T

Read the essentials →
August 15 · Martyr

St. Tharsicius

St. Tharsicius

Traditional feast

August 15
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

Not verified yet

Represents

Martyr

Early life

The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.

Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 0 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Keep their day. Remember them on August 15 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.

Read more

The full original · 0 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Little Roman Martyrology, Ado, Usuardus, &c. Modern Roman Martyrology. Authority: — The Acts of Pope S. Stephen (Aug. ii).J Tharsicius, an acolyte, was bearing the body of Jesus Christ in the B. Sacrament to the Christian prisoners during the ' persecution of Valerian and Gallienus, when he was arrested by the pagan rabble on his way, and asked what he bore so reverently. But he refused to reveal the sacred mystery, whereupon he was assailed by the mob with sticks and stones. He hastily consumed the sacred gift he was bearing, and then sank covered with blood on the pavement. The mob rushed on him, tore his arms apart, rent his clothes, and sought, but found nothing. He was taken up by some of the faithful, and buried in the cemetery of S. Calixtus on the Appian Way. A touching picture of this martyrdom has been drawn by Cardinal Wiseman in his story of Fabiola. The sepulchre of S. Tharsicius was adorned and inscribed with an epitaph by Pope S. Damasus.

Feast days

Feast: August 15

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Tharsicius's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on August 15
F

St. F A C H N A N

August 15 · Bishop
St. Alypius of Tagaste

St. Alypius of Tagaste

August 15 · Bishop
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Sources

Credits

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain.

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.