Giulia della Rena (1319 – 9 January 1367) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

professed member of the

Order of Saint Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were fo ...

in its third order branch. Della Rena was orphaned sometime in her late childhood and sought work as a maid in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

where she soon became a member of the Augustinian tertiaries. The religious then returned to

Certaldo Certaldo is a town and '' comune'' of Tuscany, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Florence, in the middle of Valdelsa. It is about southwest of the Florence Duomo. It is 50 minutes by rail and 35 minutes by car southwest of Florence, and it is 40 ...

due to the negative Florentine economic and political climate where she became best known for rescuing a child from a burning building.

Life

Giulia della Rena was born to impoverished nobles (whose status began to wane) in

sometime in 1319. She was orphaned of both her parents sometime in her childhood. Della Rena sought work outside of her hometown and became a maid to the Timolfi household in

. It was there that she became a professed member of the

in its third order branch in 1338 at their church of the Holy Spirit while also receiving the habit. But the tumult in Florence caused her to return home to Certaldo where she rescued a child from a burning building in a move that brought her unwanted fame and attention. She then retired to live the remainder of her life as an anchoress in a small cell that was built to the church of Santi Jacopo e Filippo. She had little in her small cell save for a little window and a

Crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

. Della Rena died at the beginning of 1367. Her remains were interred in the church of Santi Jacopo e Filippo and were moved to its altar in 1372.

Beatification

The 1819 confirmation of her local "cultus" (or popular devotion)which began almost right after she diedallowed for Pope Pius VII to approve her beatification.

References

External links

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rena, Giulia della 1319 births 1367 deaths People from Certaldo 14th-century venerated Christians 14th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Augustinian friars Italian beatified people Venerated Catholics Beatifications by Pope Pius VII