BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Saturday, July 10, 14th Week in Ordinary Time

Second from left: The saint's incorrupt body.
ST VERONICA GIULIANI (Italy, 1660-1727), Poor Clare Nun, Mystic, Abbess
Daughter of a wealthy Umbrian family, Ursula Giuliani grew up having divine visions starting at age 3 - they would continue
throughout her life. Their dying mother dedicated each of her five daughters to the Wounds of Christ. Ursula joined the
Poor Clares at age 17, taking the name Veronica to commemorate the Passion of Christ. She did menial jobs in the kitchen,
infirmary and sacristy before she became portress. After 14 years, she was made mistress of novices. Three years later,
at age 37, she received the stigmata - first the imprint of the Crown of Thorns on her forehead, and then the five wounds
of the Crucifixion. For this, her bishop suspended her from duty and subjected her to the most rigorous of investigations
to verify the authenticity of the wounds. Eventually, she was restored to her office, but she discouraged her own novices
from getting 'caught up' in mysticism. When she was 56, she was made abbess against her wishes, but she proved to be a
very practical and efficient administrator. She died on Good Friday at age 67. Canonized in 1839, her body has remained
incorrupt and is ensrhined in her monastery at Citta del Castello. Her confessor had ordered Veronica to keep a record of
her spiritual life. She did so for 30 years, and her writings were eventually published as Tesoro Nascosto (Hidden
Treasure) from 1825-1928, encompassing 14 volumes.
Readings for today's Mass:
usccb.org/nab/071010.shtml


No papal stories in today's OR.
Page 1 stories: After 6 months, Haiti has not emerged from the most serious consequences of the earthquake;
on the eve of a multinational meeting to advance universal literacy in Africa, UNESCO says 32 million children
in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to education; another UN report says at least 50,000 persons die annually
as a result of exposure to poisons in industrial wastes; and an editorial commentary on new advances in abortion
technologies and relentless promotion of abortion in the secularized West. In the inside pages, a report on how
bureaucratic red tape has prevented a structural restoration of the chapel housing the Holy Shroud of Turin after
the fire that gutted it 20 years ago.


The Vatican today released its financial statement for 2009 at the conclusion of a two-day
meeting by the cardinals' council charged with administrative and economic oversight of
the Holy See.