Foundress of the Ursulines, born 21 March, 1474, at Desenzano, a
small town on the shore of Lake Garda in Lombardy; died 27 January,
1540, at Brescia. She was left an orphan at the age of ten and together
with her elder sister came to the home of her uncle where they led an
angelic life. When her sister met with a sudden death, without being
able to receive the last sacraments, young Angela was much distressed.
She became a tertiary of St. Francis and increased her prayers and
mortifications for the repose of her sister’s soul. In her anguish and
pious simplicity she prayed God to reveal to her the condition of her
sister. By a vision she was satisfied her sister was in the company of
the saints in heaven.
When she was 20 years old, her uncle died, and she returned to her
paternal home. Convinced that the great need of her times was a better
instruction of young girls in the rudiments of the Christian religion, she
converted her home into a school where at stated intervals she daily
gathered all the little girls of Desenzano and taught them the elements
of Christianity. It is related that one day, while in an ecstasy, she had a
vision in which it was revealed to her that she was to found an
association of virgins who were to devote their lives to the religious
training of young girls. The school she had established at Desenzano
soon bore abundant fruit, and she was invited to the neighboring city,
Brescia, to establish a similar school at that place. Angela gladly
accepted the invitation.
In 1524, while making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she became
suddenly blind on the island of Crete, but continued her journey to the
Holy Places and was cured on her return while praying before a
crucifix at the same place where she was struck with blindness. When,
in the jubilee year 1525, she had come to Rome to gain the
indulgences, Pope Clement VII invited her to remain in Rome; but
Angela, who shunned publicity, returned to Brescia. Finally, on the
25th of November, 1535, Angela chose twelve virgins and laid the
foundation of the order of the Ursulines in a small house near the
Church of St. Afra in Brescia. Having been five years superior of the
newly-founded order, she died. Her body lies buried in the Church of
St. Afra at Brescia. She was beatified in 1768, by Clement XIII, and
canonized in 1807, by Pius VII. NewAdvent.org