Saint Juliana of Mount Cornillon

Faced with the duty so grave, so formidable that Jesus imposed upon her by commanding her to establish this feast, Juliana objected with her humility, her weakness; in vain, in her prayer of every day and even of every moment, she begged God to dispense her from such a great task, to entrust this care to prelates endowed with all the lights of science. God, on the contrary—and this is what we must admire!—wanted this feast to have the weak and the humble as its promoters. What has there been more humble than the manger and the cross?

The struggle of humility lasted twenty years. Juliana had become prioress of the monastery of Mont-Cornillon: her virtues seemed to have increased with her dignity; and the more she was made great, the more she sought to make herself small, according to this word: "Love to be counted as nothing." The work she had the mission to accomplish overwhelmed her heart; the more she felt respect,

SAINT JULIANA AND CORPUS CHRISTI.

of veneration, the less she judged herself worthy to serve as an instrument for the designs of God.

She finally decided to open up about it to John of Lausanne, canon of Saint-Martin of Liège, and she begged him to be willing to take the advice of the eminent men he had the constant opportunity to see. Everything was th erefore submitted Jacques Pantaléon Pope who canonized Felix in 1262. , exposed to Jacques Pantaléon, then archdeacon of the church of Trier, later Urban IV, of holy memory; Hugues de Saint-Cher Cardinal and theologian cited in the introduction. to Hugh of Saint-Cher, provincial prior of the Order of Preachers, later cardinal; to Guyard, bishop of Cambrai; to the chancellor of the University of Paris; to the brothers Aegidius, John, and Renaud, professors of theology in Liège.

The unanimous opinion was that nothing in divine law opposed the establishment of a special feast of the Blessed Sacrament.

However, Julienne, not content with gathering the judgment of so many enlightened men, wished to have that of a woman, of a simple religious like herself. There was then a recluse, named Isabelle, who, without having desired it, enjoyed a high reputation for piety. Julienne brought her to Mont-Cornillon; she communicated her design to her, and had the sorrow of seeing that the latter was not struck by it; but, a year later, Isabelle herself had a vision. Transported to heaven among the eternal glories, it seemed to her that she heard the blessed, kneeling, asking God with supplication for the establishment of a solemnity that was to strengthen the faith of men. At this news, great was the joy of Julienne, and from then on the two Sisters began to unite their vows and their thoughts closely.

However, this word of the Prophet was to be fulfilled once more: "I have nourished and brought up my children, and they have despised me... The ox knoweth his owner, and Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood." A persecution, as violent as it was unjust, was hatched against Juliana. She was treated as a visionary; her good intentions were blamed, her modesty treated as pride, her undertaking as madness. It reached the point where the pious Abbess came to doubt herself, to question with dread, to fear that she had presumed too much on her own strength, and had attributed to herself a superhuman mission. An inspiration was born in her mind: it was to go to Cologne with some of her Sisters; to Cologne, the city, par excellence, of fervent souls, the holy necropolis of Confessors, Martyrs, and Virgins. Here, the Acta Sanctorum report a fact, which perhaps would provoke the disdainful smile of modern incredulity, but which we like to record. It is that the enemy of the world, Satan, furious at this pilgrimage, did everything in his power to hinder it; that he threw himself at the horses to frighten them, and, on the return, gave such a rude shock to the carriage that he overturned it. But the holy travelers suffered no harm; and Juliana had, at the foot of the altar of Saint Peter, regained all her strength and all her courage. Moreover, she needed it more than ever; for more than ever, too, the persecution was about to reawaken with violence. Public opinion accused Juliana of having hidden the charters and squandered the monastery's revenues. Excited against the venerable prioress, the people of Liège broke down the doors of the convent, penetrated as far as Juliana's oratory, and ransacked it, supposedly to find these charters. Juliana had to leave; she sought asylum in the cell of a nun named Eve, who had become her most intimate confidante; then John of Lausanne offered her his house, and the worthy Bishop of Liège, Robert of Torote, took her under his protection. Robert, in fact, did justice to the virtue of Juliana: already, in 1246, he had, by a letter addressed to all his clergy, ordered that the feast of the Blesse d Sacrament would be ce fête du Saint Sacrement Liturgical feast for which Juliana is the original promoter. lebrated every year on the Thursday after the octave of Trinity, with a fast on the eve. The following year, the canons of Saint-Martin had been the first to inaugurate this solemnity: Hugh of Saint-Cher, named cardinal of the title of Santa Sabina and sent to Germany with the powers of a legate, had wished to celebrate the new feast at Saint-Martin-du-Mont. Finally, two years later, Cardinal Capocci, also a legate, being in Liège, had also sanctioned the feast.

It was all these honorable testimonies that particularly excited hatred and envy against Juliana. The good Bishop Robert having died, the violence grew bolder, and a second eruption took place in the monastery of Mont-Cornillon. Once again, the Saint's oratory was ransacked; they seized Juliana, they threw her into a low room; through the windows they threw stones at her, while, like Saint Stephen, she was content to pray for her executioners.

Some time later, the people of Liège were struck by several calamities; public misfortune stirred their conscience.

Julienne, indifferent to personal danger, had the care of souls; she had to account to God for the salvation of the doves who surrounded her. Gathering this timid flock, she departed without resources, without shelter, having no longer a homeland; but her eyes were lifted to heaven, the eternal homeland; but, in the absence of men, God was t here! Namur Julienne's final place of exile.

In Namur, at last, she found a refuge and a chapel. It was there that she received the visit, quite unexpected but very sweet to her heart, of one of her most ardent persecutors, Dom Jean, superior of the two convents of Mont-Cornillon. He came to express to her both his repentance and his admiration; she wished only to join in prayer with him. During the return journey, Dom Jean fell ill and died on the way. At the very hour when the prior closed his eyes, Julienne heard the choir of Angels and she recognized in particular the voice of Dom Jean. She told her companions. Later, indeed, it was demonstrated that this holy vision had exactly coincided with the death of Dom Jean.

However, the moment was approaching when the noble woman, for whom life "had been a struggle," was finally to enjoy rest, leaving behind her an imperishable work. On April 5, 1258, Julienne closed her eyes on the land of exile. She died full of faith and hope, without having lost any of her humility.

A simple nun had conceived the admirable idea of the feast of the Blessed Sacrament: a poor recluse pursued its execution without respite; Eve continued Juliana.

And it was a holy pontiff, Urban IV—who h Urbain IV Pope who canonized Felix in 1262. ad not forgotten the days of his life spent in Liège—it was this illustrious French Pope, a worthy contemporary of Saint Louis, who, on September 8, 1264, brought about the actual institution of this feast.

Let us add that, recognizing the inspired zeal of the recluse Eve, he deigned to send her the bull with the office that he had had composed spec ifically by Saint Th saint Thomas d'Aquin Saint cited as an example of resistance to temptation. omas Aquinas, adding a letter too paternal and too touching for us not to translate the following few lines:

"URBAN,... servant of the servants of God, to Eve, recluse of Saint-Martin of Liège, our daughter in Our Lord Jesus Christ, greeting and apostolic blessing.

"We know, O beloved daughter, that your soul has ardently desired that the solemn feast of the most holy Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ be instituted in the Church of God, to be perpetually celebrated by the faithful. That is why We announce to you for your satisfaction that We have judged that it could be established for the strengthening of the Catholic faith, and that it was useful that, independently of the daily remembrance that the Church devotes to this most admirable Sacrament, a particular and even more august solemnity be attached to it... May this day therefore bring to all Christians the joy of a new feast, and may it be celebrated with great joy, as We recommend amply in the Apostolic Letters that We are sending to the whole world. Rejoice, because the almighty Lord has granted the wish of your heart, and heavenly grace has responded in its fullness to the prayers of your letters."

In 1312, the bull of Urban IV was confirmed at the Council of Vienne under Clement V, and from then on the celebration of Corpus Christi was general.

Légende céleste, Godescard, etc.