St. Juliana Falconieri (June 19) — From Dom Guéranger’s Liturgical Year

A meditation for the Feast of Saint Juliana Falconieri, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume III of the Time after Pentecost.Juliana Falconieri (1270–1341) was an Italian religious foundress and the niece of Alexis Falconieri, one of the seven founders of the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites). From childhood she had a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and desired a life of prayer and penance. Under the guidance of her uncle Alexis, she joined the Servite movement and became the founder of the Servite Third Order Sisters, later known as the Mantellate, a community of women devoted to prayer, works of charity, and meditation on the Passion of Christ. Known for her profound humility and love of the Eucharist, Juliana suffered from severe illness in her final years and was unable to receive Holy Communion because she could not swallow. According to tradition, she asked that the Eucharist be placed upon her chest, and after her death the sacred Host was found miraculously impressed upon her body, an event associated with her special Eucharistic devotion. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1737 and is honored as the patron saint of the Servite sisters and of those suffering from bodily illness.Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering the entire cycle of seasons—Advent, Christmas, Lent, Passiontide, Easter, and the Time after Pentecost—as well as feast days of saints. Guéranger’s work, rooted in a deep contemplative spirit, aims to immerse the faithful in the Church’s prayerful life, emphasizing the unity of faith through the axiom lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"), and remains a cherished resource for Catholics seeking to deepen their spiritual lives. Dom Prosper Guéranger (1805–1875) was a French Benedictine monk, liturgical scholar, and founder of the Solesmes Abbey, renowned for his pivotal role in reviving the Benedictine Order in France and restoring the Roman liturgy after the disruptions of the French Revolution. Born in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, he entered the priesthood in 1827 and, inspired by a vision to restore monastic life, reestablished the Benedictine community at Solesmes in 1833, becoming its first abbot. A staunch defender of ultramontanism and traditional Catholic worship, he also championed the revival of Gregorian chant, significantly influencing the liturgical renewal movement.Link to the Dom Guéranger's Liturgical Year playlist (updated daily): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZKdyYnV_bkh7rH6piW0ShgsdcefFoOvJPlease support this channel!  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/InprincipioPodcast PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=U5EZ9X2CE2V7W Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/InPrincipioPodcast Zelle: [email protected]; or search for Zelle tag “inprincipiopodcast”  Checks may be written out to ‘InPrincipio Podcast’ and mailed to: P.O. Box 117 Cedar Ridge, CA 95924Sincere thanks to all who are able to contribute, by your prayers, your patronage, or otherwise. Your support sustains this work and helps make these readings available to others.Artwork: St. Juliana Falconieri by Pier Paolo Campi, St. Peter’s Basilica, RomeMusic: Ave Maria (Gregorian chant)From Vesperae de Confessore non Pontifice in honor of Saint Vincent PallottiPerformed by Schola Gregoriana, Pallottine Seminary (Ołtarzew, Poland)Conductor: Fr. Dariusz SmolarekLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/Changes: noneExcept where otherwise noted, original content © InPrincipio Podcast.Chant audio used under CC BY-SA 3.0.