Saint Ursula
Church of St. Ursula, Cologne | |
---|---|
Feast | 21 October |
Attributes | arrow; banner; cloak; clock; maiden shot with arrows; depicted accompanied by a varied number of companions who are being martyred in various ways; ship |
Patronage | Cologne, England, Island of Gozo,[1] archers, orphans, female students, Binangonan, Rizal (Philippines) |
Ursula (
History
There is little information about Ursula or the anonymous group of holy virgins who accompanied her and, on an uncertain date, were killed along with her at Cologne.[2] They remain in the Roman Martyrology,[3] although their commemoration does not appear in the simplified General Roman Calendar of the 1970 Missale Romanum.[4]
The earliest evidence of a cult of martyred virgins at Cologne is an inscription from c. 400 in the Church of St. Ursula, located on Ursulaplatz in Cologne; it states that the ancient basilica had been restored on the site where some holy virgins were killed. The earliest source to name one of these virgins as "Ursula" dates from the 10th century.[5]
Her legendary fame comes from a medieval story.[6] The tale depicts her as a princess who, at the request of her father, the semi-legendary King Dionotus of Dumnonia in south-west Britain in the late-4th century, set sail along with 11,000 virginal handmaidens to join her future husband, the pagan governor Conan Meriadoc of Armorica. After a miraculous storm brought them over the sea in a single day to a Gaulish port, Ursula declared that before her marriage she would undertake a pan-European pilgrimage. She headed for Rome with her followers and persuaded the Pope, Cyriacus (unknown in the pontifical records, though from late 384 AD there was a Pope Siricius), and Sulpicius, bishop of Ravenna, to join them. After setting out for Cologne, which was being besieged by Huns, all the virgins were beheaded in a massacre. The Huns' leader fatally shot Ursula with an arrow in about 383 AD (the date varies).
There is only one church dedicated to Saint Ursula in the United Kingdom. It is located in Wales at Llangwyryfon, Ceredigion.
The Ursulines and the Virgin Islands are named after Saint Ursula and her companions.
Legend of the Eleven Thousand Companions
Lack of historical credibility
The
Tenth-century legend
A legend resembling Ursula's appeared in the first half of the tenth century; it does not mention the name Ursula, but rather gives the leader of the martyred group as Pinnosa or Vinnosa. Pinnosa's relics were transferred about 947 from Cologne to Essen,[9] and from this point forward Ursula's role was emphasised.[8][10] In 970, for example, the first Passio Ursulae was written, naming Ursula rather than Pinnosa as the group's leader (although Pinnosa is mentioned as one of the group's members). This change might also be due in part to the discovery at this time of an epitaph speaking of Ursula, the "innocent virgin".[9]
Misreading of Latin
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, a 12th-century British cleric and writer, Ursula was the daughter of Dionotus, ruler of Cornwall. However, this may have been based on his misreading of the words Deo notus in the second Passio Ursulae, written about 1105. The plot may have been influenced by a story told by the 6th-century writer Procopius about a British queen sailing with 100,000 soldiers to the mouth of the Rhine in order to compel her unwilling groom Radigis, king of the Varni, to marry her.
While there was a tradition of virgin martyrs in Cologne by the fifth century, their number may have been limited to between two and eleven, according to different sources. Yet the cleric
Skeletal remains
The
Catholic official stance
Nothing reliable is known about the girls said to have been martyred at the spot. A commemoration of Saint Ursula and her companions in the Mass of Saint Hilarion, formerly in the General Roman Calendar on 21 October, was removed in 1969, because "their Passio is entirely fabulous: nothing, not even their names, is known about the virgin saints who were killed at Cologne at some uncertain time".[18] However, they are still mentioned in the Roman Martyrology, the official but professedly incomplete list of saints recognised by the Catholic Church, which speaks of them as follows: "At Cologne in Germany, commemoration of virgin saints who ended their life in martyrdom for Christ in the place where afterwards the city's basilica was built, dedicated in honour of the innocent young girl Ursula who is looked on as their leader".[19]
Veneration
Catholic order
- The Order of Ursulines, founded in 1535 by Angela Merici, and devoted to the education of young girls, has also helped to spread Ursula's name throughout the world.[6]Ursula was named the patroness saint of school girls.
Celebrations
- The town of Binangonan in the province of Rizal in the Philippines also has a church dedicated to Saint Ursula, where her feast is celebrated on 21 October. A fluvial procession at Laguna Lake is carried out to commemorate Ursula's journey. It is made up of a group of men and women in colourful, traditional Filipino costumes dancing in the streets with the image of Ursula and chanting joyfully. Prior to her feast day, a nine-day novena is held at the 224-year-old Santa Ursula Church. During this novena, a woman is assigned as cantor to sing a chant in honour of Ursula.[citation needed]
- The town of Valls, Catalonia, Spain, celebrates the "Fira de Santa Úrsula" in the days around 21 October.[20] The fair concludes on the Sunday after 21 October with "one of the most important" castell (human tower) competitions.[21][22]
Church music and art
- Hildegard of Bingen composed many chants in honour of Ursula.
- Catherine of Bologna is credited with painting one if not two images of St. Ursula.[23]
- Michael Haydn wrote the Missa in honorem Sanctae Ursulae to commemorate the day Ursula Oswald joined a Benedictine Abbey.[citation needed]
- There is also a painting by Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula in the Gallaria d'Italia in Naples. His last known work.
Places named after her companions
- Christopher Columbus named the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean in her honour when sailing past them in 1493.
- Straits of Magellan, naming the cape after Ursula's virgins.
- Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.
- Basel, a Swiss city about 400 km south of Cologne, has tradition of Ursula and her companions passing through Basel intending to go to Rome. The legend gave name to the Eleven Thousand Virgins Alley (Elftausendjungfern-Gässlein), which climbs one side of the Münsterberg, a hill in the center of the city.
UK and Anglican Church
- The small village of Llangwyryfon, near Aberystwyth in west Wales, has a church dedicated to Ursula. The village name translates as 'Church of the Virgins'. She is believed to have come from this area.[citation needed]
- There are Anglican churches dedicated to Saint Ursula in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States and the Caribbean.[25][26][27]
- The street in London called
- Whitelands College in Roehampton, London, the oldest educational institution of the Church of England, has been under the patronage of Saint Ursula since its formation. She is the patroness saint of the college's chapel.
Visions
- It was recorded that Elizabeth of Schönau experienced a vision that revealed to her the martyrdom of Ursula and her companions.[16]
-
Saint Ursula in a 15th-century fresco on St. Jacob church in Urtijëi in Val Gardena
-
Venerated image of Saint Ursula in Binangonan, Rizal, Philippines.
-
The Dream of St. Ursula, Vittore Carpaccio, 1495; tempera on canvas, 274 × 267 cm, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice.
Cordula, Ursula's companion
Cordula was, according to a legend in an edition of the
Similarities with Sunniva
There are striking parallels between the 11th-century legend of Ursula and the story of Sunniva of Selje. Their names were sometimes confused by contemporaries. Both saints were considered to be Christian princesses who fled their homeland by ship in order to postpone or avert an undesired marriage with a pagan king. Both were accompanied by a large group of associates, both became victims of hostile foes. The development of their legends may have been interdependent. The martyrdom of Sunniva, however, took place after the first draft of the Passio Ursulae.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Spiteri, Charles (19 October 2021). "Celebrating St Ursula, patron of Gozo". Times of Malta. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 143
- ^ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2004), p. 582
- ^ Missale Romanum (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1970), p. 113
- ^ Carole M. Cusack, "Hagiography and History: the Legend of Saint Ursula", in Carole M. Cusack and Peter Oldmeadow (eds.), This Immense Panorama: Studies in Honour of Eric J. Sharpe, Sydney Studies in Religion 2 (1999), pp. 89–104.
- ^ a b c Poncelet, Albert (1912). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
- ^ Archer, Thomas Andrew; Grieve, Alexander James (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 803. . In
- ^ a b c Archer & Grieve 1911, p. 803.
- ^ ISBN 9783039118526.
- ^ Wilhelm Levison, 'Das Werden der Ursula Legende', in: Bonner Jahrbücher 132 (1927), 1-164.
- ^ Levison, Das Werden der Ursula-Legende.
- ^ Santi Beati: Sant'Orsola e compagne
- ^ a b c d The Penny Magazine: Cologne Archived 3 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Archer & Grieve 1911, p. 804.
- ^ a b Quigley, Christine (2001) Skulls and Skeletons: Human Bone Collections and Accumulations, Jefferson, N.C.; London: McFarland; p. 169.
- ^ a b The Ecole Glossary: Ursula Archived 4 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ https://galwaycitymuseum.ie/blog/object-spotlight-event-the-reliquary-of-st-ursula/
- ^ Calendarium Romanum. Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969; p. 143
- ISBN 88-209-7210-7
- ^ "Fira de Santa Úrsula" [Santa Úrsula Fair]. festes.org (in Catalan). Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ "Fira de Santa Úrsula" [Santa Úrsula Fair]. Cal Maginet (in Catalan). Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ "Explosió castellera i de cultura popular per la Fira de Santa Úrsula" [Explosion of human towers and popular culture for the Santa Úrsula Fair]. Diari Més (in Catalan). 17 October 2022.
- ^ Larrea, Diana (8 September 2022). "Caterina Vigri (1413-1463)". Tal día como hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ The Memling Museum in Bruges, Brugge
- ^ St Ursula's Anglican Church in Switzerland.
- ^ St Ursula's Anglican Church in the Virgin Islands.
- ^ St Ursula's Anglican Church in Wales.
- ^ ***Harben Dictionary Window*** Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Martyrology; Oct 22". Archived from the original on 31 October 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
- ^ R. Washbourne, 1876, 360–362
- ^ "St Cordula's Day". Cordula's Web. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
- ^ "Artwork highlights, Liverpool museums". www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ "Roman Martyrology October, in English". www.boston-catholic-journal.com. Retrieved 17 July 2018.