Angela Merici was born in Desenzano, on Lake Garda, in 1474, into a humble farming family. After a devout youth—she had become a Franciscan tertiary in order to live a more intense religious life—Angela, who had been orphaned at the age of fifteen, went on to found the Company of Saint Ursula. This new community was dedicated to the spiritual and material care of young girls, especially orphans, though the foundress did not want her institute to have a narrowly defined apostolic purpose. What she insisted upon, however, was that her “dimesse” (a name meaning “the humble”), as they were called, should not be bound to a rigid convent schedule that might hinder their work.
Angela was a forerunner of modern secular institutes. The first Ursulines were consecrated virgins living in the world, dedicated to God and to the service of their neighbors. Because Saint Angela stated that her Rule—printed only after her death—should always be open to adaptation according to different places and times, the Ursulines eventually modified their way of life frequently, leading to divisions into many congregations and, over time, the loss of some elements essential to her original vision.
Her idea of religious life was ahead of her time. Already in the 16th century, Pope Pius V required the Ursulines to adopt a conventual form of life and enclosure, while Saint Charles Borromeo gave specific guidance to those in his diocese.
Mother Merici died in Brescia on January 27, 1540, and was canonized in 1807. Her feast was first included in the Roman calendar in 1861, on May 31. When the feast of Mary, Queen, was established on that date in 1955, Angela’s commemoration was moved to June 1. The reform of Pope Paul VI restored her celebration to the true anniversary of her death.
