St. Julie (Julia) Billiart
Image: Catholic Online
(Franciscan Media) Born in France Cuvilly into a family of prominent farmers young Maria Rose Julie (Julia) showed an early interest in Christianity together with helping the sick and the poor. Though the first years of her life were relatively peaceful and uncomplicated, Julie found it necessary to take up manual labor as a young teen as her family lost all of their money however in Julie’s spare time she would teach catechism (that she knew from heart since the age of 7) to young people and to farm laborers.
Julie’s education according to EWTN was confined to the rudiments at the village school which was kept by her Uncle Thibault Guilbert — In spiritual things her progress was so rapid, that the Parish Priest Fr. Dangicourt, had permitted Julie to make her first Communion at the age of nine–at this time she had also made a vow of chastity.
A mysterious illness overtook Julie at 22 which within a few years confined her to her bed where she remained for the next 22 years. During this time when she received Holy Communion daily, Julie exercised an uncommon gift of prayer, spending 4 to 5 hours a day in contemplation. The rest of her time was occupied in making linens and laces for the alter and in catechizing the village children who she gathered around her bed, giving special attention to those who were preparing for their first Communion.
When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, revolutionary forces became aware of Julie’s allegiance to fugitive Priests. With the help of friends, Julie was smuggled out of Cuvilly in a hay wagon, she spent the next several years hiding in Compiegne, being moved from house-to-house despite her growing physical pain–she even lost the power to speak for a time but this period proved to be a fruitful spiritual time for Julie, for it was at this time she had a vision in which she saw Calvary surrounded by Women in religious habits and heard a voice saying:
“Behold these spiritual daughters who I give you an Institute marked by the Cross.”
As time passed, Julie made the acquaintance of an aristocratic Woman Francoise Blin de Bourdon, who shared Julie’s interest in teaching the catechism and Christianity.
In 1803 the two Women began the ‘Institute of Notre Dame’ which was dedicated to the education of the poor as well as young Christian Girls and the training of Catechists–the following year, the first ‘Sisters of Notre Dame’ made their vows. This coincided with the first time that Julie was able to walk in more than 20 years.
Though Julie always had been attentive to the special needs of the poor and that remained her priority, she also became aware that other classes in society needed Christian instruction.
From the founding and first Superior-General of the ‘Sisters of Notre Dame’ until her death, Julie was on the road, opening a variety of schools in France and Belgium that served the poor and the wealthy alike, together with vocational groups and teachers.
Julie died on this day in 1816 and Canonized in 1969 by Pope Paul VI