Saint Társila

Saint Tharsilla was a 6th-century virgin, an aunt of Pope Gregory I the Great, and a saint of the Catholic Church. The only information about Tharsilla comes from the Dialogues written by her brother Gordianus, the father of Pope Gregory the Great. According to this source (4, 17), she and her sisters, Saints Aemiliana and Gordiana, dedicated their time to penance and meditation on God. She reportedly had visions in which the deceased Pope Felix III appeared, and at the moment of her death, Jesus Christ. She began appearing in local martyrologies in the 11th century, and subsequently, after the Council of Trent, in the Roman Martyrology. Tharsilla and her sisters certainly contributed to improving the fragile health of Saint Silvia, the mother of Gregory I. The sisters soon became nuns. They did not live in isolation, but were dedicated to a communal life of chastity and constant prayer. Pope Gregory stated that his aunt died just before Christmas, though the year is unknown. The liturgical memorial of Saint Tharsilla is celebrated in the Catholic Church on December 24.