Julia Billiart

Saint Julia Billiart

Julia of Billiart
Julie Billart
Mary Rose Julia Billiart

memorial
8 April

Profile

I chose our saint today because I liked the picture…she looks like Buddy Hackett. Julia was sixth of seven children of peasant farmers in France. She knew her catechism by age 7 but the rest of her learning…not so much.

When she was 22, some nefarious individual took a pot shot at her father, while Julie was sitting right next to him. This incident shocked her so much she was partially paralyzed.

During the French Revolution, she iused her house to hide priests and religious. This made her very unpopular with the Robespierres of the country, so she was forced from her house at least 6 times. Julia was miraculously healed of her paralysis (or she stopped the malingering when the stuff got serious) on 1 June 1804.

She organized a group of friends to educate girls in the Christian Catholic tradition. This organization became the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame (Institute of Notre Dame; Sisters of Notre Dame). Our saint died of natural causes in the middle of Vespers….lights out.

Born
12 July 1751 Picardy, France

Died
8 April 1816

Canonized
22 June 1969 by Pope Paul VI

Patronage
against poverty
bodily ills
impoverishment
poverty
sick people
sickness