⛪ Saint of the Day : January 7
⛪ Other Names :
• Giuliano of Orta • Julian • Julianus • Julien
⛪ Born :
• c.350 in Aegina, Greece
⛪ Died :
• 391 in Gozzano, Italy of natural causes. • Buried in the church of Santa Maria that he had built in Gozzano. • Relics enshrined in the basilica of Gozzano in 1691.
⛪ Patronage : Gozzano, Italy
Giuliano di Gozzano ( Egina , IV century - Gozzano , 391 ) was a Greek deacon , revered as a saint by the Catholic Church.
Born on the island of Aegina ( Greece ), together with his brother Giulio he was sent to Athens to carry out studies of a secular and subsequently sacred nature. Their apostolic capacity urges the people of Athens to ask the bishop for their consecration: for Giulio, the priesthood, while for Giuliano, as a sign of humility towards his elder brother, the diaconate.
Following the persecutions carried out by the emperor Flavio Valente against the Arian heresy , the two brothers went to the areas washed by the Danube ( Hungary , Bohemia and Poland ) where they built numerous churches. With the death of Valens and the rise to power of Theodosius I , Giulio and Giuliano obtained permission to freely preach the word of God throughout the empire, also involving imperial officials to help them, on pain of death.
Reassured by this document, they go to Italy to fulfill their apostolic mission in Lazio ( Acque Salve ), in Liguria and in Lombardy where they meet Sant'Ambrogio from Milan and the governor and senator Audenzio. With the construction of new churches throughout the Lombardy region they arrive on the eastern shores of Lake Maggiore . Here Giuliano, attracted by the beauty of the place, shows the will to stop and spend the remaining time of his life. They decide to settle in Gozzano (important strategic center) and, converted the population, build the ninety-ninth church dedicated to Santa Maria, (the currentchurch of San Lorenzo ).
Left to Giuliano the task of completing the temple, Giulio looks for the place for the construction of the hundredth church (dedicated to the Holy Apostles) and identifies it in the island of Cusio (now the Island of San Giulio ).
In 391 Giuliano died and was buried in the church he built.
His body will be definitively transferred to the Basilica of Gozzano in 1691 , on which occasion the archpriest Pietro Giuseppe Terrini will hold a commemorative address dedicated to the Saint.
The liturgical feast of Saint Julian deacon is celebrated on January 7th; this anniversary should not be confused with the liturgical feast of another saint of the same name, Saint Julian of Brioude , martyred in 302, which falls on January 9 instead .