27 January: Saint Angela Merici
A new form of consecration for women
In a courageous and innovative way for the 16th century, Saint Angela Merici developed a new form of consecrated life for women: no longer in the cloister, but out in the world. She founded the Company of St. Ursula for these women. Angela was closely attentive to the signs of the time, and based her model on the example of the early Church, lived by the Apostles and the early Christian communities, thus paving the way for modern devotion.
Angela was born in Desenzano del Garda, some time around 1476, to a rural gentry family, who had moved from Brescia to the shores of Lake Garda. Angela’s life was soon put to the test by the deaths of her sister, to whom she was very close, and her parents. During her adolescent years, she was welcomed into the home of her maternal uncle in Salò, where she lived a wealthy lifestyle for several years. She received the habit of Franciscan tertiary at the Convent of Friars Minor of San Bernardino.
In 1516, she traveled to Brescia to bring comfort to Caterina Patengola, whose children had died. Angela’s mission of bringing comfort and offering counsel began here, and gradually expanded to embrace all those who turned to her, seeking her prayers, her reflections and her peacemaking abilities
It was a mystical time of prayer and charity for Angela. The first spiritual circle grew around her, which included various merchants. Around 1520, she began to undertake pilgrimages to the holy places of Christianity.
Her first pilgrimage was in 1522 to the tomb of Blessed Osanna Andreasi, who had died having received the stigmata in 1505 in Mantova. In 1524, she went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She almost completely lost her sight in Candia, Crete.
When she returned to Brescia, she was not much older than 50, and the fame of holiness surrounded her. She founded the Company of St. Ursula on the Feast of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, on 25 November 1535. Angela offered her new way of life to women who wished to sanctify their lives without joining a monastery or marrying. Angela left the Company Rules, outlined in 12 articles, some Counsels and a Testament of profound ascetic and spiritual value, imbued with remarkable pedagogic intuition. With the new Company, each consecrated woman could sanctify their lives, not by confining themselves inside the walls of a convent, but rather by living and behaving in accordance with the example of the early Church. She died on 27 January 1540. A large crowd of faithful paid their respects to her by visiting the Church of Saint Afra, where her body lay in an open casket for 30 days. Her body showed no signs of decomposition during those days. The Church of Saint Afra is today the Sanctuary of Saint Angela Merici.