February 16th - St. Juliana of Nicomedia VM (RM)
Died at ***ae or Naples, 305. Juliana's struggle with the devil was one of
the favorite stories of the medieval Church. What still fascinates is its
deep psychological meaning: for the devil is said to have appeared to the
saint as an angel of light. His aim was to persuade her that what she had
renounced in this world was in fact good. On the face of it, the devil was
right, for Juliana had turned against both her father and her suitor, a
Roman prefect named Evilasius.
Her father, Africanus, an ambitious functionary in the Roman legions,
despised her simply because she had become a Christian. When her suitor
realized that she would not become his wife, he decided that she should be
no one's bride. Her calling left her without a family of her own. Both
men,
failing to get their own way with this determined saint, treated her
brutally: Juliana's father scourged and tortured her. Evilasius flung her
into jail where she was seen to be fighting with the disguised devil,
finally binding him and throwing him to the ground.
Juliana died a martyr's death. First she was partially burned in flames;
then she was plunged into a boiling cauldron of oil; finally the
long-suffering saint was freed from the torments of this world by the
mercifully instantaneous act of beheading.
The Roman Martyrology describes Juliana's suffering at Nicomedia in Asia
Minor, but it is more probable that she died in Naples, perhaps ***ae,
where
her relics are said to be enshrined. Some of them are now in Brussels,
Belgium, in the church of Our Lady of Sablon. Though her story was the
source of many romantic tales, Juliana is clearly an historical figure as
attested by Saint Gregory the Great, who requested relics of her from
Bishop
Fortunatus of Naples for an oratory that a lady had built on her estate in
Juliana's honor, and others. Her cultus in England dates back to Bede's
martyrology, and her feast was on the Sarum Calendar (Benedictines,
Bentley,
Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Juliana is hung up ****d by her hair. Sometimes she may be
shown in a cauldron, leading the devil in chains, or crowned wearing a
cross
on her breast. She is invoked against infectious diseases (Roeder). In the
paintings and stained glass of the Middle Ages, Saint Juliana is
frequently
shown battling with a winged devil; usually she carries a chain in order
to
bind him (Bentley). She may also be seen with a dragon at her feet (as in
stained glass at Martham and on screens at Hampstead and North Elmham,
Norfolk) (Farmer).
Saint Quote:
Why do we talk and gossip so continually, seeing that we so rarely resume
our silence without some hurt done to our conscience? ... Devout
conversation on spiritual things helpeth not a little to spiritual
progress,
most of all where those of kindred mind and spirit find their ground of
fellow****p in God.
-Thomas à Kempis, Of the Imitation of Christ
Bible Quote:
Take heed not to do your good before men, in order to be seen by them. St.
Matthew 6:1
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Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
I. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will
receive,
seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I
knock,
I seek and ask for the grace of...... (here name your request)
Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father....Sacred Heart of
Jesus,
I place all my trust in you.
II. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of
the Father in my name, he will give it to you." Behold, in your name, I
ask
the Father for the grace of.......(here name your request)
Our Father...Hail Mary....Glory Be To the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I
place all my trust in you.
III. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will
pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible
words I now ask for the grace of.....(here name your request)
Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father...Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I
place all my trust in you.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion
on
the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace
which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
your tender Mother and ours.
Say the Hail, Holy Queen and add: St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray
for us.
-Margaret Mary Alacoque
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