Blessed Sacrament, was attacked by a group and beaten to death.

Nothing else definite is known concerning Tarsicius. Since Damasus compares him to Stephen, he may have been a deacon; however, a 6th-century account makes him an acolyte. It is estimated that Tarsicius was a youth during one of the fierce 3rd-century Roman persecutions, probably during the reign of Emperor Valerian (253–259). One day, he was entrusted with the task of bringing the Eucharist to condemned Christians in prison. He preferred death at the hands of a mob rather than deliver to them the Blessed Sacrament, which he was carrying.

His story was greatly expanded by Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, who portrays him as a young acolyte in his novel Fabiola, or the Church in the Catacombs.

His relics rest in the San Silvestro in Capite church in Rome. His feast day is celebrated on 15 August, but, since that day is occupied by the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, he is not mentioned in the General Roman Calendar, but only in the Roman Martyrology.

Attributes:

Patronage: altar servers and first communicants.

Prayer: