St. Juliana Falconieri

A saint who lived to old age...for once

Sometimes hearing the stories of the martyrs frightens me. Not because they died or because of the gruesome ways they died, but because so many of them died so young. When we think of saints, we tend to think of people who died young. Now, of course, there are plenty of saints who died when they were much older, and today is one of them.

Juliana was from a rich Florentine family and raised by her widowed mother and uncle who was the founder of the Servite Order. She refused her family’s plan for marriage and became a Servite tertiary. Juliana remained at home until her mother died and then set about founding what became the Servite nuns. She died when she was 71.

There is much to be said for living a long life, one of service and prayer. Juliana shows us the way.

St. Juliana Falconieri, pray for us!

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