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ST. JULIANA OF CORNILLON HELPED TO INSTITUTE CORPUS CHRISTI

VATICAN CITY, 17 NOV 2010 (VIS) - In today's general audience, celebrated in
St. Peter's Square, the Pope focused his attention on St. Juliana of Cornillon
who contributed to instituting the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Born in the Belgian city of Liege towards the end of the twelfth century,
Juliana was orphaned at the age of five "and entrusted to the care of the
Augustinian nuns of the convent-lazaretto of Mont-Cornillon". Later she also
took the Augustinian habit and went on to became prioress of the convent.

The Pope explained how the Belgian saint "possessed great culture, ... and a
profound sense of the presence of Christ, which she experienced particularly
intensely in the Sacrament of the Eucharist".

At the age of sixteen she had a vision which convinced her of the need to
establish a liturgical feast for Corpus Christi "in which believers would be
able to adore the Eucharist so as to augment their faith, increase the practice
of virtue and mend the wrongs done to the Blessed Sacrament", said the Holy
Father.

Juliana "confided [her revelation] to two other fervent adorers of the
Eucharist " and the three together "formed a kind of 'spiritual
alliance' with
the intention of glorifying the Blessed Sacrament".

"It was", Pope Benedict continued his catechesis, "Bishop
Robert Thourotte of
Liege who, following some initial hesitation, accepted the proposal made by
Juliana and her two companions and instituted, for the first time, the
Solemnity of Corpus Domini in his diocese. Other bishops later imitated him and
established the same feast in the areas under their pastoral care".

Juliana, said the Pope, "had to suffer the harsh opposition of certain members
of the clergy, including the superior upon whom her convent depended. She
therefore chose to leave Mont-Cornillon with a number of companions and for ten
years, between 1248 and 1258, was accommodated in various houses of Cistercian
nuns". At the same time "she zealously continued to spread Eucharistic
devotion. She died at Fosses-La-Ville in Belgium in 1258".

The Holy Father recalled how "in 1264 Urban IV chose to institute the Solemnity
of Corpus Domini as a feast for the Universal Church on the Thursday following
Pentecost" and, by way of personal example, "himself celebrated
the Solemnity
of Corpus Domini in Orvieto, the city in which he was then residing". And the
cathedral of Orvieto still houses "the famous corporal with traces of the
Eucharistic miracle which had befallen at Bolsena the preceding year, 1263".

"Urban IV asked one of the greats theologians in history, St. Thomas Aquinas
who was with the Pope at that time in Orvieto, to write the texts for the
liturgical office of this great feast, ... as an expression of praise and
gratitude to the Blessed Sacrament".

"Although following the death of Urban IV the celebration of Corpus Domini was
restricted to certain regions of France, Germany, Hungary and northern Italy,
in 1317 Pope John XXII reintroduced it for the whole Church".

"Joyfully I wish to affirm that there is a 'Eucharistic springtime' in the
Church today", said the Holy Father. "How many people remain in
silence before
the Tabernacle sustaining a dialogue of love with Jesus! It is consoling to
know that many groups of young people have rediscovered the beauty of prayer
and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. I pray that this 'Eucharistic
springtime' may become increasingly widespread in parishes, and especially in
Belgium, homeland of St, Juliana".

"Recalling St. Juliana of Cornillon, let us too renew our faith in the real
presence of Christ in the Eucharist. ... Faithfully encountering the
Eucharistic Christ at Sunday Mass is essential for our journey of faith, but
let us also seek to visit the Lord frequently, before His presence in the
Tabernacle. ... By gazing at Him in adoration the Lord draws us to Him, to His
mystery, in order to transform us as He transforms the bread and wine".
AG/VIS 20101117 (660)

SUMMARY

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