nt. The tyrant, not to be overcome by so heroic a
constancy, gave orders for a great fire to be kindled, with a vacant
space to be left in the midst of it, for the martyr to be laid in, when
taken off the rack. This was accordingly done, and he lay there a
considerable time, surrounded by the flames, singing the praises of God,
and invoking the name of Jesus; till at length, quite broiled by the
fire, he consummated a slow, but glorious martyrdom.

Seleucus, an eye-witness of this victory, was heard by the soldiers
applauding the martyr's resolution; and being brought before the
governor, he, without more ado, ordered his head to be struck off.

ST. JULIANA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR.

AFTER many torments, she was beheaded at Nicomedia, under Galerius
Maximianus. St. Gregory the great mentions that her bones were
translated to Rome. Part of them are now at Brussels, in the church of
our Lady of Sablon. This saint is much honored in the Low Countries. Her
acts in Bollandus deserve no notice. Bede, and martyrologies ascribed to
St. Jerom, call this the day of her martyrdom, which the ancient Corbie
manuscript places at Nicomedia. See Chatelain's notes on the
martyrology, p. 667.

ST. GREGORY X., POPE, C.

HE was of an illustrious family, born at Placentia, and at his baptism
was called Theobald. In his youth he was distinguished for his
extraordinary virtue, and his progress in his studies, especially of the
canon law, which he began in Italy, and pursued at Paris, and lastly at
Liege. He was archdeacon of this last church when he received an order
from the pope to preach the crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land.
Incredible were the pains which he took in executing this commission,
and in reconciling the Christian princes, who were at variance. The
death of St. Lewis, in 1270, {421} struck a damp upon the spirits of the
Christians in the East, though the prince of Wales, soon after Edward
I., king of England, sailed from Sicily, in March, 1271, to their
assistance, took Jaffa and Nazareth, and plundered Antioch. A tender
compassion for the distressed situation of the servants of Christ in
those parts, moved the holy archdeacon of Liege to undertake a dangerous
pilgrimage to Palestine, in order to comfort them, and at the same time
to satisfy his devotion by visiting the holy places. The see of Rome had
been vacant almost three years, from the death of Clement IV. to
November, 1268, the cardinals who were assembled at Vi