Saint of the Day: St. Giulia Salzano

Foundress of the Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1846-1929)

Her life

+ Giulia was born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy. Educated by the Sisters of Charity, she later became a school teacher and catechist in Casoria.

+ Honored for her personal devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Giulia established a new religious community: the Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

+ Giulia and her sisters devoted themselves to the ministry of catechesis and she dedicated her life to the formation and education of young people.

+ Saint Giulia Salzano died on May 17, 1929, and was canonized in 2010. Reflecting on her ministry, Pope Saint John Paul II said, “In advance of her time, she was an apostle of the new evangelization in which she combined apostolic activity with prayer, offered ceaselessly, especially for the conversion of the ‘indifferent.’”

For prayer and reflection

“While I have any life left in me, I will continue to teach the catechism. And then, I assure you, I would be very happy to die teaching the catechism.”—Saint Guilia Salzano

Spiritual bonus

On this day, the Church also remembers Saint Peter Lieou. Peter was a married layman and catechist who was persecuted for his commitment to defending missionaries serving in China. He was arrested while serving imprisoned Christians (including his own sons) and was strangled to death on May 17, 1824. He was canonized with other Martyrs of China in 2000.

Prayer

O God, who raised up blessed Giulia in your Church to show others the way of salvation, grant us, by her example, so to follow Christ the master, that we may come with our neighbor into your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For Educators)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.