St. Tarcisius Receiving the Eucharist (BL 02)

Variously identified as a layman, a deacon, or—most often--a young acolyte (accounts vary), St. Tarcisius of Rome (mid 3rd century) is venerated for his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. + Here, St. Tarcisius is depicted down in the catacombs of St. Callixtus in Rome receiving the Eucharist for distribution to imprisoned Christians during the Valerian persecutions. On his way to the prison, he was set upon by a pagan mob or gang of ruffian boys and stoned or beaten to death for refusing to surrender the hosts he was carrying. + St. Tarcisius is patron saint of First Communicants—especially boys making their First Holy Communion, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHCs), and altar servers. + Interest in this saint was rekindled and popularized with the publication of Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman’s internationally best-selling novel ‘Fabiola: A Tale of the Church of the Catacombs' (1854). See especially: Chapter XXII (The Viaticum). + Feast: August 15