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 VERONICA

363

VEROT

or in the Church of St. Seurin at Bordeaux. Some- times she ha.s even been ronfounded with a pious woman who, according to tirogory of Tours, ljro\ight to the nciglibouring town of Bazas some drops of the blood of Jolm the Baptist, at whose beheading slie wa.s present. In many places she is identified with the haemorrhissa who was cured in the Gosi)el. These pious traditions cannot be documented, but there is no reason why the belief that such an act of compassion did occur should not find expression in the veneration paid to one called Veronica, even though the name has found no place either in the Hieronymian Mar- tjTology or in the oldest historical Martyrologies, and St. Charles Borromeo excluded the Office of St. Ver- onica from the Milan Missal where it had been intro- duced. The Roman Martyrology also records at Milan St. Veronica de Binasco, of the Order of St. Augustine, on 13 January, and St. Veronica Giuliani, on 9 July (q. v.).

Ada SS. Bollarul.. Feb. I (Paris, 1S63); Maubt. Lettres aur Vitymologie du nam de Vironique in Revue Archeologique (Paris, 1851); ArR^UEN, Sainte V^ronique, apdtre de VAquitaine (Tou- louse. 1877): BouBRlfeRES. .Sain; Amadour el sainte Vironique (Cahors, 1894); Palme, Die deutschen Veronicalegenden des XII. Jahrh. (Prague. 18921.

Antoine Degert.

Veronica Giuliani, Saint, b. at Mercatello in the Duchy of Urbino, Italy, 1660; d. at Citta di Castello, 9 July, 1727. Her parents, Francesco Giuliana and Benedetta Mancini, were both of gentle birth. In baptism she was named Ursula, and showed marvel- lous signs of sanctify. When but eighteen months old she uttered her first words to upbraid a shopman who was serving a false measure of oil, saying distinctly: "Do justice, God sees you". At the age of three years she began to be favoured with Divine commu- nications, and to show great compassion for the poor. She would set apart a portion of her food for them, and even part with her clothes when she met a poor child scantily clad. These traits and a great love for the Cross developed as she grew older. When others did not readily join in her religious practices she was inclined to be dictatorial. In her sixteenth year this imperfection of character was brought home to her in a vision in which she saw her own heart as a heart of steel. In her WTitings she confesses that .she took a certain pleasure in the more stately circumstances which her family adopted when her father was ap- pointed superintendent of finance at Piacenza. But this did not in any way affect her early-formed resolu- tion to dedicate herself to rehgion, although her father urged her to marry and procured for her several suitors as soon as she became of marriageable age. Owing to her father's opposition to her desire to enter a convent, Veronica fell ill and only recovered when he gave his consent.

In 1677 .she wa.s received into the convent ol the Capuchin Poor Clares in Citt^ di Castello, taking the name of Veronica in memory of the Passion. \t the conclusion of the ceremony of her reception the bishoj) said to the abbess: "I commend this new daughter to your special care, for she will one day be a great saint". She became absolutely submissive to the will of her directors, though her novitiate was marked by extraordinary interior trials and temptations to re- turn to the world. At her profession in 1678 she con- ceived a great desire to suffer in union with our Saviour crucified for the conversion of sinners. About this time she had a vision of Christ bearing His cross and henceforth suffered an acute physical pain in her heart, .\fter her death the figure of the cross was found impressed upon her heart. In 1693 she entered upon a new pha.se in her spiritual life, when she had a vision of the chalice symbolizing the Divine Passion which was to be re-enacted in her o%vn soul. At first she .shr.ank from accepting it and only by great effort eventually submitted. She then began to en- dure intense spiritual suffering. In 1694 she received

the impression of the Crown of Thorns, the wounds being visible and t he pain permanent. By order of t he bishop she submitted to medical treatment, but ob- tained no relief. Yet, although she hved in this su- pernafuraUy mj-sticai life, she was a practical woman of affairs. For thirty-four years she was novice- mistress, and guided the novices with great prudence. It is noticeable that she would not allow them to read mystical books. In 1716 she was elected abbess and whilst holding that office enlarged the convent and had a good system of water-pipes laid down, the con- vent hitherto having been without a proper water supply. She was canonized by Gregory XVI in 1839. She is usually represented crowned with thorns and embracing the Cross.

The Life of St. Veronica Giuliani in The Oratorian Series (Lon- don, 1874); translated from the Italian of Salvatori, published in 18.39 and compiled largely from the processes of the saint's canonization; i'. Veronica Cliuliani: I suoi Scrilli (3 vols., CittA di Castello, 1883-85).

Father Cuthbert.

Verot, AuGUSTiN, third Bishop of Savannah, first of St. Augustine, b. at Le Puy, France, May, 1804; d. at St. Augustine, 10 June, 1876. He studied at St- Sulpice, Paris, was ordained priest by Archbishop de Quelen, 20 Sept., 1828, subsequently joined the Society of St-Sulpice, and in 18.30 came to Baltimore. He taught science, philosophy, and theology at St. Mary's College and the seminary until 1853, when, being appointed pastor at Elhcot 's Mills, he continued four years in missionary activity. Nominated Vicar Apostohcof Florida, 11 Dec, 1857, he was consecrated titular Bishop of Danabe, 25 April, 18.58, by Arch- bishop Kenrick in the cathedral of Baltimore. Religious conditions in Florida, owing chiefly to repeated mutations and instabihty in both civil and ecclesiastical regimes, were disheartening. Un- bounded zeal and resourcefulness characterized Bishop Verot's admini,stration from the beginning. The new vicariate had only three priests. He sought assis- tance in France and soon the churches at St. Augus- tine, Jacksonville, and Key West were repaired, new ones were erected at Tampa, Fernandina, Palalka, Mandarin, and Tallahassee and provided with resi- dent pa.stors, religious communities were introduced, and Catholic schools inaugurated. In July, 1861, Bishop Verot was translated to the See of Savannah, retaining meanwhile vicarial powers over Florida. Religion suffered enormously during the disastrous periods of the Civil War and the subsequent "recon- struction". The bishop's unfaihng courage and energy inspired his afflicted people with patience and resolution in repairing the great losses they sus- tained in their religious and material interests. The Florida vicariate was constituted a diocese in March, 1870, and Bishop Verot became first Bishop of St. Augustine, concentrating henceforth all his efforts on the work begun there fourteen years previou.sly. Contemporaneous files of the "Cathohc Directory" disclose his just appraisal of the latent material resources of a then undeveloped region. Florida owes to Bishop Verot's initiative much of its present material as well as rehgious progress. He was amongst the first to advocate its claims as a health resort and its adaptabihty for the culture of products which have since become valuable. He made an annual visitation of the whole diocese, estabhshing churches and schools at advantageous points, and aiming to lay a broad and solid .spiritual foundation on which his successors might build. He loved to revive the memory of Florida's early martyrs His numerous contributions on religious and historical themes in contemporary periodicals possess perma- nent value; his best-known writings are his "Pastoral on .Slavery" and his "Catechism". He took a prominent p.art in the Councils of Baltimore and in the Vatican Council (see Florida).