The Church venerates the sanctity of Sylvia and Gordian, the parents of St Gregory the Great, as well as his two aunts, Tarsilla and Emiliana. Sylvia (Silvia) was a native of the region of Sicily while Gordian, her husband, came from the vicinity of Rome. They had two sons: Gregory and another whose name has not survived the ages. Gordian died about 573 and Gregory converted his paternal home into a monastery. Sylvia therefore retired to a solitary and quasi-monastic life in a little abode near the Church of St Sava on the Aventine. It became her custom frequently to send fresh vegetables to her son on a silver platter. One day, when Gregory found himself with nothing to give a poor beggar, he presented him with the platter. Sylvia is thought to have gone on to her heavenly reward in 592. After her death, the holy Pontiff had a picture of both his parents depicted in the Church of St Andrew. In the sixteenth century, Pope Clement VIII had St Sylvia inscribed in the Roman Martyrology. – Catholic Online
