For Saint Angela Merici, the 15th-century Italian educator and founder of the Ursuline Sisters, one might say that her journey to sainthood began with her experience of grief.
Born in 1474 in Desenzano, a small town near Lake Garda in Lombardy, Italy, Saint Angela and her sister, Giana Maria, were orphaned when their parents died in 1484, leaving them in the care of their uncle, who lived in nearby Salo. The sisters lived quietly until tragedy struck again when Giana Maria died suddenly without the opportunity for the Sacrament of Anointing—then known as Extreme Unction or the Last Rites. In her grief, Saint Angela poured her energies into service of the Church but also prayed for assurance of her sister’s salvation—a desire familiar to many who have lost a loved one. In her prayerful zeal, Saint Angela experienced a vision of her sister in heaven with God and the saints. Her zeal grew, leading her to join the Third Order of St. Francis and to promise to remain a consecrated virgin, even though many close to her urged her to marry.
When Saint Angela’s uncle died in 1494, she returned to Desenzano, where her brothers lived. There, she encountered many girls who had no education and whose parents had no ability or inclination to educate them. Moved by their plight, Saint Angela felt inspired to open her home to those girls and to teach, evangelize and catechize them. Later, she experienced another vision that she was to form an institution of consecrated virgins to teach these girls. Though lacking money and power, these women were bound together by their commitment to education and their zeal for Jesus and service to His Church and by Saint Angela’s leadership. As word of Saint Angela’s work spread, she received an invitation from the neighboring town, Brescia, to launch a similar school.
In 1524, Saint Angela felt inspired to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While on the Isle of Crete, she was struck with blindness but persevered in her pilgrimage undaunted. On her journey back, according to the story, she regained her sight while praying before a crucifix in the same locale where she was afflicted with blindness.
Saint Angela embarked on another pilgrimage the next year—to Rome for the Jubilee Year. There, she had an audience with Pope Clement VII. Having heard of Saint Angela’s devotion and zeal and the success of her work, the Pope invited her to remain in Rome. Though she declined the invitation out of humility, some speculate that the encounter with Pope Clement prompted Saint Angela to pursue a more formal structure for her assembly of women seeking to educate girls.
On November 25, 1535, in a small house in Brescia, she and 12 other young virgins founded the Order of the Ursulines at a small house near the Church of St. Afra. Her company invoked the patronage of Saint Ursula, a legendary fifth-century British princess, virgin and martyr. Though Saint Angela’s company was never recognized formally as a religious order in her lifetime, she led the first group of women religious to work outside the cloister, which developed into the first teaching order of women in the Catholic Church—opening orphanages as well as schools. In 1537, Saint Angela was elected “Mother and Mistress.” Saint Angela’s Rule was officially approved by Pope Paul III in 1544, and the Ursulines became a recognized religious community of women with a teaching ministry.
Saint Angela died on January 27, 1540. She was buried—clothed in the habit of a Third Order Franciscan—in the Church of St. Afra in Brescia. She was beatified April 30, 1768, by Pope Clement XIII, and canonized May 24, 1807, by Pope Pius VII. Saint Angela Merici’s Feast Day is January 27, and such institutions as parishes, schools, convents and colleges in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, the U.K. and Australia are dedicated to her. In the Youngstown Diocese, St. Angela Merici Parish in Youngstown bears her name. The Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown, founded in 1874, who have served at parishes, schools and other ministries in the Diocese of Youngstown and who founded Ursuline High School in Youngstown, are part of the legacy of Saint Angela Merici.
