SAINT FEAST DAY 15 AUGUST: BL. JULIANA DE PURSELLIS

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 15th of August

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BL. JULIANA DE PURSELLIS, VIRGIN

The daughter of a farmer, Bl. Juliana de Puresellis (Puricelli) was born in 1427 in a village near Busto-Arsizio (near the Lago Maggiore). From her tenderest youth she liked to pray and fast, and was very reliable in her work around the house and yard. Her father was bent on having her marry. For the better part of ten years he pestered her with proposals by various gentlemen - indeed, he beat her several times in an attempt to enforce his plans for her.

HE TRIED TO ENFORCE HIS PLANS FOR HER

In her anguish Juliana called on the Blessed Virgin Mary, and was then seized with an impulse to visit Varese, the holy mountain (Sacro Monte di Varese). She asked her brother to accompany her. She was 27 years at the time. When in Varese, she heard of Bl. Catharine, and requested her permission to stay with her. When Catharine consented, Juliana asked her brother to return home by himself, since she had now found a home and a mother, by whose guidance she hoped to save her soul.

SHE HAD NOW FOUND A HOME AND A MOTHER

Catherine of Palanza had set up this particular monastery. (The Bollandists give Catherine's feast day as April 6) Catharine had lived there on her own for 30 months, until Bl. Juliana arrived. Bl. Juliana joined Catherine in her monastery on October 14, 1454.

Indeed, under the guidance of Blessed Catherine, she made great advances in virtue, especially in meekness and humility, in which she was particularly diligent. Little by little, several virgins joined them and in 1500 the monastery already had 40 nuns who lived according to the rule of St Augustine.

A MODEL FOR EVERYONE

Blessed Juliana, with her particular zeal for prayer, was always a model for everyone. Before her death she asked to be laid on the ground and remained there for several hours in silence, her hands and eyes raised to heaven, as if she had a pleasant conversation with someone long and eagerly awaited, until she finally gave her soul to heaven in 1501 (not 1540, as it is stated by Migne), on August 15, the Assumption of Mary. 

After her death, several miracles are said to have happened, as the governor John James Trivultius testifies. On February 12, 1547, her body was transferred to the nuns' choir. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858 - 📷 1. Bl. Juliana, the Virgin Mary and the holy Infant, 2. Sacro Monte di Varese)