Saint Veronica Giuliani

Her mother died when the Saint was about four years old; before expiring, she had the five daughters who remained to her brought to her side, for she had lost two; after giving them salutary advice, she placed them under the protection of the five wounds of Our Lord; she assigned one to each of them. The wound in the side was the one that fell to Ursula. This wound, which became the particular object of her devotion, was also for her the source of all graces and all virtues.

She had from an early age a tender charity for the poor. One day she gave her two shoes to a wretch who lacked them; some time later, she saw them at the feet of the Blessed Virgin, all sparkling with jewels. She seized the slightest opportunity to suffer in union with Jesus Christ. Her hand having been caught under a door that she was closing abruptly, blood flowed from it in abundance. "I tasted then," she said, "a delicious consolation, in thinking of what Saint Rose of Lima had suffered. The remedies that were applied to me were a burden to me, for I would have liked to suffer like her without relief."

In her excessive zeal for the good, she reprimanded, she even mistreated those she saw committing the slightest faults. One day, she who was so gentle and patient could not help but slap a servant whom she saw committing a bad action; she soon reproached herself for these excesses of zeal as great crimes, for which she did penance.

Ursula's father, having obtained the position of superintendent of finances in Piacenza, went to settle there with his family. It was in this city that Urs Plaisance City where the saint founded a house and exercised his ministry. ula was admitted for the first time to Holy Communion, on the day of the Purification, in the year 1670, being then only ten years old. The care she took to prepare for this great action earned her a precious favor; for, as soon as she had received the body of Jesus Christ, she felt her heart all ablaze. Upon returning home, believing that this effect was common to all those who communicated, she asked her sisters with simplicity if this ardor would last long. The surprise that her question caused them made her understand that it was a particular grace that the Lord was granting her. He soon granted her new ones, by inspiring in her a taste for prayer. It was in this holy exercise, so necessary to sustain oneself in the practice of the Christian life, that the young Ursula, then twelve years old, understood the dangers of the world and the advantages of the religious state. Thus, she took from that time the invariable resolution to dedicate herself entirely to God. Her father, who loved her with a particular affection, had very different designs for her; he wanted to have her contract an honorable marriage. She was sought after by several nobles because of her beauty, and they tried to give her a love for the pleasures of the world; but everything was useless. "Do what you will," she said, "I shall be a nun."

After a three-year stay in Piacenza, Ursula was sent back by her father to Mercatello, to one of her uncles; there she gave new proofs of her vocation and had to endure new struggles to remain faithful to it. After overcoming a great number of difficulties, she finally obtained permission to enter the Capuchins of Citta di Castello, a city in the Papal States. It was on July 17, 1677, that she presented herself there; she took the habit on the following October 28 and received the nam e Veronic Véronique Capuchin nun and stigmatized mystic of the 17th century. a. Her novitiate was painful due to the efforts the devil made to discourage her and cast her into despair. The Passion of Jesus Christ served the fervent novice as consolation and strength in her temptations, and she made her solemn profession with admirable ardor at the age of seventeen, on November 1, 1678. She experienced such joy at being consecrated to God that until her death she celebrated the anniversary of this happy day with extraordinary devotion. Veronica was not long without receiving the reward for the sacrifice she had made with such generosity, in renouncing the world and all the advantages she could have found there. God communicated Himself in a very special way to this innocent soul and showered her with His most precious favors. In the occupations of the various offices of the community to which she was successively assigned, such as those of cook, bursar, infirmarian, and in the midst of the burdens of her office as novice mistress or abbess, she was as recollected as if she had only had to think of her soul. Always consistent, she regarded herself as the servant of all and paid the greatest attention to fulfilling the task entrusted to her well. The Lord made her know the value of crosses and sufferings; thus, Veronica said that they were her joy and her pleasure. She studied to bear with patience the faults and imperfections of her sisters; she put into practice this maxim, which she often repeated to her novices and which she regarded as essential, especially in religious life: "Whoever wishes to be for God must die to self."

At the age of thirty-three, our Saint knew that Our Lord wished to associate her more intimately with His sufferings and His merits, and to unite her to Himself by the bonds of the purest love. In 1693, she had several visions of a chalice presented to her sometimes by the hand of Jesus Christ, and sometimes by that of His holy Mother: it contained the sufferings to which Veronica was invited. At the same time, she felt the pains of the crowning with thorns, and soon traces of a crown were observed on her head, as if one had actually been placed upon her. These traces formed bumps that appeared to be produced by pricks. The doctors who were called further increased Veronica's sufferings through the violent remedies they employed to cure her. Thus, they applied a cautery to her head; they pierced the skin of her neck with a large red-hot needle to create a seton. The nuns, frightened by the pain she would endure in this operation, did not want to assist her; she prepared the needle herself and bore with admirable patience the pain that was caused to her. Other means of this kind, employed to relieve her, produced no effect, and the doctors were forced to abandon her, admitting that they did not know to what cause to attribute these ailments, the nature of which they did not understand.

However, Veronica's union with Jesus Christ increased every day; she lived only for Him, and she showed Him, by her submission in the pains she experienced, the ardent desire she had to do the divine will in all things. Should one then be surprised that the Lord, who found a soul so docile, favored her with gifts that He grants only to the most perfect of His servants? In 1675, with the approval of her superiors, she had begun a rigorous fast on bread and water. It was during this fast, which lasted three years, that she received a wound that Jesus Christ Himself inflicted upon her heart. On Good Friday of the year 1697, entirely occupied with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, she lamented her past faults, asked Him for forgiveness, and testified to the ardor she had to share in His torments. The Savior appeared to her crucified, and from His five wounds issued five flaming rays that inflicted as many wounds upon her feet, hands, and side.

She then felt a great pain and found herself in a state of distress similar to that of a person who would be attached to a cross.

Veronica was, out of obedience, obliged to declare this extraordinary favor to her confessor, who, in turn, informed the Bishop of Citta di Castello. The prelate believed he should consult the tribunal o f the Holy Office in Rome regard tribunal du Saint-Office de Rome Church body responsible for the examination of doctrine and miracles. ing this fact. He received a response advising him to take no action in this matter and not to speak of it; but in the same year, the miracle having been renewed several times, and the stigmata being apparent enough for all the nuns in the house to have seen them, the bishop finally wished to verify them for himself, and, accompanied by four respectable religious men whom he had chosen as witnesses, he called Veronica to the church grille and examined her with care. He was fully convinced of the reality of the wounds, which were sometimes bleeding and sometimes covered with a small crust. The wound in the side, located on the left, was four to five fingers long, transverse, half a finger wide, and seemed to have been made with a lance; it was never closed. The white cloths applied to it were immediately bloodied.

Skeptics will regard these wonders as imaginary, and the witnesses who reported them as simple people who could easily be deceived. We do not fear to assert that all the precautions that human prudence can inspire to truly know the truth were taken by the Bishop of Citta di Castello, guided by the instructions he had received from the tribunal of the Holy Office. Veronica herself sought so little to impose them that, in all circumstances, she expressed the fear that what was happening to her might be an illusion of the devil. However, for fear that she might be seduced by this spirit of darkness, or that she might be a hypocrite, her patience, humility, and obedience were put to the test: a certain means of knowing if she was led by the spirit of God. They began by removing her from the office of novice mistress, depriving her of all active and passive voice in the house; then she was treated harshly, even called a witch and excommunicated; she was forbidden to write any letters to anyone other than her own sisters, who were nuns in Mercatello, to appear in the parlor, to hear Mass and the office, except on days of obligation, and to approach the Holy Table. She was separated from her companions, subjected to the surveillance of a lay sister who guarded her closely, and, by the order of her abbess, she was confined to a cell in the infirmary. The bishop undertook to heal her wounds; she was bandaged every day; she was made to wear gloves; and for fear of some deception on her part, these gloves were closed and sealed with the episcopal seal. Veronica was very sensitive to the deprivation of communion and attendance at divine offices; otherwise, she maintained the peace of her soul. This is the testimony rendered by her bishop himself, who had treated her so severely. In a letter he wrote to the Holy Office on September 26, 1697, he expressed himself thus: "Sister Veronica continues to live in the practice of exact obedience, profound humility, and remarkable abstinence, without ever showing sadness; on the contrary, she displays an inexpressible tranquility and peace. She is the object of the admiration of her companions, who, unable to hide this sentiment she inspires in them, discuss it with seculars. I have much difficulty in restraining them as I would like; however, I threaten those who speak the most with imposing penances upon them, so as not to increase the curiosity and talk of the people."

The bishop was not the only one who tested the virtue of Veronica. A famous missionary, Father Grivelli, a Jesuit, having come to Citta di Castello, the bishop gave him to this holy girl as a confessor, with the power to act toward her as he would have done himself. The Père Grivelli Jesuit and confessor who examined the saint. Father, who had great experience, used the harshest manners toward her, humiliated her in the most sensitive way, and spared nothing to be well enlightened on her conduct; he was finally fully convinced that the virtue of Veronica was as pure as the spiritual favors she received were extraordinary.

We shall conclude the account of these wonders with a fact that is no less surprising than the others. Veronica suffered pains that recalled all the torments of the Savior during His Passion. The cross and the instruments of this holy Passion were imprinted in her heart in a tangible way. She herself provided the description to her confessor, and she gave him a piece of cardboard cut in the shape of a heart on which she had traced the location of each instrument, as well as the place of the cross. One might believe that this was merely a pious imagination; but this cardboard had been kept, and when after her death her body was opened, her heart was likewise opened, in the presence of the bishop, the governor of the city, professors of medicine and surgery, and seven other witnesses worthy of all trust; it was found with admiration to be just as she had described it, also bearing the marks of the wounds she had received there. The certainty of this miracle is so great that the image of this cardboard heart, with the signs that fill it, has since been engraved, and it is found in the original Italian version of the life of this Saint.

Veronica's companions had long been edified by her virtues. She inspired boundless confidence in them when she was mistress of novices. They elected her triennial abbess in the month of March 1716, and continued her in this office until the moment of her death. Filled with the spirit of God, the holy Superior caused the most exact observance and the most perfect concord to reign in her monastery throughout the time of her governance; thus, one could not find a religious house better led and better regulated. Veronica joined humble manners with sentiments of affection and a solicitude for her companions that won their hearts. In their troubles, they resorted to her as to a tender mother, assured of always being well received and of finding there the consolations they needed. Her zeal, regulated according to her knowledge, led her to take care of the temporal affairs of her house. She built a large dormitory, erected an interior chapel, and procured for the monastery several other considerable advantages.

The example of this admirable daughter was a perfect model for the nuns who had the happiness of living in her company. Her faith was firm, and she felt the value of this gift so keenly that one of the particular objects of her prayers was that all peoples might wish to open their eyes to this divine light. She was filled with the fear of God, but she tempered this fear with the sustained hope she had in His mercy. She often sang Psalm 135, which expresses her sentiments of confidence so well. Her entire life was consecrated to divine love; she was in a way intoxicated by it. She would have liked to lead all creatures to love and bless their adorable Author. When, as superior, she spoke of Him to her sisters, she used the most tender expressions, calling Him the father, the friend, and the spouse of souls. One day, which was the eve of Pentecost, she expressed herself with such force and energy on divine love that she moved the entire community to tears.

Such a perfect soul did not fear death; she sighed for that moment which was to be the end of her exile and the beginning of her eternal happiness. The Lord, who had favored Veronica with the gift of prophecy and that of miracles, had made known to her the time of her passing. She announced it to her sisters. On June 6, 1727, one could particularly notice the air of holiness spread over her face. She had just received communion that very day when she was struck by apoplexy. During the time her illness lasted, she gave admirable proofs of her obedience and humility. Having received the holy Viaticum with extreme consolation, she called for her daughters, addressed the wisest counsels to them, and then blessed them. Finally, on Friday, July 9, 1727, this beautiful soul flew into the bosom of her divine Spouse, at the age of sixty-seven: she had spent fifty of them in religion, seventeen as a simple nun, twenty-two as mistress of novices, and eleven as abbess.

Her reputation for holiness was so well established that work began on her canonization in the very year of her death. The process was continued throughout almost the entire last century. Several miracles performed through the intercession of Veronica were authentically proven. In 1796, Pius VI published the decree recognizing the heroism of her virtues; in 1802, Pius VII published the one confirmi ng her Pie VII Pope who authorized the cult of Blessed Rainier. miracles. The same Pontiff declared her Blessed on June 8, 1804.

On May 22, 1822, the Congregation of Rites recognized the validity of the procedures carried out on the new miracles that had been examined. In 1839, Pope Gregory XVI solemnly placed her i n the rank o Grégoire XVI Pope who established the liturgical feast of the blessed. f holy Virgins.

Saint Veronica Giuliani is depicted holding a heart surmounted by a cross and marked with all the instruments of the Passion; — crowned with thorns and bearing the imprints of the stigmata.

Taken from the continuators of Godescard and the Choix de lectures ascétiques, Clermont-Ferrand, 1846.