St. Angela Merici, Virgin and Foundress

St. Angela Merici was born on March 21, 1470, in Desenzano in the territory of Lombardy, the Republic of Venice, in northern Italy. She was orphaned at the age of ten and then moved with her sister to Brescia when they were raised by their uncle. Her sister died a short while later. She entered the Third Order of Saint Francis at the age of thirteen, chose to embrace an austere lifestyle, and received the sacraments frequently.

St. Angela Merici felt called to serve poor children, particularly young girls who were neglected by society. It was her desire to provide them with a solid education, not only in the basics, but also in Christian living. Other women were attracted to her faith in God and her zeal to help poor girls have a better lot in life and joined her as teachers. Her group gradually increased in size from eight to twelve to twenty-eight.

On November 25, 1535, St. Angela Merici and her companions dedicated themselves to God under the patronage of St. Ursula, a saint who had captured her imagination during her youth. St. Ursula lived during the Fourth Century, reserved herself completely for God, took a vow of virginity, and when threatened, fled from her homeland in Great Britain to Cologne, Germany, where she was martyred. Saint Angela Merici’s group called themselves the Company of Saint Ursula. Some lived together in Brescia, others continued to live in their homes. They did not have a religious habit, wore lay clothing, did not make religious profession or take formal vows, observed the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and lived as virgins. Initially the Church refused to grant the group formal approval as a religious congregation because they were not cloistered.

Their mission was evangelization, and their special charism was the education of poor young girls. It was their goal to teach them about Jesus, the gospel, and the Christian way of life, and to promote works of charity, so that when they became adults, they would be strong, faith-filled wives and mothers equipped to establish Christian homes and families of faith.

St. Angela Merici wrote a Spiritual Testament filled with sage advice. She counsels, “A soul inflamed with charity can do nothing but good and holy works. For this reason St. Augustine said: ‘Love, and do whatever you will,’ namely, possess love and charity and then do what you will. It is as if he said: Charity is not able to sin.” She also wrote, “You ought to exercise pleasantness to all,” and “Do in life what you would have wanted to do in death.”

St. Angela Merici died in Brescia, Italy, on January 27, 1540, at the age of 69, and was buried at the church of St. Afra. The group that she had gathered and led gained official recognition as a religious order from Pope Paul III in 1544. Even though the approval was granted after she had died, she is regarded as the foundress of the Congregation of Saint Ursula, commonly known as the Ursuline Sisters, the first teaching order for poor girls.

St. Angela Merici was beatified in 1768 and canonized a saint in 1807. She is the patron saint of orphans, the handicapped, and the sick. Her symbols are a cloak because of her simplicity of life and a ladder as a sign of her climb to heaven and her intercessory role.