Tarcisius

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Alexandre Falguière: Tarcisius, Christian martyr, 1868, musée d'Orsay

St. Tarcisius (or Tarsicius) (Italian and Spanish: San Tarsicio or Tarcisio) was a martyr of the early Christian church who lived in the 3rd century. The little that is known about him comes from a metrical inscription by Pope Damasus I, who was pope at least a century later. He preferred death at the hands of a mob rather than deliver to them the Blessed Sacrament, which he was carrying. As Damasus compares him to St. Stephen, who was stoned to death, this may have been the manner of his end. His story was greatly expanded by Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman, who portrays him as a young acolyte in his novel Fabiola, or the Church in the Catacombs.

He was originally buried in the Catacombs of San Callisto, but today 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.

He is the patron saint of altar servers and first communicants.

[edit] Text of the poem by Damasus

The Latin poem, composed by Damasus and the only positive historical evidence on Tarcisius, goes like this:

Par meritum, quicumque legis, cognosce duorum,
quis Damasus rector titulos post praemia reddit.
Iudaicus populus Stephanum meliora monentem
perculerat saxis, tulerat qui ex hoste tropaeum,
martyrium primus rapuit leuita fidelis.
Tarsicium sanctum Christi sacramenta gerentem
cum male sana manus premeret uulgare profanis,
ipse animam potius uoluit dimittere caesus
prodere quam canibus rabidis caelestia membra.