Official feasts used to be an important part of the human community. People would gather together to remember something sacred, express their faith and hope for the future, and / or just be together formally, recognizing each other as being part of a shared community. Few things express a desire for shared companionship and social intimacy more than dining together. Sadly, the gathering together for feasting is increasingly a relic of the past – at least here in the West.
It need not be so! Today we will remember the ancient feasts.
The Feast Day of St. Julian the Hospitaller
This is a Christian religious celebration of Julian, a 4th century Christian known as the patron saint of hospitality. The legend of how he obtained this patronage involves a curse placed upon him at birth, the murder of his own parents, and a lifetime of providing care for travelers and the sick in an effort to seek absolution for his crimes.
As he was popular in Medieval Christianity, and featured in numerous legends, he is the patron of numerous professions, including: Boatmen and ferrymen, carnival and circus workers, clowns, fiddlers, fiddle players, wandering musicians, jugglers, hospitallers, hospitality ministers, hotel-keepers, innkeepers, hunters, knights, shepherds, childless people, murderers, to obtain lodging while travelling, pilgrims, travellers.
The location of the hospitals built by him is also debated between the banks of the River Gardon in Provence and an island near the River Potenza heading to Macerata.
The Pater Noster (The Our Father, or Lord’s Prayer) of Saint Julian can be found as early as 1353 in Boccaccio‘s Decameron, and is still passed on by word of mouth throughout some places in Italy. The account is included the 13th-century Legenda Aurea by the GenoanJacobus de Voragine, a Dominican priest. Beautiful stained glass depicting Saint Julian by an unknown artist in Chartres Cathedral also dates back to the 13th century. Early fresco paintings of him are found in Trento Cathedral (14th century) and the Palazzo Comunale di Assisi (‘town hall’).
Saint Julian is invoked as the patron of hospitality by travellers on a journey and far from home pray hoping to find safe lodging.
According to Jacobus de Voragine, on the night Julian was born, his father, a man of noble blood, saw pagan witches secretly lay a curse on the boy that would make him kill both his parents. His father wanted to get rid of the child, but his mother did not let him do so. As the boy grew into a handsome young man, his mother would often burst into tears because of the sin her son was destined to commit. When he finally found out the reason for her tears, he swore he “would never commit such a sin” and “with great belief in Christ went off full of courage” as far away from his parents as he could.
Some versions say that it was his mother who told him at the age of 10, while others say it was a stag he met in the forest while hunting (a situation used in artistic depictions of the saint). After fifty days of walking he finally reached Galicia, where he married a “good woman”, said to be a wealthy widow.
Twenty years later, his parents decided to go look for their now thirty-year-old son. When they arrived, they visited the altar of St James, son of Zebedee. On leaving the church they met a woman sitting on a chair outside, whom they asked for shelter for the night as they were tired. She took them in and told them that her husband, Julian, was out hunting. (This is why he is also known as the patron of hunters.) Having found their son, the mother and father were overjoyed, as was Julian’s wife. She treated them well and gave them Julian’s bed. But the devil went off seeking Julian and told him that his wife was with another man.
Julian returned home and found two people asleep in his bed. Thinking that they were his wife and her lover, he killed them both. When he discovered his mistake, he vowed to spend the rest of his life doing charitable works. He and his wife made a pilgrimage to Rome. They continued their travels until they came to a river crossing. There they built a hospice to welcome weary and sick travellers, and Julian assisted people in crossing the river.
In another pious legend, the devil, disguised as a pilgrim weak from travel, was allowed into the hospice with other travellers. At midnight, the evildoer awoke, wreaked havoc in the house, causing mess and destruction. The following morning Julian saw the damage and swore never to let anyone else into his home. He was so furious he had everyone leave. Jesus went to him, again as a pilgrim, seeking rest. He asked humbly, in the name of God, for shelter. But Julian refused. After recognizing him, Julian retracted his statement and decided to help all those who needed it once again.
Statue of Saint Julian in the church of Saint-Julien (Puy-de-Dôme, France).Statue at the Church of St Julian the Hospitaller in Wellow, Somerset.
Veneration in Malta
Devotion to Saint Julian started in the Maltese Islands in the 15th century after the discovery of his relics in the city of Macerata. It was introduced by the noble family of De Astis, high-ranking in Malta at the time, who had strong connections with the Bishop of Macerata. Three churches were built in his honour before the arrival of the Knights Hospitaller: in Tabija, towards Mdina; in Luqa; and in Senglea. This latter church had a storage room for hunters, and served to popularise this devotion by means of the sailors arriving in the Three Cities. In the 16th century there existed a hospital, Ospedale di San Giuliano, in the Citadella in Gozo, which showed a great devotion to the saint. Being an order of hospitallers, the Knights of Saint John helped to further spread devotion to the saint. In 1539, they rebuilt the church in Senglea and in 1590, they built another church in the parish of Birkirkara, a section that since then has been called St Julian’s. In 1891, the church was made a parish, the only one ever dedicated to the saint in Malta.
In literature and music
Gustave Flaubert wrote a short story entitled “La légende de Saint-Julien l’Hospitalier”, included in his Three Tales.
Subject of an opera by Camille Erlanger, La légende de Saint-Julien l’Hospitalier (1888) based on the Flaubert story.
Subject of an opera by Riccardo Zandonai, Giuliano (1928) with libretto by Arturo Rossato, based on stories by Jacobus de Voragine and Gustave Flaubert.
Walter Wangerin, Jr. wrote a novel, classified as historical fiction, titled “Saint Julian”.
One of the tales in Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron is named The miracle of Saint Julian, and is about a faithful devotee of St Julian whose faith is put to test during a travel.
In The Chronicles of Julian, the Hospitaller, a historical fiction set at the turn of the first millennium, St Julian meets the devil throughout his life, leading to an ultimate confrontation at the construction site of the Ponte della Maddalena bridge at Borgo a Mozzano, in Lucca, Tuscany.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain gives thanks to Saint Julian when he first finds a castle after his long journey through the wilderness.
San Julián – list of placenames in Spanish-speaking – or Spanish-influenced – areas
What is something you can eat to celebrate St. Julian?
St. Julian, the Hospitaller is known for taking care of the sick, road weary, and hungry. He is also personally connected with several locations, but in particular he is associated with and venerated on Malta.
For me then, it makes sense to celebrate this saint with a hearty stew to feed the hungry, but one with a traditional Maltese flavor. I have just the thing:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You and praise You for giving us St. Julian as an example of holiness. Please hear the prayers he brings before You on our behalf.
St. Julian, legend holds that your father saw pagan witches put a curse on you shortly after you were born. Though you were a vulnerable newborn baby, your father wanted to have you killed in order to protect himself from the curse.
We ask you to take all of our prayers before the throne of God, and we particularly ask today that you pray that God may protect and bless all who are most vulnerable.
Pray for us, that we may remain faithful to God in every circumstance in our lives. Pray that we may grow in love of God at every opportunity He gives us.
And we especially ask in this novena for (mention your intentions here).
St. Julian, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
