Julia Greeley was born into slavery in Hannibal, Missouri, between 1833 and 1848. Freed by Missouri’s Emancipation Act in 1865, Julia earned her keep by serving families in Missouri, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. Julia became Catholic at Sacred Heart Parish in Denver in 1880. She became an enthusiastic promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She visited every fire station in Denver monthly — on foot — and delivered Sacred Heart League literature to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. A daily communicant, Julia had a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. She joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1901 and was active in it until her death in 1918. As part of the ongoing cause for her canonization, Julia’s mortal remains were transferred to Denver’s Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on June 7, 2017.
— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Black Catholic Congress
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