Patron Saints

First: I sent my letter to Tyburn Convent! I posted it after Mass today. I'm getting really excited now. I want to visit them next term, I'll hopefully have a gap between my exam and when the next semester of classes starts.


For a while now I've been thinking about patron saints. There are people who talk about the saints they chose at Confirmation and have these wonderful, beautiful stories of why they chose that saint. Honestly, I picked mine because I wanted one with a pretty sounding name. Mine is Saint Emiliana, hence why I am known in the internet world as Emily. I only realised recently that I don't think my choice was random at all. I think that without even realising it I chose perfectly. Saint Emiliana is remembered with her sister Saint Tarsilla, they are virgin saints from the 6th century. About the sisters [source]:

Tarsilla and Emiliana were two paternal aunts of Saint Gregory the Great, and it is this holy Pope who narrates their touching story. They renounced the world together, together consecrated their virginity to God and remained in their house as if in a convent, far removed from the conversation of the world. Encouraging one another to virtue by discourse and example, the two sisters soon made considerable progress in spiritual life.
They had a sister named Gordiana, who had taken the same engagements, but little by little fell back into affection for the world, to the great grief of Tarsilla and Emiliana. With gentleness they reproached her, but the inconstant spirit of Gordiana soon forgot their charitable lessons. One day Tarsilla had a vision, in which Pope Saint Felix, her uncle, appeared to her and showed her a palace of marvelous beauty, saying to her: “Come; I will receive you into this habitation of light.” She fell ill with a fever the next day, which rapidly grew worse. While in her agony, with her eyes lifted to heaven, she cried out to those surrounding her, “Make way! Jesus is coming!” Soon after speaking these words, as she gazed at the vision, her soul was delivered from the bonds of the flesh. It was December 24^th. The fragrance with which the room was filled confirmed the vision the virgin had had before dying.
A few days afterwards she appeared to her sister Emiliana, saying: “My sister, come! I did not celebrate with you the birth of the Lord, but together we will celebrate the feast of the Epiphany.” “If you call only me,” Emiliana replied, “what will become of our sister Gordiana?” “Come,” Tarsilla answered sadly; “Gordiana has decided to remain with the worldlings.” And after that vision, Emiliana fell ill and joined her sister for the feast day.

I was reading about her and it occurred to me Saint Emiliana essentially lived the same kind of life that I would as a sister. She lived as a monastic in her own home, with her sister. It made me realise that no matter what saint we choose and no matter what reason we choose them for, they will still be an inspiration and an example for us.