Blessed Julia of Certaldo

Also known as

• Julia della Rena

Memorial

• 15 February
• formerly 25 February

Profile

Born to an impoverished noble family. Worked as a domestic servant in her youth in the Timolfi household at Florence, Italy. She became an Augustinian tertiary at age 19. Florence was in turmoil in those years, and Julia returned to the quiet of Certaldo, Tuscany. There she rescued a child from a burning building, which brought her unwanted fame. She retired to lived nearly 30 years as an anchoress in a cell built onto the church of Saint Michael and Saint James at Certaldo.

Born

• 1319 at Certaldo, Italy

Died

• 9 January 1367 of natural causes

Beatified

• 1819 by Pope Pius VII (cultus confirmed)

Representation

• woman wearing a black habit and white veil, and rescuing a child from a burning bed
• woman giving flowers to children in winter
• woman rescuing a drowning horseman

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson

MLA Citation

• “Blessed Julia of Certaldo”. Saints.SQPN.com. 14 February 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/blessed-julia-of-certaldo/>