A Brief Introduction to our Founder Angela Merici Our history begins in Brescia, Italy, at the time of the Renaissance, with a woman called Angela Merici. Angela was born in Desenzano around 1474 to Caterina Bianchi and Giovanni Merici. Her childhood, spent in a rural setting with her four brothers and sisters, was marked by her parents modest condition but, especially, by their strong faith. Like most women of her time, Angela had little schooling, but she evidently knew how to read. Every evening, her father would read to his children from books on the lives of saints. When she was approximately 15 years old, Angela lost her parents and was taken in by her uncle in Salò, where she became a Tertiary of St.Francis. After some time, she returned to the family farm where she did her everyday chores and developed an inclination for prayer. While still a teenager, she experienced an inner call, the importance of which she could not yet fully comprehend.In a vision of light, she saw a choir of angels and young women ascending and descending a ladder, as she would later attempt to describe it.
In her early forties, Angela went to Brescia on a charitable mission requested of her by the Franciscans. From there, she made pilgrimages to different sanctuaries in Italy, such as Mantua and Varallo. In 1524 she went to the Holy Land and, in 1525, to Rome, for the Holy Year Jubilee. It was on this occasion that Pope Clement VII asked her if she would remain in Rome in order to contribute her experience to the works of charity of that city. But another mission awaited Angela, and that was in Brescia. Indeed, Angela's presence and action gradually attracted the attention of the people there.
In a country ravaged by war and its effects, Angela was increasingly regarded as a mainstay of assurance. She became the "Madre" who received and advised people of all walks of life,constantly solicited for her wisdom and discernment, her gifts of reconciling people and interpreting the Scriptures. But the inner call she had perceived long before became more insistent in the heart of this maturing woman.
The passing of time became more keenly felt because of her fragile state of health. She was 60 years old when she finally delivered what had been requested of her many years previously. On November 25, 1535, Angela and her first companions made a formal commitment to a state of life that was totally new for the time. They consecrated themselves to God while continuing to live in the world. This was unheard of until then and did not facilitate life for the first women of the Company, due to the fact that they were neither cloistered nor married.
Angela left her daughters an original Rule and a few councils to assist the people who would replace her at the head of the Company of St. Ursula. It would spread throughout the world, according to time and circumstances, and take on different forms, including the Ursuline group to which we ourselves belong.
She died on January 27, 1540, at the approximate age of 65. She left us the firm assurance of her presence for the rest of our lives, because of her conviction that if God planted her Company, nothing or no one would ever uproot it, on condition, of course, that we care for it as she insistently requiered.
An important witness of the day declared that if faith were to be lost, it could be found again in Angela Merici. She was beatified in 1768 and canonized on May 24, 1807.
The passing of time became more keenly felt because of her fragile state of health. She was 60 years old when she finally delivered what had been requested of her many years previously. On November 25, 1535, Angela and her first companions made a formal commitment to a state of life that was totally new for the time. They consecrated themselves to God while continuing to live in the world. This was unheard of until then and did not facilitate life for the first women of the Company, due to the fact that they were neither cloistered nor married.
Angela's Quotes
