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Works of Mercy and Charity Much of what her acquaintances shared about her activities spoke of her practice of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. She earned her living as a domestic servant, and whatever was left after providing for her own needs, she shared with Denver's neglected poor in the form of food, clothing, fuel and anything else they needed. To avoid embarrassing the recipients of her charity, she made her deliveries mostly at night through dark back alleys. One editor called her a "one-woman Vincent de Paul Society." Julia also devoted much of her time each month to spreading the literature of the Apostleship of Prayer and the Sacred Heart League all over Denver. Since she was illiterate, someone must have informed her each month of the general content of the leaflets she rec- ommended to others. It follows from this that she must have consecrated her daily activity to the apostleship's intentions. This surely was one of the secrets of her own spirituality: to place all her day's activities into the secret service of the Sacred Heart. Fewer witnesses spoke explicitly of Julia's Eucharistic devotion, but in fact, all these devotions were but different facets of one another. Julia's devotion to the Sacred Heart was toward the same love of Jesus that one experi- ences in Jesus' Body truly present in the Eucharist. This love of Christ empowered and accompanied her in all her charitable efforts to serve Jesus, whom she encountered in the poor and forgotten. Julia's Devotion to the Eucharist Father McDonnell said Julia had been a daily Com- municant practically ever since her conversion, thus revealing the strength of her devotion to her Eucha- ristic Lord. The Apostleship of Prayer, of which she was a parish promoter, asked its members to "receive Our Lord in Holy Communion once a week, or once a month… in reparation for the sins of ingratitude and irreverence committed against our Lord, particularly in the Eucharist." Julia, however, sought to receive him every day. It is well documented that Julia, even in her poverty, rented a small two-seat pew just in front of the far left of the Communion rail. This surely suggests she wanted to be as close as possible to where her Eucharist Lord was resting. Several other people recorded that Julia made a special effort to attend their First Communions which they had received in parishes far removed from Sacred Heart Church. She did so on foot, with con- siderable pain. Recent forensic examination found her bones covered with the marks of arthritis. One woman, later a Carmelite nun, said Julia followed the city's schedule of Forty Hours Devotions and "walked to every parish, par- ticipating in the Masses, litanies, benedictions, and worshiping for hours at the Court-Throne of Incarnate Love." She "knelt motionless with perfect posture, intently absorbed in the adorable Eucharist." One of these churches was ten miles away from where Julia was working at the time, and for three days she arrived early with flowers for the altar of Exposition "remaining until the closing cadence, then disappearing into the darkness, with a brisk step." Altar Society ladies everywhere were acquainted with Julia because of her luxurious donation of flowers which she brought from her employers on the other side of town. Julia herself did say something revealing about the centrality of the Eucharist in her life: she believed that Jesus was present in the Eucha- rist, offering himself as food that sustained her in all she was doing. A week after her death, the diocesan newspaper said, "She never ate any breakfast, except when she was going to do heavy work and it was absolutely necessary to have sustenance. This fast was a religious act, and was not caused by her poverty, for her friends would gladly have given her this meal. She was asked various times by Father McDonnell, whether she had eaten breakfast and replied, 'My Communion is my breakfast'." 52 JUNE-JULY 2024 | DENVER CATHOLIC