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Also known as: Julian the
Poor
Memorial: 12 February
Profile
Noble layman; friend and counselor to the king, he was married to a
wealthy widow. A stag he was hunting predicted he would kill his own
parents. Julian moved far away to avoid his parents, but they found him,
and came to make a surprise visit. His wife gave them her and Julian's
bed; Julian killed them, thinking they were his wife and another man.
As penance, he and his wife traveled to Rome as pilgrims seeking
absolution. On his way home, to continue his penance, he built a hospice
beside a river, cared for the poor and sick, and rowed travelers across
the river for free.
Once, after having helped many, many travelers, Julian gave his own bed to
a pilgrim leper who had nearly frozen to death. When they had him safely
settled, the man suddenly revealed himself to be an angel. The visitor
announced that Christ had accepted Julian's penance; the angel then
disappeared.
Immensely popular in times past; scholars today think the story is likely
to be pious fiction, mistaken for history.
Patronage: boatmen, carnival workers, childless people, circus
workers, clowns, ferrymen, fiddlers, fiddle players, hospitality,
hotel-keepers, innkeepers, jugglers, knights, murderers, pilgrims,
shepherds, to obtain lodging while traveling, travelers, wandering
musicians
Representation: carrying a leper through a river; ferryman; hart;
holding an oar; man listening to a talking stag; oar; stag; with Jesus and
Saint Martha as patrons of travelers; young hunter with a stag; young man
killing his parents in bed; young man wearing a fur-lined cloak, sword,
and gloves; young, well-dressed man holding a hawk on his finger;
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