Saint Juliana of Nicomedia is said to have suffered Christian martyrdom during the Diocletianic persecution in 304. She was popular in the Middle Ages, especially in the Netherlands, as the patron saint of sickness. Her life is listed in the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca (BHG) 963 and Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina (BHL) 4522–4527.

Juliana was daughter of an illustrious pagan named Africanus and was born in Nicomedia. Her father was hostile to the Christians and hence, Juliana accepted holy baptism secretly. At the time of her wedding, Juliana refused to get married. Though her father urged her not to break her engagement, she refused to obey him. Hence, Africanus handed her over to the Governor Eleusius, her former fiancé. Eleusius asked Juliana to marry him, but she refused again.

Then, Eleusius had Juliana flogged in a ruthless way. After that, he burned her face with a heated iron and told her, "Go now at the mirror to see your beauty". Juliana answered him with a light smile: "At the resurrection of the righteous, there won’t exist burnings and wounds but only the soul. So Eleusius, I prefer to have now the wounds of the body which are temporary, rather than the wounds of the soul which torture eternal."

Juliana was beheaded after a while. Soon after, a noble lady named Sephonia came through Nicomedia and took the body of Juliana with her to Italy, and had it buried in Campania. Eleusius was eaten by a lion, when he was shipwrecked on an unknown island.

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Daniel
2. Saint Aganus
3. Saint Faustinus
4. Saint Jeremy
5. Saint Julian of Egypt

-catholic.org