Veronica Giuliani
Saint Veronica Giuliani | |
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Abbess and mystic | |
Born |
December 27, 1660 Mercatello, Italy (Duchy of Urbino) |
Died |
July 9, 1727 67) Città di Castello, Italy | (aged
Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
Beatified | June 17, 1804 by Pope Pius VII |
Canonized | May 26, 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI |
Major shrine | Monastery of St. Veronica Giuliani, Città di Castello |
Feast | July 9 |
Attributes | Crowned with thorns and embracing a crucifix |
Part of a series on |
Christian mysticism |
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13th and 14th centuries Dominican mysticism Dominic de Guzmán |
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20th century Pio of Pietrelcina Maria Valtorta |
Contemporary Papal views |
Saint Veronica Giuliani, O.S.C. Cap., (Veronica de Julianis) (December 27, 1660 – July 9, 1727) was an Italian Capuchin nun and mystic. She was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839.
Life
Early life
She was born Orsola [Ursula] Giuliani at Mercatello in the Duchy of Urbino in December 27, 1660. Her parents, Francesco Giuliana and Benedetta Mancini, were both of genteel birth.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Ursula showed signs of sanctity from an early age. It is told that at the age of three years Ursula supposedly began to show great compassion for the poor. She would set apart a portion of her food for them, and even part with her clothes when she met a poor child scantily clad.[1]
When others did not readily join in her religious practices she was inclined to be dictatorial. At the age of 16, she experienced a vision which corrected this imperfection of character: she saw her own heart as a "heart of steel". In her writings she confesses that she took a certain pleasure in the more stately circumstances which her family adopted when her father was appointed superintendent of finance at Piacenza. When Veronica came of age, her father believed she should marry, and so he desired her to take part in the social activities of the young people. But she had been made aware of another call, and she pleaded so earnestly with her father that, after much resistance, he finally permitted her to choose her own state in life.[2]
Life in the monastery
In 1677, at the age of 17, Ursula was received into the monastery of the Capuchin branch of the Poor Clares in Città di Castello in Umbria, Italy, taking the name of Veronica in memory of the Passion. At the conclusion of the ceremony of her reception, the bishop said to the abbess: "I commend this new daughter to your special care, for she will one day be a great saint." [1]
Veronica became absolutely submissive to the will of her spiritual directors, though her novitiate was marked by extraordinary interior trials and temptations to return to the world. In her first years in the monastery, she worked in the kitchen, infirmary and sacristy and also served as portress. At the age of 34, she was made novice mistress, a position she held for 22 years.[3]
For fifty years Ursula Giuliani lived as Sister Veronica in the Capuchin convent of Città di Castello in Umbria, Italy. With gritty determination tempered by humility, she led her sisters as novice mistress for thirty-four years and as abbess for eleven. St. Veronica governed the convent with obvious common sense and guided the novices with prudence. She would not allow them to read mystical books, requiring them instead to study books on Christian basics. In 1716, she was elected abbess. As a practical woman, she improved her sisters’ comfort by enlarging the convent rooms and having water piped inside.[4]
Spiritual trial
Veronica had a lifelong devotion to Christ crucified that eventually became manifested in physical signs. The marks of the crown of thorns appeared on her forehead in 1694 and the five wounds on her body in 1697. Veronica was humiliated by the stigmata itself and by her bishop’s rigorous testing of her experience. He removed the saint from ordinary community life and put her under constant observation. When he decided that the phenomena were authentic, he allowed her to return to normal convent life and continue her service to her sisters.[4]
She died on July 9, 1727, at Città di Castello.
Veneration
After Veronica's death a figure of the Cross was supposedly found impressed upon her heart, and her body has been noted as being incorrupt.
She was beatified by Pope Pius VII on June 17, 1804, and was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI on May 26, 1839. She is usually represented in art crowned with thorns and embracing the Cross.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hess, Lawrence. "St. Veronica Giuliani", The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 21 Nov. 2012
- ↑ Habig, Marion. ofm, ed., The Franciscan Book of Saints (1959) Franciscan Herald Press
- ↑ St. Veronica Giuliani at Saint of the Day
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Saints Stories for All Ages, Loyola Press
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Veronica Giuliani. |
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Veronica Giuliani". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
- Benedict XVI, General Audience, Wednesday, 15 December 2010
- Br. Mauro Jöhri, General Minister OFMCap on The 350 Anniversary of the Birth of Saint Veronica Giuliani
- Veronica Giuliani The Life of Saint Veronica Giuliani
- Monastery of Saint Veronica Giuliani, Willington, DE
- Saint Veronica Giuliani at Patron Saints Index
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