Company of St. Ursula

Last updated July 08, 2019

The Company of St. Ursula, commonly called the Angelines, is an organization of consecrated women in the Catholic Church which was founded in 1535 in Brescia, Italy, by St. Angela Merici (ca. 1474-1540), dedicated to the service of God. Soon the education of women and girls and the care of the sick and needy became their primary focus. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula.

Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word consecration literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups. The origin of the word comes from the Latin stem consecrat, which means dedicated, devoted, and sacred. A synonym for to consecrate is to sanctify; a distinct antonym is to desecrate.

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2017. As the world's oldest continuously functioning international institution, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, an enclave within the city of Rome in Italy.

Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometres from the lakes Garda and Iseo. With a population of more than 200,000, it is the second largest city in the region and the fourth of northwest Italy. The urban area of Brescia extends beyond the administrative city limits and has a population of 672,822, while over 1.5 million people live in its metropolitan area. The city is the administrative capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy, with over 1,200,000 inhabitants.

In May 1958 the Angelines were established by the Holy See as the Secular Institute of St. Angela Merici. They follow the original form of life established by their foundress in that they live independently, responsible for their own well-being, for which they often have secular jobs, but they formally dedicate their lives to the service of the Church. The monastic Order of St. Ursula, called the Ursulines (among whom the largest organization are the Ursulines of the Roman Union), developed from this group.

Ursulines religious institutes of the Catholic Church

The term Ursulines refers to a number of religious institutes of the Catholic Church. The best known group was founded in 1535 at Brescia, Italy, by Angela Merici (1474–1540), for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula. They are divided into two branches, one being the monastic Order of St. Ursula, among whom the largest group is the Ursulines of the Roman Union, described in this article. The other branch is the Company of St. Ursula, commonly called the "Angelines", who follow the original form of life established by their foundress.

Origins

Merici was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis. According to the account of the history of the Company, she experienced a call from God to found a community to share this way of life. Among the group of men and women who formed around her due to her spiritual leadership, she soon selected 28 women who wished to commit their lives in this endeavor.^[1]

These women, along with Merici, made a commitment of their lives on 25 November 1535, the feast day of St. Catherine of Alexandria, a major female spiritual figure in the Middle Ages. They called themselves the Company of St. Ursula, taking as their patroness the medieval patron saint of education. Continuing to live in their family homes, they would meet regularly for conferences and prayer in common. Merici drew up a Rule of Life for them. Merici's vision was that they were to live among the people they served without any distinguishing feature, such as a religious habit.

The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does not mean "a large meal, typically a celebratory one", but instead "an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint".

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, or Saint Katharine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine, is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity, and was martyred around the age of 18. More than 1,100 years after Catherine's martyrdom, Joan of Arc identified her as one of the saints who appeared to and counselled her.

Middle Ages Period of European history from the 5th to the 15th century

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages.

Notable features of the Company were that it was unusual for women to be consecrated but to live outside the cloister. The women did not dress in a special habit. They met periodically and assisted at mass monthly. Although observing evangelical counsels they did not take vows.^[2]

The Company grew rapidly, being joined by women from throughout the city. The increasing number of members came to be organized in groups, according to the parish in which they lived, each of them called a Company. The group then spread throughout the Diocese of Brescia. One of the early works of the new Company was to give religious instruction to the girls of the town at the parish church each Sunday, which was an innovation for the period, having traditionally been left to the local parish priest. Companies soon developed in other dioceses in the region.^[1]

A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or more curates, and who operates from a parish church. Historically, a parish often covered the same geographical area as a manor. Its association with the parish church remains paramount.

The Roman Diocese Catholic of Brescia is a Latin rite suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Milan, in Lombardy.

A parish church in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, often allowing its premises to be used for non-religious community events. The church building reflects this status, and there is considerable variety in the size and style of parish churches. Many villages in Europe have churches that date back to the Middle Ages, but all periods of architecture are represented.

In 1538 the Company had grown to such an extent that they held their first General Chapter. At this gathering, Merici was elected "Mother" of the Company for life. The following year, as her health began to fail, she dictated her Testament and a book of Counsels to regulate the life of the group. She died in 1540.^[1]

The Company was formally recognized in 1546 by Pope Paul III. Merici's death, however, had left the Company without a clear leader. Organized loosely, questions about their future began to surface. Additionally, pressure began to come from the officials of the Church, who were uncomfortable with a group of consecrated women living independently, not under the direct authority of the clergy.^[3]

Division

In 1572 in Milan, at the insistence of St. Charles Borromeo, the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, the members of the Company there agreed to become an enclosed religious order. Pope Gregory XIII approved this step, putting them under the Rule of St. Augustine, in place of that of Merici. Especially in France, groups of the Company begin to re-shape themselves into communities of cloistered nuns, under solemn vows, and dedicated to the education of girls within the walls of their monasteries.^[1]

Expansion

Communities of the Company continued to exist and flourish, especially in Italy. In 1810, however, like other religious groups, they were suppressed after the invasion of Italy by the forces of the Napoleonic Empire. Two sisters who had belonged to the Company, Elisabetta and Maddalena Girelli, reconstituted the Company in Brescia in 1866. Once again, Companies began to spread throughout Italy. Legally independent from one another, discussions took place which led to the creation of a Federation of Companies.^[3]

By the 20th century, Companies again began to be established outside of Italy. In 1947 the Catholic Church, under Pope Pius XII, recognized the growing strength of lay Catholic spirituality and created a category of secular institute in canon law to provide committed groups of lay people some formal status. The Angelines were established by the Holy See on 25 May 1958 as the Secular Institute of St. Angelia Merici.^[4]

Further expansion of the Company has continued until today Companies of Angelines are present in 23 countries worldwide. Among the most recent foundations has been one in the United States in 2000, whose members were mentored by the Angelines of Canada and were officially incorporated into the Federation in 2006.^[3] Since 2010 a Company has been established in Australia under the guidance of the Company in France, which is also mentoring Companies in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Singapore.^[5]

Related Research Articles

Angela Merici, or Angela de Merici, was an Italian religious educator, who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. She found the Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, in which women dedicated their lives to the service of the Church through the education of girls. From this organisation later sprang the monastic Order of Ursulines, whose nuns established places of prayer and learning throughout Europe and, later, worldwide, most notably in North America.

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Canon 710
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Blessed Zefirino Agostini was an Italian Roman Catholic priest that served in his hometown of Verona to perform his pastoral duties. He established two religious congregations in his lifetime being the Pious Union of Sisters Devoted to Saint Angela Merici and the Ursuline Sisters of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate.

The Ursuline Sisters Daughters of Mary Immaculate are members of a Verona-based Catholic congregation of sisters whose main purpose is the human and Christian training of young people.

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References

1 2 3 4 "The Company of St. Ursula". Ursulines of the Roman Union. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
↑ Marocchi, Massimo (1988). "Religious Women in the World in Italy and France During the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries". Vincentian Heritage Journal. 9 (2): 192–209. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
1 2 3 "Our History". The Company of St. Ursula in the United States. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
↑ "Our History". Istituto Secolare di Sant'Angela Merici. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
↑ "St Angela Merici". Company of St Ursula Australia. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.

External links

Company of St Ursula Secular Institute of St Angela Merici - Federation

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[OSU-1] 1 2 3 4 "The Company of St. Ursula". Ursulines of the Roman Union. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2013.

[Marocchi-2] Marocchi, Massimo (1988). "Religious Women in the World in Italy and France During the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries". Vincentian Heritage Journal. 9 (2): 192–209. Retrieved 17 January 2013.

[CSU-3] 1 2 3 "Our History". The Company of St. Ursula in the United States. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2013.

[4] "Our History". Istituto Secolare di Sant'Angela Merici. Retrieved 16 January 2013.

[5] "St Angela Merici". Company of St Ursula Australia. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.