St. Angela

Her writings...

When on November 25, 1535, Angela Merici gathered 28 women to consecrate themselves to the service of God, under the patronage of St. Ursula, she could not know what impact her foundation would have.  Over 450 years later, thousands of women around the world follow in the footsteps of this humble Italian woman.

Born between 1470 and 1475 in Desenzano, Italy near Brescia, Angela grew up on the family farm.  Early in life she learned to live with hardships when her parents and sister died.  Tradition tells us that Angela, longing for assurance of her sister's eternal happiness, had a vision in which she saw her sister in procession with angels and young girls.  Although we are not sure what exactly Angela saw, we do know that she took her vision to be God's call to establish a community of women. Meantime she became a Tertiary of the Third Order of St. Francis.

In her forties Angela came to Brescia to assist a tertiary grieving the loss of her husband and sons in war. It was here that Angela devoted herself to many charitable works and worked with the marginalized, together with like-minded people. Only when she was in her sixties did Angela found the Company of St. Ursula, now more commonly known as Ursulines.

Contrary to the practice of cloistered religious of the time, the women of Angela's company lived in their own homes.  They worked with the needy, especially in the education of young girls, and met monthly for prayer and mutual support.  They wore no habit, but as the cloistered religious, they consecrated themselves to virginity, poverty and obedience.
Angela died January 27, 1540, leaving the Rule for the young women and the Counsels and Legacies for the leadership of the fledgling community.  Angela, acclaimed a popular saint even in her own time, was canonized May 24, 1807.