Emily, Virgin

St. Emily and her sister lived a monastic life, filled with prayer and sacrifice. While little is known of their day-to-day lives beyond their holiness, the manner of their deaths is remarkable. Emily’s sister experienced a vision of their grandfather who told her of a place in heaven prepared for her and invited her to come to him. Soon after, she became ill and passed away on Christmas Eve. Within a few days, she appeared to Emily and called her to celebrate Epiphany in heaven. Emily then suffered a short, sudden illness and joined her sister in heaven on January 5, the eve of Epiphany.

Few of us can follow the example of Emily and her older sister. In our world today, a life of constant prayer and reflection is difficult amid all of the distractions that we live with. But we can spend some time in prayer each day where we can thank God for all of his gifts to us and take a little time each day to reflect on what God is calling us to do.