Juliana of Liège facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Saint Juliana of Liège O.Praem.
Apostle of the Blessed Sacrament
Born	c. 1192–1193 Retinnes, Prince-Bishopric of Liège, Holy Roman Empire
Died	5 April 1258 Fosses-la-Ville, County of Namur, Holy Roman Empire
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church (Premonstratensian Order) (Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège)
Canonized	1869 by Pope Pius IX
Major shrine	The former Villers Abbey Villers-la-Ville, Walloon Brabant, Belgium
Feast	6 April
Attributes	holding a monstrance
Patronage	Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament

Juliana of Liège (also known as Juliana of Mount-Cornillon) was a special nun and a mystic who lived around 1192 to 1258 in what is now Belgium. She belonged to the Norbertine order, which is a group of priests and nuns.

Juliana is famous for helping to create the Feast of Corpus Christi. This is a special day to honor the Eucharist, which is a very important part of Catholic worship. The feast was first celebrated in Liège in 1246. Later, in 1264, it became a feast for the entire Catholic Church.

Juliana also wrote the first version of the special prayers and songs for this feast. This collection of prayers is called the Office.

Her Early Life and Visions

Juliana and her twin sister Agnes were born in a village called Retinnes. When they were only five years old, they became orphans. They were then sent to a new home for children at Mont-Cornillon, near Liège. This home was part of a monastery where both monks and nuns lived.

Juliana joined the order when she was 13. For many years, she worked in a place that cared for people with leprosy, a serious skin disease. Her sister Agnes seems to have died young.

From a young age, Juliana deeply respected the Eucharist. She really wanted a special day to celebrate it. When she was 16, she had her first vision. This vision happened many times. She saw the moon shining brightly, but a dark line crossed right through it.

Over time, Juliana understood what the vision meant. The moon stood for the Church's life on Earth. The dark line meant that there was no special feast day to honor Christ's Body and Blood. She kept this idea to herself for a while. But she did share it with a trusted friend, Eve of Liège, who lived nearby, and a few other nuns.

Sharing Her Idea

Around 1225, Juliana became the leader of her monastery, called the prioress. She then told her visions to her confessor, a priest named Canon John of Lausanne. Canon John was well-connected with important religious leaders in Liège.

These leaders included Robert de Thorete, who was the Bishop of Liège. There was also Hugh of Saint-Cher, a leader of the Dominican order. And Jacques Pantaleon of Troyes, who was an important church official and later became Pope Urban IV.

Canon John told these important people about Juliana's vision. They all agreed that a feast day honoring the Eucharist was a good idea and did not go against Catholic beliefs. They supported the idea of starting this new feast.

The Feast Begins

With the approval of the local church leaders, Juliana and Canon John started to create the special prayers for the feast. This early version of the prayers was called Animarum cibus.

In 1246, Bishop Robert officially started the first Feast of Christ's Body and Blood for his area. Sadly, he died later that year. He did not see the feast fully established, but it was celebrated by the priests of St. Martin's church.

Challenges and Later Life

Juliana's life was not always easy. There were many disagreements and political problems in Liège at the time. When Juliana became prioress, she brought back strict rules for the nuns.

In 1240, a man named Roger took charge of the monastery and the nearby hospital. He did not like Juliana and accused her of stealing money from the hospital. Juliana had to run away to her friend Eve's home. Then she stayed with Canon John.

With the help of Bishop Robert, Juliana was proven innocent and returned to her position. Roger was removed from his job. However, after Bishop Robert died in 1247, Roger got control of the monastery again. Juliana was forced to leave once more.

After this, Juliana found safety in different monasteries and with poor religious women called Beguines. She finally settled in Fosses-la-Ville, where she lived quietly until she died.

When she passed away, her friend, a monk named Gobert d'Aspremont, moved her body to Villers Abbey. Her remains were placed in a special part of the cemetery for saints. Even though people started to honor her right away, she was not officially recognized as a saint until 1869 by Pope Pius IX.

Making the Feast Universal

In 1261, Jacques Pantaleon, the church official who had supported Juliana, became Pope. He took the name Pope Urban IV. In 1264, Pope Urban IV made the Feast of Corpus Christi a feast for the entire Catholic Church. This was done through an official document called a papal bull, named Transiturus de hoc mundo.

Pope Urban IV asked a very smart theologian, Thomas Aquinas, to write the official prayers and songs for the Feast of Corpus Christi. Thomas Aquinas wrote two versions of these prayers.

Pope Urban IV sent letters about the new feast to many church leaders. He also sent a copy to Juliana's friend, Eve of Saint Martin. Many experts today believe that Eve wrote the first story of Juliana's life in French. This makes Eve one of the first women authors in medieval Europe.

The Feast of Corpus Christi is usually celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. However, since 1969, bishops in different countries can choose to celebrate it on the following Sunday instead.

Juliana was made a saint in 1869 by Pope Pius IX. Pope John Paul II also honored her in a letter written for the 750th anniversary of the Feast of Corpus Christi. Her feast day is April 6.

See also

• Christian mysticism
• Guelphs and Ghibellines