Welcome to the one and only Saturday vote of Lent Madness 2021. After today, your weekends will be free from difficult and heart-wrenching electoral/sanctoral decisions. Today, though, it's Tarcisius vs. Egeria
Yesterday, Constantine dominated Miguel Pro 62% to 38% in a controversial matchup that left some voters abstaining, but every voter thinking, contemplating, and learning. Which is precisely the point!
Enjoy the Lord's Day tomorrow and we'll see you bright and early on Monday morning as we begin the first full week of Lent Madness 2021, with the Battle of the Greats as Leo the Great takes on Albert the Great. Thanks for joining us on this journey. We are truly grateful you've made Lent Madness part of your Lenten devotions this year.
Tarcisius
Very little is known about the young boy martyr, Tarcisius. Our earliest reference to him comes from Pope Damasus in the late fourth century ce. In a poem honoring martyrs, Pope Damasus writes of Tarcisius, “When an insane gang pressed saintly Tarcisius, who was carrying the sacraments of Christ, to display them to the profane, he preferred to be killed and give up his life rather than betray to rabid dogs the heavenly body.” Tarcisius then, like Stephen, is a Christian witness who fell victim to mob violence.
Later stories fill in what might have transpired. According to those stories, during the reign of Valerian (253-259 ce), Tarcisius was a young altar server. Many Christians had been rounded up and put into jail for their belief. After the host had been consecrated in clandestine worship services, it was delivered to those who were imprisoned. Priests were easily recognized and targeted for harassment and arrest, so they would send others to deliver the consecrated host. One Sunday, young Tarcisius volunteered to deliver the eucharist to those in prison.
On his way to deliver the host, he passed a group of young friends who invited him to play a game. They were perplexed when he declined and began to jostle and tease him in good fun. They noticed he was clutching something to his chest, and they began to try to pry it from him. He knew the value of this treasure and the importance of his mission, and he held the host ever closer to his chest. The scrum, playful at first, grew more violent. In the tussle, one of the attackers saw a fish etched into the box holding the host. The playful abuse turned to violent assault as the boys began to pummel him for being a Christian.
A Roman soldier saw the disturbance and rushed over to rescue Tarcisius from the cruel gang. The Roman soldier revealed himself to be a Christian before little Tarcisius died in his arms. In some accounts, as he died, Tarcisius begged the soldier to finish his errand for him, and the soldier obliged. In other accounts, as he lay dying in the soldier’s arms, the host simply disappeared.
Tarcisius is the patron saint of altar servers and first communicants. His feast day is August 15.
Collect for Tarcisius
Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Tarcisius triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Egeria
Egeria was a fourth-century woman who traveled to the Holy Land and wrote about her experiences, leaving the world an invaluable record of the development of language, liturgy, and Christianity.
We don’t know all that much about Egeria, the person. From her writing, it would appear that she had some status—the ability to travel from Europe to Palestine in the late 300s was not common. We also know she was a woman of deep faith, in that she undertook such a journey.
Her extant writing consists of a lengthy letter, now in two fragments, that she sent back to her community in Europe. Scholars are divided as to whether this community was based in Spain or perhaps France. She addresses them as “her sisters,” which could signify a monastic community, but this was early enough that all Christians tended to address fellow believers with sibling nomenclature.
One fragment of her letter describes her approach from Mount Sinai to Constantinople, and the other fragment describes, in great detail, the liturgical practices of the church in Jerusalem and Galilee over a year. Egeria, it would seem, spent at least three years in Palestine, making notes and observations. This provides us with invaluable information about the liturgical life of the early church and how various reforms and ideas moved throughout the Christian world. Her letter, for example, gives us the first record of such familiar rituals as the Palm Sunday procession, the Easter Vigil, and the Good Friday remembrance.
Her letter also offers an important insight into the development of Romance languages. Because it’s written in a casual form of post-classical Latin, it forms a bridge between what was classical Latin and what would become the Romance languages. (In fact, Egeria’s letters feature some of the first known uses of the definite article.)
Egeria’s bravery and creativity enabled the entire Western world to access the liturgical life we now enjoy, as well as the language we use every day.
Collect for Egeria
Almighty God, whose will it is to be glorified in your saints and who raised up your servant Egeria to be a light in the world: Shine, we pray, in our hearts, that we also in our generation may show forth your praise, who called us out of darkness into your marvelous light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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198 comments on “Tarcisius vs. Egeria”
Sometimes, voting your heart, knowing that the other candidate (who one admires) will probably win, is the way to go for me. As a rewired (not retired) educator, I am glad Egeria is ahead, but as someone’s mother, I voted for the child Tarcisius.
Thought provoking, as always! Since the biography says Egeria was one of THE first to use THE definite article, I finally voted for her in honor of THE word THE, which I seem to use a lot of THE time . . .
As is so often the case, these are difficult votes. The altar boy was brave, indeed! And died for his cause.
Interestingly.,though, upon reflection, I found myself challenged by Egeria's witness. May I faithfully share my journey with Christ with those who may not know Him without my testimony.
For a youth to respond, “Here I am, send me”,” is a true martyr’s witness to daily live the call in all circumstances of life. The child Tarcisius gets my vote.
Agree
How could I not vote for the woman "[whose] letters feature some of the first known uses of the definite article"? If Egeria wins today, it will be in honor of the definite article! As Wallace Stevens wrote so profoundly: "the the"! And we all remember God's words to Moses on Sinai: "I am the THE." Nevertheless, I voted for Tarcisius on behalf of all everywhere who have ever been bullied. I object strongly to the wording that Tarcisius was "teased" "in good fun." Bullying is never in good fun, and when the victim dies from it, it's a crime. Cruelty, power, and brutality are not "fun." I simply think of a little boy who was trying earnestly to carry out a task and was killed for it. I think of the toddlers washed up onto the shores of the Mediterranean as their parents try to migrate and of the babies locked up in cages on the US border, and I am voting on behalf of protection for all children everywhere. May our economic and political systems be forced to change to place priority on the needs of children and families. That should be a definite article in American domestic and foreign policy!
<3
You helped me decide. My daughter was a victim of bullying. Its awful even when you don't die!
Amen, Amen, Amen.
"If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."
— John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961
Very well said. You are right that teasing is never fun; it’s cruel and destructive. Those who dissed Constantine, please note the torture and killing of Christians was pre-Constantine. His legacy is complicated, but some facts exist.
As a liturgist at heart, I had to vote for Egeria!
I had not heard of Tarcisius, tho I wonder if his story informed some of the adults who taught me. As the patron of first communicants, I was given Blessed Imelda, who deeply longed for the Eucharist as a young girl before she was old enough to receive, spent hours in prayer before the sacrament, & was found one night by the priest in the chapel with a vision of a host hovering over her. The priest decided Our Lord must *really want* Imelda to receive him, gave her communion, & left her to her joyful prayer... and in the morning, they found her still kneeling there, having died of joy sometime in the night.
I’m disturbed by how *really, really gendered* these two stories are when taken as a pair. Yikes!
"Having died of joy." Oh, those fourteenth-century Italians; I cry Bologna!
In our church for a long time we had no young people to be acolytes, so I was one for about 15 years. And our priest said that while I was on the altar anyway, I might as well be a second chalicist. So I voted for Tarcisius.
This is a tough one, y'all. Each day provides a new mind bending conflict for consideration. As an educator, I am drawn toward Egeria and her gifts to us. However, Tarcisius is a model of bravery -- and his feast day is my husband's birthday. The little courageous martyr gets my vote.
In a complete reversal of the principles that led me to cast my vote for Miguel Po yesterday, today my vote goes to Egeria. Her personal intrepidity and her importance for our understanding of the early Church and evolution of the Romance languages won me over. Sorry, Tarcisius.
I have been missing being an acolyte at Evensong and other special liturgies this last year, so the young man (he was 12 per Wikipedia dates of birth and death) who volunteered to take Holy Communion (something else I have been missing much) to those who were prevented from gathering together to worship got my vote.
Either of these two saints would have beaten either of yesterdays choices. Isn't bracket seeding usually done by putting the favorite against the least favorite? I voted Tarcisius today.
Egeria sounds like an amazing woman with an incredible life journey, I'd love to know more about her., But as an original early Alter Girl, Tarcisius won my vote. I have to thank him for bringing fond 50-year-old memories to mind.
Really?
I can’t believe this is even a contest.
How does a legend about an altar boy compare with the historical documents from a courageous woman?
Yesterday I did not want to vote for either on although I did vote against Constantine. Today I wanted to vote for both of them but voted for the lesser known alter boy.
I had never heard of either saint. My heart reaches out to Tarcisios and how committed he was in fulfilling his holy task. I admire his strength. Egeria gets my vote for being the primary source of our knowledge of the early Christian lethargy.
And she was anything but lethargic.
I had expected to vote for Egeria, however I am moved by the story of Tarcisius. The plight of children and their roles in conflict and persecution is difficult to acknowledge or bear and yet both are needful. Egeria is no less important and no less honored by my vote, something I have slowly come to learn about the saints in Lent Madness. 🙂
As an editor, traveler, and writer (and another over-user of "the") I'm glad Egeria is moving on, but I'm voting for Tarcisius for my little brother the altar boy (50+ years ago) and for all the Good Kids that get beat up on the playground. 🙂
Let's support anti-bullying campaigns, and minorities whether by skin colour, language, religion or whatever, and vote for Tarcisius. But maybe I’ll go find Egeria's letter sometime, too; both tales are completely new to me.
Egeria is the patron saint of liturgy geeks (like me)! I own three translations of her fragmented diary: by Gingras (in Ancient Christian Writers series); Wilkerson (which includes drawings of churches in Jerusalem); and the most recent translation by McGowen and Bradshaw (Liturgical Press, 2018). I am pulling for her to win the Golden Halo!
I'm fascinated by Egeria! Perhaps she would make a good subject for a historical novel. (I have to vote for the brave boy, though.)
Tough one today! The story of Tarcisius dying in his champion's arms, still shielding the sacrament from rude gaze is touching, to be sure, but the story of Egeria and her legacy touched me even more. In my long life, I have always enjoyed the study of church history, liturgy, and languages, and to learn about Egeria, hitherto unknown to me (as was Tarcinius) is a gift. My vote goes to Egeria for her scholarship and for the fact that it took great faith and courage for a woman to take such a journey in her time.
As a woman writer who one day hopes to visit the Holy Land, I vote for Egeria.
Hard today, First thought was the story of Tarcisius real or just a summary of all hose who carried the host to others during that time. but it must have been a dangerous job. but had to vote for Egeria. as she is known as a real person and I was a great traveler in my time and always wrote about my memories of what I had encountered
An altar guild member in my former parish, I would prepare kits used by clergy and laity to deliver Holy Eucharist to the shut in, but I am a language teacher, so I had to vote for Egeria and her use of the developing Romance languages.
Are they now taxing the use of capital letters?
While I was surprised at "eucharist" instead of "Eucharist," the use of lower case is a modern trend for several years. The Prayer Book, after all, uses "unchristian" in the stage directions for funerals.
The use of "ce" is downright perplexing to me. Rather than speeding my reading, it causes me to struggle. I keep stopping, trying to figure out the misspelled word. I figure it out fast, but is an unnecessary blip.
Please, use standard capitalization.
First rule of writing: don't make the reader stop and go "Huh?" I agree. Use standard capitalization and punctuation. If you're confused, see "Elements of Style" by Strunk and White.
Giving your life for Christ trumps writing letters. Being a little boy helps. I’m going with Tarcisius, even though as a historian I’m grateful to and intrigued by Egeria.
Tarcisius, a precious child of God, paid the ultimate price. It would have been easy for Tarcisius to join the boys in a game of fun, but he (Tarcisius) did not let peer pressure persuade him to abandon his mission, even when the jostling became violent and deadly. My vote is for this brave child.
As the secretary for my church's board of directors, I appreciate the value of detailed church records, both ancient and modern, so I voted for Egeria. But I admire the reputed valor of young Tarcisius, so I wish there could be co-winners. The Madness guys are tossing apples-and-oranges at us.
I heard many stories like that of Tarcisius in Catholic grade school. Though I came to think they were fanciful, the stories planted the seeds of a life of being devoted to something. Today the deaths of children seem less fanciful. And I receive communion when a devoted somebody delivers it. Tarcisius Gets my vote today.
As a historian, Egeria gets my vote for gifting us with priceless primary source material on the early Church.