BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Thursday, April 8

ST. JULIE BILLIART (b France 1751, d Belgium 1816)
Nun, Founder of the Sisters of Notre Dame
A farmer's daughter, Julie showed early signs of holiness, which found practical expression in making
laces and linens for her parish church and being a catechist to children and to farm laborers. At age
30, she was paralyzed by a mysterious illness, which did not keep her from continuing with her work
as catechist nor from dispensing spiritual advice for which she soon gained quite a reputation. During
the years following the French Revolution, she had to be taken from place to place to avoid getting
caught in the murderous wave of anti-Catholicism. In Amiens, she was sheltered by an aristocrat,
Francoise Blin de Bourdon, who came to admire Julie for her spiritual gifts. Eventually, they decided
to start a community dedicated to educating Christian girls and training catechists, which was to
become the Institute of Notre Dame. Julie, Francoise and two of their proteges professed their vows
in 1804, at which time, Julie was miraculously healed of of her paralysis, and was able to walk again
after 22 years. She travelled throughout France and Belgium establishing schools and convents. In
1809, she moved the motherhouse from Amiens to Namur in Belgium, when a new bishop wished to
impose rules to bring the congregation in line with ancient monastic orders. From 1804-1816, Julie
founded 15 convents, made 120 journeys, and carried on correspondence with her sisters now kept in
the convent at Namur. After her death, many miracles were attributed to her. A canonization process
was started in 1881, and she was beatified in 1906. She was finally canonized in 1969.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/040810.shtml


OR today.

At the General Audience, Benedict XVI speaks on the relevance today
of the 'good news' of Easter:
'Words and deeds must be consistent with the Gospel
in order to bear witness to the risen Christ'
Other Page 1 stories: An Easter meditation from the Patriarch of Moscow; and the US and Russia
sign a new treaty on further reduction of nuclear arms. In the inside pages, Archbishop Jean-
Louis Brugues, secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, writes on the lessons from
Vatican II for a symposium at Rome's Sacred Heart University; and an interview with Nicholas
Cabibbo, physicist and president of the Pontifical Academy for Sciences, on the significance of
Europe's giant particle accelerator in Geneva for the future of physics.


No events scheduled for the Holy Father today.




BTW- Check out this unusual video lovingly put together, you can see...
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