In this inspiring episode of Saintly Summer: Jolt of Faith, we explore the remarkable life of St. Juliana Falconieri, a 14th-century Florentine woman who gave up wealth, beauty, and high status to follow Jesus in radical simplicity.  Her feast day is celebrated on June 19th, and her legacy continues to inspire those seeking a deeper life of prayer and service. Born into a noble and wealthy Italian family, Juliana shocked her community by turning down all suitors and choosing a life of poverty. Inspired by her holy uncle—founder of the Servite Order—Juliana established the female branch of the Servants of Mary, known for their prayerful dedication and service to the poor. Whether you’re discerning your vocation, deepening your faith, or simply curious about the lives of the saints, St. Juliana’s courage and devotion offer a powerful reminder: God will always find a way to reach us—even when we feel weakest.

Jolt of Faith – Full Text
Saintly Summer JOF 6/19 – St. Juliana Falconieri: The Saint Who Chose Poverty Over Privilege

This week, we’re learning about Saint Juliana Falconieri, who was a Florentine woman who lived in the fourteenth century her feast day is June 19. Juliana came from a really rich, wealthy, well-to-do family in Florence, Italy. And, she was also a very beautiful young woman, but and had many suitors, but she actually turned all of them down.She was inspired by the example of her holy uncle, who was a priest, who had just founded a new religious order called the servants of Mary, the Servites. She was inspired by his example to do something similar and founded the woman’s branch of the Servites. The order became known as the Mantellate because of these long black cloaks that they would wear. So, Saint Juliana gave up this life of luxury to embrace a life of poverty and simplicity and of serving the poor.These women in her order would spend, a lot of their time in prayer, and then a lot of their time out on the streets actually helping people.Near the end of her life, she actually had this condition where she could barely eat any food.To the point where she was now dying. And to the point where even when the priest brought her her last communion, even that small host was too much for her to eat. So she asked the priest to actually place the host on her chest. And as he prayed, the host disappeared, and basically seemed like it was absorbed into her body. So she died of course of a very holy death. And I think out of all the things to maybe take away from her life, one is that, yeah, we think that maybe in the past it was easier to follow Jesus. Maybe when our society and our culture was really Christian, it might have been easier to make choices like, oh, I’ll become a priest, I’ll become a nun. But even in her time,and even in her family, it was a really controversial and difficult thing for her to give up everything that she’d received, in terms of her wealth. To embrace a life of religious vocation. So following Jesus, isn’t always easy. Secondly, Jesus always finds a way to bring us closer to Himself. Even when she couldn’t eat food, He still found a way to provide for her and to be with her, even in her final moments. So we should never despair that Jesus is far away from us or can’t help us when you really need Him the most.