Some families managed to wrangle up a mess of saints: St. Gregory the Great (a pope who was a saint) was part of one such family, with uncles, cousins, aunts, and more all being canonized in good time. One might at first think that holiness was genetic, then that it was environmental, and perhaps even that it had something to do with proximity to power. 

In this case, Gregory the Great had three aunts who lived together (mostly). Two of them were very, very good, and the third could not live up to the lofty standards set by the first two. The names of the three were Thrasilla, Emiliana, and Gordiana.

In the beginning, all three sisters consecrated their virginity to God. This was different than the practice of some Christian abstinence-only-until-marriage groups that discourage sex education while encouraging teens to wear so-called Purity Rings, but only in the sense that those wearing Purity Rings plan one day to have sex (in a Christian marriage) whereas each of those sisters who pledged her virginity to God planned to go to her grave virgo intacta.

In the case of Trasilla, Emiliana, and Gordiana, the first two behaved themselves admirably, stayed at home, tended to their prayers and sewing, and had no intercourse (in any sense of the word) with the larger world outside. Ah, but Gordiana (spoiler alert–Gordiana is the sister who was not granted sainthood) found herself wanting to know people outside her family circle, and to talk with others outside of church. Butler writes that, with respect to her holy and almost otherworldly sisters:

Gordiana joined them in their vow and holy exercises, but flagged by the way, and, loving to converse with the world, by degrees admitted it into her heart, so as to exclude the Almighty.

Clearly, the judgmental, theological view is that it is not possible to converse with the world (at least if you are female) and also have a viable relationship with God. Apparently, Jesus’ was not a fit example for Gordiana’s life.

The two holy sisters nagged Gordiana, “tempering remonstrances with all the sweetness that the most tender affection and charity could inspire.” The result? Gordiana promised to do better, but her follow-through fell through. Butler writes of Gordiana’s “lukewarmness.” And, alas, “after their (the two saintly sisters’) death, she fell from the duties of the state which she had voluntarily taken upon herself. A dreadful example! but such as the world is daily fully of.”

I’m not arguing one way or another about the goodness of Thrasilla or Emiliana, but I would point out that there is no record of their doing anything for the poor, of bringing the Gospel to others, or of doing anything other than not having sex while nagging their sister. Their main claims to sainthood frankly seem to be their hymens and the coattails of their powerful and beloved nephew.

Setting aside the question of canonization: if you were to spend Christmas Eve with one, two, or all three of these sisters, whom would you choose?