Trasilla (Tarsilla, Tharsilla, Thrasilla) and Emiliana were aunts of

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

, and venerated as

virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

saints of the sixth century. They appear in the ''Roman Martyrology'', the former on 24 December, the latter on 5 January.

History

Tarsilla (Tharsilla, Trasilla, Thrasilla) and Emiliana (Aemiliana, Emilie) were sisters and came from an ancient Roman noble family, the gens Anicia. Their brother, Senator Gordian, was a very rich patrician with a magnificent townhouse on the

Caelian Hill The Caelian Hill (; la, Collis Caelius; it, Celio ) is one of the famous seven hills of Rome. Geography The Caelian Hill is a sort of long promontory about long, to wide, and tall in the park near the Temple of Claudius. The hill ov ...

and large estates in Sicily."The Saints Tarsilla and Emiliana of Rome", Diocese of Oslo
/ref> Gregory (''Hom. XXXVIII'', 15, on the Gospel of St. Matthew, and Lib. Dial., IV, 16) relates that his father, the senator Gordian, had three sisters: Trasilla, Emiliana, and Gordiana. All three had devoted themselves to a religious life and led a life of virginity,

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

, and

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

. They practiced their faith in their father's house, located on the

Clivus Scauri The Clivus Scauri was an ancient Roman road that originally branched off from the road that connected the Circus Maximus to the Colosseum along the depression between the Palatine and Caelian hills of Rome. It followed the east side of the latte ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Gordiana, at first as devout as her sisters, later abandoned this calling and is thus not venerated as a saint. Tradition states that

Felix III Pope Felix III (died 1 March 492) was the bishop of Rome from 13 March 483 to his death. His repudiation of the '' Henotikon'' is considered the beginning of the Acacian schism. He is commemorated on March 1. Family Felix was born into a Roman s ...

, an ancestor, appeared to Trasilla and bade her to enter Heaven, and on the eve of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

Trasilla died, seeing

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

beckoning.Mershman, Francis. "Sts. Trasilla and Emiliana." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 29 May 2016 The legend also states that Trasilla a few days later appeared to Emiliana, inviting her to celebrate

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

in heaven. Tradition says that their

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tang ...

and those of their sister-in-law,

Silvia Silvia () is a female given name of Latin origin, with a male equivalent Silvio and English-language cognate Sylvia. The name originates from the Latin word for forest, ''Silva'', and its meaning is "spirit of the wood"; the mythological god of ...

, are in the Oratory of St. Andrew on the Celian Hill.

References

{{authority control Sibling duos People of medieval Rome 6th-century Italo-Roman people 6th-century Christian saints Italian Roman Catholic saints 6th-century Italian women Medieval Italian saints Female saints of medieval Italy