Trasilla and Emiliana

Trasilla (or Tarsila[lower-alpha 1]) and Emiliana (sometimes Aemiliana [lower-alpha 2]) were aunts of Gregory the Great and are venerated as virgin saints of the sixth century. They appear in the Roman Martyrology, Trasilla on 24 December, Emiliana on 5 January.

Saints

Trasilla and Emiliana
Died6th century
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast
  • 24 December (Trasilla)
  • 5 January (Emiliana)

History

Trasilla and Emiliana were sisters who came from an ancient Roman noble family, the gens Anicia. Their brother, Senator Gordian, was a very rich patrician with a magnificent villa on the Caelian Hill and large estates in Sicily.[1]

Gregory (Hom. XXXVIII, 15, on the Gospel of St. Matthew, and Lib. Dial., IV, 16) relates that his father, the Roman 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, and prayer. They practiced their faith in their father's house, located on the Clivus Scauri in Rome.[2] 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, an ancestor, appeared to Trasilla and bade her to enter Heaven, and on the eve of Christmas Trasilla died, seeing Jesus Christ beckoning.[2] The legend also states that Trasilla a few days later appeared to Emiliana, inviting her to celebrate Epiphany in heaven.

Tradition says that their relics and those of their sister-in-law, Silvia, are in the Oratory of St. Andrew on the Celian Hill.

Notes
  1. Also, Tarsilla, Tharsilla, Thrasilla
  2. Also, Amélia, Emilie

References
  1. "The Saints Tarsilla and Emiliana of Rome", Diocese of Oslo
  2. Mershman, Francis. "Sts. Trasilla and Emiliana." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 29 May 2016

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Sts. Trasilla and Emiliana". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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