Picture: Alexandre Falguière · CC BY-SA 2.0 fr · Wikimedia Commons
Tarcisius
martyr of the early Christian church, saint
SaintFull write-upPre-congregation
Feast: 15 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
246
Died
265
Beatified
—
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began
Who they were
At Rome, in the cemetery of Callixtus on the Via Appia, commemoration of Saint Tarcisius, martyr: to defend the most holy Eucharist of Christ, which a furious crowd of pagans was trying to profane, he chose to be stoned to death rather than hand over the sacred species to the dogs.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 15 August as a martyr stoned to death defending the Eucharist from a crowd of pagans.
Connected on this site
- Carlo Acutis Saint Influenced by them
- Damasus I Saint“The little that is known about him comes from a metrical inscription by Pope Damasus I, who was pope in the second half of the 4th century.” — Wikipedia
Sources
- Roman Martyrology, 15 August (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q370210 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Tarcisius (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.