Angela Merici
Saint Angela Merici | |
---|---|
Virgin and foundress | |
Born | 21 March 1474 Desenzano del Garda, Province of Brescia, Republic of Venice |
Died | 27 January 1540 Brescia, Republic of Venice | (aged 65)
Beatified | 30 April 1768, Rome, Papal States, by Pope Clement XIII |
Canonized | 24 May 1807, Rome, Papal States, by Pope Pius VII |
Major shrine | Sanctuary of St. Angela Merici, Brescia, Italy |
Feast | 27 January; 31 May (1861–1955); 1 June (1955–1969) |
Attributes | Cloak, ladder |
Patronage | Sickness, handicapped people, loss of parents, courage, strength, and determination |
Angela Merici (/məˈriːtʃi/ mə-REE-chee, Italian: [ˈandʒela (de) meˈriːtʃi]; 21 March 1474 – 27 January 1540) was an Italian Catholic religious educator who founded the Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, in which women dedicated their lives to the service of the church through the education of girls.
From this organisation later sprang the Order of Saint Ursula, whose nuns established places of prayer and learning throughout Europe and, later, worldwide, most notably in North America.
After her death, Merici was venerated by Catholics around the world and a cause for sainthood was opened. She was canonized by Pope Pius VII in 1807.
Life
Merici was born in 1474 on a farm near
Merici's uncle died when she was twenty years old and she returned to her home in Desenzano, and lived with her brothers,[3] on her own property, given to her in lieu of the dowry that would otherwise have been hers had she married. She later had another vision that revealed to her that she was to found an association of virgins who were to devote their lives to the religious training of young girls. This association was a success and she was invited to start another school in the neighboring city of Brescia.[2][4]
According to legend, in 1524, while traveling to the
On 25 November 1535, Merici gathered with 12 young women who had joined in her work in a small house in Brescia near the Church of Saint Afra, where together they committed themselves in the founding of the Company of St. Ursula, placed under the protection of the patroness of medieval universities. Her goal was to elevate family life through the Christian education of future wives and mothers. They were the first teaching order of women religious.[5]
Four years later the group had grown to 28.[6] Merici taught her companions to serve God, but to remain in the world, teaching the girls of their own neighborhood, and to practice a religious form of life in their own homes.[a] The members wore no special habit and took no formal religious vows. Merici wrote a Rule of Life for the group, which specified the practice of celibacy, poverty and obedience in their own homes. The Ursulines opened orphanages and schools. On 18 March 1537, she was elected "Mother and Mistress" of the group. The Rule she had written was approved in 1544 by Pope Paul III.[7]
When Merici died in Brescia on 27 January 1540,
The traditional view is that Merici believed that better Christian education was needed for girls and young women, to which end she dedicated her life. Querciolo Mazzonis argues that the Company of St. Ursula was not originally intended as a charitable group specifically focused on the education of poor girls, but that this direction developed after her death in 1540, sometime after it received formal recognition in 1546.[9]
Veneration
During her life, Merici had often prayed at the tombs of the Brescian martyrs at the Church of St. Afra in Brescia. She lived in small rooms attached to a priory of the
Merici was
Feast day
Merici was not included in the 1570
Dedications
- Parishes are dedicated to St. Angela Merici in Pacific Grove, California; Brea, California; Metairie, Louisiana; White Oak, Pennsylvania; Fairview Park, Ohio;[12] Windsor, Ontario, Canada; Missouri City, Texas Louisville, Kentucky and Youngstown, Ohio.
- There are St. Angela Merici Parishes and Schools in Florissant, Missouri, The Bronx, New York;[13] and Missouri City, Texas.[14]
- St. Angela Merici Catholic School, Bradford, Ontario, Canada.
- St. Angela Merici Catholic School, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
- St. Angela Merici Academy, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, United States.
- St. Angela Merici Catholic School, Chatham, Ontario. Canada
- St. Angela Merici Montessori School, Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines
- St. Angela's College, Cork, Ireland.
- St. Angela's School, Ursuline Convent Waterford, Waterford, Ireland.
- Ursuline College Thurles, Tipperary, Ireland.
- St. Angela's College, Sligo
- Ursuline College, Blackrock, Cork, Ireland
- St. Angela's Ursuline RA School Forest Gate, London, United Kingdom
- Merici College, Braddon, ACT, Australia.
- École St. Angela Merici, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
See also
Notes
- ^ In this, they anticipated the secular psys that were approved by the Catholic Church during the 1950s.[1]
References
- ^ a b c "St. Angela Merici". ChristianApostles.com. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ^ a b c Ott, Michael. "St. Angela Merici." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 28 May 2013
- ^ Coulson, John. The Saints: A concise Biographical Dictionary, Hawthorn Books, Inc. 1960
- ISBN 971-91595-4-5.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ "Angela Merici", Saints Resource, RCL Benziger
- ^ Foley, Leonard, OFM. "St. Angela Merici", Saint of the Day: Lives, Lessons and Feast (revised by Pat McCloskey, OFM) Franciscan Media
- ^ "History". Company of St Ursula-Daughters of St Angela-Brescia.
- ^ "St. Angela Merici". faith.nd.edu. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ^ Peterson, Janine. Review of Mazzonis, Querciolo. Spirituality, Gender, and the Self in Renaissance Italy: Angela Merici and the Company of St. Ursula (1474–1540). H-Italy, H-Net Reviews. February, 2008
- ^ "The Sanctuary of Saint Angela Merici of Brescia". Company of St Ursula-Daughters of St Angela-Brescia.
- ^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), pp. 86 and 125
- ^ Saint Angela Merici Parish, Fairview Park, Ohio
- ^ Saint Angela Merici School, Bronx, New York
- ^ St. Angela Merici Catholic Church, Houston, Texas
Bibliography
- Q. Mazzonis, "The Impact of Renaissance Gender-Related Notions on the Female Experience of the Sacred: The Case of Angela Merici's Ursulines," in Laurence Lux-Sterritt and Carmen Mangion (eds), Gender, Catholicism and Spirituality: Women and the Roman Catholic Church in Britain and Europe, 1200–1900 (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011),