St. Angela Merici

             Angela Merici
Foundress of the Ursuline Sisters.  

 Angela’s life was very ordinary to an outsider, but she had an extraordinary sense of God taking care of her and leading her every step of the way through her life.  Angela was born between the years 1470-1474 on a farm at le Grezze, in Dessenzano, Northern Italy on the shore of Lake Garda. 

As a young girl, Angela lost in succession her sister and both of her parents. She went to live with a wealthy uncle in the town of Salo where, without benefit of formal schooling, Angela grew in poise, wisdom, and grace.

When Angela’s sister died, she was saddened as she had lost her nearest and dearest companion.  She asked God daily to give her a sign that she was happy in heaven.  One day when she was alone in the fields, sitting and enjoying the quiet of the countryside, she seemed to see a procession of angels and young women, one of whom was her sister, who told Angela that God wanted her to form her friends into a group that would work untiringly for others.  This experience made a deep impression on Angela so that for the rest of her life she sought God’s direction for all the choices and decisions she would have to make.   

The age in which Angela lived and worked (the 16th Century), was a time which saw great suffering on the part of the poor in society. The corruption of moral values left families split and hurting. Wars among nations and the Italian city-states left towns in ruins.

Around the year 1516, Angela came to live in the town of Brescia, Italy. Here she became a friend of the wealthy nobles of the day and also of the poor and suffering. Angela spent her days in prayer and fasting and service. Her reputation spread and her advice was sought by both young and old, rich and poor, religious and secular, male and female. But still, Angela had not yet brought her vision to fruition.
In Crete, while on a pilgrimage to Holy Land, Angela was struck blind. Her friends wanted to return home, but she insisted on going on, visiting the shrines with as much devotion and enthusiasm as she could see. On the way home, while praying before a crucifix, she got back her sight.

Angela returned to Brescia, which had become a haven for refugees from the many wars then wracking Italy. There she gathered around her a group of women who looked toward Angela as an inspirational leader and as a model
of apostolic charity.  On November 25, 1535, twenty-eight young women offered their lives to God. It was the beginning of the Company of Saint Ursula. Angela named her company after St. Ursula because she regarded her as a model of consecrated virginity.

Angela and her original company worked out details of the rule of prayer, and promises, and practices by which they were to live.  During the five remaining years of her life, Angela devoted herself to composing a number of Counsels by which her daughters could happily live. She encouraged them to "live in harmony, united together in one heart and one will. Be bound to one another by the bond of charity, treating each other with respect, helping one another, bearing with one another in Christ Jesus; if you really try to live like this, there is no doubt that the Lord our God will be in your midst."

The women stayed in their own homes at first.  Angela died on January 27, 1540, when her congregation was still in its beginning stages.

Her trust in God had seen her through many hard tests in her lifetime. There was no doubt in her mind that the Lord would take care of the mission she had begun. And so he did.

The Ursuline Sisters have now spread to many countries. The order continues its works for Jesus and his Church, especially in the education of children and young adults.

In 1580, Charles Borromeo, Bishop of Milan, inspired by the work of the Ursulines in Brescia, encouraged the foundation of Ursuline houses in all the dioceses of Northern Italy. Charles also encouraged the Ursulines to live together in community rather than in their own homes. He also exhorted them to publicly profess vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. These actions formalized Angela's original "company" into a religious order of women.

Angela Merici died on January 27, 1540, and was canonized in 1807.