The Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula or officially the Secular Institute of Saint Angela Merici, is a
secular institute
In the Catholic Church, a secular institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in which consecrated persons profess the Evangelical counsels of celibate-chastity, poverty and obedience while living in the world, unlike members of a relig ...
of
consecrated
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. 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 grou ...
women in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
founded in 1535 by Saint
Angela Merici
Angela Merici or Angela de Merici ( , ; 21 March 1474 – 27 January 1540) was an Italian religious educator, who is honored as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. She founded the Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, in which women ded ...
(ca. 1474-1540) in
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. Their primary focus is the education of women and girls, and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is
Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little infor ...
. 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. In 1572, some members formed a separate monastic order, the
Ursulines
The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of consecrated women that branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula, in 1572. Like the Angelines, they t ...
.
History
Angela Merici
Angela Merici or Angela de Merici ( , ; 21 March 1474 – 27 January 1540) was an Italian religious educator, who is honored as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. She founded the Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, in which women ded ...
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.
These women, along with Merici, made a commitment of their lives on 25 November 1535, the
feast day
The calendar of saints is the 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 d ...
of St.
Catherine of Alexandria
Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...
, a major female spiritual figure in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. They called themselves the Company of St. Ursula, taking as their patroness the medieval
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
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. They were to live among the people they served without any distinguishing feature such as a
religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...
, and would live outside a cloister. They would meet periodically and to assist at
Holy Mass
The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...
monthly. They also observed the
evangelical counsels but did not take vows.
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
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 priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
in which they lived, each of them called a Company. The group then spread throughout the
Diocese of Brescia
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brescia ( la, Dioecesis Brixiensis) is a Latin rite suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Milan, in Lombardy (Northwestern Italy).[parish church
A parish church (or parochial 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, ...]
each Sunday, which was an innovation for the period, having traditionally been left to the local
parish priest
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 priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
. Companies soon developed in other dioceses in the region.
In 1538 the Company had grown to such an extent that they held their first
General Chapter
A chapter ( la, capitulum or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings.
Name
The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the read ...
. 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.
The Company was formally recognized in 1546 by
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549.
He came to ...
.
In 1572 in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, under Saint
Charles Borromeo
Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...
, the
Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
Archbishop of Milan
The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has l ...
, the members of the Company there became an
enclosed religious order
Enclosed religious orders or ''cloistered clergy'' are religious orders whose members strictly separate themselves from the affairs of the external world. In the Catholic Church, enclosure is regulated by the code of canon law, either the La ...
.
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
placed them under the
Rule of St. Augustine. Especially in France, groups of the Company began to re-shape themselves into communities of cloistered nuns under
solemn vows
A solemn vow is a certain vow ("a deliberate and free promise made to God about a possible and better good") taken by an individual during or after novitiate in a Catholic religious institute. It is solemn insofar as the Church recognizes it a ...
, and dedicated to the education of girls within the walls of their monasteries.
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
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eur ...
. 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.
By the 20th century, Companies again began to be established outside of Italy. In 1947 the Catholic Church, under
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
, recognized the growing strength of
lay
Lay may refer to:
Places
*Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada
*Lay, Loire, a French commune
*Lay (river), France
*Lay, Iran, a village
*Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community
People
* Lay (surname)
* ...
Catholic spirituality
Catholic spirituality includes the various ways in which Catholics live out their Baptismal promise through prayer and action. The primary prayer of all Catholics is the Eucharistic liturgy in which they celebrate and share their faith together, ...
and created a category of
secular institute
In the Catholic Church, a secular institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in which consecrated persons profess the Evangelical counsels of celibate-chastity, poverty and obedience while living in the world, unlike members of a relig ...
in
canon law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
to provide committed groups of lay people some formal status. The Angelines were established by the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
on 25 May 1958 as the Secular Institute of Saint Angela Merici.
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.
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.
References
{{reflist
External links
Company of St Ursula Secular Institute of St Angela Merici - Federation
Catholic female orders and societies
Religious organizations established in 1535
Secular institutes
1535 establishments in Italy