Julia Greeley Guild

Welcome

Julia Greeley, Denver’s Angel of Charity, was born into slavery, at Hannibal, Missouri, sometime between 1833 and 1848. While she was still a young child, a cruel slavemaster, in the course of beating her mother, caught Julia’s right eye with his whip and  destroyed it.

Freed by Missouri’s Emancipation Act in 1865, Julia subsequently earned her keep by serving white families in Missouri, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico—though mostly in the Denver area. Whatever she did not need for herself, Julia spent assisting poor families in her neighborhood. When her own resources were inadequate, she begged for food, fuel and clothing for the needy. One writer later called her a “one-person St. Vincent de Paul Society.” To avoid embarrassing the people she helped, Julia did most of her charitable work under cover of night through dark alleys.

Julia entered the Catholic Church at Sacred Heart Parish in Denver in 1880, and was an outstanding supporter of all that the parish had to offer. The Jesuits who ran the parish considered her the most enthusiastic promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus they had ever seen. Every month she visited on foot every fire station in Denver and delivered literature of the Sacred Heart League to the firemen, Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

A daily communicant, Julia had a rich devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin and continued her prayers while working and moving about. She joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1901 and was active in it till her death in 1918.

As she lived in a boarding house, Julia’s body was laid out in church, and immediately many hundreds of people began filing pass her coffin to pay their grateful respect. She was buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery (sect. 8, Block 7), and to the present day many people have been asking that her cause be considered for canonization, a request which was finally granted in the Fall of 2016.

As part of the Cause for Canonization, Julia’s mortal remain were transferred to Denver’s Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on June 7, 2017.

 

Featured Pages

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Lil’ Red Wagon

Below are links to the Julia Greeley Guild newsletter, “The Lil’ Red Wagon.” The files are in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to access them. READ THE LATEST ISSUE HERE: Issue 41 Read all previous issues: Issue 1 – 11/09/14Issue 2 – 03/17/15Issue 3 – 08/08/15Issue 4 – 01/18/16Issue 5 – 01/31/16Issue 6 – 03/07/16Issue 7 – 05/25/16Issue 8 – […]

The Book

The most thorough compilation of the facts of Julia Greeley’s life have been published in a new book by Fr. Blaine Burkey, O.F.M.Cap. The book, In Service of the Sacred Heart: The Life and Virtues of Julia Greeley (third expanded edition), recalls the memorable stories and events of this remarkable woman by those who knew her best. The book is now available for purchase in […]

Julia’s Intercession

Intercession at Her Tomb As part of the local phase of Julia’s Cause for Canonization, her body was exhumed at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and moved to the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. This was done, both to identify her body and to make its resting place more easily accessible for the faithful so that they might bring their prayers for […]

The Guild

The Julia Greeley Guild is a group of men and women dedicated to extending Julia’s fame for sanctity, proposing her as a model of Christian virtue, encouraging private devotion to her, and helping cover some of the expenses of her Cause for Canonization. To join in this effort and be aware of activities of the Guild, please print a copy of the invitation-application form, fill in […]