St. ANGELA MERICI, VIRGIN
Angela Merici (ca. 1470/74–1540) was the foundress of the Ursuline nuns. Born in Desenzano, in the Republic of Venice, she was orphaned at an early age and moved to Brescia, where she became a Franciscan tertiary and began to devote her life to the education of poor girls. She and several companions placed themselves under the patronage of Ursula, thought to have been a fourthcentury British princess who fled to Cologne to preserve her virginity and was martyred there with some companions.
The Company of St. Ursula took no vows and wore lay clothes, but its Rule prescribed virginity, poverty, and obedience. Angela Merici died on January 27, 1540, and was canonized in 1807. Her feast is on the General Roman Calendar.
