Serene Byzantine sanctuary

This patron saint of innkeepers was welcome at court

St. Julian the Poor -- Feast Day -- February 12

By TED FITZGERALD
Special to the WCR
Paris

It has an unusual history and honours a relatively obscure and controversial sixth century holy man.

A shell of its former glory, the church faces northwest in the city's Latin Quarter. Dating from the 12th century, the tiny, rustic, Romanesque style church has had a complex history of usage, abandonment and structural reductions, including the loss of transepts, several bays and an original façade.

Of noble birth

While hunting one day, a stag spoke to him, predicting that Julian would kill his own parents, which he subsequently, accidentally did. Filled with remorse, he travelled to Rome seeking forgiveness then settled with his wife at the crossing of a large river. There they operated an Inn/Hospital for travellers, the sick and poor, and provided a ferry service.

A leper who the saint put up in his own bed, was a messenger from God who granted forgiveness for his error. He became a popular patron of Innkeepers, boatmen and travellers and is often identified in art with a stag or a boat.

Following a brief period of abandonment, the old church was acquired in 1889 by a Greek Melkite Catholic congregation. Reconsecrated retaining St. Julian's name, it is one of France's two active parishes of this Byzantine Rite.

Melkite followers

In Canada, the Montreal Archeparchy administers the 90,000-member church. Originating with immigrants from Syria and Lebanon, there are now 10 parishes and missions in six Canadian cities.

Eglise St.-Julien-le-Pauvre celebrates the Byzantine Rite in Greek, Arabic or French according to the requirements of the faithful, since 1857 using the Gregorian calendar.

Although it's lighted by round-arched original windows, the interior of the church is in sombre semi-shadow, with artifacts fading into darkened corners.

For a small donation, attendants in a tiny office will produce a one-page guide that provides backgrounds on St. Julien's and Melkite history.

Adaption of the church to the Eastern rite was effected quickly with the installation of a traditional, three-doored iconostasis, surmounted by a large crucifix, at the entrance to the choir. This wall, separating the Mass celebrant from the congregation, is ornamented with saintly icons. Through the open central doorway, a conventional altar is visible. Otherwise, the church is similar to other early stone structures with a combination of Roman and Gothic arches and columns defining the narrow 12th century nave.

A grand piano and microphones in front of the iconostasis remind visitors that, as with many Paris churches, St. Julien's is frequently the venue for religious and secular musical performances.

Leaving the little sanctuary, one of the more attractive features of a visit to St-Julien's becomes evident in the dramatic view from the churchyard of majestic Notre-Dame-de-Paris on the opposite Seine River bank.

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