{"id":25283,"date":"2010-01-27T06:35:16","date_gmt":"2010-01-27T10:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/01\/saint-angela-merici-1\/"},"modified":"2010-01-27T06:35:16","modified_gmt":"2010-01-27T10:35:16","slug":"saint-angela-merici-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/01\/saint-angela-merici-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Saint Angela Merici"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"St<\/a>Born in northern Italy in 1474, Angela Merici was orphaned by
\nthe age of 10, she was soon alone in this world without her nuclear family
\nsince her older sister suddenly died. Called to a life committed to the Lord,
\nAngela was a Franciscan tertiary (today known as Secular Franciscan) who
\ndevoted herself to as much time in prayer as possible. She was particularly
\ndevoted to Christ crucified because it is “the book from which the soul
\nlearns,” having spent hours in prayer before the crucifix. On pilgrimage to the
\nHoly Land she went blind but was miraculously healed after prayer before the
\ncross.<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
In a vision from the Lord, Angela formed a group of women who would care
\nfor families and the education of children. The group was called the Company of
\nSaint Ursula and in some places it is referred to the Institute of Saint
\nUrsula. Marcocchi’s 1986 biography of the saint he said, “In 1535 Angela Merici
\nfounded at Brescia the Company of St Ursula. Its members observed the
\nevangelical counsels without being bound by vows; they wore no particular
\nhabit; they did not lead a common life as in a monastic community, but lived
\nwith their own families and earned their own living. This initiative, aimed at
\ninserting consecrated virgins into the world, introduced a feature of great innovation,
\nas it took shape outside a monastery, in other words, outside the structure
\nwhich for centuries had channeled religious life for women (XV).” At this time
\nin the Church, the Company of Saint Ursula was a completely new form of
\nreligious life that many churchmen had problems with it because it challenged
\nevery sort of preconceived notion of what and how women acted in church and
\nsociety. The only form of religious life offered to women was the cloister or
\nthe hospital. An apostolic life like that of the Franciscan and later of the Society
\nof Jesus for women was unknown. Angela lived under the spiritual influence of Saints
\nFrancis of Assisi and Catherine of Genoa, and later those who followed the converted
\nsolider of Manresa. Angela would not only heed the spiritual doctrines of the Franciscan
\nbut keenly the Spiritual Exercises<\/i> of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Angela died in 1540, the year the Jesuits were approved by Pope Paul III for the Church universal.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Saint Angela
\nMerici was canonized by Pope Pius VII and is the patron saint of physically
\nchallenged people, sick people, and orphans. Her body remains incorrupt.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
My hope is that a revival of the Company of Saint Ursula (the Ursulines) would happen…we need their witness today. Pray for this grace.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Born in northern Italy in 1474, Angela Merici was orphaned by the age of 10, she was soon alone in this world without her nuclear family since her older sister suddenly died. Called to a life committed to the Lord, Angela was a Franciscan tertiary (today known as Secular Franciscan) who devoted herself to as … Continue reading Saint Angela Merici<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1710],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}