Saint Angela Merici

Servants of God

Third Order - foundress of Ursuline Sisters

Angela Merici was born on March 21st, 1474, at Desenzano on Lake Garda. The Merici family was a middle-class farming family and  was very close.   They openly practiced their faith:  Giovanni Merici read to his children tales of the great saints of the Church and at a young age (by her own account, 5 years old), Angela was attracted to a life of dedication to God.  Left an orphan at the age of ten, She was brought up by a wealthy uncle in the town of Salò where, without benefit of formal schooling, Angela grew in wisdom, and grace.  On her uncle's death, She went to live with her brothers.

The children, Her vision and Her pilgrimages

Having joined the Third Order of St. Francis, She devoted herself to teaching children. As her work became known, in 1516 she was asked to go to Brescia, where a house was put at her disposal and a number of women came to join her.  Here she became a friend of the wealthy nobles and a servant of the poor and suffering. She spent her days in prayer and fasting and service. Angela is said to have had a vision which she determined meant that she was to someday found a society of virgins consecrated to the Lord and doing charitable works.

Angela's methods were far removed from the modern idea of a convent school; she preferred to send her associates to teach girls in their own families, and one of her favorite sayings was, 'Disorder in society is the result of disorder in the family'.    It was by educating children in the milieu in which they lived that she strove to effect an improvement in social conditions.  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.

Injustices were carried on in the name of the government and the Church, which left many people both spiritually and materially powerless and hungry.   The corruption of moral values left families split and hurting. Wars among nations and the Italian city-states left towns in ruins.  Angela's 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.  Inspired by the popular devotions of the day and, of course, prompted by God, She set off on a number of pilgrimages to sacred places. One of her journeys took her to the Holy Land, where she reportedly lost her sight. Another pilgrimage traveled to Rome, where she gained an audience with the Pope.

The Ursulines

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.  Her recollections of her close family life influenced Angela throughout the years. In fact, Angela sets up as a model for her company -- a mother's love -- and calls those in her care "beloved daughters."  It was these women, many of them daughters of the wealthy, some orphans themselves, who formed the nucleus of Angela's Company of St. Ursula. Angela named her company after St. Ursula because she regarded her as a model of consecrated virginity.

In beginning her company, Angela never formally conceived of her daughters becoming "nuns" in the traditional sense.  Rather, she wanted her companions to live in the world, as models of Christian living.  devoting themselves to every sort of corporal and spiritual work of mercy; but the particular emphasis was on education.  She is known now as the foundress of the Ursuline nuns- and so she was, but despite her own inclinations.  In reality she was in advance of her own times.

Her plan of religious women without distinctive habit, without solemn vows and enclosure, was directly contrary to prevailing notions at her period.   Under the influence of St. Charles Borromeo at Milan and subsequent papal legislation (under St. Pius V) the Ursulines were obliged to adopt the canonical safeguards then required of all nuns.
She chose, as early leaders of her company, many widows who brought with them their own daughters to serve as Ursulines.  In this way, Angela's early family training was brought to life again in the foundation of her company. As such, Ursulines have consistently devoted themselves to promoting family spirit and the welfare of society as a whole. Angela and her original company worked out details of the rule of prayer, and promises, and practices by which they were to live.
The Ursulines opened orphanages and schools.  In 1535, the Institute of St. Ursula was formally recognized by the Pope and Angela was accorded the title of foundress. Her vision had come to pass.

Her last years and Her death

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."

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.

She died in Brescia on January 27, 1540,  was beatified in 1768 by Pope Clement XIII and was canonized in 1807 by Pope Pius VII.  Today, there are thousands of women across the world who pattern their lives on this noble woman.   Angela was a woman of strength, a woman of vision, but most of all, a woman of God. She truly lived and worked as the Ursuline motto declares: "Soli Deo Gloria -- For God Alone."