Juliana: Name Day and Patron Saint

St Juliana was born in Nicomedia, the daughter of Africanus, a wealthy and hot-tempered pagan. While still a child she was betrothed to Eleusius, a young noble who later became the eparch, the governor of the city. As she grew up she came to know Christ and was secretly baptized. When the wedding drew near she tried to bring Eleusius to the faith, and when he would not believe, she refused to marry him. Her father beat her and handed her over to Eleusius himself. He offered to marry her if she would only give up Christ, but she answered that she would rather die. She was scourged long and harshly before the crowd and thrown into prison; the tradition says the devil came to her there in the form of a bright angel, urging her to give in, but she prayed and he fled in shame. Her tortures were repeated, and each time God healed her. Seeing her steadfastness and these healings, five hundred men and one hundred and thirty women confessed Christ and were beheaded. At last Juliana herself was condemned, and she went to her death with joy, beheaded in the year 304 when she was about eighteen. The Church keeps her memory on 21 December (3 January on the Old Calendar). She is honored as a guardian of chastity and purity, and young people especially ask her prayers to stay faithful to Christ.

What the faithful pray for

• purity and chastity of heart and body
• young people facing pressure to give up their faith
• a godly choice in marriage
• daughters in families that do not share their faith
• discernment against temptation that looks like light