St. Juliana Falconieri, OSM (June 19th)

Of the various saints and feast days celebrated this week:

June 19 - Saint Romuald, Abbot

June 19 - Saint Juliana Falconieri, OSM, virgin, foundress

June 21 - Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious

June 22 - THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (Corpus Christi)


I’ve chosen to write about Saint Juliana Falconieri, OSM, virgin, traditional foundress of the Servite Sisters.


St. Juliana Falconieri, OSM, born around 1270 belonged to the Falconieri family, an important family of cloth merchants in Florence, Italy.  Her uncle, St. Alexis Falconieri, OSM was one of the Seven Holy Founders (Feast Day, March 17th) of the Order of Servants of Mary. 


Under his influence, she entered the Servites as a Third Order (I’m assuming Regular) Sister, becoming the foundress of the Third Order Servite Sisters in Florence and became their Mother Superior until she died.


Servite spirituality puts emphasis on both prayer and service.  St. Juliana proved to be an classic example of both:


In her younger years, she was known for tending to the needs of both the homeless and the sick.


The great miracle attributed to her during her life was that near the end of her life, when she was too sick to even eat, she asked that a consecrated host (the Body of Christ) be put on her heart:  When she died, the host could not be found and was it was said that it had miraculously entered into her heart.


Her feast day falls during the time of the Liturgical Year when we normally celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi (The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ).  


At a time when both witness through Christian action in the world seems particularly necessary and the U.S. Bishops are seeking to increase reverence toward the Blessed Sacrament, St. Juliana becomes a very interesting / compelling saint to consider.


St. Juliana, pray for us!

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