Paul and Juliana

Holy Martyrs Paul and Juliana (Juliania) were brother and sister, put to death for their faith under the emperor Aurelian, in Ptolemais (Acre) in Phoenicia, around the year 270 (one source gives 273). They are venerated in both the Orthodox and the Catholic Churches. The record places their commemoration on 4 March and 17 August; the sources themselves do not give the day. The statue of Saint Juliana is one of the 140 statues of the Colonnade of Saints in Saint Peter's Square, and a statue of her stands also in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, made around 1702 and 1703 by the sculptor Giovanni Pietro Mauri.

One time the emperor came to Ptolemais. Among those who met him was Paul, who made the Sign of the Cross, which was noticed; they seized him and threw him into prison. The next day, at the trial, he confessed openly and boldly his faith in Christ and was subjected to fierce tortures. Juliania, seeing her brother's sufferings, began before everyone to denounce the emperor for his injustice and cruelty and was likewise subjected to torture. They beat the martyrs, tore their bodies with iron hooks, scorched them on red-⁠hot grates, but could not break the wondrous endurance of the confessors of the Lord.

Three soldiers who were torturing the saints were struck by the magnanimous spirit of the martyrs and believed in Christ as well; they were named Quadratus, Acacius and Stratonicus, and were executed at once. The tormentor tried to entice Saint Juliana with the promise of taking her in marriage if she would renounce Christ, but the saint refused and remained steadfast. By order of the emperor the martyr was given over to a house of ill repute to be defiled, but the Lord preserved her there also: anyone who tried to touch the saint lost his sight. Then the enraged emperor commanded that their bodies be burned again. The people who crowded about and saw the sufferings of the saints began to murmur, and Aurelian ordered them beheaded at once. With gladdened faces, brother and sister went to their death, singing: For Thou, O Lord, hast saved us from those who troubled us and hast put to shame those who hated us.

In the old Roman Martyrology, Juliana and her brother Paul were listed as martyrs at Acre in the Holy Land under Aurelian, beheaded because they could not be dissuaded from the Christian faith. For lack of verifiable historical information they were removed from the Roman Martyrology of 2004.