Saint Juliana Falconieri, Virgin
S. Iulianae de Falconeriis Virginis
Saint Juliana Falconieri, foundress of the Servite Sisters and a soul of deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, is remembered above all for the wondrous comfort given her by the Body of Christ as she lay dying.
Saint Juliana was born at Florence about the year 1270, of the noble Falconieri family, who had helped to build the great Servite church of the Annunciation in that city. Her uncle, Saint Alexis Falconieri, was one of the Seven Holy Founders of the Order of the Servants of Mary. Reared in piety, Juliana early showed a love of prayer and penance and a tender devotion to the sufferings of Christ and the sorrows of his Mother.
Servant of Mary
Refusing marriage to give herself wholly to God, Juliana was received by Saint Philip Benizi, the great Servite, into a manner of consecrated life under the Rule of his Order, and is venerated as the foundress of the Servite Sisters, the women’s branch of the Servants of Mary. She and her companions devoted themselves to prayer, penance, and the care of the sick and the poor, while she herself, though of frail health, led a life of severe austerity and humble service. She governed her sisters with gentleness and was esteemed for her charity and her spirit of recollection.
In her final illness, the tradition relates, Juliana was unable to receive Holy Communion because of the violence of her sickness. In her longing for the Blessed Sacrament she asked that the Host be laid upon a cloth over her breast, that she might at least adore the Lord she could not receive; and there, it is recounted, the Sacred Host disappeared, taken to her in a wondrous manner, and she died in peace, comforted by the Body of her Lord. She died at Florence on the nineteenth of June, 1341.
Her witness today
The collect of her feast recalls this very mystery, asking that we who honour her may, like her, be refreshed and strengthened by the Body of Christ in the hour of our death, and so be led to the heavenly fatherland. In Saint Juliana the Church venerates a burning love for the Holy Eucharist and a faithful service of the sorrowful Mother of God, and finds a patron for the sick and the dying.
The Collect
O God, who didst vouchsafe wondrously to refresh blessed Juliana thy Virgin, in her last sickness, with the precious Body of thy Son: grant, we beseech thee; that by her interceding merits, we too, being refreshed and strengthened therewith in our dying hour, may be brought safely to our heavenly fatherland.
Deus, qui beátam Juliánam Vírginem tuam extrémo morbo laborántem pretióso Fílii tui córpore mirabíliter recreáre dignátus es: concéde, quæsumus; ut, ejus intercedéntibus méritis, nos quoque eódem in mortis agóne refécti ac roboráti, ad cæléstem pátriam perducámur.
Patronage
She is venerated as foundress of the Servite Sisters and is invoked as a patroness of the sick and of those suffering bodily ailments.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar this feast is no longer kept on the universal calendar.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Juliana Falconieri?
Her feast is kept on 19 June in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast.
Who was Saint Juliana Falconieri?
She was a noblewoman of fourteenth-century Florence, niece of one of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, who consecrated her life to God and is venerated as the foundress of the Servite Sisters. She was renowned for her penance, her charity, and her love of the Blessed Sacrament.
What is the miracle associated with her death?
Tradition relates that, too ill in her final hours to receive Holy Communion, she asked that the Sacred Host be placed upon a cloth over her breast so she might adore it; the Host is said to have wondrously disappeared, given to her by God, and she died comforted. The collect of her feast recalls this mystery.
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