It’s entirely possible that the life and times of Servant of God Julia Greeley would still be lost to history were it not for the noble work of Mary Frances O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan passed away Jan. 14 at Windsor Gardens in Denver. She was 82 years old.
O’Sullivan was an early champion of Julia Greeley, who became known for her hidden charity and steadfast devotion to the Sacred Heart and is currently being considered for sainthood by the Vatican. If canonized, she will be the first saint from Denver.
Father Blaine Burkey, whose book In Secret Service of the Sacred Heart: The Life and Virtues of Julia is the most complete chronicle of the life of Julia Greeley that exists, told the Denver Catholic that O’Sullivan’s early efforts to spread the word about Julia Greeley were “indispensably important.”
“Her 1994 obtaining of the research papers of Father Pacificus Kennedy, OFM, (who died shortly afterwards) who in 1974 had interviewed numerous folks who knew of Julia, was her most important assistance,” Father Burkey said. “If she had not obtained those papers and seen to it that they were preserved, I could never have started writing the book, which — with further research of my own — I was able to put together. She also obtained our only photo of Julia from Father Kennedy.”
In 2017, O’Sullivan received an award from the Julia Greeley Guild granting her an Honorary Lifetime Membership and honoring her invaluable contributions to advancing her cause for canonization.
Mary O’Sullivan (center) with Julia Greeley Guild president Mary Leisring (left) and Father Blaine Burkey (right) at Denver’s Cathedral Basilica in 2017, following the interment ceremony of Julia Greeley’s remains. (Photo provided)
In addition to obtaining those crucial documents about Julia’s life, O’Sullivan also encouraged the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of St. Peter Claver at Curé d’Ars Church to begin sponsoring scholarships in Julia’s honor in 1995, which also helped to spread awareness of her life. Furthermore, O’Sullivan contributed an article about the potential saint in the Feb. 22, 1995 issue of the Denver Catholic Register for African-American History Month — long before Julia’s cause for canonization was even under consideration.
“Denver’s hospitality inspired Julia to vaulting idealism,” she wrote. “A great legacy to us are her decades of secret charity, adoration and charismatic mysticism.”
Much like Julia, O’Sullivan humbly carried out the work of uncovering the beauty of Julia’s life to share with the world. For that, we can be grateful to O’Sullivan, whose own great legacy includes helping Denver’s own Angel of Charity find her way on the path to sainthood.
O’Sullivan’s funeral Mass will be celebrated at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception Jan. 31 at 9:30 a.m. The Mass can be livestreamed here.