HUMILIANA DE CIRCULUS, BL.

Franciscan tertiary; b. Florence, Italy, December 1219; d. there, May 19, 1246. Married at 16, she was freed by the death of her husband (c. 1241) from a difficult marriage patiently borne for five years. As the mother of two little girls, she was prevented from entering the poor clares of Monticelli; instead she became a Franciscan tertiary, living a life of prayer and penance in a tower of her father's home, which she left only to attend church services and to help the poor. The recipient of notable graces, and impervious even to diabolical attacks, she was also a model of meekness and courage during her last illness. She was buried at the Franciscan Church of Santa Croce where her relics are kept in the Calderini chapel. Many miracles have been ascribed to her, some even in her lifetime. The first translation of her remains occurred in August 1246; the second, in November 1314. Her cult was confirmed by innocent xii (1694).

Feast: May 19 (Florence); June 15 (Franciscans).

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum May 4:384–418. f. cionacci, Storia della beata Vmiliana de'Cerchi (Florence 1682). c. vitus, Leggenda della beata Vmiliana de'Cerchi, ed. d. moreni (Florence 1827). z. lazzeri, Studi francescani 7 (1921) 196–206. lÉon de clary, Lives of the Saints and Blessed of the Three Orders of St. Francis, 4 v. (Taunton, England 1885–87) 2:275–279. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheueux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes, ed. by The Benedictines of Paris, 12 v. (Paris 1935–56) 5:370–373. j. cambell, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 5:534.

[j. cambell]