Martyr5th century

Virgin Martyr Julia of Carthage

died 5th century

Also known as Julia of Corsica

A Christian maiden of Carthage carried off into slavery, who kept her faith and purity in her servitude and, refusing to join in a pagan sacrifice on Corsica, was crucified for Christ.

July 16New Calendar

Feast Day

July 29Old Calendar

Suggest a correction Contribute

Icon galleryBrowse icons and imagery elsewhere

Commemorated as

The Holy and Glorious Virgin Martyr Julia of Carthage

Life

Julia of Carthage is venerated as a virgin martyr who was born in Carthage, in Roman North Africa, into a Christian family. While still a girl she was carried off from her home and sold into slavery, yet she preserved her faith and her purity throughout her servitude, keeping the fasts and devoting herself to prayer despite her master's pagan household.

On a voyage with her master, the ship at which she served put in at the island of Corsica during a pagan festival. When Julia refused to take part in the idolatrous celebration and openly confessed herself a Christian, she was put to death by crucifixion. By tradition her relics were later recovered and, in about the year 763, translated to a women's monastery at Brescia. She is honored among the pre-schism Western saints and is commemorated on July 16.

Kontakion & Troparion2 hymnsReadHide

KontakionTone 2

(Podoben: “You sought the heights...”) Finding your most revered temple to be a source of healing for our souls,
we the faithful cry out to You with a loud voice:
“O most renowned Virgin Martyr Julia,
entreat Christ God unceasingly on behalf of us all.”

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 4

(Podoben: “Joseph was amazed...”) Your lamb Julia,
calls out to You, O Jesus, in a loud voice:
“I love You, my Bridegroom,
and in seeking You, I endure suffering.
In baptism I was crucified so that I might reign in You,
and I died so that I might live with You.
Accept me as a pure sacrifice,
for I have offered myself in love.”
Through her prayers save our souls, since You are merciful.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

Captivity and Witness

According to the synaxarion, Julia was taken captive while still young and sold into slavery, being carried off to Syria. She served her master faithfully and is remembered for guarding her chastity, observing the Church's fasts, and praying frequently, refusing every effort to draw her into the worship of idols.

When her master set out with his merchandise — accounts name Gaul as the destination — the ship stopped on its way at Corsica, where the master joined a local pagan festival while Julia remained aboard. The tradition relates that the Corsicans plied the merchant and his companions with wine until they fell into a drunken sleep, then seized Julia from the ship. Unafraid to acknowledge that she was a Christian, she was crucified by the pagans.

Relics and Veneration

The synaxarion relates that an angel of the Lord made the martyr's death known to the monks of a monastery on a nearby island, who took her body and buried it in a church within their monastery. About the year 763 her relics were transferred to a women's monastery in the city of Brescia.

Julia is venerated as a patron saint of Corsica. Her commemoration in the Orthodox Church falls on July 16; in the Western tradition she is also kept on May 22.

Dating

The sources of her life are early and somewhat divergent. Historians have assigned her martyrdom to either the fifth or the seventh century, and Western accounts associate her enslavement with the upheavals that followed the Vandal conquest of Carthage in 439. The present entry follows the fifth-century dating.

Related SaintsShowHide

Browse other saints who share her calling and place.

More Byzantine Saints1282

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints