Julia, a Franciscan

A saintly ex-slave who died in Denver in 1918. Julia Greeley earned her keep serving various families as a domestic worker and then gave all that was left to assist the poor of Denver. When this was not sufficient, she begged for the poor. One writer penned her “a one-person St. Vincent de Paul Society.” Julia was also a staunch promoter of Jesuit devotions to the Sacred Heart and on foot regularly distributed their literature to all the fire stations of Denver. When she died in 1918, Jesuit parish priests buried her from Sacred Heart Church, but surprisingly in the habit of the Third Order Franciscans, now known as Secular Franciscans (O.F.S.).

There were no Franciscans in Denver when Julia arrived in 1879 or 1880. In fact, so far as is known, there were no Franciscans of any kind.

Frs. Francis Koch, O.F.M., and Venantius Eder, O.F.M., came in 1887 to staff St. Elizabeth Church and immediately began promoting the O.F.S. Someone else, however, had already started the secular fraternity at St. Elizabeth’s, possibly diocesan priest Fr. Frederick Bender. The fraternity’s records list 11 men and women who made profession in the latter part of 1886.

Julia Greeley joined the Franciscan Family in February of 1901. Her profession as Sr. Elizabeth of the Secular Franciscans was received by Fr. Francis. From then on, she regularly attended fraternity meetings at St. Elizabeth’s and encouraged many others to join the group.

Every August 2, Julia was at St. Elizabeth’s Church on 11th Street (now St. Francis Way) from the time the doors opened till when they closed. She spent the day there gaining plenary indulgences for the Poor Souls. St. Francis of Assisi obtained the Portiuncula indulgence from Pope Honorius III in 1216. Visitors to the tiny chapel of Our Lady of Angels in Assisi were thus enabled to obtain a plenary indulgence for themselves or the poor souls as often as they visited the church and prayed for the Pope. The privilege was later extended to every Franciscan church on the anniversary of the dedication of the Assisi church.

At the end of the day on one such feast, Julia crossed the street to Mrs. Fisher’s grocery and café to get something to eat. Mary, the kitchen girl had already finished the dishes and tidied up. “Oh, get something for Julia anyhow,” Mrs. Fisher told her. “All right,” said Mary, “but you’ll have to pray for me, Julia.” That prompted Julia to say, “Mary, I’ll put you in a canoe with a lot of others I pray for. But I’ll pray special for Mrs. Fisher, all by herself.”

During a number of Julia’s years at St. Elizabeth’s, the Franciscan pastor who probably led the Third Order meetings was the Servant of God, Fr. Leo Heinrichs. Leo was martyred there while distributing Holy Communion on Feb. 21, 1908.

Reflecting on Julia’s being buried in the Franciscan habit, Jesuit Fr. Eugene Murphy opined, “Here was the secret of her influence. She had taken Christ literally, as had the Poverello of Assisi. Like him, she had given away all to the poor and had gone about making melody in her heart unto the Lord.”
Capuchin Fr. Blaine Burkey first heard of Julia through an article about her in the Denver Catholic Register, years before he came to Denver. Noting she was a Secular Franciscan, he resolved to find out more about his saintly sister. In 2011, he finally followed up on the resolve, and it quickly snowballed into his writing, with the encouragement of Provincial Minister Fr. Charles Polifka and other leaders of the province, his documentary study, In Secret Service of the Sacred Heart.

Discussion about his study led Capuchin Fr. Gene Emrisek, pastor of Julia’s parish, where her life is still remembered through her obituary enshrined at the very entrance to the parish offices, to gather representatives of several organizations and other individuals who had made known their interest in Julia. Fr. Gene’s assembly quickly formed the Julia Greeley Guild and began plans to publish Fr. Blaine’s book and take initial steps toward asking the Church to begin Julia’s cause for canonization, something that had been discussed ever since her death 94 years ago. This group included Capuchin Fr. Christopher Popravak, spiritual assistant of Julia’s local Secular Franciscan fraternity, as well as other members of the local and regional fraternities.

While the book was still being researched, the Capuchin provincial development office asked Fr. Blaine if he would be willing to lead a pilgrimage to sites connected with Julia’s life. Special Events Director Gina Francis took care of the logistics; and on Feb. 12, 2012, Capuchin Frs. Bill Kraus and Regis Scanlon, Brs. Benignus Scarry and Augustine Rohde, and three postulants were with Blaine on the full 40-passenger bus making the pilgrimage.

Meanwhile another group of people, led by Fr. Regis, former archdiocesan director of prison ministry, had begun a campaign to start a program for homeless single women, many of whom had serious problems returning to civilian life from the prison system. Learning about Julia Greeley’s love for the neglected, this group decided to put its program under her patronage. The home is still doing quite well.

Elsewhere in town a totally different group of people, all friends of Capuchin Fr. John Cousins, provincial spiritual assistant of the O.F.S. and former pastor of Cure d’Ars Church, set out to begin a non-diocesan Catholic elementary school in an otherwise unserved neighborhood. In March, the board of Sister Blandina School, Inc., decided to name its first campus, in the Park Hill Neighborhood, the Julia Greeley Academy. The school operated for two years, but was not able to keep itself financially solvent.