St Tarcisius
Feast day: August 15
From Rome
Died during his youth
Patron saint of alter servers
His story
Around the time Tarcisius was alive, Christians were greatly
persecuted in Rome. They were tortured and fed to lions and many other cruel deaths for entertainment. To protect themselves, many Christians went into hiding in under ground caves called the catacombs. Not much about Tarcisius is known. All that is really known about him is through a poem Pope Damasus wrote which describes a story something like this.
One day The prisoners in the Roman jails asked the bishop to bring them the blessed sacrament because it would feed their souls. They believed if they received this gift, they would have the strength to endure all their tortures for the love of God. So at a meeting the next day, The bishop asked everybody if any of them could take the host to their friends in prison. But no one could. Well...no one but Tarcisius! He eagerly volunteered to go! The bishop wanted to refuse his offer for he was so young, but Tarcisius convinced him that the soldiers would be less suspicious of him since he was a child. On his way to the prison Tarcisious kept the hosts close to his heart. He was not aware of anyone else but the presence of Jesus! Meanwhile, His friends were wanting to play a game down the road, but they needed one extra person. They saw Tarcisious and asked him to play! Tarcisious told them he was busy, so he couldn’t play. They noticed he was holding something and demanded to know what it was. Tarcisius refused fearfully and whispered a prayer of strength to himself."Hey, he’s a Christian!" one of the boys shouted after overhearing part of his prayer, "What Christian mystery are you hiding? Let me see!"Tarcisius refused and they began to beat him up, trying to see what he had. Tarcisius tried to run, but they threw stones at him and he fell. The converted soldier was walking down the road and caught the boys beating him up. They fled and the soldier ran to Tarcisious.
Tarcisius was too far dead, and died. Happy he had protected his lord and saviour.
He is known as the patron saint of alter servers and the martyr of the Eucharist .
