LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Shelf _A-^-5©^, 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 IT 
 
 / 
 
( POLLARD 5c MOSS, PUBLISHERS. N -Y.) 
 
ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 AkD '^' 
 
 THE URSULINES. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. BERNARD O'REILLY, L.D. (Laval), 
 
 Author of " Heroic Women of the Bible, and the Chinch ;" " The Mirror of Trub 
 Womanhood ; " " True Men as we Need Them ; " ''A Life of Pius IX.," Etc. 
 
 '' . . . Never may thy sainted name 
 Be thought or written save with soul aflarfta, 
 Nor spoken openly, nor breathed apart 
 Without a stir and swelling of the heart ; — 
 O mate of Poverty ! O Pearl unpriced ! '* 
 
 W. H. Myers 
 
 OF COi-'^-^v 
 
 New York; *^-^ 
 POLLARD & MOSS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 47 JOHN STREET. 
 1880. 
 
 7^ 
 
Tb«I<ihu»t 
 OP OoiinBim 
 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by the 
 
 URSULINE SISTERS, 
 {Ursuline Convent^ East Morrisania^ New York^ 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 
 
TO 
 
 THE URSDLINE COMMUNITY OF MOMISANIA, NEW YORK CITY, 
 
 WHOSE GENEROUS LOVE FOR THEIR GLORIOUS PARENT, 
 
 ^Kxni %nQdu ^^ria, 
 
 HAS LED TO THE WRITING OP THIS BOOK, 
 
 IT IS NOW OFFERED IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OP THEIR SELF-SACRIFICING 
 
 PIETY AND ZEAL, WITH THE FERVENT PRAYER THAT THEY 
 
 MAY EVER BE, IN SPIRIT AND PRACTICE, 
 
 THE TRUE DAUGHTEES OF SO ANGELIC A MOTHER; 
 
 THAT EVERY ONE OF THE YOUNG SOULS TRAINED BY THEM MAY PROVE 
 THE LIGHT AND JOY OP HER HOME IN THE WORLD ; AND THAT 
 THEIR INSTITUTION, EVER GROWING IN FERVOR AND EX- 
 CELLENCE, MAY, LIKE THE SACRED TREE OF INDIA, 
 COVER THE LAND FAR AND WIDE WITH 
 ITS OFFSHOOTS. 
 
 THE AUTHOB, 
 
Imprimatur, 
 
 
 New York, 
 
 April 24, 1880. 
 
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The book here offered to the public was undertaken at a 
 time when the author was busy on other most important and 
 more attractive matter. Several heads of religious orders of 
 women had written to him expressing the wish that he would 
 undertake to prepare lives of their respective founders. Two 
 of them were especially urgent in their request. 
 
 Thereupon it was thought that a series of biographies, 
 entitled ^^ Modern Apostles of Female Education/' might be 
 of no little interest and advantage to our numerous teaching 
 Orders and their pupils, as well as to the general public. At 
 any rate, out of this conception grew St. A^^gela Merici 
 AND THE Ursuli:n"es. Who knows but, all imperfect as it is, 
 it may inspire other writers, both more zealous and more com- 
 petent, to continue the series, and show how so many noble 
 rivals and auxiliaries in this glorious apostleship of female 
 education sprung up around the daughters of St. Angela ? 
 
 In the following narrative the author has taken for his 
 principal guide the Jesuit Salvatori, who, writing in Italy, 
 and having ready at his hand both the local traditions and 
 the most approved histories of St. Angela and her Order, has 
 left us a Life incomparably better than any of those which 
 preceded it. 
 
 Even Salvatori's book, however, does not explain at all, or 
 explains but unsatisfactorily, the long delays which occurred 
 between the vision in which Angela was commanded to found 
 in Brescia a society of religious women, and the foundation 
 itself, a few years only before her death. This long interval, 
 
Till PREFACE. 
 
 in the existing popular biographies of the Saint, is filled up — 
 if indeed it can be said to be filled at all — with but few inter- 
 esting incidents. How far the present Life has succeeded, 
 both in explaining these delays and varying the monotony of 
 these intervening years, is left to the reader to judge. 
 
 The first half of the manuscript was in the hands of the 
 publisher and printer, when a kind Quebec friend sent the 
 author the first volume of Abbe Posters Histoire de Sai7ite 
 AngUe Merici et de VOrdre des Urstilines, Though this 
 able and interesting book came too late to help the author 
 amid the confused and conflicting dates and statements of St. 
 Angela's historians, it was no small satisfaction to see that 
 Abbe Postel had taken pains, and not without success, to ex- 
 plain the obstacles met with and overcome at length in found- 
 ing the Company of St. Ursula. 
 
 If, in some respects, the arrangement followed in the pres- 
 ent Life of St. Angela differs from the Italian or French 
 biographies, it need only be said that the author has con- 
 sulted principally the best interests of American readers. 
 To them, he firmly trusts, the sketch here submitted of the 
 life and labors of the Holy Maid of Desenzano will prove 
 attractive, edifying, and instructive. 
 
 New York, April 2, 1880. 
 
 Note. — The reader unacquainted witli the language and customs of 
 Italy, may be surprised that the names of some of the Lady-Directresses 
 should be written one way on page 231, and quite a different way on pages 
 182 and 183. All are scrupulously written, in both places, as they are 
 given by Father Salvatori, who, in the orthography of pages 182 and 183 
 follows the general rules of classical Italian, and in giving the " Testa- 
 tament" of St. Angela, conforms to the local idiom of Brescia, used by 
 the Saint. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Archiepiscopal Approbation iii 
 
 Dedication v 
 
 Author's Preface vii 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY : SUPERNATURAL ATMOSPHERE OF ITALIAN HOME- 
 LIFE IN THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 Supernatural Sanctity, how Prevalent among all Classes of Italian 
 
 Society 1-3 
 
 Italian Saints contemporary with the Parents of Angela Merici 8 
 
 Living Saints of Upper Italy about 1474 4 
 
 B. Caterina da Palanza 4 
 
 B. Maddalena Panatieri 4 
 
 St. Cajetan of Tiene and his Mother 4 
 
 St. Jerome Emiliani ' 5 
 
 B. Margaret of Ravenna 6 
 
 Influence of Women in Cultivating this Abundant Growth of 
 
 Sanctity 7 
 
 Saints Living in 1540, at the Date of Angela Merici's death 7, 8 
 
 In Rome, Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavier, Philip Neri ; elsewhere, 
 Charles Borromeo, Michael Ghisleri (St. Pius V.), Francis Borgia, 
 St. Camillo de Lellis, St. Felix Cantalici, St. Andrew Avellino, 
 
 BB. Paul of Arezzo, Alexander Sauli, and Benedict Filadelf 8, 9 
 
 Uncanonized Saints ; how numerous 9, 10 
 
 Saintly Personages not the Rare and Gigantic Flowers of Equatorial 
 Regions ; but the Sweet and Modest Flowers which Thrive in 
 
 every Land 10, 11 
 
 Angela Merici and her Sister's early Virtues as Compared with some 
 
 Holy Contemporaries , 13 
 
 St. Veronica of Milan and her Parents ; a Poor Peasant Family. . 12-14 
 Their Ideal of Christian Holiness as Familiar to the People of Upper 
 
 Italy, as the Way of Cultivating the Vine 15 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 The noble Catharine Fieschi-Adorno of Genoa ; her Married Life ; 
 
 her Life in the Cloister ; her beautiful Writings 15-19 
 
 The Transforming Love of Christ Crucified in St. Ignatius, St. 
 
 Francis Xavier, St. Francis of Assisi 20-22 
 
 The last named Saint and the Stigmata ; the Fire and Light which 
 
 Enwrapped Monte Alvernia 23 
 
 This Sacred Fire Burning Brightly at the Birth of Angela Merici. .25-27 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 BIKTH AND PARENTAGE OF ANGELA MERICI. 
 
 The Lake of Garda and the town of Desenzano 28, 29 
 
 The Merici and Biancosi 30 
 
 Spiritual Influences Surrounding the Home of the Merici 31, 32 
 
 The Observantines of St. Francis 33 
 
 The Merici, Ardent Admirers of Heroic Sanctity 33 
 
 Uncommon Pains taken by Angela's Parents to Cultivate the Love of 
 
 Heroic Piety in their Children ^ 33 
 
 Nightly Reading in common of the Lives of the Saints 33 
 
 Angela's Early Admiration of these Heroic Men and Women 34 
 
 Her Early EflPorts at Imitation of Them 34 
 
 Her Beauty in Childhood ; her Generosity ,Wisdom, and Self-control. 34 
 
 How she Resented being Complimented on her Beautiful Hair 35 
 
 Her Parents Encourage while Controlling the Ascetic Fervor of An- 
 gela and her Sister 36, 37 
 
 A Happy and Blessed Home 37, 38 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 ANGELA'S FIRST BITTER TRIALS. 
 
 Why her First Communion was Delayed ; Concourse of Circum- 
 stances which were Unfavorable to Frequent Communion and 
 
 Confession in the Italy of those Days 39, 40 
 
 Divine Economy of the Eucharistic Sacrament and Sacrifice 41 
 
 Angela's Merici' s Intense Happiness at the Table of the Lamb 42 
 
 Growth of Angela in Spiritual Loveliness ; the Bright and Pure At- 
 mosphere of her Home ; Precautions taken to Shield the Soul of 
 Girlhood from the Knowledge of Evil 43 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Angela's Early Vow of Virginity not the Result of Temptation ; 
 
 but Inspired by tlie Love of Perfection 44, 45 
 
 She Loses her Father in her Fifteenth Year 46 
 
 She Devotes herself to her Widowed Mother 47 
 
 Her Sister becomes her Guide in Spirituality 47 
 
 Their Pious Remembrance of their Father's Soul 48 
 
 Her Sister Dies Suddenly within the Year after her Father's Death. . 50 
 How both Girls had Grown in Supernatural Perfection during these 
 
 years : the Mystery of Life in the natural and supernatural 
 
 Worlds , 52, 53 
 
 Vision in which Angela beholds her Deceased Sister among the 
 
 Blessed ; She is Bidden to Persevere in the Better Way 54 
 
 Effect of such Miraculous Visions on Chosen Souls like Angela's. ... 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 UTTER DESOLATION. 
 
 The Vision sent to Angela probably helped to Prepare her Mother 
 
 for Death 57 
 
 Signora Merici Sickens and Dies in less than a Year after her 
 
 daughter 58 
 
 Secret Purpose of Providence in these trials 59 
 
 The Girl of Seventeen and her Brother taken to Said by their Uncle 
 
 Biancosi 60 
 
 Magnificent Situation of Said ; Enchanting Scenery of the Lake 
 
 Shore Northward of Said 61, 62 
 
 Interior Trials which assail Angela at this Period ; she and her 
 
 Brother Resolve to lead the Life of Hermits in the mountains. . 63-66 
 
 They Leave Said Secretly ; but are Brought Back 67 
 
 Angela even then Popularly Designated as ''a Little Saint from 
 
 Paradise ; " the two Orphans held up by Parents as models for 
 
 all Children 69 
 
 Angela Loses her Brother in her Twenty-second Year . .. ,,,.,,..,,. 69 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BACK IN THE OLD HOME, 
 
 She is Welcomed by her Townspeople and finds a Companion, who 
 takes her Sister's place , 72 
 
xu CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Process by wMcli God perfects Chosen Souls in detacliment 
 
 from all things 73 
 
 She Loses her Adopted Sister 73 
 
 Young Persons of her own Age drawn to Angela 73 
 
 The Vision at Brudazzo, in which Angela beholds a Company of 
 Saintly Virgins ; and is Commanded to Found one like it in 
 
 Brescia 75, 76 
 
 Increase of Fervor caused by this Second Vision 77 
 
 To become a frequent Communicant she joins the Tertiary Order of 
 
 St. Francis 77 
 
 Angela Merici may be justly called the Seraph of Christian Schools. 77 
 
 Why St. Francis of Assisi is called the '* Seraphic.'* 77 
 
 Protestant Testimony to the Genuineness of his Seraphic Spirit. ... 78 
 
 A Pregnant Lesson for all the Christian Men of To-day 78 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 THE PATERNAL HOME IN DESENZANO CONTINUES TO BE ANGELA'S 
 
 SCHOOL. 
 
 How Angela Spent Seventeen Years in the Home of her Childhood . 79 
 
 Grateful Testimony borne by her Fellow-Citizens 79 
 
 Her House a School for Young and Old 80 
 
 Imperious Circumstances which rendered Impracticable the Found- 
 ing of a New Order in Brescia 81 
 
 Her Saintly Influence over her Young Countrywomen 82 
 
 Why Angela could not in Desenzano open a School for Children like 
 
 Our Schools of To-day 83 
 
 Printing was then only in its Infancy 82 
 
 V^hat High and Low learned in Angela's School 83 
 
 The Noble Family of the PatengoU from Brescia cultivate Angela's 
 
 acquaintance 83 
 
 They desire to have her Reside in Brescia, 84 
 
 Situation of Brescia ; Its History ...........,.,,, 85 
 
 Occupied by the French in 1512 85 
 
 Horrible Butchery of 22,000 Brescians by the French, under Gaston 
 
 de Foix , ... 86 
 
 The ruined City restored to Venice in 1516 86 
 
 Jerome Patengoli Loses suddenly his two Children ,.....,,. 86 
 
CONTENTS, xiu 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Angela Merici sent to Brescia by her Superiors 87 
 
 Her Deliglit in Visiting the Venerable Churches of the City 88 
 
 Her active Charity 88 
 
 The Ruinous Condition of Brescia forbids her thinking of Founding 
 
 her Society 89 
 
 She is offered a Home by Antonio dei Romani 89 
 
 She visits the Tomb of B. Osanna Andreasi in Milan 90 
 
 Is Welcomed at Solferino by the Gonzagas 90 
 
 State of Upper Italy in 1522 92 
 
 Angela feels Impelled to Visit Jerusalem 93 
 
 Generous Provision made by Venice for Pilgrims to tiio Holy Land.. 93 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 LIGHT IN DARKNESS. 
 
 Founders of Religious Orders the passionate lovers of Christ Cru- 
 cified 94 
 
 Ignatius Loyola a Pilgrim to Jerusalem in 1523 95 
 
 Angela Embarks for Palestine in May, 1524 97 
 
 She is suddenly struck Blind on the Way 97 
 
 Insists on Continuing her journey 97 
 
 Her Raptures in Jerusalem and Bethlehem 98 
 
 Memories which Enlighten her in Christ's Birth-place 100 
 
 St. Jerome, St. Paula, and her daughter Eustochiuni 101 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE LIGHT INCREASING. 
 
 Return from Jerusalem through Rama 104 
 
 Angela recovers her Eyesight Miraculously 108 
 
 Dangers from Storms and Pirates 108, 109 
 
 Angelo esteemed, under God, the Pilgrims* Preserver 109 
 
 Admiration of the Venetians for her Ill 
 
 She Escapes secretly from the City 113 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WAITING AND WORKING. 
 
 Angela warmly Welcomed by the Brescians 113 
 
 New Obstacles to Angela's Designs 114, 115 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 She goes to Rome for the Jubilee of 1525 116 
 
 Explains her Vision to Pope Clement VII 118 
 
 Returns to Brescia 118 
 
 War-Clouds over Rome and Italy 119, 120 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 INSUPERABLE OBSTACLES. 
 
 Charles V. and Francis I. distract and devastate Upper Italy 121 
 
 Brescia Paralyzed ; Religious Improvement impossible 122 
 
 Angolans Self-Crucifixion amid these Calamities 123-126 
 
 She is more than ever the Guide and Comforter of all Classes 127 
 
 The Duke of Milan takes her for his Spiritual Guide 128 
 
 Angela is obliged to take Refuge in Cremona 129 
 
 She becomes the Public Comforter there 130, 131 
 
 Vigorous Intellectual and Moral Life of Upper Italy in those 
 
 Days 132,133 
 
 Angela taken 111 and at Death's Door 135 
 
 Her sudden Restoration to Perfect Health 136 
 
 She makes a Pilgrimage to the Sacred Hill of Varallo 137 
 
 Sudden Cessation of Hostilities 138 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE FOUNDATIONS AT LAST. 
 
 Vision of St. Ursula and her Companions 140 
 
 Delays enjoined on Angela by her Confessor 142 
 
 The first Twelve Ursulines 143 
 
 The high Aim Angela set before her Companions 144 
 
 Second Pilgrimage to Varallo 145 
 
 The Duke of Milan would have them stay in his Capital 146 
 
 Angela fixes her Abode near the Church of St. Afra 147 
 
 Increase of the Associates 150 
 
 Why Angela sought the Aid of noble Widow Ladies 151 
 
 How timely this Organization was for Italy 152 
 
 How Nature repairs Wounds and Losses in Tree and Flower ; and 
 
 how God repairs them in His Church 153, 154 
 
 Reforms by renovated Home-life and Education 155, 156 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 WHY ANGELA CALLED HER SISTERHOOD "THE COMPANY OF ST. 
 
 URSULA/' 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Legends concerning St. Ursula and her Band of Virgin- 
 Martyrs 157 
 
 The simple Historical Facts 158 
 
 The Popular Legends in Upper Italy 159 
 
 St. Ursula and. the Venetian Painters 160 
 
 St. Ursula accepted as Patron Saint by the great Universities of 
 
 Christendom 161 
 
 Another Vision in which Angela is urged to hasten her Work 163 
 
 The Company of St. Ursula formally inaugurated 163 
 
 First Inauguration of the Society of Jesus , 164 
 
 Fundamental Conception of an Ursuline's Life 165 
 
 Why Angela did not wish to Oblige her Maiden Sisters to make 
 
 Religious Vows 166 
 
 She excludes no Class of the Deserving , 167 
 
 Simple Dress of the Sisters 167 
 
 Their Charity and Humility 167 
 
 The wide Interest taken in them 168 
 
 The word '' Company " suggestive of a Militant Life 169 
 
 The two Great Armies who contended for Souls in the Italy of the 
 
 Sixteenth Century 169 
 
 Outlines of Angela's Organization 170 
 
 How the Spirit of God directs Holy Men and Women 171-174 
 
 The Nineteenth Century like the Sixteenth 174, 175 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 ANGELA'S WORK — THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE COMPANY OF ST. 
 
 URSULA. 
 
 Her Self-Crucifixion while drawing up the Constitutions of the Com- 
 pany 176 
 
 The Cardinal-Bishop of Brescia approves them 179 
 
 Angela is unanimously elected Superior-General. 181 
 
 Election of the other Officers 182 
 
 The Spiritual Directors of the new Company 183 
 
 Was the Education of Young Girls the main purpose of Angela?. . 185 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAQE 
 
 Testimony of the Holy See to the First Apostle of Female Educa- 
 tion. 185-187 
 
 Testimony of St. Charles Borromeo 188 
 
 Brief Mention of Education in the Constitutions 189 
 
 Angela wished to Educate in the Bosom of each Family 190 
 
 Her Main Purpose to be Directed by Providence 191 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. . 
 
 THE LAST LABORS AND TRIALS— MOST BEAUTIFUL COUNSELS — THE 
 STRONG WOMAN SETTING HER HOUSE IN ORDER. 
 
 Belay in Obtaining the Approbation of the Holy See 192 
 
 Opposition in Brescia to the Secular Dress of the Sisters 195 
 
 Angela's Persistence in Prayer and Austerities 197 
 
 Beginning of her Last Hlness 199 
 
 She appoints a Mother- Vicar 199 
 
 Dictates her Ricordi and her spiritual "Testament " 199 
 
 Summons the Lady-Counselors to hear the Ricordi read 200 
 
 Admirable Counsels of the Dying Saint 201-212 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE GATES AJAR — LOVE STRONG IN DEATH — THE PILGRIM AT REST. 
 
 The Spectacle presented by the Sick-room at St. Afra's 214 
 
 The disheartening Circumstances which color Angela's last Counsels 
 
 to her Daughters 215 
 
 The Motherly Tenderness she enjoins toward her Sisters 217 
 
 Virtues which these are to Practice.. 219 
 
 They are to Cherish above all Things the Honor of their Divine 
 
 Spouse 219 
 
 Ever-present Aid promised to them in Christ's Name 219 
 
 Angela sits up in her bed to repeat the last ** Reminder" 220 
 
 Deep Impression made on all Present 220, 221 
 
 Consternation in Brescia. 222 
 
 Her last Words to a few noble Frieuds 223 
 
 Her scrupulous Care to prepare herself for Burial 224 
 
 She receives the Last Sacraments 225 
 
 Her angelic Devotion 226, 227 
 
 Angela Merici's Mission , » . . 228 
 
CONTENTS, lYii 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 A saint's testament and legacies — A people's gratitude and 
 
 VENERATION— INCORRUPTION LASTING THROUGH CENTURIES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Angela's '' Testament and Legacies" to her Daughters 230-240 
 
 Instinctive Veneration of true Sanctity by the Catholic Heart. . .240, 241 
 
 Extraordinary Affluence from City and Country 242 
 
 All proclaim her '* Blessed " , , , 243 
 
 Delay in her Burial 243 
 
 Veneration in all Ages for the Remains of the Saintly Dead 244 
 
 The Delay of Thirty D^ys most Providential 245 
 
 Prodigious Concourse of Pilgrims, and other Prodigies 245 
 
 The Holy Remains preserved Incorrupt 246 
 
 The Painters of Brescia at work around the Bier 247, 248 
 
 End of the Delay ; the Solemn Entombment 248 
 
 Tributes to the Saintly Dead 248 
 
 A Scoffer Rebuked and Converted 250 
 
 Changes made in Angela's Tomb 251 
 
 Its Appearance and that of the Saint's Body in 1867 252-254 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE " ODOR OF SANCTITY " AND POPULAR VENERATION — MIRACULOUS 
 FAVORS OBTAINED — DELAYS IN ANGELA'S BEATIFICATION AND 
 CANONIZATION. 
 
 The Good or 111 Odor diffused by every Christian's Life and Death. . 255 
 Flocks in Alpine Regions attracted to their Mountain Pasture by the 
 
 Fragrance of Spring Flowers 255 
 
 The People of God drawn to the Shrines of his Saints by " the Sweet 
 
 Odor" of Christlike Holiness 256, 257 
 
 The Popular Veneration toward Angela Merici 258-260 
 
 The Honors paid to her tacitly Sanctioned by the Holy See 261 
 
 This Cultus becomes Universal 262 
 
 First Judicial Proceedings toward Beatification 264 
 
 Delays in Rome caused by the Dissensions with Louis XIV 265 
 
 She is solemnly Beatified by Clement XIII. , 266 
 
 Translation of Blessed Angela's Remains 267 
 
 Appearance of the Body on this Occasion 267 
 
xviu CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGS 
 
 Contrast between this Triumpli of tlie Ursulines and tlie simultane- 
 ous Downfall of tlie Jesuits ^ 269, 270 
 
 Proceedings for Blessed Angela's Canonization , . .. , 270 
 
 She is solemnly Canonized 271 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIi: 
 
 MIRACLES, AND VIRTUES AS MARVELOUS AS MIRACLES, 
 
 Irresistible Authority of Miracles 273 
 
 The Miracle-working Power to abide in the Church 274 
 
 The Three Great Miracles wrought by St. Ange]|i, and accepted by 
 
 the Congregation of Eites 275-281 
 
 St. Angela's Heroic Virtues 283 
 
 Her Prudence 285 
 
 Her Temperance 291 
 
 Her Justice 291 
 
 Her Fortitude 291 
 
 Her Supernatural Faith, Hope and Charity 292-294 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ST. ANGELA'S CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 They are her Principal Literary Production 295 
 
 They breathe the Apostolic Spirit which passed into the Constitu- 
 
 trons of the various Ursuline Congregations 296 
 
 They deserve to be Preserved lovingly by Angela's Daughters 296 
 
 Text of the Constitutions 297 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE URSULINES : THEIR VARIED FORTUNES IN ITALY — PRIMITIVE 
 CONGREGATION OF BRESCIA — HOW THEY FARED IN MILAN — URSU- 
 LINES OF VENICE, PARMA, PIACENZA, FOLIGNO, AND ROME. 
 
 Dangerous Controversy about the Dress of the Ursulines 337 
 
 The Ursulines in Desenzano and Said 339 
 
 " Cremona 341 
 
 Milan 342 
 
 The Milanese Ursulines living in community and bound by vows, .. 344 
 
CONTENTS. xix 
 
 PAQB 
 
 The Ursulines in Venice 345 
 
 Genoa * 345 
 
 Parma 346 
 
 ** Piacenza and Foligno 347 
 
 The Roman Ursulines, 347 
 
 The Un cloistered Ursulines of SS. Rufina and Secunda 348 
 
 The Cloistered Ursulines of the Via Vittoria, founded by the Duchess 
 
 of Modena 348 
 
 Vicissitudes of the Roman Ursulines 351-353 
 
 Existing Monasteries of Calvi, Stroncone, Sesto-Calende, Cannobio, 
 
 Galliate, Omegna, Miasino, and Saluzzo 353 
 
 Fate of the Congregation of Brescia before and since the French Rev- 
 olution 354 
 
 Swept away by the First Napoleon 355 
 
 Only a Single Monastery of Cloistered Nuns since 1827 355 
 
 The Primitive Ursnlines of Brescia reviving under Pius IX 357-359 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE URSULINES IN FRANCE — CONGREGATIONS OP AIX, BORDEAUX, 
 PARIS, LYONS, AND TOULOUSE. 
 
 Frances de Bermond, of Avignon, the Angela Merici of France 360 
 
 The First French Ursuline Establishment at L'Isle, near Avignon, . 863 
 
 Frances de Bermond and Cardinal de Sourdis, of Bordeaux 363 
 
 The Cardinal visits Milan 364 
 
 He Chooses Frances de Cazeres to Found the Ursulines of Bordeaux. 365 
 The Ursulines of Bordeaux become a Congregation of Cloistered 
 
 Nuns 366 
 
 Their Apostolic labors Described by Pope Paul V 369 
 
 The Ursulines of Paris ; their beginnings 371 
 
 Blessed Mary of the Incarnation (Madame Acarie) and her cousin, 
 
 Madame De Sainte Beuve. .1 371, 372 
 
 The Parisian Ursulines become Cloistered 373, 374 
 
 Mother de Bermond Recalled from Paris to Aix 374 
 
 She Founds the Monastery of Lyons 377 
 
 Her Establishments wonderfully Multiplied 378 
 
 The Lyonnese Congregation accept the Cloister. 379 
 
 Death of Mother de Bermond 379 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 PAQB 
 
 The CoDgregation of Toulouse 880 
 
 The " Ladies of Mercy of St. Ursula " 381 
 
 Extraordinary Fervor of the Toulouse Ursulines ,381, 382 
 
 Other Congregations in France 382 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 OFFSHOOTS OF THE FRENCH URSULINES THROUGHOUT THE GERMAN 
 AND AUSTRIAN EMPIRES, CANADA, THE UNITED STATES, IRE- 
 LAND AND ENGLAND. 
 
 Marvelous Fecundity of the Congregations of Bordeaux and Paris. . . 384 
 Temporary Suppression of the Ursulines throughout Germany and 
 
 the Low Countries by the French 384 
 
 *• The May Laws " 385 
 
 Landshut and Breslau 385 
 
 The other Ursuline Schools of Austria-Hungary 385 
 
 The American Ursulines ; 
 
 Quebec and Three Rivers 386 
 
 New Orleans 387-389 
 
 The First Ursulines in New York Unsuccessful 389 
 
 The Ursulines of East Morrisania ! 389 
 
 The Ursulines of Boston 390 
 
 The Tragic Story of the Charlestown Convent 391 
 
 Archbishop Purcell and the Ursulines of the Western States 393 
 
 Nano Nagle and the Irish Ursulines 393 
 
 The Monastery of Black Rock and the Ursulines of South Carolina.. 394 
 The Monastery School of Valle-Crucis, near Columbia, cruelly Des- 
 troyed by Sherman's Army 395 
 
 The Ursulines in England : The Monastery of. Upton, a Colony from 
 
 Sittard in Limburg 395 
 
 The Abbe Lambertz and the " Independent Ursulines " of Belgium . 396 
 The Conditions under which Religious Communities can prosper 
 among Modern Peoples 396 
 
LIFE OF ST. ANGELA MERICL 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTEODUCTORY. 
 
 It will help the readers of this book not a little toward un- 
 derstanding the edifying story it tells, if we make them ac- 
 quainted not only with thd beautiful country in which the 
 heroine was born, but more especially still with the religious 
 condition of the society among whom she was brought up. 
 The flowers that bloom and the fruits that ripen in our 
 gardens, as well as the harvests that grow in our fields, 
 depend for their beauty, their fragrance, their excellence on 
 the qualities of soil and atmosphere. Even so do the most 
 heroic souls need for their growth and maturing the genial 
 influences of earth and sky, the light and warmth of super- 
 natural examples in the family home and the social world 
 around it. 
 
 To persons who may wonder at the early love of prayer, 
 holy solitude, bodily austerity, the aversion to all worldly 
 honor and pleasure, and the constant yearning to be in all 
 
2 ST. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 things like the Crucified, — displayed by Angela Merici and 
 her sister, by their near neighbor Aloysius Gonzaga (though 
 born many years afterward), and so many others of the same 
 age, and country, — we can only say, that even so was the 
 child Samuel visited early by the divine favor, that Jeremias 
 was sanctified from his birth for the lifelong struggle with 
 the corruptions of God's people, and the impiety of their 
 princes, and John the Baptist anointed by the outpouring of 
 the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The knowledge and love of Christ crucified, and of the 
 glorious hosts of his followers in the road of crucifixion, 
 were a thing as natural and familiar to the children of all 
 Christian households in the year of grace 1474, as was the 
 glorious aspect of the earth around their homes. Sainted 
 followers of Him who for us crowned His own head with 
 earth's bitterest thorns, and drank in death to the dregs its 
 bitterest cup of woe, had tenanted while living the wildest 
 crags and mountain solitudes of Northern as well as 
 of Central Italy: around their hermitages and their tombs, 
 chapels and monasteries had been reared, shining from afar 
 all over the land, as lights pointing out to the crowds in 
 city and plain the way to Christ-like holiness. 
 
 Saintly men and women, whose names have been sol- 
 emnly placed by the church on the catalogue of the Blessed, 
 lived in every part of Italy, age after age, — saints of the 
 cottage as well as of the palace, saints among the poorest 
 classes as well as among the highest, shining amid the ob- 
 scurity of the village hamlet in some retired valley of the 
 Alps or the Apennines, as well as among the crowds and 
 bustle and glitter of cities ; honoring the throne of the sov- 
 ereign or the seat of the bishop ; saintly laymen, priests, and 
 monks, sent, — not like the great Prophets of old, — from time 
 to time, to thrill and rouse and raise the souls of a perverse, 
 
AND THE UMSULINES. 3 
 
 a slumbering, or a fallen generation ; but succeeding each 
 other, like the fair flowers of a southern clime that knows 
 no winter, and in whose sunlight the beauteous buds of 
 promise are evermore opening by the side of the golden fruit. 
 
 Such, most truly, was the Italy of the fifteenth and the 
 sixteenth centuries, to both of which belongs the heroic life 
 we are about to tell. 
 
 Let not the reader fancy for one m.oment that there is in 
 this assertion anything approaching to exaggeration. A 
 brief glance at a few only of the illustrious names thus 
 honored and embalmed by the veneration of the people d,nd 
 the infallible judgment of the Church, will settle all doubts 
 on this point, and encourage us to pursue our theme with 
 increased fervor and confidence. 
 
 The parents of Angela Merici might, during their lifetime, 
 have seen the persons or heard of the virtues of such holy 
 personages as the Blessed Margaret of thB Royal House of 
 Savoy (died 1467), and her saintly kinsman, the Blessed Duke 
 Amadeus (died 1472). Both had spread far and wide through- 
 out Northern Italy the fame of their goodness and holiness. 
 Venice was blessed at the same epoch in the possession of a 
 great man and a great saint on the episcopal seat, Lawrence 
 Giustiniani (died 1455), while Florence gloried in the learn- 
 ing and virtues of her own archbishop, St. Antonine. Filling 
 the valleys of Southern Tyrol and Northern Venetia with the 
 fruits of his apostolic zeal, lived Blessed Andrea Grego, born 
 at Peschiera, on the picturesque shores of their own Lake 
 Garda, — while they, like all the population of Northern 
 Italy, had been thrilled and captivated by the eloquence and 
 examples of such living saints as Vincent Ferrer, Francis of 
 Paula, and Bernardine of Sienna. There were women, too, 
 whose deeds of heroic sanctity w^ere no less celebrated by the 
 grateful veneration of their contemporaries : the Blessed 
 
4 ST. ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 Serafina D'Urbino, duchess of Pesaro (died 1478), St. Catherine 
 of Bologna (died 1462), St. Louisa Albertone, whom all 
 Rome worshiped, and that other Roman lady, even greater 
 than she, Francesca Ponziani, or "St. Frances of Rome," as 
 the capital of the Christian world in its gratitude delights to 
 call her. 
 
 But, without searching other parts of Italy for the illus- 
 trious names of saintly men and women, who shone all over 
 it during th middle of the fifteenth century, let us see what 
 a galaxy of saints shed lustre on the immediate neighborhood 
 of that same Lake of Garda, just at the very time Angela 
 Merici was born (1474). The Blessed Catarina de Palanza 
 was making the mountain pilgrimage of Varese dear to the 
 surrounding populations by the sweet virtues of her last 
 years (died 1478). St. Veronica, a poor, illiterate peasant 
 girl, was then the wonder of all Milan and its territory. 
 Blessed Maddalena Panatieri was equally revered in the 
 neighboring city of Vercelli ; while in the diocese of Brescia, 
 at Orzinovi, was just blooming into perfect womanhood and 
 perfect holiness the Blessed Stefana Quinzani,and at Mantua 
 the Blessed Osanna Andreasi, both destined to exercise so 
 salutary an influence on Angela Merici's after-life. 
 
 Then, again, if we consider the great practical purpose to 
 which Angela gave up her whole existence,— the succoring 
 of needy souls by heroic devotedness,— we shall find public 
 opinion in every Italian community actively alive to the im- 
 perative duty of instructing the ignorant, educating youth, 
 and relieving every want of soul and body among the poor 
 of Christ. 
 
 Four years after the birth of our saint, in 1478, to the 
 princely family of Tiene, in the neighboring city of Vicenza, 
 was born a son destined to found an order of apostolic men, — 
 the Theatines. It is only necessary, however, to say what 
 
AND THE UE8ULINE8, g 
 
 kind of a woman the mother of the future St. Gaetano do 
 Tiene was, to open out to our readers a most beautiful pros- 
 pect of the womanly excellence and supernatural piety that 
 graced Italian home-life in the fifteenth century. Maria 
 Porta, countess of Tiene, was, like the Blessed Margaret of 
 Savoy, and St. Jane, Queen of France, her contemporaries, 
 a woman guided solely by the Spirit of God, a true Christian 
 woman, who fulfilled perfectly every duty of wife, mother, 
 and mistress of a household, while giving to God and to the 
 needy everything which heart and hand could give. Like 
 the mother of the great St. Francis of Assisi, before the birth 
 of her boy, she had a secret presentiment that her child was 
 destined to be a close follower of the Divine Babe of Bethle- 
 hem. She wished that like Him, her son should be born in 
 a stable, and to a stable she went to give birth to her first 
 born, and would have him placed in a manger, thereby con- 
 secrating him to poverty and self-sacrifice. How such a 
 mother would rear her boy, and direct his thoughts and as- 
 pirations to all that was most heroic and most generous, we 
 need not inform the reader. Besides, the most authentic 
 testimony in all modern history is there, in the story of the 
 life of St. Gaetano and the solemn acts of 'his canonization, 
 to show what Christian education meant in the truly Chris- 
 tian ages. 
 
 That same territory of Venice, — though sadly fallen away 
 both from its pristine Christian fervor and its ancient su- 
 premacy on the seas, — produced about the same time another 
 glorious scion, worthy of the proudest days of patrician 
 virtue. This was to be a devoted friend of Gaetano de Tiene 
 and Angela Merici. He is still dear to the homeless and the 
 orphan as St. Jerome Emiliani. Descended of the best no- 
 bility of Venice, a soldier while yet in boyhood, in spite of 
 his mother's entreaties and tears, Jerome plunged headlong 
 
6 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 into the excitement and licentiousness of warfare, was taken 
 prisoner while bravely defending his trust, and found amid 
 the horrors of his captivity, the light which showed him the 
 depth of his own guilt, the vanity of the fame for which he 
 thirsted, and the glory of serving Him, "whom to serve is to 
 reign." Thenceforward his life became one of expiation, 
 self-crucifixion, and boundless devotion to the cause of 
 charity and Christian education. 
 
 While Jerome Emiliani v/as still in his cradle, and Angela 
 Merici was blooming into her lovely girlhood, a poor peasant 
 girl born near Ravenna, stricken with blindness in infancy, 
 and grown to womanhood amid a succession of trials and suf- 
 ferings so unceasing and so fearful, that one is reminded of 
 holy Job in the extremity of his affliction, — was also chastened 
 and perfected like Job by the very extremity of ill. The 
 bitterest portion of the deep cup she had to drain till she 
 was long past the season of youth, came from the persecu- 
 tions of those who should have been her protectors. But 
 blessed Margaret's angelic patience and sweet humility dis- 
 armed her detractors and made of them her friends and dis- 
 ciples. Her bed of suffering became the chair from which 
 she taught supernatural wisdom. City and country folk 
 soon thronged to gaze upon the weak suiferer, to learn from 
 her lips and her life the secrets of holiness, and to reform 
 their own conduct on the model of one who was the living 
 image of the Crucified. 
 
 They united, — the choice souls among them, at least, — to 
 form a society called the " Confraternity of the Good 
 Jesus," for which she drew up rules. Three hundred of the 
 most distinguished citizens of Ravenna and its vicinity, thus 
 bound themselves to holiness of life, and the practice of 
 heroic charity. The Blessed Margaret died on January 23rd, 
 1505. Her influence, however, was to effect a still greater 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 7 
 
 good after her death. Among her disciples was a holy widow, 
 now known among God's saints as the Blessed Gentile 
 Pianella, the wife of a tradesman. She it is who converted 
 a worldly priest into an apostle, and made of that priest, 
 since so widely known as the Venerable Jerome Maluselli, 
 the founder of the first body of Regular Clerks recognized 
 by tjie Church, " The Regular Clerks of the Order of the Good 
 Jesus." Thus the humble sodality established by the Blessed 
 Margaret brought forth a religious order long blessed by the 
 population of l^orthern and Central Italy; the humble shrub 
 planted near the blind girl's grave, growing up into a lordly 
 tree, and bearing fruits of salvation for the entire region. 
 
 Th^ atmosphere of the Christian home in Italy, — and, 
 through it, the social atmosphere of the great busy, warring 
 world outside, — was filled with the sweet odor of Christ, even 
 Christ crucified. It was, under God, due mostly to the in- 
 fluence of woman, — true mothers, wives, and maidens, — from 
 whom men learned to be true and brave, and self-denying 
 and self-sacrificing, — the love of all that was beautiful in 
 God's world, and the practice of all that was heroic and en- 
 nobling in His religion. 
 
 Such were some of the life-giving influences which met 
 Angela Merici in her native land and from her infancy. We 
 have only pointed out a very few, to enable the reader to 
 study the religious and social condition of Italy during the 
 age of Christopher Columbus, and thus to form an intelli- 
 gent and independent judgment on the beautiful civilization 
 which the Church had been creating and fostering in spite of 
 the constant and relentless hostility of the Powers of Evil. 
 Now, dear reader, only think of the magnificent array of 
 living saints whom Angela Merici left behind her the year 
 of her happy death. She breathed her last on January 27, 
 1540. In Rome, April 7th of the following year, Francis 
 
8 BT. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 Xavier tore himself away from the fatherly embrace of Igna- 
 tius Loyola, whom he loved with a love so pure and so deep, 
 to travel on foot all the way to Lisbon, before sailing for the 
 East Indies. We have thus named, in these great twin- 
 souls, the parents of an army of apostles and saints, who had 
 then begun to extend their labors to the needy souls of both 
 hemispheres. But besides Xavier and Loyola, there lived at 
 the death of Angela, a host of other saintly men and women, 
 some only of whom have received the honors of canonization 
 or beatification. 
 
 St. Teresa was then in her twenty-fifth year ; St. John of 
 the Cross, Teresa's helj)-mate in the great work of religious 
 reformation, was in his second ; St. Charles Borromeo, who 
 was to consummate and crown the work of St. Angela, was 
 in his fourth year, watched over, at Arona, amid the grand 
 scenery of Lago Maggiore, by his pious mother, or kneeling 
 with her at Brescia, among the pilgrims crowding to the 
 lowly grave of that same Angela, or visiting with her the 
 home in which the saint was born at Desenzano, on the 
 sunny shores of the Lake of Garda. St. Philip Neri, in 1540, 
 was in his twenty-sixth year, in the beautiful springtide of 
 Ms holiness, — and the Dominican monk, Michael Ghisleri, 
 destined afterward to save and to edify all Christendom un- 
 der the name of St. Pius V., was in his thirty-seventh year ; 
 — Francis Borgia, Duke of Gandia, destined also to be the 
 most efficient help-mate of St. Pius in the crusade which 
 broke forever^ the power and pride of the Mohammedan,^- 
 
 1 It is not generally known that St. Francis Borgia, then general of his society, waa 
 sent by St. Pius V., in conjunction with the papal legate, to exhort the kings of Spain 
 and Portugal to unite their forces with those of Venice and the Holy See in order to 
 crush the Turkish power. It was the last of the crusades. Borgia's saintly presence in 
 the Spanish court, where he had formerly shone as the model of the Castilian nobility, 
 obtained from Philip II. all that the Pope desired. And thus was organized the ex- 
 pedition which won the glorious victory of Lepanto, Oct. 7, 1570. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 
 
 9 
 
 was in his thirtieth year^ the envy and the model of Spain's 
 nobility, as St. Thomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valen- 
 cia, was, at the same time, the model of her bishops and the 
 father of her people. Indeed, Spain was, in that age, the 
 wonder of Christendom by the number of her saints. But we 
 would fain not turn away the reader's attention from Italy. 
 St. Camillo de Lellis, St. Felix Cantalicio, St. Serafino de 
 Monte Granario, St. Andrew Avellino, the Blessed Paul of 
 Arezzo, and Blessed Alexander Sauli, the Apostle of Corsica, 
 the bosom friend and counsellor of St. Charles Borromeo, 
 were all growing up to the full stature of Christ-like hero- 
 ism, while Angela Merici was impatiently yearning to be at 
 rest with Christ. 
 
 From the foot-hills of the Alps which overshadowed her 
 home in Brescia, to the southernmost coast of Sicily, where 
 lived, beautiful in soul and angelic in life, the Blessed Bene- 
 dict of Filadelfo, a man of the much-despised negro race,— 
 there was not a city, or a noted country place, in which some 
 such saintly men or women, were not keeping before the 
 eyes of the living generation the ideal virtues which are the 
 soul of Christian life and the aim of all Christian generosity. 
 
 To be sure, only a few of the many souls who were. thus 
 foremost in the race of sanctity, have left names behind to 
 be known and revered of all succeeding Christian ages. We 
 of this barren nineteenth century, and denizens of a land un- 
 blessed by the splendor of a single sainted name, are apt to 
 think that the God-like personages deserving of the honors 
 of canonization resemble those rare and gigantic flowers 
 of the Brazilian forests, which cannot thrive or live on our 
 barren northern soil, and beneath the illiberal and uncertam 
 warmth of our sun. On the contrary, sanctity is like the 
 
 » The magnificent water-lily known as the Victoria Regina, 
 
10 ST. ANGELA MERICL 
 
 sweet and modest flowers which bloom and thrive in every 
 land fit for the habitation of man — like the wheat and the 
 corn which ripen best for man's uses amid the cooler plains 
 and valleys and under the showery skies of the temperate zone. 
 Ah, He who is the ever-present Sun of Righteousness, as He 
 daily encircles the earth in the course of His Fatherly 
 Providence, pours into our minds th<3 light, and into 
 our hearts the warmth, which move them to aim at 
 Godlike excellence and enable them to attain it. His all- 
 wise, and untiring care of the souls which He constantly urges 
 onward and upward to height above height of holiness and per- 
 fection — never fails to attemper, for the special measure of each 
 dear soul's need, both the ardor of the surrounding atmos- 
 phere and the rigor of its severest colds, to govern for our 
 souls' welfare every accident and event which may befall 
 them here below. Dear to Him, and most dear, is the soul 
 of the poor blind peasant girl of Ravenna, beset from in- 
 fancy to womanhood and old age, with the bitterest trials 
 which can assail the sensibilities of a heart born truly noble, 
 or test the patience of the most heroic temper; most dear 
 also that other poor servant-maid of Milan (St. Veronica), 
 who found time, amid her own hard and manifold labors, to 
 aid and comfort the weak of limb or of heart around her, 
 and created from out the resources of her own poverty, — of 
 her overrich charity and holiness, rather, — hospitals for the 
 sick, and asylums for infirm old age, and orphaned infancy. 
 Surely, most dear too, are such royal souls as Maria and 
 Gaetano de Tiene, as Margaret and Amadeus of Savoy, as 
 Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier and Francis Borgia, and 
 that good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep, 
 Charles Borromeo, — to choose one holy bishop among many. 
 Beautiful is the royal rose that is the pride of our gardens, 
 but beautiful none the less are the thousand lowly flowerets 
 
AND THE URSULINE8, H 
 
 that display their timid loveliness and shed their sweet 
 
 fragrance in the secret places of hillside, valley, and forest . 
 
 near the shady brook which steals through our meadows or 
 on the borders of some unknown lake in the wilderness. 
 There is not one of these gweet and beauteous creatures but 
 is the object of the great Creator's care, — daily visited by 
 the beams of His sun in the heavens. Nor is there, among 
 the thousands of obscure souls most dear to the God who is 
 the lover of souls, the passionate lover of holiness, — a single 
 one that is not the especial care and dear delight of His 
 angels and Himself. Astronomy teaches us that the stars 
 which are brightest in our firmament are not the largest in 
 size, that the smallest visible to the naked eye are incom- 
 parably greater than those whose splendor charms us after 
 sunset or before sunrise. Nay, it is no improbable con- 
 jecture, that our sun, surpassing as we know him to be in size, 
 and transcendent in life-giving light and warmth to all the 
 heavenly bodies near, our earth, is nevertheless far surpassed 
 in volume and splendor by myriads of stars placed beyond 
 the reach of the naked eye, or of the instruments devised by 
 science to aid the investigator. 
 
 So, there may be, — nay, there are doubtless, — in every age 
 thousands of souls who delight in living for God alone, and 
 whose sole aim and prayer is to die unknown to men, and to 
 remain forever unknown to human fame. They are known 
 on high in the great society of the Blessed, — where true 
 glory is securely reserved for them, — that glory which con- 
 sists in being praised eternally by God, and by His angels 
 and saints. 
 
 They are known on earth, too, during their life-time, — 
 though, it may be not widely known. Their influence, like that 
 of our sweet and lowly flowers among the depths of the tangled 
 forest, loads the atmosphere with a subtile fragrance which 
 
13 ^T. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 is felt and blessed by the traveler, though its cause remains 
 unseen, hidden beneath the surrounding undergrowth. Some- 
 times, however, it so happens that God, whose holiness and 
 power are glorified in His saints^ will cause the name of these 
 hidden creations of His grace to come forth into the full 
 light of publicity long ages after they have passed away from 
 earth, just as we see stars hitherto invisible emerge from the 
 depths of space, and astonish by their brilliancy the skilled 
 observers of every land. 
 
 It may, however, assist us greatly toward understanding 
 the spirit which directed the aims and inspired the actions of 
 Angela Merici and her sister, while as yet little more than 
 children, — if we glance at the doings and sayings of one or 
 two of the saintly women, whose names were household 
 words in Northern Italy at the close of the fifteenth century, 
 and whose lives were the frequent topic of conversation in 
 Christian households. Two personages, taken from opposite 
 social conditions, will serve our purpose admirably. 
 
 Here we have, in the first instance, a farmer of the 
 poorest class of the Lombard peasantry a man whose unre- 
 mitting toil barely enables him to ward off from his dear ones 
 pinching want and the degradation to a family consequent 
 on extreme poverty. In 'his poor household, however, as in- 
 deed among the peasant clashes of Catholic countries in the 
 ages of living faith, though book-learning there was none, 
 there was, nevertheless, that lofty education of the soul, which 
 religion never fails to give to all who are docile to her teach- 
 ing and lovingly practice her precepts. Such a parent had 
 St. Veronica of Milan. So well principled was he, and so 
 much was he guided in all his actions by the fear of God, 
 that, on the markets of Milan w^here he brought for sale the 
 produce of his farm and home-industry, he would never allow 
 purchasers to buy from him without fully acquainting them 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 13 
 
 with the imperfections of what he sold. His was a poverty- 
 full of contentment and holy joy, privations and hard work 
 being seasoned by a cheerfulness which no change of season or 
 increase of adversity could ever cloud for a moment. 
 
 His daughter Veronica's temper and disposition partook 
 of the brightness of this sunny home. Her parents trained 
 her from her cradle to the most tender piety, and she became 
 perforce the companion of all their toil and hardship even 
 before she had ceased to be a child. The sons and daughters 
 of Christian homes were early taught to have ever before 
 their eyes as their model, the adorable Son of Mary — born to 
 poverty, labor, obedience, and suffering.. In His footsteps 
 the little Veronica advanced rapidly in all grace and loveli- 
 ness. She worked with incredible ardor, and, while helping 
 her poor parents in every way her strength permitted, she 
 cheered and charmed them by her childish joyousness, and her 
 little loving industries. They had taught her to love prayer 
 as a conversation with the invisible but ever-present Almighty 
 Goodness, and her fervor in prayer even surpassed her ardor 
 for work. In the house and in the field the child showed 
 herself to be an angel without ever ceasing to be a child. 
 
 Her beautiful maidenhood was only the continuation of 
 her gracious childhood; she shone on the neighbors as she 
 did on her parents, as an angelic being sent on earth for some 
 merciful purpose. 
 
 Both parents, indeed, much as they needed her, and greatly 
 as their happiness depended on her dear companionship, felt 
 as she grew up to be wise and holy beyond what they ad- 
 mired in the best people, that they must not think of earthly 
 bridals for their Veronica. And still when she was old 
 enough to choose her own path in life, there seemed to be 
 an insuperable obstacle to the accomplishment of their and 
 her dearest wishes. She felt drawn irresistibly toward the 
 
14 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 Augustinian Sisterhood of St. Martha in Milan, — famed 
 throughout the land for austerity of life. But she could 
 not bring to them the usual dower; nor could she so much 
 as read and write. She resolved to overcome this latter im- 
 pediment, however ; and so, while giving up her days to the 
 necessary labor which the poverty of her family rendered 
 imperative, she worked by night, — alone and in the greatest 
 secrecy, to teach herself to read and write, and to educate 
 herself in the beginnings of secular knowledge. Of course, 
 she succeeded. But it is said of her that she had to contend 
 with the most disheartening difficulties, such difficulties in- 
 deed, that one day our Blessed Lady consoled her by a vision. 
 "Do not be cast down," the heavenly voice said to her. 
 ** Suffice it to you to know three things as the alphabet of 
 spiritual knowledge : First, the purity of heart which ever 
 aims at loving God above all things, and in only loving other 
 things in conformity with His will ; the second is, never to 
 complain, never to show impatience at seeing the short-com- 
 ings of others, but to bear with them sweetly and to pray 
 for their correction ; and the third is, to set apart each day 
 a time for reading the divine book of the crucifix, and con- 
 templating the sufferings of the Crucified." Three years of 
 such discipline as this fitted our little maiden for her super- 
 natural calling. She brought with her treasures of goodness 
 and knowledge which made her the light and glory of the 
 Sisterhood, — a wonder and a fruitful source of blessing to 
 the city and territory of Milan. The little peasant girl be- 
 came the guide and counsellor of the greatest and the most 
 learned in Church and State, as well as the indefatigable 
 providence and comforter of the poor. And she was all this 
 because her constant study of Christ crucified transformed 
 her into a living image of the Virgin-Mother who had, of all 
 created beings, known Him best, loved Him most tenderly, 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 15 
 
 and followed Him most closely, from the manger to the cross. 
 
 This ideal of Christian holiness was, then, as familiar to 
 high and low in Milan, as w^ere the practical methods used 
 in the culture of the vine throughout the length and breadth 
 of Lombardy. Every class of its people, from the earliest 
 Christian ages, had known how to judge of supernatural 
 goodness, how to appreciate the beauty of godliness, as in- 
 fallibly as they could estimate the qualities of the grape, or 
 the flavor of their wines. 
 
 Another holy member of the Augustinian order, living 
 at the same time in Genoa, furnishes a further and still more 
 striking illustration of the truth we are here endeavoring to 
 inculcate. The Genoese saint, however, is a woman of the 
 world, born in the highest rank, and educated as became her 
 rank. Catherine Fieschi Adorno, by birth the daughter of 
 a viceroy of Naples, by marriage the wife of one of Genoa's 
 proudest patricians, had tasted of all the bitterness of wedded 
 life, and felt all the emptiness of worldly greatness. In her 
 father's house, and while still under the loving care of her 
 Christian mother, Catherine had been just what St. Veronica 
 was at the same age, — angelic in body and mind, — passion- 
 ately devoted to Christ and His Blessed Mother, and finding 
 her supreme delight in reading about His passion, or in con- 
 templating objects of art which portrayed His sufferings. 
 Though solely bent on consecrating herself to His service 
 and that of His poor, she had to conform to the will of her 
 family and become the wife of Giuliano Adorno, a scion of 
 one of the most powerful families in the ancient republic. 
 The ten years of her wedded life was a long martyrdom 
 endured, — and not in vain, — for the purpose of winning to 
 God the soul of her profligate husband. She had even re- 
 laxed the austerity of her life, and mingled for a while in the 
 gay throng around her, in order the better to shield and to 
 
16 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 save her companion. This was a serious mistake, of which 
 she afterward bitterly repented. 
 
 In 1474, — the very year of Angela Merici's birth, Catherine 
 Adorno, then in her 27th year, took up the cross in earnest to 
 follow her Lord and Master, Christ. Her whole life, from 
 that moment, became one uninterrupted act of heroic devo- 
 tion to the poor and suffering. So great was her austerity, 
 so unearthly the life of crucifixion she led, that nothing short 
 of a miracle could have enabled her to live at all, especially 
 when one considers how unceasing and arduous her labors 
 were. In the admirable writings which she has left us, there 
 is a mine of spiritual knowledge inferior in wealth only to 
 the works of the great St. Teresa. Among her works is a 
 dialogue in three books, in which the speakers are the Body, 
 the Soul, Self-love, the Intellect, and the Sacred Humanity 
 of our Lord. The purpose of the writer is to point out clearly 
 the path through which Grace led her from her own state of 
 imperfection to the most elevated degree of spirituality. 
 The conception as well as the execution of this charming 
 treatise is worthy of the best age of Italian literature. 
 
 "I saw," she tells us in the beginning, "a Soul taking 
 counsel with her Body. The Soul spoke first and said : 
 
 ^'Body mine, God hath created me to love and enjoy bliss, 
 and I am desirous of seeking where I can satisfy my yearn- 
 ing ; and I also wish that you would quietly follow me, inas- 
 much as my contentment would contribute to your own. We 
 shall go forth into the world, and wherever I find any good 
 that delights me, I shall forthwith enjoy it. Even so shall 
 you do with what thing soever pleaseth you, and when either 
 of us finds anything still better^ then shall we both be free to 
 possess ourselves of it. 
 
 "Although," replied the Body, "I cannot help doing your 
 pleasure, I perceive, notwithstanding, that you cannot have 
 
AND THE UBSULINE8, 17 
 
 what you will without me. If, therefore, we are to journey 
 together pleasantly, let us come to some understanding that 
 may prevent all future jars." 
 
 And so they agree to take Self-love with tlaem, to be an 
 impartial umpire, should any difference of opinion arise. 
 They are to go their own way, and seek t^eir own pleasure, 
 each a week in its turn, — beginning with the Soul, who is 
 the nobler of the two. 
 
 '* The Soul then said to herself : I who am pure and stain- 
 less, shall begin by considering how I was created and how 
 many other benefits I owe to my Creator. I acknowledge 
 that I was made for such unspeakable blissf ulness, and raised 
 to so sublime a dignity, that I almost surpass the angelic 
 orders, seeing that I am a spiritual being of a nature almost 
 divine, and drawn so powerfully to meditate upon divine 
 thingvS, and then to feed upon the very bread of angels. I 
 am, of my nature, invisible to fleshly eyes, and therefore seek 
 my food and my delight in things unseen ; since for this was 
 I created. In this I find my peace, and this contemplation is 
 my only need ; and from this food I draw the strength which 
 lifts me up to heaven, and enables me to put the world be- 
 neath my feet. Wherefore, during this entire week, I shall 
 make of such contemplation my sole sustenance. Of other 
 food I have no need or care : let who needs it feed upon it !" 
 
 Of course the Body is not satisfied with such ethereal diet 
 as this, while Self-love, who ever inclines toward the enjoy- 
 ment of the good things in this world, is as ill content as the 
 Body. The latter's turn has now come. 
 
 " This is my week !" the Body exclaims. '' Therefore 
 come thou with me, O Soul, that I may show thee how many 
 things God hath created for my use. See the heavens above 
 us and the earth around and beneath us, with all their splen- 
 did array. See the sea with its swarms of fish, and the air 
 
18 ST. ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 with its flocks of birds. And then consider the kingdoms 
 that cover the face of the globe, with their various princi- 
 palities, provinces, cities, the dignities possessed by both 
 church and state ; the hoarded treasures of wealth, and the 
 refined pleasures which wealth commands, — music and har- 
 mony, banquets with their varied delicacies, — all destined 
 for my sustenance and pleasure, and all capable of affording 
 innocent enjoyment, without offence to the Creator. Thou 
 didst not introduce me into thy invisible country, as I have 
 now shown thee mine. Nevertheless, as I cannot enjoy all 
 these things created for me, unless thou condescend to 
 help to taste them and take delight in them,— I must remind 
 thee that thou art greatly indebted to me for all these 
 varied sources of joy, and that thou must not soar away 
 above this earth and leave me on it without my own neces- 
 sary nourishment. Besides, my concern also is that thou 
 shouldst secure thy salvation for the life to come, because 
 my lot is inseparable from thine. Thou must not fancy, 
 then, that I am asking thee to do what is contrary to reason 
 or sinful before God." 
 
 Self-love, to whom the Body appeals^ decides that the Soul 
 must yield and come down from its long contemplation, 
 shorten its vigils and fasts, and not distress its companion 
 by unnecessary privations. The soul, in its endeavors to 
 satisfy both its fellow-travellers, is drawn by them, step by 
 step, into the full enjoyment of what each requires, and 
 then, by an easy transition, into sinful excess. From the deg- 
 radation, the servitude, the guilt, and the remorse of this 
 condition she is delivered by the divine light, which shows 
 her, on the one hand, her ovvm miserable plight, and, on the 
 other, the only road to liberty and salvation, — the subjecting 
 both her companions to the iron yoke of her own will. Then 
 begin a series of heroic struggles against sensuality, and all 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 19 
 
 the downward inclinations and affections of our poor nature. 
 The allegorical veil which St. Catherine throws over the 
 facts she recites, scarcely conceals her own real history in 
 her progress upward to the sublimest heights of spiritual 
 perfection. We see, in succession, the rigorous bodily austeri- 
 ties by which sensuality was overcome. The Body is told 
 bv his imperious companion, that he must be content to en- 
 dure the bitterest privations, to give a willing aid even in 
 doing the things most repugnant to sense, — with the pros- 
 pect of enjoying, after the final victory is won, the blissful 
 fruits of a peace which no sensual revolt may disturb and in 
 which both Body and Soul shall be the docile instruments of 
 the Spirit of God. We see, beneath the transparent veil of 
 the allegory, Catherine learning the practice of the highest 
 forms of 23rayer and contemplation, and then giving herself 
 up, in the hospitals of Genoa, while serving the poor and the 
 sick, to the most heroic acts of mortification and self-abase- 
 ment. Wherever nature showed resistance and repugnance, 
 there Catherine overcame it instantly and conquered it once 
 for all. 
 
 The Spirit of God, under whose guidance she wrote, in- 
 spired her to leave us in substance the same practical doc- 
 trine, which, some twenty years later. He dictated to Igna- 
 tius Loyola in the Cavern of Manresa. The worldly-minded 
 Soul is, at first, flooded with that supernal light which en- 
 ables her to see clearly the end for which she was created, 
 and the sweet, powerful, and ever-present means divinely 
 provided for her to reach her sublime destiny. In this 
 light, she perceives how far she has wandered away from the 
 right road, and what a horrible misuse she has made of 
 God's graces. The disorder of her conduct, the sinfulness 
 of her life, her own moral deformity in God's sight, dawn 
 upon her by degrees, while her own sense of guilt, of shame^ 
 
20 ST. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 of horror, and of grief, increases from hour to hour. At this 
 point, Christ Crucified is set before her, — as the victim and 
 price which God demanded for sin, — for her sins in particu- 
 lar, — and she understands, while kneeling at His feet, how 
 infinite is the love which brought the Incarnate God to 
 such a death, — and how horrible the ingratitude which has 
 only repaid Him by forgetfulness and repeated transgres- 
 sion. 
 
 The Crucifix — Christ Crucified — is thenceforward the 
 Book from which the Soul learns; its light is the only one 
 which teaches her the measure of what she must do to ex- 
 piate the past and to make herself most Christ-like in the 
 future. 
 
 Comparing her sinful self, as she has made herself by the 
 misuse of all God's best gifts, — with her crucified Lord and 
 Love, and with what He wished her to be, — she sets about 
 reforming her whole life. She has now but one rule of 
 action: to conform herself absolutely, immediately, and for- 
 ever to the Divine Will. All else is indifferent to her. 
 Here, again, — the Book of the Crucifix sheds its steady light 
 on her way. He who came down from Heaven to reform 
 the world and to teach it by His own example how to con- 
 form in all things most perfectly to that Will which yearns 
 solely for our sanctification, — noAv walks before the Soul from 
 the Manger to the Cross. It is the Royal Road of divine 
 generosity, — the light constantly increasing as the soul ad- 
 vances in the footsteps of the Master and Model, and with 
 that light an ever-increasing fire warming the heart of the 
 Christian to emulate the poverty, the self-renouncement, the 
 humility, the obedience of the God-man, — who was obe- 
 dient unto death, even the death of the Cross. 
 
 Here the doctrine of St. Ignatius is so identical with that 
 of St. Catherine, — that one must see it is the teaching of 
 
ANB THE URSULINES, 21 
 
 the same Spirit. It is addressed especially to chosen souls 
 who are called to renounce all things and follow Christ. 
 The form in which St. Catherine puts it applies to the se- 
 clusion of the convent, the hospital, the school-room, or the 
 hermit's cell. The steps by which the converted Soldier of 
 Manresa leads the soul forward, are intended to lift apos- 
 tolic men above every worldly repugnance and affection, 
 till they become all athirst for the humiliations and suffer- 
 ings of their crucified Master. To be more like Him, and 
 thereby to glorify His Father more, — they will seek the 
 Cross in all things. 
 
 The first stage on the road to.ward holiness, — that in which 
 the soul purges away her own stains and conceives the m- 
 tense desire to do something worthy of Christ crucified, — 
 has been happily expressed by two Latin words, Deformata 
 reformare^ — " to reform (by penance) the deformity of one's 
 conduct." The second stage, in which the soul, thus purified, 
 proceeds further, under the guidance of Almighty grace, to 
 follow Christ and become Christ-like in all things, has been 
 expressed no less happily by reformata conformare^ — the con- 
 forming Christ as a model to one's reformed life. Now, 
 as nothing so confirms or strengthens a servant in generous 
 fidelity toward his master as to suffer for him or to share his 
 sufferings, — even so the meditation on Christ's passion and 
 fellowship with Him in suffering and humiliation, marvel- 
 lously strengthen the soul in heroic devotion : this is the 
 meaning of the formula expressing the third stage in the 
 *' Spiritual Exercises" of St. Ignatius : conformata con- 
 firmare. 
 
 The transformed state of our Lord, after His resurrection, 
 furnishes the fourth stage, expressed by the words, confir- 
 Tnata transformare. It is the condition of one in whom 
 body and soul, thanks to the crucifixion of all sensuality and 
 
22 'Sr. ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 earthly affectiofis, become the instrument of the Holy Spirit, 
 living here below a life which seems an anticipation of the 
 condition of the Blessed, enjoying a close and unbroken 
 union with the Divine Majesty, transported beyond them- 
 selves and transformed by His love, and, like an overflow- 
 ing vessel, pouring their over-abundance on all around 
 them. 
 
 It Avas the condition of St. Paul, after having been taken 
 up to Heaven, when he declared that he no longer lived, but 
 that Christ it was who lived in him. It was that of St. 
 Ignatius in the last years of his life, when the vision of the 
 Divine Beauty became so habitual and overpowering, that 
 his soul was flooded with ecstatic ardors. What else made 
 Xavier, as he ran his giant race in India and Japan, to bare 
 his burning bosom to the night air, exclaiming, "Not so much 
 sweetness, O Lord ! Not so much sweetness !" Or kept 
 the eye of his soul so constantly fixed on the uncreated love- 
 liness, that he was heard, as he hurried along the streets and 
 highways, to cry out continually, "O most holy Trinity! 
 most holy Trinity !" as if for him the veil of our mortality 
 was withdrawn, and he was given to gaze upon the Sun of all 
 blissfulness and eternal joy ! Again, — to take from Italy 
 another and more popular instance, — was not St. Francis of 
 Assisi marked, while yet living on earth, with the sacred 
 wounds of his Master, Christ ? Did not the Crucified draw 
 this passionate lover of the cross up to Himself by cords that 
 reached and pierced hands and feet and heart through the 
 transpierced side, — making him also drunk with the bitter- 
 sweet of His passion-cup, and sending him forth, in the in- 
 toxication of the love which transformed him, to preach of 
 that love to all men, even to the very beasts and birds that 
 he met with ? 
 
 "In this seraphic apparition," says the historian of his life. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 23 
 
 " Christ spoke certain high and secret things to St. Francis, 
 saying, ' Knowest thou what I have done to thee? I have 
 given thee the stigmata which are the ensign of My passion, 
 that thou mayest be my standard bearer.' And when the 
 marvelous vision disappeared, upon the hands and feet of St. 
 Francis the print of the nails began immediately to appear, 
 as he had seen them in the body of Christ crucified. In like 
 manner, on the right side appeared the image of an unhealed 
 wound, as if made by a lance, still red and bleeding, from 
 which drops of blood often flowed and stained the tunic of 
 St. Francis. Although these sacred wounds impressed upon 
 him by Christ, afterward gave great joy to his heart, yet 
 they caused unspeakable pain to his body; so that, being 
 constrained by necessity, he made choice of Brother Leo, 
 for his great purity and simplicity, and suffered him to touch 
 and dress his wounds on all days, except during the time 
 from Thursday evening to Saturday morning, for then he 
 would not by any human remedy mitigate the pain of Christ's 
 passion, which he bore in his body, because at that time our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ was taken and crucified and died for us." 
 Another account of this wonderful vision, — a vision com- 
 memorated in the Church of God by a solemn yearly festival, 
 goes on to say : "Then did all the Monte Alvernia appear 
 wrapped in intense fire, which illuminated all the mountains 
 and valleys around, as it were the sun shining in his strength 
 upon the earth, whence the shepherds who were watching 
 their flocks in that country were filled with fear, as they 
 themselves afterward told the brethren, afl[irming that this 
 light had been visible on Monte Alvernia for upwards of an 
 hour, and because of the brightness of that light, which 
 shone through the windows of the inn where they were rest' 
 ing, muleteers who were travellirg in the Romagna arose in 
 haste, supposing that the sun had risen, and saddled and 
 
24 JST. ANGELA MERICL 
 
 loaded their beasts; but as they journeyed on they saw that 
 light disappear, and the visible sun arise." 
 
 Surely, — as generation of Christians succeeds to genera- 
 tion, and the great battle goes ever on of souls contending 
 with the flesh, and the world, and the pride of worldly life^ 
 it is needful that the Spirit of God should raise up among 
 us saintly men and women, to whom He gives this consecra- 
 tion of sanctity begotten of suffering and self -crucifixion, in 
 order that they may thus become the standard-bearers of 
 the Crucified, and call beneath their banner heroic souls 
 fired with the generosity which animates themselves. 
 Surely, too, the light of such examples, heaven sent as it is, 
 will at least be understood and hailed with rapture and re- 
 membered lovingly by the poor toilers of the land. Listen 
 to what a Protestant writes of Monte Alvernia, — the wild 
 and lofty theatre of St. Francis' holy contemplation. 
 
 "La Vernia is one of the few religious shrines which have 
 not been confiscated by the avarice of the Sardinian gov- 
 ernment. Fortunately it belonged to the Arte di Lana 
 (woolen weavers) who conceded it to the Grand Dukes (of 
 Florence) ; they in their turn made it over to the Munici- 
 pality of Florence, who have defended their property. . . . 
 Most beautiful are the forest walks behind the convent, 
 fragrant with the memories of holy Franciscan monks. 'In 
 these woods' — says Sir J Stephens — 'St. Francis wandered 
 in the society of Poverty, his wedded wife, relying for sup- 
 port on Him alone by whom the ravens are fed, and awak- 
 ening the echoes of the mountains by his devout songs and 
 ejaculations. Here, in the beech avenues, Brother James 
 of Massa beheld in a vision all the Friars-Minor in the 
 form of a tree, from whose branches the evil monks were 
 shaken by storms into perdition, while the good monks were 
 carried by the angels into life eternal. Here the venerable 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 25 
 
 Brother John of Fermo wandered, weeping and sighing in 
 the restless search after divine love, till, when his patience 
 was sufficiently tried, Christ the Blessed appeared to him in 
 the forest-path, and with many precious words restored to 
 him the gift of divine grace. And 'for a long time after, 
 whenever Brother John followed the path in the forest 
 where the blessed feet of Christ had passed, he «aw the 
 same wonderful light, and breathed the same ir^weet 
 odor,' which had come to him with the vision of his 
 Saviour.'"^ 
 
 Let us not pass away from this sacred spot to follow An- 
 gela Merici in her career of self-sacrifice, without becoming 
 more and more penetrated with the spirit of the place. The 
 same Author, — though differing so vridely with us in belief, 
 — evidently lingers lovingly on these rugged summits along 
 whose heights St. Francis, six hundred and fifty years ago, 
 led his followers heavenward. "The whole of the way 
 (upward along the steep ascent) is alive with the recollec- 
 tions of St. Francis. ... It was in the woods which we 
 pass through that he vanquished demons in conflict, during 
 his first ascent, while his companions, overwhelmed with 
 fatigue, had fallen asleep in the shade. Then, ' beating his 
 breast, he sought after Jesus, the beloved of his soul, and 
 having found Him at last, in the secret of his heart, now he 
 spoke reverently to Him as his Lord, now he made answer 
 to Him as his Judge, now he besought Him as his Father, 
 now he conversed with Him as his friend. On that night, 
 and in that wood, his companions awaking and listening to 
 him, heard him with many tears and cries implore the di- 
 vine mercy in behalf of sinners.' Leaving the wood we 
 enter upon the steeper and hotter path of the ascent, where, 
 
 1 Hare, Cities of Northern and Central Italy, Tol. iii., pp. ^34, 23&-41. 
 
26 ^T. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 'The next morning his companions, knowing that he was 
 too weak to walk, went to a poor laborer of the country, 
 and prayed him, for the love of God, to lend his ass to 
 Brother Francis, their father, for he was not able to travel 
 on foot. Then that good man made ready the ass, and with 
 great reverence caused St. Francis to mount thereon. And 
 when they had gone forward a little, the peasant said to St. 
 Francis — ' Tell me, art thou Brother Francis of Assisi V — * 
 And St. Francis answered, ' Yes.' — ' Take heed, then,' said 
 the peasant, ^ that thou be in truth as good as all men ac- 
 count thee; for many have great faith in thee. And there- 
 fore I admonish thee to be no other than what the people 
 take thee for.' And when St. Francis heard these words, 
 he was not angry at being thus admonished by a peasant, 
 but instantly dismounting from the ass, he knelt upon 
 the ground before that poor man; and, kissing his feet, 
 humbly thanked him for that his charitable admon- 
 ition.' " 
 
 Such divine examples had ever been the result of the 
 teaching of the Church and the practice of the God-like vir- 
 tues which followed that teaching. The disorders begotten 
 of political revolutions and worldly passions, and the scan- 
 dals that offeii led in every age the true Christian, — were 
 the fruit of the world's teaching, and to be solely attributed 
 to its spirit. 
 
 Certain it is that the fertile plains of Lombardy, the 
 teeming territory of Venice, the valleys and mountains 
 around the Lake of Garda, were as familiar with the soul- 
 stirring narratives borrowed from the Life of St. Francis, as 
 was beautiful Florence ard the wild tracts surrounding 
 Monte Alvernia, or Genoa the Magnificent, in the days 
 of St. Catherine Fieschi Adorno. All these doctrines re- 
 lating to supernatural sanctity, and all the heroic lives 
 
AND THE UBSULINES, 37 
 
 that illustrated them in the present age or in the glorious 
 past, were as well known in the home of the Merici as 
 they were in that of the noble Tiene at Vicenza, of the Gon- 
 zagas at Mantua and Castiglione, or the Borromeos at 
 Arona. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 4 
 
 PIOUS PARENTS AND ANGELIC CHILDREN. 
 
 Northern Italy is singularly favored by nature in the 
 fertility of its soil, its singularly healthful climate, the steep 
 mountain-wall which protects its fields, on the north and 
 west, against the cold winds which sweep over Switzerland 
 and Tyrol, as well as the no less destructive blasts borne 
 across the Mediterranean from the coast of Africa. But a no 
 less singular feature of this privileged land are the series of 
 most beautiful lakes which extend from Lake Orta, in the 
 west, to the Lake of Garda in the east. These, inclosed as 
 they are among the lofty foot-hills of the Alps, and running, 
 all of them, in a northerly direction, from where they join 
 the fertile uplands of Lombardy and Venetia, to the wild 
 and sublime scenery of the great Alpine valleys, afford to 
 the thrifty populations of the adjacent countries an easy 
 means of intercourse and traffic. In our day every one of 
 the larger lakes can boast of steamers on its bosom. 
 
 The largest, if not the most beautiful, of these great bodies 
 of water, is the Lake of Garda, the Benacus of the Romans, 
 fourteen miles broad from Desenzano to Peschiera, at its 
 southern extremity, and thirty-seven miles long from the 
 former place to the picturesque town of Riva in the north, 
 where the lake penetrates for some miles into the Tyrolean 
 mountains. Its clear blue waters* which are upward of a 
 
 28 
 
ST. ANGELA MERICL 29 
 
 thousand feet in dej^th, teem with the most delicious fish, 
 although, from the remotest times, its surface is subject to 
 storms which vie in fury with those of the ocean. 
 
 It may be said to be shut in on all sides by lofty moun- 
 tains or hills, — as around its southern end, — which slope 
 away like an amphitheatre from the shore. It is, therefore, 
 sheltered on all sides ; and, thus protected from the rigors 
 .and changes of an Alpine climate, — its shores. m springtide 
 and summer resemble rather the environs of Naples than any 
 other portion of Northern Italy. The peninsula of Sermione, 
 which runs out for several miles into the lake where it is 
 broadest, divides it into two equal parts, and is covered with 
 olive groves and vineyards, with a noble medieval castle and 
 Roman ruins at its lofty extremity, where once stood the 
 luxurious residence of one of Rome's most famous poets. 
 Another Roman poet, far greater than he^, has again and 
 again described the lovely country beheld from the declivi- 
 ties of Sermione. One has only to travel along the south- 
 western borders of the Lake from the foot of the Peninsula 
 to Desenzano, and thence to the lovely town and magnificent 
 bay of Salo, to find that his road lies beneath one endless 
 citron grove, with hills covered with olives and vines, and 
 fields of waving corn seen at intervals from the road- 
 side. 
 
 All the daylong, the precipitous walls of rock which close 
 in upon the Lake toward the north, and the towering sum- 
 mits beyond them with their everlasting snows, the rich hilly 
 country at the south, the many beautiful towns, hamlets, 
 castles and villas, w^hich gem both sides of this glorious ex- 
 panse of water, and its own deep blue bosom, become to the 
 eye one ever-changing and transcendently beautiful panor- 
 
 I Virgil, a native of the neighbonng Mantua. 
 
30 ^T. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 ama, — so beautiful indeed, at sunrise and sunset, tliat the 
 spot has ever been a favorite resort of artists. 
 
 It is on these enchanted shores, in the town of Desenzano 
 nestling in the southwestern corner of the Lake, that Ano-ela 
 Merici first saw the light, on the twejity-first day of March, 
 1474, according to the most reliable authorities. Her father's 
 name was Giovanni Tommaso (John Thomas) Merici ; her 
 mother's maiden name was Biancosi, from the neighboring 
 town of Salo. Both families, at the time, were comfortable 
 and respected proprietary farmers, — the Merici at least being 
 registered among the burgesses of Brescia. Of the 
 Biancosi, we can say that if they did not rank as nobles, 
 they were even then held in great esteem, and received 
 much additional lustre afterward from their matrimonial 
 alliances with the noble families of Bertalozzi, the Counts 
 Lanfranchi, and the Counts of Tracagno\ The Merici 
 also, during the sixteenth century, were divided into 
 several houses, acquiring no little fame from the achieve- 
 ments of some of their members who lived in Manerba della 
 Riviera and in Solarolo. At the beginning of the present 
 century some scions of this house still remain at Darso in 
 the vale Camonica. 
 
 Angela was one of five children, of whom only an elder 
 sister and a brother are mentioned by the biographers of 
 our saints Certain it is that, whatever may have been the 
 
 1 Salvatori. 
 
 2 In the various biographies of this saint, which have come under our notice, there 
 is a sad dearth of intelligence regarding not only her parents, but her brothers and 
 sisters. Salvatori, who seems to have enjoyed the most ample sources of information, 
 only mentions in detail the one brother and sister who play so important a part in 
 Angela's early life. Of the two other children of John Merici no word is spoken,- - 
 leaving the reader to conclude either that they had died before their parents, or that 
 they were already married or settled in life, at the time of their father's death. Salva- 
 tori, however, says positively that John Merici died in his fortieth year, — a very 
 youthful age at which to have tw^o married children! A " Doctor Traca^no" i< spoken 
 
AND THE URSULIXES. 31 
 
 social position and the wealth of Giovanni Merici, that both 
 he and his wife were fervent Christians, intent on preserving 
 their children from all taint of evil, and on filling their ten- 
 der souls with the love of all goodness. 
 
 In the preceding chapter we saw that several personages, 
 since then honored by the Church as Saints, were living in 
 the neighborhood of Desenzano, — persons who even then 
 were the objects of universal reverence among all classes. 
 St. Francis of Assisi also had visited the shores of 
 Lake Garda, and stirred the hearts of its populations by his 
 words of burning love and his angelic life. An entire 
 island near the entrance to the bay of Salo had been given 
 to him as a site for a monastery. He had accepted the gift, 
 and planted there one of his colonies of saintly men, whose 
 chants at evening song, at midnight, and at early dawn 
 were wont for centuries to be borne over the waters, like 
 voices from the angelic choirs, and the fragrance of whose 
 unearthly self-denial was borne further all over the land 
 than the perfumes of the citron groves of Salo and Maderno. 
 It is still called the Isola dei Frati (the Friars' Island), 
 though the new masters of modern Italy have driven out 
 the sons of St. Francis, and the voice of matins or evening 
 song no longer wakes the echoes of desolate island or shore. 
 But the brown robes of the Franciscan monks, and the dis- 
 tant sounds of holy psalmody over the clear blue waters of 
 her native lake, were things as familiar to Angela Merici iu 
 childhood or in girlhood, as the sights and sounds of her 
 father's home. Her mother, moreover, had been brought up 
 beneath the shadow of a church and convent of the Obser- 
 
 of during Angela's last illness as being her " nephew,"— therefore, her sister's son. But 
 it is the Biancosi that are said to be allied to the Count of Tracagno, Was not the 
 *^ nephew" a cousin rather? 
 
32 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 vantines in her native town of Said', as we shall see further 
 on. We need not, therefore, wonder to learn that both 
 Giovanni Merici and his wife were ardent admirers of the 
 heroic men and women, who, in all ages, had been the 
 devoted followers of Christ and His Blessed Mother. Hence 
 the custom which these excellent people observed in their 
 household, of reading daily a portion of some edifying book, 
 particularly the Lives of the Saints. Both parents must have 
 taken uncommon pains to develop deep religious principles 
 and generous sentiments of piety in the souls of their children 
 from the first dawn of reason. That this labor of love should 
 have been most assiduously performed by the mother, es- 
 pecially in a family blessed with a father so truly enlightened 
 as John Merici, we are prepared to expect. But the bi- 
 ographers of our Saint dwell with such peculiar emphasis on 
 the great share he had in forming her mind and heart, as well 
 as those of his other children, that one is at a loss to account for 
 it otherwise than by admitting that he was singularly careful 
 
 J The Franciscans, or " Order of Friars Minor," in England " Gray FriaJS," comprised 
 during the lifetime of the holy founder (1182-1226), three distinct, though not independ- 
 ent, orders;— the order proper of Friars Minor or Minorites (1208); the " Order of Poor 
 Ladies," or ''of St. Clare" (1212), known in the English speaking world as "Poor Clares;" 
 and the Third Order, or " Order of Penitents," (1221), for persons of both sexes living 
 in the world. The rigorous enforcement of the rule of poverty established by the 
 Seraphic Saint of Assisi, was bitterly and obstinately opposed by the man next in 
 authority to himself, Brother Elias of Cortona, whom Francis had made his vicar- 
 general. The strife between this man, his followers in the order, and those who 
 would not admit of any mitigation of the rule, saddened the last years of the meek 
 and gentle Saint. After his death, it led to a lamentable strife, renewed with in- 
 creased violence each time a new superior-general was to be elected, — till, in 1517, 
 Pope Leo X. sanctioned the division of the Minorites into two independent 
 societies, bestowing the name of Observaniines on those who clung to the observance 
 of the primitive rule of the poor St. Francis, and the denomination of Conventuals on 
 those who clung to a mitigated rule,— the title of Minister-General of the whole Order 
 of Friars Minor remaining with the head of the Observantines, as well as the quality 
 of lawful successor of St. Francis.— Happy had it been for the Church that religious 
 orders had preserved the pristine spirit of religious fervor and holy poverty which dis- 
 tinguished their beginnings! 
 
AJS'D THE UBSULINES, 33 
 
 to train his dear ones to a full knowledge of the beauty of 
 holiness, and to inflame their souls with a holy desire to 
 emulate the unearthly goodness of the Saints. His love and 
 piety must, therefore, have been above those of most fathers. 
 
 He appears to have made it a rule to have all his children, 
 the youngest as well as the oldest, around him each evening 
 when he performed his family devotions, and prefaced them 
 by the pious reading alluded to. Parents are only doing God's 
 dearest work, when they are thus sowing the tender souls of 
 their young children with the seeds of supernatural truth, 
 and the early love of Himself and His Saints. And He aids 
 them mightily in the doing. We remember how Anna, the 
 mother of the great and saintly Samuel, prevailed over God 
 by prayer, and so taught her boy by word and example, that, 
 when brought to the Temple and given up to its service, 
 while yet little more than a nursling, the child Samuel 
 already found his delight in conversing with God. He had been 
 taught how near to us is that most loving and most sweet 
 Presence, how near to our eyes the veiled Countenance, an(J 
 how near to our lips the Heart, in which all-sufficient loveisj 
 ever planning our welfare. Even in childhood Samuel was 
 favored with the direct communications of the Divine Will^^ 
 — and all through his long and eventful life he never ceased 
 to be the man of prayer, crying to the Lord for hours 
 together in favor of his erring people and that people's 
 faithless ruler. 
 
 Everything told us of the childhood and girlhood of 
 Angela Merici forces us to believe, that the same gracioua 
 Voice which had made itself so familiar to the little Samuel^ 
 was also wont to speak to her heart in these wondrously gentU 
 but powerful tones. He is Creator, and best knows, dwell, 
 ing as He. does in the very centre of our being, how to mo\d 
 sweetly but irresistibly the springs of life within us, by 
 
34 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 the simple touch of His almighty hand, or by one word fronx 
 His lips. And so, chosen as Angela was to be the parent of so 
 wide-spread and great-souled a family, everything which 
 reminded her of God or of God's most privileged friends 
 and servants, attracted her attention powerfully even during 
 these years of her precocious childhood. She would listen 
 with a rapt look to the marvelously beautiful stories read 
 to her from the most authentic sources, about Christ and His 
 Mother, and the army of Saints who had shed such glory on her 
 own native Italy, as well as on the other countries of 
 Christendom. The knowledge of God and the things of God, 
 enters as easily into the soul of innocent and holy childhood, 
 as the light enters into the healthy eye. The one imprints 
 indelibly on the understanding, the memory, and the imag- 
 ination, the great truths of Religion, and the great facts 
 embodying the lives of her apostles and martyrs, — just as 
 the other conveys to the soul the sensible images of the 
 beautiful world around us. 
 
 There seemed to be in the angelic child's eagerness for 
 religious instruction, and in the absorbed attention with which 
 she listened to her parents' words, a something preternatural. 
 They remarked it then, and so did others. But when these 
 pious exercises were over, nature resumed its sway, and thd 
 child was the child again, returning to her playmates and 
 the amusements of her age with all the zest of childhood. 
 
 She was a singularly beautiful child, fair-haired, with a 
 brilliant complexion, a light and graceful figure, sweet-tem- 
 pered and low-voiced, and gifted in an eminent degree with 
 that loving nature, which is ever ready to sacrifice itself to 
 the good and comfort of others; endowed, too, with uncom- 
 mon penetration, and that precious faculty of self-control so 
 inestimably precious to those who are to have the govern- 
 ment of others. All these qualities of mind and heart shone 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 35 
 
 forth in the child, and were developed in her by the sunny- 
 atmosphere of her parents' home, as well as by the providen- 
 tial circumstances in which she grew up to womanhood\ 
 
 She was not a vain child, conscious of her personal attrac- 
 tions, and seeking either the admiration or the notice of 
 others. Even with all her childish ways and predilections, 
 she was too seriously bent on imitating to the utmost of her 
 power the heroic abnegation of the holy men and women of 
 whose lives she heard so much, that it never entered her 
 mind to seek to be admired, or praised, or petted, because of 
 her beauty, her grace, or her wit. 
 
 In her tenth year occurred an incident which reveals the 
 strength of her character and the bent of her inclinations. 
 Playing one day with girls of her own age, one of them 
 caressing her beautiful hair, could not help saying, that this 
 alone would be sure to bring her a crowd of admirers. The 
 little maid, instead of taking this as a compliment, resented 
 it as an insult. She had already resolved to belong to God 
 alone, and to live as lived the Blessed Osanna Andreasi at 
 Mantua, the Blessed Stef ana Quinzani at Soncino, St. Veronica 
 at Milan, or St. Catherine at Genoa. The fame of these 
 holy women, and of many others who were then living in 
 Northern Italy, was the subject of daily comment on the 
 shores of the Lake of Garda, thrilling the souls of the aged 
 with regret for lost opportunities, and moving those of the 
 young to ardent desires of emulation. 
 
 Even the youngest, like Angela, who constantly heard 
 these reports, or who, not unfrequently, were brought by 
 
 1 Father Salvatori thus speaks of her in her tenth year: Giunta perb alV eta di died 
 aiini diedi una piu luminosa riprova di questo parziale suo affetto. Quanta Hberale la 
 grazia co' suoi doni, altrettanto le si mostrava la natura. Avvenente di volto, leggiadra 
 di portamento^ e sopra tutto di una chioma cosi bionde e gentile, che nominata xeniva 
 per un esemplare di rara hellezza. Ella perb niente invanita di guesto^ anzi neppur 
 sospettando, che veruno a lei pensasse, xivexa a se ed alle sue divozimi. 
 
36 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 their parents to visit these great servants of God, — perfectly 
 understood, that who would imitate their saintly examples, 
 must not only put away all thoughts of vanity and self-in- 
 dulgence, but lead a life of retirement, prayer, and self-cru- 
 cifixion. This both Angela and her elder sister had laid to 
 heart, even before the former had reached her tenth year. 
 When, therefore, — for the first time, most likely, — the child 
 was surprised and shocked at being praised for her come- 
 liness, and told that her beautiful hair was sure to win her 
 many admirers, her first thought was to cut off her hair. 
 Then, as she could not do this without the consent of her 
 mother, she bethought her of destroying its color by some 
 horrid mixture. This she continued to use secretly, and even 
 went so far as to apply the same mixture to her face in 
 order to spoil her complexion. But this spirit and these 
 tendencies became manifest in Angela even before her tenth 
 year. The precocious intelligence which enabled her to un- 
 derstand and enjoy intensely the reading of the Lives of the 
 Saints while yet scarcely emerged from infancy, was accom- 
 panied by a fervent desire to imitate them. Nor did her 
 pious parents discountenance their child's purpose. On the 
 contrary, they encouraged her love for prayer, the delight 
 she took in spending a long time before the altar in the 
 neighboring church, and her wish to perform certain acts 
 of abstinence and self-denial in imitation of what they read 
 to her or told her of the men and women revered as the 
 highest models of goodness. 
 
 Her sister, a few years older than herself, and one of her 
 brothers, — probably the only surviving children of their 
 family, — shared this fervent spirit of early generosity. In- 
 deed, the sister, both on account of her age and her superior 
 wisdom, became the little Angela's confidant, counsellor, 
 pompanion, and guide in all the plans which she f prmed and 
 
AXD THE URSULINES. 37 
 
 put into practice for her advancement in piety. Just, as in 
 the next century, we see St. Teresa and her little brother 
 playing at saints and hermits in their father's home in Avila, 
 and even stealing away secretly to go to convert the Moors 
 or receive at their hands the crown of martyrdom, even so, — 
 though apparently in a more serious and rational manner, — 
 our two little sisters at Desenzano, seized every opportun- 
 ity to imitate the solitary life, the long vigils, prayers, and 
 fasts of the Saints they read of. Angela would even steal 
 out of her bed by night, when her sister was fast asleep, and 
 kneel in prayer till her strength gave way. These practices 
 and the little industries practised by the child to mortify her 
 appetite for food, went so far as to affect her health percept- 
 ibly. The watchful eye of her mother had no sooner 
 detected this change in her appearance, than she divined 
 the cause. So both parents agreed to check these childish 
 excesses. 
 
 Angela submitted, though sorely against her will, and not 
 without being occasionally carried away by the powerful in- 
 stincts which led her to seek every opportunity of self-denial 
 and self -infliction. The older girl yielded more implicitly to the 
 parental guidance. Nevertheless, John Merici and his wife 
 were far too enlightened and conscientious to thwart their 
 youngest daughter's disposition, when they perceived that the 
 spirit which prompted her to follow the most perfect way, was 
 truly the Spirit of God. They observed her carefully, then ; 
 and once they became convinced that the hand of God was 
 guiding their darling towards the sublime heights of holi- 
 ness, — they bestowed their care in developing every quality of 
 mind and heart which would fit her to be a perfect instru- 
 ment of the Divine purpose in its own good time. 
 
 And so in this blessed and happy home the three children 
 grew up, as all children will where parents do their full duty 
 
38 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 lovingly; where the fear of God and the desire to please the 
 Divine Majesty in all things, is the foremost law of life in 
 the Christian home; where that home is blessed, if not with 
 wealth, at least with abundance of all earthly comforts, where 
 the family is held in universal esteem, and the beautiful and 
 bountiful earth is in harmony with the peace and love and 
 goodness that reign around the family hearth. 
 
 Assuredly, the home of the Merici at Desenzano was sin- 
 gularly privileged in all these respects. Nor was that of the 
 Biancosi, near at hand in the far more beautiful town of 
 Salo, less blessed by the bounty of nature or the gracious 
 gifts of the Spirit. Indeed Salo, possessing as it did a 
 church and monastery of the Observantines, enjoyed many 
 religious advantages above Desenzano. And thus, it is not 
 unlikely that Angela, as well as her brother and sister, were 
 often induced by their piety as well as by their affection 
 for their noble uncle and his family, to make the short 
 journey between the two towns, — a journey which, even in 
 our day, no one can make in Spring or Summer or Autumn, 
 without fancying, as they skirt the magnificent lake, between 
 groves of lemon-trees, or beneath a continuous canopy of 
 overhanging vines, while the air is loaded with the most 
 delicious perfumes and vocal with the songs of birds, — that 
 the land they are in is almost an earthly paradise. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Angela's first bitter trials. ' 
 
 Favored of nature as we know this part of Italy to be, 
 we know it to be still more privileged in the incomparable 
 religious and intellectual advantages which it has enjoyed 
 during so many centuries. And yet, — even in the time of 
 John Merici, — a concourse of fatal circumstances had brought 
 about, even in the bosom of the most pious families, such a 
 neglect of the most life-giving sacraments as might be taken 
 for a want of faith. We know that one of the chief aims of 
 St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, and their com- 
 panions, while evangelizing Northern and Central Italy, from 
 1537 to 1540, was to re-establish the practice of frequent 
 confession and communion, which had declined in nearly 
 every country of Christendom. The entire fifteenth century, 
 as well as the fourteenth, had been filled by continual wars, 
 as well as by religious disturbances. The great schism in the 
 Church, known as the Western Schism, had only terminated 
 in November, 1417, by the election of Pope Martin V., and 
 the resignation of the other claimant to the title. But the 
 political passions which had induced the European sover- 
 eigns and statesmen to create the schism and to perpetuate 
 it, as well as the worldly spirit which their joint efforts had 
 
 sought for centuries to introduce into the government of 
 
 39 
 
40 ^T. ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 the Church itself, continued to be active forces of evil long 
 after 1417. 
 
 War after war, like billows on a storm-lashed coast, — 
 swept over Italy, over its northern and central provinces in 
 particular, so that scarcely a single generation knew "vvhat 
 peace, repose, or security meant. And, in these times, war 
 implied spoliation, pitiless destruction, the oppression and 
 harrowing of the weak and defenceless, the blotting out in a 
 single season of all the fairest fruits of religion, piety, 
 culture, and civilization produced by the labor of ages. 
 
 We all know that nothing can grow on the shore unceasingly- 
 beaten by the ocean surge, and that no harvest will ripen on 
 the field continually torn by the plow and the harrow, or daily 
 ravaged by the wild herds of the forest, or desolated again 
 and again by earthquake, fire, and storm. So is it with the 
 home-life of any people, even the most civilized, and the 
 most religious: its deepest beliefs are torn up by the roots, 
 or weakened by religious division, strife and scandal; its 
 most hallowed customs and cherished virtues are omitted, 
 or forgotten, and cease to be a necessary source of strength 
 or consolation, when the political or social whirlwind is. 
 abroad, and when there is no rest to the earth from 
 evil. 
 
 When we are told, therefore, that Angela Merici was in 
 her thirteenth year, and had not yet made her first Commun- 
 ion, we are tempted to question the faith or the piety of 
 her parents. And yet they were both unquestionably pious 
 and faithful in no ordinary degree. The subsequent years of 
 her life were to be a calamitous period for her native land 
 and religion. She, — the angelic maiden of Desenzano, — and 
 many such as she, were destined to be the chosen instru- 
 ments of renovation. The very hunger and thirst her young 
 soul had to endure in its long yeai'ning for the divine Euchar- 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 41 
 
 istic food, were to help her afterward to provide for others 
 the means of more frequent refection. 
 
 At any rate, while the girl was yearning for the great 
 happiness of receiving the Lord of her soul in His divinest 
 gift, an accidental inquiry of the rector of her parish in- 
 formed him of the fact that she had not till then been num- 
 bered among his communicants. Her extraordinary virtue 
 was, of course, well known to him, unless, indeed, that he 
 was one recently appointed to the pastoral office, and was 
 therefore inspired to repair the neglect of others. He fixed 
 a day for Angela's happiness; and happiness it surely was 
 for her, such as she had not known or conceived of before. 
 
 The Eucharistic Sacrifice is to the Christian world a per- 
 petual reminder of what Infinite Love could do to save the 
 soul and win the heart of man. The Eucharistic Banquet 
 accompanying that Sacrifice is the pledge and foretaste of 
 the eternal fruition which that incomparable Love purchased 
 for its own. On the very day when He rose from the grave, 
 we see how intent He is on imparting to every one of the dis- 
 ciples who clung to Him, though with never so uncertain a 
 faith, the sweet consolation of His presence. Two of them are 
 traveling toward the hamlet of Emmaus, near Jerusalem, 
 where their residence was, or where they received hospitality 
 during the Paschal festivities. He suddenly joins them on 
 the road, instructs them on the truth of His resurrection, 
 and opens the eyes of their soul that they may see the truth 
 clearly. Then they arrive at their destination, and, as it is 
 growing late, press their unknown instructor to tarry 
 with them for the night. He accedes in part to their request, 
 and takes His seat at their table, blesses and breaks the 
 bread set before them, and gives it to them, — as He had 
 done to the Twelve on the eve of His passion. " And their 
 eyes were opened and they knew Him: and He vanished out 
 
42 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 of their sight. And they said one to the other, Was not 
 our heart burning within us whilst He spoke in the way, 
 and opened to us the Scriptures ?" ^ 
 
 He never ceases to come to us '^ in the way," as we journey 
 toward eternity amid the doubts, the uncertainties, the 
 weariness, the manifold dangers and difficulties of our road 
 here below. His grace it is that " opens" and makes plain 
 to us the whole plan of divine love and mercy as revealed 
 in the Scriptures. They are full of Him, and He takes away 
 the veil that we may see Him clearly, fulfilling in His own 
 person all the gracious offices of Redeemer. But it is in the 
 Eucharistic banquet that He comes to us to apply, literally, 
 to our souls all the merits, all the saving and sanctifying 
 efficacy of His passion, by bestowing on us, in that Bread, 
 Himself. The true Elisaeus not only restores us to life by 
 the touch of His pierced hands and feet, but is ever near to 
 us " in the way," to bless and break and give that Bread, and 
 to warm our hearts with the divine virtue that issues from 
 His own, as the light and warmth pour forth from the un- 
 clouded noonday sun. 
 
 Blessed are the pure of heart! To them is it given to say, 
 — while that Sacramental Presence lasts, ^^Was not our 
 heart burning within us, whilst He spoke in the way ?" 
 
 Even so was it with the angelic maiden of Desenzano. 
 What words the Divine Guest spoke to that soul, it were 
 needless to inquire. He has said: "I am come to cast fire 
 on the earth, and what will I, but that it be kindled ?" ^ 
 Angela Merici was to kindle that sacred flame in many a 
 soul. Her own, therefore, was to be a furnace of living fire. 
 Indeed such is the rule of our God's supernatural providence. 
 For it is not solely, or even principally, of the spirits whom 
 
 1 St. Luke xxiv., 31, 32. 2 gt. Luke xii. 49. 
 
AND THE UB8ULINE8, 43 
 
 He appoints to guard mankind, and to minister to their wants, 
 that it has been said: ^' Who makest Thy angels spirits, and 
 Thy ministers a burning fire."^ This applies much more to 
 the saintly men and women whom the Divine Majesty selects 
 and employs to enlighten and inflame the souls of a blind 
 and cold-hearted generation. We know from the unanim- 
 ous testimony of all who beheld Angela at that period, that 
 her fervor of spirit was increased to an incredible degree by 
 her first Communion. 
 
 Thenceforward her chief delight for many a year was to 
 remain in prayer in the Church, kneeling before the Mercy 
 Seat, and conversing sweetly with the Veiled Majesty ever 
 present there. A time was to come, — when a still far greater 
 delight to her should be to set other souls aflame with the 
 divine fire which burned within her own, and which was fed 
 continually by her loving familiarity with that adorable 
 Presence. 
 
 Meanwhile, the girl of thirteen, wise as she was, spotless 
 as she was, and devoted to her admirable parents and the 
 performance of all her home-duties, was to grow still further 
 in all maidenly virtue and spiritual loveliness beneath the 
 eyes of these parents. 
 
 We should be greatly in error, were we to imagine that 
 the home of the Merici was an austere and joyless home, or 
 that any one of their children was either condemned or 
 allowed to lead therein the life of a recluse. The briditest 
 and most joyous abodes are those of truly Christian parents, 
 whose souls are lifted and lighted up by the consciousness of 
 the divme friendship. There are mothers who make it one 
 of their chief cares to make the cup of delight they daily 
 prepare for their children as deep and full as they can, pre- 
 
 1 Ps. ciii. 4. 
 
44 ^T. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 cisely because the happiness they enjoy with their dear ones 
 is most innocent, and because they are careful to keep away 
 from these guileless souls even the remotest thought of evil 
 in their home amusements and pleasures. 
 
 It is because the biographers of St. Angela have all agreed 
 in representing her parents as both blessed with abundant 
 means and remarkable for their enlightened piety, while all 
 their children are described as true children of God, — that 
 we are justified in believing that the interior of their home was 
 ever as sunny as the aspect of nature around it. To pre- 
 serve childhood and youth from the least stain of sin, it is 
 necessary, first of all, to cultivate in the soul the love of all 
 that is good and beautiful, for His dear sake, who has made 
 this world so bright only to remind His children of the 
 Eternal Home; and next, to preserve these innocent souls not 
 only from the contact of evil, but from all knowledge and 
 all thought of it. 
 
 While perusing some of the published Lives of the Saint, 
 one would be led, wrongly, we believe, to think that Angela, 
 not only when budding into woiuanhood, but during the 
 tender years of her childhood, had a full knowledge of moral 
 evil, and was surrounded by companions of her own age who 
 were not unacquainted with evil. The most angelic souls 
 known to us among the Saints, — such as an Aloysius Gonzaga, 
 a Stanislaus Kostka, a Berchmans, a Rose of Lima, or a 
 Marianna de Paredes, were enamored from childhood of a 
 life of retirement, prayer, and self -crucifixion, although 
 utterly unacquainted Avith moral evil. Tho very thought 
 of sin would fill them with fear and horror ; but that did 
 not arise from either a practical knowledge of it, or any 
 mental conception of its nature that could leave a foul im- 
 pression on the fancy. These angels of earth woiild recoil 
 from the thought of anything sinful, as one would from the 
 
AND THE UBSULINES. 45 
 
 touch of a red-hot iron. But this instinctive horror in the 
 soul is one of the fruits produced by the abiding presence 
 therein of the Holy Spirit. When it is, therefore, said of St. 
 Angela, that she made an early vow to consecrate herself to 
 God alone, and that she afflicted her tender body by fasting 
 and other austerities, we must not think of her as doing so to 
 expiate sins that she had committed, or to preserve herself 
 from the stain of a moral corruption of w^hich she had any 
 notion. In the towns and hamlets of Northern Italy in the 
 fifteenth century, as well as in those of Spain, or indeed of any 
 other country in Christendom, young people of both sexes grew 
 up beneath a watchful mother's care as unconscious of moral 
 wrong, as ignorant of the existence of evil in their neighbor- 
 hood, as is the child unborn. Nay, we know it to be so in 
 the very midst of the nineteenth century, in the midst of 
 the great Babylon of the New World, with all the multiplied 
 means of information produced by our modern cravings for 
 knowledge of every kind. God owes it to Himself and to 
 us, that, while the world around us is solely occupied in 
 gratifying sensuality, and ministering to the most unhallowed 
 passions and appetites, the Christian home should be still a 
 nursery of virgin souls, from which His angels are careful 
 to ward off every evil influence. 
 
 So our little maiden, after the great event of her first 
 Communion was seen to advance rapidly in self-control, and 
 in these habits of devotion to the needs and comforts of 
 others, which are the very source of all peace and happiness 
 in home-life, as well as the most essential requisite of com- 
 munity-life in Religious houses. 
 
 John Merici was now approaching his fortieth year. He 
 must have been a most happy husband and parent. Indeed 
 all Dcsenzano and its neighborhood esteemed both parents 
 most blessed in the two angelic girls and the modest and 
 
46 ST, ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 manly boy who vied with each other in serving God gener 
 ously, and in honoring father and mother The restraint 
 which the parents had formerly imposed on the pious fervor 
 of their little girls, had been removed as these grevi^ up and 
 gave proof of ripe wisdom and solid piety. So, just as the 
 proud father had delighted to read to his little flock, in 
 their childhood, the history of the most heroic souls, even so 
 did he now pride himself in being their associate in their 
 every pious practice and act of charity. 
 
 We are in the year 1489. Angela was now fifteen, her 
 sister being, probably^ some two or three years older. They 
 were at this time the companions of thoir mother^ repaying 
 her in a thousand ways for all her loving care of them. 
 Their sincere and well-tried piety, — indeed the neighbors 
 gave it a higher name, — dispensed her from the anxious 
 watchfulness so needful at this age. Both girls seemed 
 bent on seeking heavenly bridals; and if the position of 
 their parents, their own beauty and rare qualities, did ever 
 bring suitors for their hand, no mention is made of the fact 
 in authentic history. Nor is it said that their parents sought 
 any establishment for them. It may be that the report had 
 gone abroad, — one warranted by the Christian customs of 
 Ibese ages, — that both Angela and her sister had "chosen 
 he better part," and vowed themselves to the Virginal Life 
 bu much honored in the Church, and so fruitful in heroic 
 sanctity and charity. Be that as it may, in that year began 
 for Angela a series of extraordinary trials, which were to 
 search cruelly every depth of her heart, to chasten her soul 
 for the Divine purpose, and to loosen every tie that bound 
 her to the dear home oi her parents. 
 
 A malignant fever suddenly carried off her father, over- 
 whelming his family with grief. To Angela, more even 
 than to her brother and sister, this loss was irreparable. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 47 
 
 For her father seems to have taken especial care in training 
 her, as if he had a presentiment of the glorious life-work for 
 which she was destined. But with the forgetfulness of self 
 which was so beautiful a feature in her character, the 
 orphaned girl devoted herself to the task of consoling her re- 
 maining parent. To a widowed mother's heart nothing is so 
 sweet, in the first period of her bereavement, as the endear- 
 ments and companionship of daughters of the age of Angela 
 and her sister. And so both girls gave themselves up entirely 
 to the sacred duty of sustaining and consoling their mother. 
 Religion, speaking through such pure and loving hearts as 
 theirs, must have had a double power to raise and cheer the 
 poor mourner. From what we shall soon have to relate, 
 however, it would appear, that, although resigned to the 
 Divine Will in the loss of her husband, Signora Merici never 
 rallied completely from the prostration caused by this unex- 
 pected death. Where two souls are as thoroughly united by 
 the exalted love which the Sacrament of Matrimony bestows 
 on the smless and the deserving, the death of either only 
 causes the other left behind to yearn unceasingly for the day 
 of eternal reunion. And so the Christian mother, with her 
 love and her hopes fixed on that eternal world where there 
 would be no separation, endeavored to fulfill both a mother's 
 and a father's place in the desolate home. We are not told how 
 old her son was at this time, or how far she could rely upon him 
 to attend to the care of their property. That he was entirely 
 worthy of his parents and sisters, we shall see presently. 
 Perhaps he was the youngest of his family, and thus the least 
 able to relieve the widow of her load of care. 
 
 She was to be soon still further tried. Angela, after the 
 death of her excellent father, looked up to her sister for the 
 counsel and guidance she had ever found in him. It was not 
 a rare thing in those times, — filled as monasteries were with 
 
48 ST, ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 the daughters of the wealthiest and most noble, — for girls who 
 felt themselves called to the Virginal Life to remain at home, 
 bound only by such vows as members of the Third Order of 
 St. Francis or St. Dominic were allowed to make, discharging 
 most perfectly all the duties of their place in the family, and 
 distinguished only by their devotion to the suffering poor 
 and their avoidance of all worldly pleasures and .amusements. 
 Frequently also in families, especially of the rank held by 
 the Merici and Biancosi, the parents themselves belonged to 
 the Third Order, and united heart and soul with their 
 daughters in the fervent though quiet pursuit of spiritual 
 perfection. We have, indeed, no proof that either John 
 Merici or his wife had bound themselves by any such religious 
 obligations as these. Yet it is apparent from the details left 
 by their youngest daughter's biographers, that they en- 
 couraged their children, as these advanced towards woman- 
 hood, to make of their home so much of a cloister as the 
 performance of all neighborly charities and the fulfillmejit 
 of their own home-duties permitted. 
 
 Angela and her sister, in this their first sorrow, would 
 naturally be united and more fervent than ever in the pur- 
 suit of the great purpose of their lives, ^the attainment of 
 holiness. Their beloved parent had gone before them to the 
 Judgment Seat; and their own deepest faith and most hal- 
 lowed affections impelled them frequently to kneel in spirit 
 at the feet of the Judge and implore Him to give speedy 
 rest to the father who had labored so much for them. Of 
 course, a Christian mother and wife, such as Merici's loved 
 companion, would find her sweetest consolation in joining 
 her daughters, — all her three children, rather, — in these sup- 
 plications. We have only to remember the words left on 
 record by one of the greatest Saints of Northern Italy, some 
 thousand years before their day, to understand how the 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 49 
 
 Catholic heart follows its dead with tenderest solicitude into 
 the awful regions of the eternal world unseen. St Ambrose 
 thus speaks of the soul of Theodosius the Great, to whom he 
 had been so wise, so stern, so loving a guide: 
 
 " Give rest to Thy servant Theodosius, that rest which 
 Thou hast prepared for Thy Saints. Let his soul return to 
 [Thee] whence it came': where it cannot feel the sting of death, 
 and where he shall know that death itself is not the end of 
 our natural existence, but of our sinfulness. Him have I 
 loved, and him shall I follow to * the land of the living;' nor 
 will I forsake him, till my tears and prayers shall place him 
 where his merits call him, within ' the holy mountain of the 
 Lord;' — where there is life without end, where there is neither 
 decay nor contagion, nor wailing, nor sorrow, nor companion- 
 ship with the sepulchre; — but the true land of the living, 
 where ' this mortal (body) must put on immortality, and this 
 corruptible must put on incorruption.'" ^ 
 
 A disciple of St. Ambrose, and greater even than his 
 master, St. Augustine, thus speaks of his own mother, St. 
 Monica, who had also been a devout listener at the feet of 
 the holy Archbishop of Milan: 
 
 " I then, O my praise and my life. Thou God of my heart, 
 putting aside for a little her good deeds, for which I joyfully 
 give thanks to Thee, do now beseech Thee for the sins of my 
 mother. Hearken unto me, through that Medicine of our 
 wounds. Who hung upon the tree, and Who, sitting at Thy 
 right hand, ^maketh intercession for us.'*. . . To this sacra- 
 ment of our ransom did Thy handmaid bind her soul by the 
 bond of faith. Let none separate her from Thy protection!'"^ 
 
 The death of their worshipped one, therefore, anly made 
 mother and children enter in spirit, not into the gloom of 
 
 1 St. Ambrose, De Obitu TJieodosii. 2 gt. Augustine, " Confessions," b. ix.; c. ii. 
 
50 ^^. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 the Valley of Death, but into the blissful presence of the 
 Lord of Life, the merciful Father of men and angels, in 
 His own bright and glorious City on high. We Catholics 
 mourn not as do those for whom death is the end of all 
 things. Our grief is tempered with holy joy at the thought 
 of the eternal rest and the unfading crown, which our dear 
 departed have already obtained; and if we mourn or pray, 
 or beseech the intercession of others in favor of the dear 
 one gone to judgment, it is only to obtain from the Divine 
 Victim of Calvary a more speedy application of His cleansing 
 blood to the precious soul. So our tears are not tears 
 of unalloyed bitterness, nor our mourning unmixed with joy 
 at the prospect faith opens to us of heavenly glory and 
 repose. 
 
 God, who knew what fresh trials were at hand for the 
 mother and her orphans, thus drew them more powerfully 
 and more closely to Himself. This sense of nearness to Him, 
 given at certain seasons to the souls He loves best, is, in the 
 judgment of the great masters of spiritual life, a warning to 
 prepare for new crosses. The afflicted mother, who now 
 leaned so much for support on her two angelic daughters, 
 and who derived so much sweetness and strength from the 
 devotional exercises they preformed in common, had no 
 sooner begun to resume her former active share in the house- 
 hold duties, than she was alarmed at seeing her oldest child 
 sicken and pine. Her husband had been snatched away by 
 a malignant fever. We are not told what was the nature of 
 the disease which carried off the daughter. At any rate, 
 within the year, the Angel of Death paid his second visit to 
 the home of the Merici, bearing away with him this time 
 Angela's twin soul. He had given no warning of his approach, 
 not even allowing time for the administration of the last 
 sacraments. Such a sudden visitation must have added 
 
AND THE URSULINES. • 51 
 
 greatly to the grief both of Angela and her mother, had 
 they not known how pure, unselfish, and devoted to all 
 goodness was the young life thus cut short in its opening 
 promise. To the poor mother, whose heart had, most 
 probably, as we have seen already, been sorely tried by the 
 death of two other children, and who had not yet recovered 
 from the cruel blow inflicted by the loss of her husband, this 
 last bereavement was overwhelming. Perfectly as she may 
 have acquiesced in the inscrutable wisdom of the Father, her 
 gentle and loving spirit sank beneath this additional load of 
 suffering. Thenceforward she only continued to droop and 
 waste away slowly till the end came for her also. 
 
 Meanwhile Angela, on whom now devolved the care of the 
 family and household, as well as the superintendence of her 
 parents' property, gave proof of her heroic qualities of soul. 
 She felt like one who had set foot on a difficult mountain 
 road, and over which she must needs travel, but who is all of 
 a sudden forsaken by guides and companions, and left alone 
 in the night to pursue her journey amid pitfalls and precipices. 
 
 At this critical period of her Jife is made manifest the 
 maturity of all these womanly virtues which had been 
 steadily growing and ripening in the maiden's soul among 
 all the blissful peace and sunshine of her dear father's home. 
 A hasty and superficial perusal of the story of her early life 
 thus far, might impress one with the notion that Angela had 
 been a little wayward as well as eccentric in her girlish 
 piety, often seeking to satisfy her bent for long prayer and 
 austerity at the expense of filial obedience. The child, for 
 most readers, would thus wear a somewhat unamiable aspect. 
 And yet she was, invariably, the loving, dutiful, unselfish, 
 bright, and winsOme child, who seemed to draw from her 
 frequent and familiar intercourse with God and the angelic 
 world, only an increase of devotion to the need, the comfort, 
 
52 ' ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 the pleasure, and the happiness of her idolized parents and 
 her sister and brother. 
 
 We have said "frequent and familiar intercourse;" for, in 
 truth, the Spirit who guided that privileged soul, exercised 
 on its movements a control which was, in a measure, beyond 
 her will. Was it'not an imperious impulsion of the Spirit of 
 grace that urged John the Baptist, while yet a child, to seek 
 the solitudes between Juttah, his native place, and the Dead 
 Sea? Was it not the same divine impulse which he obeyed 
 in choosing for his clothing the rude camel-hair tunic, as worn 
 by Elias and Elisaeus, and for his food the wild-honey and 
 locusts which these desolate hilly regions supply? 
 
 Both Giovanni Merici and his wife understood, after a very 
 little while, that their fair-haired darling was under the spell 
 of a Spirit who would be obeyed. The wise and prudent 
 father no longer thwarted his child's determination; he was 
 content to direct her in the divinely- appointed path, and to 
 .share with her and his oldest daughter the "honey from the 
 Rock," which they found in their devotional and penitential 
 practices. 
 
 And so Angela had grown steadily, silently, in supernatural 
 holiness, from early childhood to her sixteenth year; setting 
 her heart on the one great aim of all God-like lives, — the 
 honor of being allowed, in God's good time, to consecrate 
 herself solemnly to her one Love and Lord, Christ Crucified. 
 In the soul of child, maiden, and woman, this one thought 
 and hope was the mighty force which gave purpose and shape 
 to her whole life. 
 
 If there is in the unfolding of life so much of awful mystery, 
 even in the instance of the oak on the hillside, advancing 
 from the acorn to the tiny sapling, and from the sapling cling- 
 ing to the sheltered corner of the crag to the mighty tree which 
 has battled victoriously with the storms of centuries,— how 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 53 
 
 much more so is the growth of the saintly soul, God's master- 
 piece in the moral world!' This development of the highest 
 energy, this progression in the beauty of highest goodness, in 
 the grandeur of self-conquest, self-sacrifice, and boundless 
 devotion to the glory of the Divine Majesty and the dearest 
 interests of imra'ortal souls, — is the special work attributed to 
 the Holy Spirit. Man, even when most enlightened by Re- 
 vealed Truth, can only note its outward manifestations, and 
 thus describe its stages with more or less of hesitancy and ob- 
 scurity. The secret of the oak's interior life, the mystery of 
 God's working in the privileged souls of His Saints, remain 
 for the world an unfathomable abyss. 
 
 St. Catherine of Genoa has left us a most beautiful allegory, 
 which might be called the story of her own soul's progress from 
 the first struggles with victorious sensuality to her sublime 
 transformation into the likeness of the Crucified God of 
 charity. More beautiful still, and more instructive, are the 
 writings of St. Teresa; but how few among the most learned 
 and the most spiritual are privileged to understand aright 
 this mystic theology, so full of awful depths and impenetrable 
 obscurity? 
 
 That Angela Merici had attained to an extraordinary degree 
 of sanctity, even in her sixteenth year, is a fact for which we 
 have good warrant in the acts of her. canonization, solemnly 
 attested as these were by the most credible witnesses, and 
 after the most searching investigation. 
 
 The affliction caused her by the loss of her dear father, and 
 the further grief arising from the death of her cherished 
 sister, had, as we have seen, only made Angela increase in 
 love and tenderness toward her mother. She had always 
 been the angel of the household; every act and word of 
 hers toward her dear ones, while crushed by these successive 
 misfortunes, made them consider her as most truly an angel. 
 
54 ST, ANGELA MERICl, 
 
 But the girl herself, while adoring the hand of God which 
 thus chastened a family devoted to Him, was also made to 
 know that every loved object taken away from her own 
 clinging heart was an earthly tie removed, and a higher 
 measure of liberty given to the soul. She could not divine 
 as yet what work God would have her do. She only strove, 
 with all the power of her soul, to make His will her own, and 
 to render herself in every way worthy of His designs. 
 
 A fortnight after the death of her sister, while her mother's 
 desolation was yet at its height, and her own grief was keenest, 
 an incident occurred — one mentioned in detail in the Bull of 
 canonization. It was harvest-time, and Angela, as we have 
 said, had not only to superintend the household concerns, but 
 those as well of the farm belonging to her family. This was 
 situated about a mile and a half from Desenzano. Just as 
 noontide was at hand Angela had set out for the fields bearing 
 with her a basket with some refreshments for her workmen. 
 She went along, her whole soul wrapped up in the thought 
 of the dear companion so lately and so suddenly snatched 
 away from her side. The remembrance of her having been 
 cut off without any of the consolations so coveted by Chris- 
 tians at their last hour, was just then causing Angela the deep- 
 est anguish, and she was lifting her heart and her eyes to 
 Heaven in fervent prayer for the repose of that dear soul, when 
 lo! a most glorious vision opened upon her sight. The fields, 
 the citron-groves, the clustering vines, all disappeared, and 
 she beheld, as if she stood at the opened gate of Heaven, a 
 multitude of angels and angelic maidens surrounding one 
 who was evidently their Queen. Among the virgin train, when 
 her eyes could bear to look attentively, she soon discovered 
 her lost sister. Filled with an exstatic joy and a sweetness 
 that no words can express, Angela stood rooted to the earth, 
 forgetting all else in the world but that supernal glory a 
 
AND THE URSULIKES, 55 
 
 glimpse of which was afforded her, and that Blessed Mother 
 to whose service she had given herself from infancy, and 
 that sweet sister whose saintly life had been to her a per- 
 petual exhortation to holiness. All at once she heard these 
 words distinctly uttered from amid that shining throng: 
 "Angela, only persevere in the path you are following, and 
 you shall have a share with us in the glory you behold;" 
 and then the vision disappeared. 
 
 The constant tradition among the people of Desenzano 
 places the scene of this apparition on the Macchetto road, 
 quite near a farm-house known as Le Grezze, which had be- 
 longed to the Merici for many generations, and which, at the 
 beginning of this century, had become the property of the 
 noble family Del Villio. There, Father Salvatori assures us, 
 stood in his day a little chapel dedicated to St. Angela, and 
 destined in all likelihood to perpetuate the memory of this 
 miracle. 
 
 Such extraordinary favors bestowed on God's chosen ser- 
 vants, never excite in them a thought of self-love or self- 
 complacency. They are only bestowed on the humble, 
 impelling them to still greater humility, that is, to a higher 
 degree of that greatness of soul which impels the Saints to 
 undertake in the Divine Service things that appear impossible 
 to worldly wisdom, things most repugnant to flesh and 
 blood. A glimpse of the eternal glory, though only dimly 
 discerned from afar, and a momentary vision of that Un, 
 created Perfection, though but seen through some sensible 
 veil, has sufficed to transport these great souls beyond them- 
 selves, and to impart to them a boldness and a courage which 
 nothing could appal. 
 
 A cold mass of iron, naturally inert and lifeless, when 
 placed within an electric coil will acquire the force of a 
 mighty magnet; it will then attract and lift up other iron 
 
56 ^^. ANGELA MERICL 
 
 masses, magnetizing them in its turn, and converting their 
 newly acquired energies into unfailing sources of heat and 
 light.^ What . extraordinary graces for her own soul's 
 sanctification must not Angela have derived from this one 
 brief vision of the blissful citizens of the heavenly Jerusa- 
 lem? And what new power to electrify others with the 
 love of heavenly things, and to raise them with herself above 
 the attractions of earth and the pleasures of sense? These 
 effects we shall see further on. There was one chief pur- 
 pose which the Divine Goodness had in view by vouchsafing 
 this favor to the devoted girl, — and that w^as to prepare her 
 to bear the death of her mother. - 
 
 1 Onr readers will be reminded that in the -wonderful discovery of the Electric 
 Light, which is now going to supersede gas, — artificial magnets are the great generat- 
 ing power, the great secret of economy as well, in this latest application of modem 
 science to the wants of life. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 UTTER DESOLATIO]^. 
 
 The vision just described had for its immediate purpose 
 not only to console Angela in her great sorrow, and to fortify 
 her against another approaching bereavement, but also to 
 dispose her mother to meet death with resignation and holy 
 joy. IsTo doubt, though Angela was reticent about what she 
 had beheld in speaking to all others, she would naturally 
 communicate to her dear sorrowing parent the heavenly 
 assurance just given her of her sister's most enviable lot. 
 Nothing could so move and cheer the gentle sufferer, as this 
 extraordinary favor bestowed on her remaining angel. It 
 brought home to the heart of the widowed wife and mother 
 the fact that her family was one most dear to God, and, 
 therefore, marked with the seal of predestination, the seal of 
 suffering. No Christian mother could have listened to the 
 description of that glorified throng of mangels and saints sur- 
 rounding the Mother of the Redeemer, or dwelt in spirit on 
 the picture of her own child among the blessed train of vir- 
 gins, without feeling something of the ecstatic joy which 
 flooded the soul of Angela, or wishing to be reunited to her 
 dear ones in the Land of the Living. 
 
 One of the most trying incidents in the life of our Blessed 
 
 Lady herself w^as, doubtless, the ascension of our Lord;-— to 
 
 57 
 
58 ST. ANGELA MEBIGl 
 
 see Him, her adored and only One, going up to the Eternal 
 City of God, amid the exulting multitude of His delivered 
 saints, — and to have to remain after Him on earth for many 
 a long, weary year, — what a trial for the heart of such a 
 Mother yearning for reunion with such a Son! To be sure, 
 as our Second Eve had to watch over the infancy of the 
 Church, and support it in its early and fearful struggle, just 
 as she had nursed and reared Him whose mystic body the 
 Church is, so she could but exult in the glorious exile 
 thus appointed to her in the divine plan. Nevertheless, 
 while accepting this mission which was to consummate her 
 merit, our Blessed Mother's heart could not but follow with 
 unutterable yearnings the ascending form of her Divine One, 
 The beautiful picture sketched to her by Angela, of her lost 
 darling clothed with immortality, and so near to Mary, once 
 the Mother of Sorrows, now the Mother of Eternal Joys, of 
 a necessity drew Signora Merici's desires heavenward. At 
 any rate, not a very long time passed between the vision and 
 the last illness and death of the good lady. It most probably 
 occurred within the twelvemonth thereafter.^ 
 
 If the sweet duties of daughterly love performed toward 
 one's parents in a season of joy and peace, amid all the sun- 
 shine of a happy home, are sure to be most acceptable to 
 God and most meritorious in His sight, how much more so are 
 the ministrations of a daughter's love toward a widowed 
 mother, when borne down by grief, and dying in her dark- 
 ened home, with only two orphans left her of all her little 
 flock of loved ones I We cannot help admiring the wonderful 
 way in which Providence was moulding the soul and charac- 
 ter of Angela by this quick succession of the bitterest trials. 
 
 1 Father Salvatori says: " A year had scarcely passed,— indeed, according to some 
 v\Titers,— a year had not entirely passed since the death of the father and sister, wheii 
 the mother also fell dangerously ill and died." 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 59 
 
 God, in forming a saint destined to be the parent of a countless 
 line of pious and motherly educators of youth, surely pur- 
 posed to form her heart to all the dearest and holiest affec- 
 tions. No one so needs a heart filled to overflowing with 
 the deepest, purest, tenderest, and most unfailing motherly 
 love as the Superior of one of these great schools which claim 
 Angela Merici as foundress, protectress, and model. Even 
 in a community of cloistered nuns, devoted to a purely con- 
 templative life, the Superior's heart should always be a great 
 motherly heart, with all its wealth of tenderness open to 
 every member of her family of nuns. Communities of 
 women, — nay, communities of men, as well, — ^should find in 
 all who govern them not only the provident wisdom and 
 watchfulness of a father, but the untiring and unfailing ten- 
 derness of a mother. Much more need is there of these divine 
 qualities in the " teaching orders," — when young people and 
 tender children ought ever to find a father's love and a 
 mother's tenderness in those who hold toward them a parent's 
 place in the school-room and outside of it. 
 
 And now we can understand why Angela should have been 
 so sorely tried in every one of her home-affections, and have 
 had to practise perfectly all the duties of daughter, sister, 
 and mistress of a household, even. Every fibre of that 
 great womanly nature was to be tried and perfected and 
 hallowed, in order to fit her to be the mother of an immortal 
 race of women consecrated to the divine work of education. 
 
 It is, therefore, no imaginary picture that we form to our- 
 selves, when we think of the holy maid of Desenzano proving 
 to her sick and dying mother what she had been to her 
 father and sister in their last extremity, the tenderest of 
 nurses, the sweetest of comforters, a very angel of light amid 
 the gathering shadows of death. 
 
 No girl of seventeen who reads this page, and who is still 
 
60 ^T. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 blessed with the priceless treasure of a true mother's love,-- 
 but will be moved with pity and admiration in recalling 
 that death-bed scene in the home of the Merici at Desenzano: 
 the widow beholding with the eye of faith the heavens 
 opened above her, and her dear ones among the shining 
 multitude beckoning her to join them; the two orphans 
 kneeling by their expiring parent, — the angelic girl forget- 
 ting all sense of grief and loss in her anxiety to fill the dying 
 soul with the sentiments of ardent faith and hope and love,— 
 unwilling to leave the spot for a moment, or bestow a 
 thought on aught else till she has, in a manner, given up 
 the precious spirit into the hands and heart of its Creator 
 and Father. And then, when she knows she is motherless, 
 opening her arms and her whole heart to her only remaining 
 one, her brother, — who has now but her in the whole world. 
 
 There was another present there, the noble and pious 
 brother of the dying lady, Biancosi, from Salo. His was a 
 heart that could sympathize to the utmost with the two or- 
 phans. He was a perfect Christian, tenderly attached to his 
 deceased sister and her husband, and one who thoroughly ap- 
 preciated the supernatural beauty of his niece's soul. They 
 had no sooner performed the last solemn duties to the dead, 
 than this worthy man proposed to Angela and her brother 
 to make his home at Salo their own, till such time as the 
 latter would be able to take charge of his father's home and 
 property at Desenzano. To this proposal Angela yielded a 
 willing assent. Her old home was haunted hj such sad 
 memories, that a change may have been absolutely needful 
 even for her bodily health. Besides, her uncle, who was a 
 man of wealth, position, influence, and ability, now held a 
 father's place toward her. She, therefore, placed herself 
 and her brother under his guardianship. 
 
 We may pause a moment in our saddening narrative, to 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 61 
 
 bestow a rapid glance on the locality and neighborhood, in 
 which some six years of our Saint's life were to be passed. 
 Salo, with its magnificent bay, is about fourteen miles to the 
 north of Desenzano, the road to it lying partly along the 
 lake, but mostly across a rolling country, every foot of which 
 is devoted to agricultural purposes. Even the crannies of 
 the rocks on the steep hillside which you pass, are filled with 
 olive-trees, the intelligent and indefatigable labor of the 
 Italian husbandman having enabled him to create in these 
 apparently useless and inaccessible rocks little terraces most 
 solidly constructed and covered with rich earth, in which 
 he plants -his favorite tree, and shelters it from the 
 keen winds descending from the Tyrolean Alps. Desenzano, 
 with the neighboring towns of Gardone, Maderno, Toscolano, 
 and Gargnano, present a most charming aspect from the 
 deck of the steamer which daily coasts the glorious lake. 
 Goethe thus writes of this portion of it : " The noble aspect of 
 the water and of the adjacent shore of Brescia refreshed my 
 very heart. . . No words can express the beauty of this 
 richly inhabited spot." 
 
 From Desenzano to Said, and for several leagues above it, 
 the shores of the lake are fringed with lofty trellises, on which 
 the grapevine hangs its rich clusters in autumn, and in 
 springtide and summer are brilliant with roses of every hue. 
 '* Scarlet geraniums," says Hare, ''cover the whole face of 
 the houses, while large tufts of oleander wave their pink 
 plumes near the water's edge." The whole country on this 
 western shore, almost as far as the borders of Tyrol, besides 
 its rich crops of corn, olives, and other valuable produce, 
 seems to be covered with lemon and orange groves. They 
 erect, with incalculable labor and a perseverance beyond all 
 praise, gigantic terraces along the sides of hill and moun- 
 tain, and there plant their lemon and orange trees, when all 
 
63 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 the space on the level has been filled up. It is wonderful to 
 see with what intelligent industry they shield these precious 
 trees from the inclemency of an Alpine winter. Massive 
 pillars of brick are built up to the height of twenty feet from 
 distance to distance along these terraces, as well as in the citron 
 groves lower down, and on these strong beams are laid, with 
 a covering that effectually protects the trees beneath in the 
 coldest weather. These rows of huge white pillars, glistening 
 in the sunshine amid the deep rich masses of the surround- 
 ing verdure, arrest the traveller's attention, and form a most 
 striking feature in the ever-varying panorama along these 
 enchanted shores. 
 
 Said, like the neighboring towns of Maderno and Cam- 
 pione, nestles in these beautiful groves, — while standing like 
 sentinels to guard the approach of her bay are a group of 
 lovely islands, among which is the Isola del Frati, or " Friars' 
 Island," mentioned above.^ In the beautiful town itself there 
 was an establishment of Friars Minor, devoted to the rigid 
 rule of their founder, and much beloved by the people far 
 and near. So Angela would be sure to find among them one of 
 these wise and far-seeing men of God, whose counsel is so need- 
 ful to souls climbing the rugged paths of spiritual perfection. 
 The Biancosi mansion was, besides, a spacious and a comfort- 
 able one, as became the rank and wealth of its owner. 
 Angela and her brother received a most warm welcome from 
 their generous uncle's family, and the orphaned girl found 
 herself perfectly free to devote herself to her devotional ex- 
 ercises, at the same time that she found in her uncle and his 
 household not only the comfort of true-hearted sympathy 
 and friendship, but the still greater comfort of companion- 
 ship in her pursuit of holiness of life. 
 
 hi ■ - ■ 
 
 1 Page 31. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 63 
 
 Among her cousins one only, Bartolommeo, is mentioned 
 afterward as having been Angela's guardian and fellow-pil- 
 grim on a memorable occasion. He was probably younger 
 than herself, and fell, like her brother, under the spell of her 
 grace, her magnetic presence, and her preternatural goodness. 
 As to the latter, he had been, in the old home at Desenzano, 
 his sisters pupil in more than one way; and, if others looked 
 upon her with an admiring reverence, he worshiped her as 
 the embodiment of all that was most perfect in woman. She 
 was all in all to him, and profited by his unlimited trust and 
 affection to shield his soul from evil, and to teach it the un- 
 speakable sweetness of serving the King of kings. 
 
 How long Angela was allowed to enjoy, in her new home 
 at Said, the retirement, the freedom from observation, and 
 the repose of spirit rendered so necessary by the ordeal 
 through which she had just passed, we are not informed with 
 any precision. We know that this season of repose was 
 followed by one of cruel and protracted interior trials. Just as 
 our most loving Father permits storms to purify the atmos- 
 phere and cool the intolerable heat of summer, just as He 
 makes the mountain-pine wax strong in the tempest, and 
 allows the waters to overflow the earth in order to give fertil- 
 ity to the fields; even so does He allow evil spirits to assail 
 with doubt and temptation the souls of His dearest ones, 
 that they may come forth from the trial more chastened, 
 more heroic, more fitted to the mighty work which He has 
 appointed for them. The most terrible part of holy Job's 
 agony was not the loss of fortune, possessions, home, and 
 children, nor even the fearful and most disgusting leprosy 
 that made him an object of loathing to his servants, his 
 friends, his own wife, but even to himself. The bitterest 
 portion of his deep and bitter cup was to hear his wife and 
 his dearest friends arraign not only his own innocence, but 
 
64 S^- ANGELA MERICl 
 
 the goodness and justice of God, and to find involuntary 
 shadows of doubt and diffidence arise to cloud his own soul, 
 like hideous forms of darkness and despair that stand 
 between the righteous soul and the bright sun 'of its life,— 
 God's countenance. 
 
 It is not unlikely that, with all her extraordinary gifts, 
 being of a good family, most beautiful, and mistress of her 
 own hand, she became an object of attraction to the world 
 around her, and was eagerly sought for by the young of both 
 sexes. In the very best Christian families, — and there are 
 very many such, even in our own day and country, — children 
 who are brought up to manhood and womanhood not only 
 without having ever stained their baptismal garment, but 
 utterly unconscious of the nature of sin, are by their very 
 innocence and absolute purity of soul irresistibly attractive 
 to those of their own age and disposition. 
 
 That Angela, arrived at the age of seventeen and eighteen, 
 should become even for the best and noblest youths of her 
 native province of Brescia, an object of deep, ardent, and 
 pure affection, was inevitable. It was natural, too, that her 
 uncle and his family should have looked with favor on some 
 at least of the most worthy and desirable suitors, and laid 
 their proposals before his niece. To be sure, she had set 
 her heart on other bridals, and had no thought of encourag- 
 ing in her own heart, or in others, anything like earthly love, 
 though never so exalted. 
 
 Without, therefore, going out of our way to find a cause 
 for the interior struggle which she had to endure in the first 
 year of her stay at Said, we may account for it by these 
 obvious circumstances, and put aside the suppositions and 
 commentaries of some of her biographers. The first and 
 highest purity is that of the soul, — the preservation of un- 
 derstanding, and memory, and imagination from the very re- 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 65 
 
 motest suggestion of evil. Parents, mothers particularly, 
 know well how many such innocent souls there are ever in 
 our midst, whose snowy whiteness has never been touched 
 by the first thought of evil. This is God's fatherly provi- 
 dence over Christian society. 
 
 Looking at Angela and her dear brother's position with 
 the eyes of worldly wisdom, one must feel convinced a 
 speedy and honorable establishment was greatly to be de- 
 sired for the sake of both. To a soul given wholly to other 
 aspirations, this must have been repugnant. And yet God 
 may have permitted this opportunity of a public and de- 
 cided choice between a happy life in the world, and the 
 virginal life to which she felt called, to have aroused a 
 fierce struggle in her soul. 
 
 A struggle there was, indeed, in which her will never 
 wavered. She employed the means which the saints always 
 have recourse to in such trials, protracted prayer, greater 
 vigilance over her thoughts and senses, and the frequent 
 use of abstinence and other austerities. That the nature of 
 her temptation was such as we have indicated, is further 
 proved by the fact of her having taken her brother into her 
 confidence. The spiritual education of this precious soul 
 had been one of her chief cares since they had come to 
 live in Salo. As if some prophetic instinct had warned her 
 that he, too, like his oldest sister, was to be cut off in the 
 first flower of his youth, Angela hastened to develop in him 
 all the beautiful virtues which render holy youth so lovely 
 in sight of God and men. He proved an apt scholar under 
 one whom he trusted so thoroughly, and worshipped with 
 such a tender reverence. 
 
 Salo with its citron groves, the Lake of Garda with its 
 sublime scenery, her uncle's mansion with its comforts and its 
 distractions, the visits of her friends and acquaintances, the 
 
66 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 attractions of the gay and pleasant social world around her,— 
 all this was to the spiritual sense of the holy maiden full of 
 secret and formidable danger. She conceived the notion of 
 leading among the labyrinth of secluded valleys which 
 radiate on every side around her native lake, a life of utter 
 seclusion, such as had been led by the ancient hermits in Asia 
 Minor, Palestine, and Egypt; such also as had been led by 
 many of the most illustrious saints of her own Italy. This 
 project was communicated to her brother; and he not only 
 approved it, but declared he would be his darling sister's 
 associate and protector in this pious undertaking. 
 
 Both had often heard and read of the twin sister and 
 brother, St. Scholastica and St. Benedict, the great parents of 
 monastic life in Western Christendom. The sister, while 
 yet a girl of tender age, had left the home of her patrician 
 father, to live in solitude and poverty of all things. Her 
 young brother, at the age of fourteen, frightened by the cor- 
 ruption which he beheld around him, and fearing his own 
 weakness to resist temptation, resolved to do what his sister 
 had done, and buried himself for years among the wild and 
 inaccessible crags of Subiaco. Later, when both Subiaco 
 and Monte Cassino swarmed with the elite of the Christian 
 youth of Rome, emulous of Benedict's heroic virtue, 
 Scholastica, with her nuns, wished to be near her brother's 
 voice, and to be governed by his rule. History has preserved 
 the story of the imperishable friendship of these twin-souls, 
 and of their holy rivalry in the divine service. To this 
 brother and sister, as, indeed, to Angela and her brother, on 
 the present occasion, could be well applied the words of St. 
 Paulus of Xola, addressed to his wife, St. Theresia, when 
 they had left their immense possessions, to retire into the 
 desert and follow Christ in humility and poverty. 
 
 " Come, my faithful companion, let us put on our armor 
 
AM) THE URSULmES. 67 
 
 for this new warfare. O thou whom God hath given to sus- 
 tain my weak courage, thy love and care must moderate 
 my rashness, and comfort me when downcast. Let us be to 
 each other a model of holiness of life. Be thou the guardian 
 angel of thy protector, and thus pay me back my care of 
 thee. Raise me up when I fall, and let me lighten thy load 
 when it bears thee down. Let us have but one mind, and 
 let one spirit sustain both our souls!"^ 
 
 Within their own time a holy woman had transformed the 
 mountain of Varese into a paradise of piety and holiness: 
 could not they find in the neighborhood of the beautiful 
 lake some unfrequented summit where they might sanctify 
 themselves beneath the eye of God, and unknown to the 
 world of wealth and fashion? Such was the thought and the 
 purpose which took possession of them. And so, leaving 
 their uncle's house in the greatest secrecy, and striking into 
 the least frequented paths, they betook themselves toward 
 the neighboring mountains. They were but little, if at all, 
 acquainted with the country beyond Salo, and so must, per- 
 force, often make inquiries, thus arousing the curiosity of the 
 peasants they met with. 
 
 The uncle had no soonermissed them than messengers were 
 despatched in all directions, and the fugitives were brought 
 back to Salo. Biancosi made no reproaches. He perfectly un- 
 derstood the reasons which they alleged for their departure. 
 Sincerely pious as he was, he did not dream of turning either 
 of the two orphans away from the path toward which the 
 
 1 Tu modo, fida comes, mecum isti accingere pugnae, 
 
 Quam Deus infirmo prsebuit anxilinm. 
 Sollicita elatum cohibe, solare dolentem; 
 
 Exemplnm vitse simus nterqne pias. 
 Gustos esto tui custodis, mutua redde; 
 
 Erige labentem, surge levantis ope. 
 Ut caro non eadem tantum, sed mens quoque nobis 
 
 Una sit, atque duos spiritus unus alat. 
 
68 ^^. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 divine voice called them. But the age in which he lived, and 
 the condition of the country, were far from being favorable 
 to such designs as their hasty fervor had contemplated. 
 Venice was at war with France, and French troops overran 
 the Peninsula from the Alps to Sicily, while the Italian 
 princes and republics were espousing, some the side of 
 Charles VIII., and some that of Spain. A few years later, 
 the entire province of Brescia was held by the French, and 
 the beautiful city itself was ruthlessly burned by these law- 
 less invaders. 
 
 No — these were not the times when the mountain solitudes 
 of the Alps or of the Appennines could be with impunity 
 converted into a safe retreat for hermits, — especially those 
 of Angela's tender years and sex. 
 
 Biancosi gently told the shamefaced fugitives that his 
 house should be a safe retreat for them, in which they might 
 be perfectly free to seclude themselves as much as they 
 pleased, and practise the virtues to which they aspired. 
 Only, he said, they must pledge themselves not to commit a 
 second time the rash act of withdrawing from his home in a 
 way that would expose themselves to much danger, and 
 himself and his family to unmerited suspicions. The prom- 
 ise was readily given and most faithfully kept. 
 
 Wherefore, resigning herself to what she considered to 
 be the will of Providence, Angela made the best use of her 
 present opportunities. For the time being Sal 6 and its 
 neighborhood remained undisturbed by the approach of hos- 
 tile armies; and amid the peace and security of their seclusion, 
 both sister and brother advanced rapidly in the science of 
 the saints. 
 
 Indeed, as Salvatori assures us, so great was the admiration 
 with which the people far and wide regarded the beautiful 
 girl, so tried by sorrow, so angelic in life, so ready to devote 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 69 
 
 her entire energy to the service of the needy or the suffering, 
 that she was universally designated as " the Holy Maiden," 
 or " the little Saint from Paradise." ^ Parents held her and her 
 brother up to their children as models of that close union of 
 hearts which should ever exist between persons so nearly 
 related to each other. Indeed as Angela had been the model 
 daughter, so was she now the model sister. She had suc- 
 ceeded in making her dear one a model youth, adorned with 
 all the natural and supernatural graces of the true Christian 
 man. Was she proud of the accomplished brother, who 
 looked up to her with such a grateful sense of dependence? 
 Was there in the love which bound the two orphans together 
 anything which seemed to Angela to savor too much of mere 
 human affection? We know not. But at this very period, 
 when both had arrived at the full flower of their blameless 
 youth, death came to the door of the Biancosi mansion in 
 Salo, just as he had repeatedly visited the Merici home at 
 Desenzano, and Angela beheld her brother taken away from 
 her, just as her parents and their other children had been so 
 mysteriously snatched away. 
 
 She was now all alone in the world. It w^as indeed true, 
 that her cherished companion had died as he had lived, — 
 like a true child of God, relinquishing earth and its hopes 
 without a murmur, and solicitous only about the fatherless 
 and motherless girl whom he left all alone to face the dreary 
 way before her. This cost the dying youth a bitter pang. 
 But she, who had been his sweet instructress and guide, 
 would not have him think of her; God, their most loving. 
 Father, would be her unfailing stay, and He and His blissful 
 
 1 Menando dimque in mezzo al secolo una vita non pur da Religiosi, ma da Serafini- 
 Bi resero Tammirazione di tutto il paese; ed Angela in ispecie non veniva piu comune, 
 mente chiamata, che col glorioso soprannome di "Vergine di Cristo," e "Santa dei 
 Paradise.'* 
 
70 ST. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 eternity must fill the soul of her dear one in his last hour. 
 
 Still, when all was ended, and he had been laid to his early 
 rest, a feeling of utter desolation swe^Dt over the brave girl's 
 wearied spirit. The transcendent merit of such great souls 
 as Angela's, does not consist in being without or above these 
 deep and holy natural sentiments which are harrowed by the 
 successive loss of father, mother, brothers and sisters, and 
 crushed at finding the home so full of dear faces and loved 
 voices yesterday, all empty, silent, and dark to-day. Holy 
 souls feel deeply, more deeply even than the imperfect, 
 because they are less taken ujd with self, and that they look 
 upon all these hallowed home affections as the creations of 
 the loving hand of the Almighty Parent. 
 
 But saintly and heroic souls are wont to see the Divine 
 Will in all these afflictions which befall the best Christian, 
 and desolate the most virtuous homes. Angela had long 
 learned to see that Fatherly Hand in the special providence 
 which ruled events in her own family. She had from child- 
 hood practiced herself to *^walk before that Adorable Ma- 
 jesty and therein find perfection." She found in this constant 
 sense of nearness to Him, in the consciousness of His unfail- 
 ing presence to her soul, her perfect happiness as well. There 
 is so thin a partition-w^all between the Christian soul and that 
 only real world, the unseen and eternal, in which live and 
 reign and exult Christ and His saints. 
 
 Doubtless Angela had related to her dying brother, as she 
 had to their mother previously, the glorious vision sent to 
 (Jheer and encourage them all, while still at Desenzano. She 
 had been training him to set his young heart on that other 
 life and that blissful world where her own holiest affections 
 dwelt. And so he had died, with the light of eternal day 
 dawning brightly on him. When he was gone, her spirit 
 followed him. Her ^^conversation," — the daily and hourly 
 
AND THE URSULINE8, 71 
 
 thoughts and aims and aspirations of her soul, — were "in 
 Heaven;" God was now all in all to her. 
 
 It is probable that her brother while living was able to 
 superintend, together with his uncle Biancosi, the homestead 
 and family estate at Desenzano. All this devolved, after his 
 death, on Angela. She was then in her twenty-second year. 
 Wherefore, after having enjoyed for six years the cordial 
 hospitality of her uncle, and profited by his fatherly care and 
 large-minded piety, to make wonderful progress in holiness, 
 she resolved to return to the dear home in which she was 
 born. The chief motive which induced her to take this step 
 was that she had found, in a girl of her own age and rank, 
 one fitted by her spotless life, rare piety, and ripe wisdom, 
 to fill the place of her lost sister and companion. The 
 design of both the one and the other appears to have been 
 to lead in the retirement of Angela's home a life of spiritual 
 perfection, — guided by such rules as the Bishop of Brescia 
 might give them, and directed by some experienced priest 
 among the local clergy. 
 
 In all this there was One who was guiding Angela's soul 
 in His own wonderful way, and preparing her, by all the 
 experience thus acquired, to be the enlightened teacher of 
 others, — the mother of a countless family. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 BACK IN THE OLD HOME. 
 
 We need not dwell on the joy with which Angela's return 
 was hailed not only by such of her kinsfolk as lived in 
 Desenzano, but by the townspeople. Her presence in Salo 
 had been esteemed a blessing by all classes alike; and her 
 departure looked upon almost as a calamity. What projects 
 Angela and her new companion may have entertained about 
 their own future, have not been revealed to us. They lived, 
 m their privacy, as if they w^ere bound by religious vows, 
 and the sweet fragrance of their fervor increased daily, and 
 with it the veneration of their fellow-citizens. Their se- 
 clusion, however, not being a cloisteV, the poor, the sick, and 
 the ignorant far and near soon learned to know and bless 
 the two devoted ladies. 
 
 Was this companionship deemed by Angela to be a com- 
 pensation for the loss of all those who had once made that 
 dear home so unspeakably happy for her? ... At any rate 
 God soon put an end to it. As the dark shadow of this new 
 affliction closed around her, the tried girl, had her soul not 
 been taught to read the divine counsels in a supernatural 
 light, might have been tempted to think that her love and 
 trust seemed to blight and kill every one that was dear to 
 her. 
 
 72 
 
8T, ANGELA MERIGL 73 
 
 The truth is, that the Divine Majesty will use for its holi- 
 est and most merciful designs toward mankind only instru- 
 ments which will become perfectly united with the Hand 
 that works with them. Such close union manifestly supposes 
 a detachment from all earthly affections. So, while we are 
 perusing this first portion of the Life of St. Angela, we can 
 admire how the Divine Workman prepares and fashions this 
 chosen instrument of one of His most gracious purposes. It 
 will thus become apparent why the inestimable favor of a 
 saintly death removes from Angela's path every one of her 
 best beloved, that so she might look up to God alone, and 
 place her trust and her affections in the All-mighty and All- 
 sufficient. This brings us to another wonderful incident in 
 the career of the Holy Maid of Desenzano. 
 
 The exemplary life led by herself and her late companion, 
 the singular union in them of a most active and tender char- 
 ity, and of a spirit which was utterly unworldly and self-sac- 
 rificing without being repulsive in its austerity, had drawn 
 to them the hearts of the young persons of their own sex in 
 the town and neighborhood. Angela's heroic fortitude un- 
 der misfortune, her beauty, her sympathetic address, — and 
 that unseen but irresistible charm exercised by holiness on all 
 who approach it, led these young girls to seek the home of 
 the Merici. And Angela, who had as yet no settled plan 
 about her own future, welcomed her old friends and play- 
 mates with the winning grace that distinguished her manner 
 toward others. She encouraged them to join her in 
 many, of her devotional exercises, and deeds of beneficence, 
 and shared as well in their innocent amusements and recrea- 
 tions. It was a wise thing to go with them in their pleasant 
 road as far as she could, in order the more safely to lead them 
 into her own. About a month after the loss of her last dear 
 companion, these good girls had planned a little excursion into 
 
74 ^T. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 some one of the lovely sites around Desenzano, most proba- 
 bly for the purpose of turning Angela's mind away from the 
 sad thoughts which seemed to oppress her. They had stopped 
 in a beautiful shady spot called Brudazzo, not far from 
 the main road to Salo. Angela, whose soul was not so much 
 affected by the death of her friend as perplexed by the un- 
 certainties of her future, was making it a matter of contin- 
 ual meditation how she must choose for herself in order to 
 obey the Divine Will. Indeed, that will had not as yet 
 declared itself to her. So far her effort had been to fol- 
 low undeviatingly the light vouchsafed her, to refuse to the 
 promptings of the Spirit of grace no sacrific which she 
 thought He demanded of her. 
 
 The sublime regions of holiness contained, she knew, 
 fields of activity that lay wide apart, and heights above 
 heights of varied and glorious excellence. The road over 
 which the Spirit of God had led her so far, had been like the 
 easy ascent from the populous plains of Lombardy up to the 
 foot-hills of the Alps around her native lake. From the 
 sunny vine-clad slopes on which she was about to kneel in 
 prayer at Brudazzo, the acclivities just around Salo arose so 
 steeply that they shut out all objects beyond. Yet she 
 was well aware how many intermediate mountain masses 
 stood between Monte San Bartolommeo and the snow-clad 
 summits visible from her native town, — the crests nearest 
 heaven, on which rested the last glories of the setting sun and 
 the first illumined by his morning beams, — the cold and shin- 
 ing ice slopes, accessible only to the daring and practised few. 
 Was it not so with these arduous heights of sanctity, visible 
 to the multitudes down below in the plain, approached and 
 climbed only by those who surrendered their souls to the 
 Spirit of God? 
 
 Angela had left her companions to enjoy themselves be- 
 
AIW THE UBSULINES, 75 
 
 neath the shade, and, retiring to. a remote corner of the 
 vineyard, she knelt in prayer. She besought with tears the 
 Divine Goodness to put an end to her perplexities, to show 
 her the road which He would have her to follow, to enlighten 
 her as to the means that she must choose to carry out His 
 designs, and to grant her the strength to follow out the path 
 of His will without faltering or turning aside. Her whole 
 soul went up in this great heart-cr^ fof light and strength, 
 and her tears flowed copiously. 
 
 All at once she was dazzled by a flood of light, the 
 heavens were opened above her, and from the bright portals 
 on high a luminous ladder descended, resting on the earth. 
 Down the steps came trooping a multitude of holy maidens 
 clothed in flowing vestments and bearing, each, a royal 
 crown. They approached her in beautiful array, chanting 
 divinely the hymns of the Heavenly Jerusalem, while two 
 shining ranks of angelic spirits formed an escort to them, 
 swelling with their voices the chorus of song from the 
 maiden-train. Angela, transported beyond herself by the 
 sight of this heavenly multitude and these divine harmonies, 
 was suddenly thrilled by the appearance of the dear com- 
 panion so lately taken from her. "Angela," the well-known 
 voice said, " know thou that our Lord hath sent thee this 
 vision, to inform thee that before thy death thou shalt found 
 in Brescia a society like this: such is His injunction to thee." 
 And the shining procession reascended into Heaven.^ 
 
 Here was a prompt answer to Angela's prayers, leaving her 
 full of peace and courage. Her spiritual director, after list- 
 ening to her account of this marvelous occurrence, declared 
 that it could not be an illusion, and th!lt she was justified in 
 accepting the injunction conveyed to her as a clear manifest- 
 ation of the Divine will. That she knew on this occasion, 
 
 > Salvatori, c. iii., p. 16. . 
 
76 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 and from circumstances not mentioned in the authentic rela- 
 tion of this incident, her vocation to be the educator of her 
 sex, is what we can gather from her own conduct. She forth- 
 with began to prepare herself for the work of teaching, by 
 seizing every opportunity offered her to gather children and 
 young people around her. Indeed so well did she succeed in 
 this, and so fruitful became her endeavors and those of such 
 as volunteered to aid- her, that her fame as an instructress 
 spread rapidly all over the province. 
 
 Let us bear in mind that the year in which the divine pur- 
 pose was revealed to Angela was that in which St. Francis 
 Xavier was born, Ignatius de Loyola being then in his sixth 
 year; it was also the very year that beheld Vasco da Gama 
 sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, and discovering the 
 East Indies; while on that same year, Christopher Columbus, 
 returned from his second voyage to America, was contend- 
 ing in Spain with opposition of every kind before starting on 
 his third expedition to that Western World which he yearned 
 to subject to the Cross. We who know what a glorious share 
 Ignatius and Xavier, with their zealous progeny of apostolic 
 men, were to have in evangelizing the two worlds thus laid 
 open to the religion and civilization of Christendom, cannot 
 forget that the daughters of St. Angela have shared with 
 them on almost every field in both hemispheres, the apostle- 
 ship of education. We must, therefore, plainly see the hand 
 of God in the beginning of the great work inaugurated at 
 Desenzano and Brescia, just as we recognize it in the con- 
 Version and long preparation of Ignatius de Loyola for his 
 appointed task. Before the end of this book, we shall see 
 the societies founded by the Maid of Desenzano and the 
 heroic Spanish soldier growing side by side in Italy, and 
 thence extending their branches to other countries. 
 
 This second vision sent to Angela so opportunely, filled her 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 77 
 
 with extraordinary fervor. The increase of spiritual strength 
 which she invariably derived from approaching the Table of 
 the Lamb, caused her to desire to receive the divine Bread 
 more frequently, nay, daily, — if she were only permitted to 
 do so. This, however, was a privilege rarely, if ever, granted 
 in that age, to secular persons. And her insatiable yearning 
 for this "Daily Bread," led her to take one more step in the 
 road toward monastic life. The Third Order of St. Francis 
 numbered in the diocese of Brescia, as in every diocese of 
 "Western Europe, many persons of both sexes and of every 
 rank in society. Angela, while at Said, had entertained a 
 wish to become a member of this Order, but was dissuaded 
 from her purpose by her uncle Biancosi, who did not like to 
 encourage in his orphaned niece, at so early an age, a design 
 which he might have praised in his own daughter. 
 
 It was in the Franciscan habit that she was buried, and in 
 it that her body was found clothed when her grave was 
 opened by order of the Congregation of Rites during the pro- 
 ceedings for her beatification. Among the many holy women 
 who claim as their spiritual parent the seraphic Monk of 
 Monte Alvernia, few, if any, deserve more than Sister 
 Angela Merici the gratitude of Christian homes; she may be 
 justly called the seraph of Female Schools^ 
 
 1 It may not be out of place to give you, dear reader, some of the reasons why St. 
 Francis is called the " Seraphic," and why the same epithet has been given as a title to 
 his order. Seraphs are among the angelic spirits who ever gaze upon the face of God, 
 and become all aglow with the fire of His love, those who are considered to burn with 
 the divinest flame. They have so superior a knowledge of Him and His abyssal per- 
 fections, that they resemble Him most closely. As they know Him and love Him better 
 than their fellows, so do they know and love in Him all created beings,— seeing His 
 perfections mirrored in them, and conceiving even the irrational and inanimate creation 
 to be instinct with the Creator's love and to send forth its voice evermore in His praise'. 
 
 A writer well known on both sides of the Atlantic, and whose bitter anti-Catholic 
 prejudices are equally well known,— thus speaks of the seraphic spirit of St. Francis: 
 
 '* It was here (on Mount Alvernia) that St. Francis learned the tongues of the beasts 
 and birds, and preached them sermons. Stretched for hours motionless on the bare 
 
78 ^^. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 This act of receiving publicly the habit of the Third Order 
 she considered to be her solemn betrothal to the God of her 
 soul. She could not contain her exstatic joy on this occasion, 
 nor prevent the sweet tears which would overflow from the 
 pure depths of that virginal heart. Thenceforth she was 
 Christ's,— she wholly belonged to Him and to the little ones 
 of His flock. Thenceforward, deeming that she had as yet 
 done nothing for her Lord and Love, she began to run for- 
 ward in the road of sanctitj^, — in the practice of humility, 
 self-sacrifice, and entire devotion to the good of others. 
 
 rocks, colored like them, and rough like them in his brown peasant's serge, he prayed 
 and meditated, saw the vision of Christ crucified, and planned his Order to regenerate 
 a vicious age. So still he lay, so long, so like a stone, so gentle were his eyes, so kind 
 and low his voice, that the mice nibbled bread crumbs from his wallet, lizards ran over 
 him, and larks sang to him in the air. Here, too, in these long solitary vigils, the 
 Spirit of God came upon him, and the spirit of Nature was even as God's Spirit, and 
 he sang:— 'Laudato sia Dio mio Signore. con tutte le creature, specialmente raesser 
 la f rate sole; per suor luna, e per le stelle; per frate vento, e per I'aire e' nuvolo, e 
 sereno, e ogni tempo/ Half the value of this hymn would be lost were we to forget 
 how it was written, in what solitudes and mountains far from men, or to ticket it with 
 some cold word like Pantheism. Pantheism it is not, but the acknowledgment of 
 that brotherhood, beneath the love of God, by which the sun, moon and stars, and wind 
 and air and cloud, and clearness and all weather and all creatures, are bound together, 
 with the soul of man. Here is a sentence of the ' Imitation of Christ,' which throws 
 some light upon the hymn of St. Francis by explaining the value of natural beauty for 
 monks who spent their lives in studying death: -If thy heart were right, then would 
 every creature be to thee a mirror of life, and a book of holy doctrine. There is no 
 creature so small and vile that does not show forth the goodness of God.' With this 
 sentence bound about their foreheads, walked Fra Angelico (a Dominican) and St. 
 Francis. To men like them the mountains, the valleys, and the skies, and all that they 
 contained, were full of deep significance. . . The whole world was a pageant of God's 
 glory, a poem to His goodness. Their chastened senses, pure hearts, and simple wills,, 
 were as wings bji which they soared above the things of earth, and sent the music of 
 their souls aloft with every other creature in the sjTnphony of praise. . . We, who have 
 lost sight of the imisible world, who set our affections more on things of earth, fancy 
 that because these monks despised the world, and did not write about its landscapes, 
 therefore they were dead to its beauty."— Cor>iAi/^ Magazine^ vol. xiv. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE HOME IN DESENZAISTO CONTINUES TO BE SISTER ANGELA'S 
 
 SCHOOL. 
 
 As she now wore the religious habit, she was admitted to 
 the privilege so ardently coveted of frequent Communion, 
 Her happiness was so great that with the independence and 
 privacy she enjoyed in her own home at Desenzano, as well 
 as the continual opportunities she sought and obtained of 
 teaching, instructing, and doing all manner of good to those 
 around her, she might well believe that she was in God's 
 hand, doing the good He wished her to do, and in the only 
 sphere she could do it in for some time. 
 
 Desenzano, Salo, and the surrounding districts long con- 
 tinued to cherish a grateful memory of the years between 
 1497 and 1516. For during this long period of preparation 
 and expectancy did imperious circumstances force Angela 
 Merici to remain beneath the shelter of the home in which 
 she was born and reared. It was the peculiar feature of her 
 beautiful life that it was to bloom and bear its fruit on the 
 native soil, so that the eyes which had beheld it in its spring- 
 tide, should watch its growth until its blessed maturity. 
 
 And, as her grateful fellow-citizens ever gladly testified, 
 most beautiful was that life, as well as most holy, most 
 lovable appeared to all who approached her that saintliness 
 
 79 
 
80 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 which shone forth in her bearing, her speech, her womanly 
 gentleness and grace, and that exquisite tact which knew 
 so well how to find the fitting words for each one's need, 
 and to do the right thing at the happiest moment. Her life 
 was one of retirement and prayer and secret austerity, but 
 not one of seclusion, or of unamiable and unapproachable 
 rigor. She had to remain in the world, attending to her 
 own worldly concerns, dealing with men and women whose 
 spirit was oppressed with material cares, and whose hearts 
 were bruised and bleeding from the wrongs inflicted by the 
 world: they came to her because she was unworldly, because 
 she was heavenly-minded, because a healing virtue went 
 forth from her, filling the very atmosphere of her home, and 
 felt in the touch of her hand, the sound of her gentle voice, 
 and the unearthly light that beamed from the pure depths of 
 her eyes. 
 
 The highest and the oldest sought her in their troubles 
 and sorrows, young as she was, because there was a wisdom 
 in her counsels and consolations that was not the slow growth 
 of age; and many a man who had come to consult Sister 
 Angela about his temporal concerns was moved to lay bare 
 the wounds of his soul, and bore away with him a firm re- 
 solve to live a little for eternity. Many a woman whose life 
 had been wasted till the hour she crossed the threshold of 
 the Merici, and crossed it too impelled by curiosity, went 
 away changed in heart, after having looked upon the face of 
 a living saint. 
 
 As to the young people of her own sex, they were irresist- 
 ibly drawn to Angela, all submitting to the charm of her 
 manner and won by the kind and pleasant words which she 
 knew so well how to say to each one, — though the few only 
 among the most fervent had courage to imitate the extreme 
 austerity of life revealed to her intimate friends. Still, as it 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 81 
 
 happened later in Brescia, so did it befall at Desenzano 
 and, in a certain measure, at Salo, women of every class 
 adopted both a more modest and a far less costly style of 
 dress, — through the silent eloquence of Angela's example. 
 
 There is no mention in authentic history of Angela's having 
 opened a school during her stay at Desenzano, any more than 
 during her long residence at Brescia. Nor was she, w^hile 
 sheltered at her parents' home, the superior in any sense of a 
 community of women. Indeed there was no such commu- 
 nity in existence. Not before the year 1530, as we shall see 
 in its place, was the saint able to lay the foundations of any- 
 thing like a congregation, or even a community. 
 
 Distracted by fierce civil dissensions as all Upper Italy was 
 during the early part of the sixteenth century, with Lom. 
 bardy and Venetia overrun again and again by the hostile 
 armies of France and Spain; and most unfavorable as were 
 the times not only for the peace of monastic life, but more 
 especially still for the founding of new monastic orders, — 
 Providence gave to Angela's aims and efforts a direction 
 singularly in keeping with the needs and circumstances of 
 her age. It was the complaint of men who would not re- 
 form their own evil lives, that Religion sadly needed reform; 
 the saying of priests and monks to whom the fulfillment of 
 their own solemn obligations had become an intolerable bur- 
 then, that Religious Orders were in a deplorable state of de- 
 generacy, while many men in authority, influenced by these 
 outcries, had openly set their face against the admission by 
 the Church of any sort of new monastic institutions. 
 
 It was, then, a special inspiration of Providence that led 
 Angela Merici, even after this last vision, to remain in her 
 own home while wearing the monastic habit, and honoring 
 the Religious profession by a most saintly life. His spirit it 
 was, assuredly, which made her counsel the maidens who 
 
82 ^T. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 were drawn to her, and strove to imitate her, to live in the 
 world beneath the protection of the parental roof, — . 
 presenting to the disordered and pleasure-seeking society 
 around them the forcible argument of their blameless con- 
 duct and active charities, Angela and her associates were 
 to be everywhere along, the most frequented paths of daily 
 life in town and country, like so many guides stationed, 
 whose very angelic mien and unearthly virtues, were to pro- 
 claim to the passing crowd that Heaven was to be won by 
 violence and that Christian men and women were born to some- 
 thing beside the present life's bodily wants, or pleasures, or 
 vanities. Their mission was to leaven the masses in the great 
 cities, especially with the living faith and the heroic piety 
 springing from it, so sorely needed by the times. 
 
 This view of their immediate providential purpose, — for on 
 the foundations laid by Angela was to be erected after her 
 death the glorious superstructure dimly foreshown to her, 
 but never beheld by the living saint, — will enable us to 
 Understand her long preparatory labors and trials. 
 
 If Angela did not open a school for children in her home 
 at Desenzano, it is none the less certain that she was most 
 zealous in procuring their being taught the elements of the 
 Christian doctrine, first of all, and then, so far as she might, 
 the first elements of secular knowledge. Books were very 
 rare and very dear in those days, — i^rinting being as yet but 
 in its infancy, — and the cost of procuring either manuscripts 
 or printed works was entirely above the means of the lower 
 classes. This dearth of books, however, was to be remedied 
 to a very great extent before the end of the sixteenth cent- 
 ury, and with the enormously increased facilities for learn- 
 ing and for teaching afforded by the printing-press, the zeal 
 of the Institute of St. Angela in promoting education was 
 to keep a constant j^ace. 
 
AND THE URSULINE8, 83 
 
 All this, and much more than this, should be kept m mind 
 when comparing our age and country with the Italy of the 
 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. People who are resolved 
 to find fault and condemn blindly, will shut their eyes to 
 the wrong and injustice of such comparisons and the sweep- 
 ing censures pronounced by fanaticism or prejudice. 
 
 Meanwhile, although the home of the Mericiat Desenzano 
 was converted neither into a convent nor into a school of 
 secular learning, it continued to be none the less a daily 
 resort for learners in the far higher knowledge of the things 
 of God. As we have stated above, the highest as well as 
 the lowliest in the land were impelled by the needs of their 
 own soul, much more than by a laudable curiosity, to look 
 upon the face of a living saint, to feel themselves lifted up 
 toward God by the near presence of the angelie maiden, or 
 to receive from her the rules for the amendment and di- 
 rection of their lives in conformity with the spirit of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 One noble family, in particular, formed during this period 
 a warm and generous attachment for Angela, which was to 
 influence her after-life in no ordinary degree. These were 
 the Patengoli of Brescia. Jerome and Caterina Patengoli 
 had a country-seat at Patengo, a hamlet not far from Desen- 
 zano, and there they were wont to spend some months every 
 year. They had watched the growth of Angela's reputation, 
 and, feeling a lively interest in one so tried by misfortune 
 and so universally revered, they made of their stay at 
 Patengo an opportunity for cultivating a nearer acquaint- 
 ance. All that they saw and heard themselves of her untir- 
 ing charity and zeal among her townsfolk, ceased to excite 
 their wonder when they were admitted to her privacy, and 
 privileged to witness the absolute poverty in which she 
 chose to live, her rigorous abstinence, and her insatiable 
 
84 ^T. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 thirst for prayer. What, however, convinced them most of 
 her sanctity, was not only the unhesitating promptness with 
 which she tore herself away either from her rapt contempla- 
 tion before the altar, or from her private devotions at home, 
 to be at the beck of all who needed her, or called upon her, 
 but the beautiful cheerfulness with which she met, at all 
 times and in every place, the persons who thus intruded 
 upon her occupations. 
 
 From the sweetest joys of her converse with the Divine 
 Majesty, she was ever ready to pass to the presence of the 
 poorest stranger. She worshiped Christ in the persons of 
 His poor, she beheld God in the souls of all His children, and 
 found no difficulty in forsaking the sweets of spiritual com- 
 munion with Him on the Altar or in her oratory for the still 
 sweeter occupation of ministering to Him in the persons of 
 the bodily or spiritually needy. Her incredible austerities 
 did not apparently impair her strength; most certainly they 
 did not sour her temper; while the hours spent alone with 
 God only made her more radiant toward all those who came 
 to interrupt her. 
 
 All this the Patengoli saw with increasing admiration, 
 year after year, with an increasing desire also to have such 
 a treasure with them or near them in the beautiful, busy, and 
 populous Brescia. They had prevailed on Angela to spend 
 a few days with them at Patengo, and the intimacy spring- 
 ing from this visit so filled them with veneration for their 
 visitor, that they resolved to try every possible means to 
 have her in Brescia. Their desire was to have its fulfillment 
 later, and in a way which they as well as their happy children 
 little dreamed of then. 
 
 As the name of Brescia is so closely interwoven with the 
 events of our heroine's history, as to cause her to be desig- 
 nated sometimes as "Angela of Brescia," it naay be well to 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 85 
 
 know something of the city in which were laid the foundations 
 of the Order of St. Ursula, and which was for twenty-four 
 years the h6me of its foundress. 
 
 It is situated among the spurs of the Venetian Alps, about 
 fifteen miles to the northwest of Desenzano, in a position 
 which commands a magnificent prospect, ranging over the 
 upper hilly region of Lombardy, as well as the glorious plain 
 below, the garden of Europe, and destined by God to be the 
 blissful abode of peace and plenty and religion. Brescia, — 
 the Roman Brixia, — was famous, powerful, and prosperous 
 at the beginning of the Christian era, and looked up to as 
 the parent of such neighboring cities as Verona. At the 
 birth of Angela it was the capital of one of the most beautiful 
 provinces of the Venetian Republic, distinguished not only 
 for the highly cultivated country which surrounded it, but 
 for its iron works, its manufactories of arms, and its love of 
 the fine arts. 
 
 In 1512 it fell into the hands of the French, who made 
 themselves so odious to the inhabitants that they rose like 
 one man, attempted in vain to storm the citadel in which 
 there was a French garrison, tore down the Fleur-de-Lys, 
 and hung out from the battlements the standard of St. 
 Mark. Thereupon Gaston de Foix returned with 12,000 
 men, the flower of the French army, and demanded the in- 
 stant and unconditional submission of the city, threatening 
 that unless it surrendered the population should be pitilessly 
 exterminated. The citizens, thus placed between the com- 
 bined attacks of the garrison from within and such a 
 superior force from without, preferred the issue of combat. 
 They were overcome, and De Foix, — of whose chivalry we 
 have read such exaggerated accounts, — carried out his in- 
 human threat. Bayard, who was wounded in the assault, 
 tells us in his memoirs that 22,000 persons of every age and 
 
86 >S^. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 sex were butchered by the victorious soldiery! * It was not 
 to be expected that Desenzano and Salo would be quite free 
 from the intrusion and exactions of these hordes, as much to 
 be dreaded as the Mohammedan fleets and armies which 
 threatened the Mediterranean sea-coast. Still no mention is 
 made by any of the historians of Angela of these terrible 
 events. 
 
 Not only were such massacres perpetrated by Christians 
 on their fellow-Christians, but the city itself was fired in 
 every part, and for many days pillage, murder, and licentious- 
 ness reigned without control. 
 
 Brescia never recovered either her former population, or 
 her wealth, or her industrial activity. She remained beneath 
 the yoke of the foreigner till 1616, — when, as we shall see 
 presently, Angela was induced to take up her abode there. 
 
 It is only after remembering calamities like this, falling 
 with such crushing force upon her native land and its people, 
 that one sees how utterly hopeless it must seem to the de- 
 voted girl, as well as to her most enlightened and energetic 
 counsellors, to found anything like a religious order^ — or 
 even to lead, amid the successive invasions of a foreign 
 army, a life of undisturbed religious aeclusion. 
 
 While their beautiful city was beginning to rise from its 
 ashes, and men's souls were despairing of ever again bmdmg 
 up or healing permanently the cruel wounds inflicted by the un- 
 christian generals of the Most Christian King, Jerome and 
 Caterina Patengoli, saw, within the sp'ace of a few months, 
 both of their promising children taken from them by death, — 
 the victims, most likely, of the terrible fevers or fatal en- 
 
 1 Bayard's account of this memorable assault is, of course, as favorable as possible 
 to the beseigers. Other wTiters, perhaps not very much inclined to favor the French, 
 give a much higher figure. According to these 7,000 of the defenders were slain in the 
 heat of battle, and 46,000 of both sexes and of every age and condition were ruthlessly 
 slain. 
 
AND THE URSULINE8, 87 
 
 demies that follow in the track of war, and break out with 
 such fearful violence within a fortified city, the gutters of 
 whose streets, for several days, ran with the blood of fifty 
 thousand slain! The year 1516 gave peace to Brescia, 
 and the French flag disappeared from her walls. But there 
 was utter desolation in the home of the Patengoli. 
 
 The afliicted parents would fain have Angela with them, 
 knowing as they did that she would be a comforting angel- 
 Nor were her presence and ministrations needed by them 
 alone. There was not a family within the walls of Brescia 
 who did not then mourn the loss of their dearest and best, as 
 well as the utter ruin of their fortunes. So, if Angela wished to 
 reap a rich harvest of charity and devotion, no time was 
 more propitious than the present condition of Brescia; no 
 more favorable opportunity could she ever have of endearing 
 herself to a people who were already suflJciently acquainted 
 with the fame of her blameless life. 
 
 The Patengoli did not address themselves directly to 
 Angela. They were convinced she would do nothing without 
 the orders of her Franciscan Superiors at Lonato. There- 
 fore not a moment was lost in obtaining from these a posi- 
 tive command to Angela to proceed to Brescia and take up 
 her residence with Jerome Patengoli. She obeyed without a 
 moment's hesitation, and proved to be all that her friends 
 and the entire city expected, — an angel of God in their 
 midst. Many and unceasing as were the demands upon her 
 time and strength, she was equal to all. Her whole soul 
 went out to the multitude of her afilicted fellow-citizens and 
 countrymen. 
 
 It was also the first time that she had lived in a populous 
 city ; and, in Brescia, much as the houses of private citizens had 
 suffered even where the fire had not swept away everything, 
 the churches and religious institutions had escaped with com- 
 
88 ^T. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 paratively slight injury. The beautiful churches, — beauti- 
 ful especially in their numerous works of Christian art, 
 were to Angela a source of perpetual delight. There every- 
 thing in the sacred edifice spoke to her soul. The monuments 
 recalling the devoted lives and heroic death of the saints 
 who had made Brescia illustrious among Christians, or who 
 had been honored by the special veneration of the citizens; 
 the works of painting and sculpture which kept alive before 
 the mind and heart of the people, the glorious history of the 
 great men and women who had died bearing witness to the 
 divinity of the Christian faith, or had honored it with deeds 
 of supernatural sanctity or had been the apostles of the 
 truth to the surrounding countries; — all these made a deep 
 impression on a soul so open to all the sublimest impulses and 
 inspirations of grace. So, once she had consoled the 
 Patengoli, she gave herself up to the numerous works 
 of charity which awaited her on every side. When not in 
 the hospitals, or visiting the sick poor, or preparing for 
 death some poor needy soul, she was sure to be found 
 before some favorite shrine or altar in the Cathedral or St. 
 Afra, rapt in prayer, and lost to all sense of what was pass- 
 ing around her. It sufficed, however, to say one word to 
 her about some urgent errand of mercy or neighborly kind- 
 ness, to see her rise from her knees, and set out with face all 
 aglow with the divine fire within to perform what was asked 
 of her. 
 
 At length her friends, as she thought, needed her presence 
 no longer; Brescia was also busy in repairing the evils 
 of war and foreign occupation. What had been spared by 
 the enemy of the largest fortunes was, it was thought, barely 
 sufficient to meet the wants of the owners, the requirements 
 of reviving industry, and the assistance needed by the im- 
 poverished condition of local institutions. No one thought 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 89 
 
 or could reasonably think of creating new ones amid the ruin 
 and bankruptcy of the present. 
 
 Angela, therefore, deeming these conjunctures most un- 
 favorable to her cherished design, was about to return to 
 Desenzano, when Providence interfered, and enabled her to 
 prolong her stay in Brescia. 
 
 Among the many distinguished persons whose veneration 
 she had won in that city was a wealthy merchant named 
 Antonio dei Romani, who insisted on Angela's remaining in 
 the present field of labor, offering her in his own spacious 
 mansion a room remote from all noise and interference, 
 and securing, besides, the authorization of her Franciscan 
 Superiors. This did away with every objection which 
 Angela could have toward prolonging her stay in Brescia. 
 Indeed it was her own wish to continue there her fruitful 
 labors among all classes, especially among the young peo- 
 ple of her own sex, very many of whom were in the habit of 
 coming to her for spiritual instruction and comfort. And 
 thus, although she fancied, in her extreme diffidence of her 
 own powers and influence, that there was no near prospect 
 of her establishing such a congregation as the last vision 
 foreshadowed, — she nevertheless felt instinctively that she 
 was meanwhile doing a preparatory work by continuing her 
 present labors. 
 
 In these tentative efforts the years passed slowly by, 
 much to Angela's disappointment. Her soul was full of 
 what she could not help considering to be her life-work^ 
 the one thing which the Divine Majesty had set apart for 
 her to accomplish. It had been her wish, soon after the 
 prophetic vision at Brudazzo, to consult the Blessed Osanna 
 Andreasi, then near the close of her saintly career in 
 Mantua. Such a holy personage, with the supernatural 
 lights vouchsafed her, could reassure the inexperienced girl 
 
90 ST. ANGELA MERICl, 
 
 on the reality of her vision, and best counsel her concerning 
 the best means for carrying it out. 
 
 What Angela could not do before 1505, — the date of 
 Osanna's death, — she resolved to do in 1522, when she had 
 permanently fixed her abode in Brescia. She went to 
 Mantua, to pray at the shrine of this great servant of 
 God, — ^^hoping that the intercession of a saint in Heaven 
 would procure for her the light she had so often yearned to 
 get from her lips while living. Several of the Brescian 
 ladies, who looked up to Angela as their guide, resolved to 
 accompany her; and they all set out under the protection of 
 the good Antonio dei Romani. Angela could scarcely tear 
 herself away from the tomb of the Blessed Osanna. After 
 spending a long time in prayer before it, says Salvatori, 
 *^she threw both her arms round the tomb-stone, kissing it 
 again and again with the tenderest devotion, shedding sweet 
 tears of joy, and filling all present with the like devout 
 sentiments." On her return she passed by Solferino, 
 where Prince Luigi de Gonzaga, lord of Castiglione, and a 
 near relative of Federigo Gonzaga, the reigning sovereign of 
 Mantua, happened to be then residing with his wife.^ Both 
 Luigi and his wife had heard much of Angeb, and were 
 anxious to make the personal acquaintance of one whose 
 reputation was so widespread. They were both solidly 
 pious; and their desire was not prompted by mere curiosity. 
 Nor was Angela's visit one dictated by mere courtesy or 
 
 1 This Luigi (Latin, Aloysiies), was grandfather to St. Aloysius Gonzaga, who was 
 named after him. Solferino is quite near the little town of Castiglione, where the saint 
 was born. Both to^vns are situated in a hilly but richly cultivated country, Solferino, — 
 now a straggling hamlet with ruins of the Castle of the Gonzagas,— crowning a bold 
 eminence, about ten miles south of Desenzano. The terrible battl-e of Solferino was 
 fought on June 24, 1859, between the Austrians on the one side, and the allied French 
 and Piedmontese, on the other. The Piedmontese army extended its lines almost 
 to Desenzano, the fiercest struggle taking place near Kivaltella, on the -very shores of 
 the Lake of Garda. 
 
AND THE UBSULINES. 91 
 
 any other worldly motive. She had a mission of charity to 
 perform. One of her own kinsmen, and a subject of the 
 Gonzagas, had incurred the penalty of banishment and for- 
 feiture of all liis possessions, by some treasonable act. The 
 audience which she solicited was granted at once; and after 
 presenting her petition for mercy, and conversing for a con- 
 siderable time with both sovereigns, she was sent on her 
 way rejoicing. These visits were so designed by Providence 
 as to secure Angela and her Congregation powerful friends 
 in the day of need. 
 
 The day of action, so long wished and prayed for by the 
 humble pilgrim was to be deferred for some ten years more. 
 Even while Angela and her companions were on their w^ay 
 homeward to Brescia, the war clouds which had so often 
 within the generation then living deluged Upper Italy with 
 blood, were gathering once more above the Alps. The con- 
 test between Francis I. and the Emperor Charles V., which 
 had already been so disastrous to Italy, was to continue for 
 five years more to ruin all the best interests of Religion and 
 society, — till, in 1527, all Christendom was to be startled by 
 seeing a French renegade with an army of heretics and 
 cut-throats under the imperial banner of Spain, besiege 
 Rome, sack and plunder it during two entire months, and 
 hold Pope Clement VII. a prisoner in Castle Santangelo! 
 
 The Gonzagas, all through these heart-sickening wars, had 
 been pre-eminent in patriotism and military skill. 
 
 Their aim, — like that of every Pontiff who ascended the 
 papal throne, was to rid Italy of foreign domination. Un- 
 fortunately both France and Spain claimed as their heir- 
 looms the Kingdom of Naples at tlfe south of the Peninsula and 
 the Duchy of Milan, at the north. Between these two great 
 powers all the Italian princes divided their allegiance, often 
 changing sides as suited their own selfish policy, or as the 
 
92 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 victory happened to declare for King or for Emperor. The 
 reigning sovereign of Mantua in 1522 was Frederic (Federigo), 
 who helped to drive the French under Bonnivet back across 
 the Alps in 1524, and was for that and other heroic services 
 created Duke of Mantua in 1530. His father, Gian- Francesco 
 (John-Francis), was one of Italy's greatest captains, and 
 again and again worsted the armies of the French Kings, 
 Charles VIII. and Louis XII. 
 
 Can we wonder that this beautiful country, — like a har- 
 vest-field devastated year after year in the season of the 
 ripening grain, — should have borne no fruit or comfort to the 
 husbandman? Or that Angela Merici, though burdened with 
 the divine injunction to found a religious order, should have 
 deferred, as each year dawned upon her with its terrors and 
 uncertainties, the fulfillment of her cherished purpose, till at 
 length her soul grew sick with the interminable and unavoid- 
 able delays? 
 
 Such indeed were the dark prospects of all Upper Italy 
 when she re-entered the gates of Brescia in the year of grace 
 1522. This city, as well as Verona, had been under the 
 Venetian rule since 1516. It had been the last dream of 
 Pope Leo X. before his death (December 1, 1821), to unite 
 the Italian princes in a solid league, so as to expel both the 
 French and the Spaniards from the Peninsula. He there- 
 fore joined hands with the Emperor Charles V. to drive out 
 the French from Upper Italy, purposing afterward to force 
 the Spaniards to relinquish their hold on Naples and Sicily. 
 Venice came, in this struggle, to the support of France, 
 and exposed her own territory to be overrun by the Span- 
 ish and German troops, as* it happened after the expulsion 
 of the French. Through the whole of 1522, therefore, 
 Brescia and its territory were either held by the Spanish forces 
 or subject to be overrun by their victorious bands. The next 
 
AND THE UBSULINES. 93 
 
 year, indeed, Venice gave up the French for the Spanish al- 
 liance. But in 1523 Francis I. had a splendid army of 
 30,000 men in Upper Italy, and another sanguinary struggle 
 began on the same field so often laid waste during these sad 
 years, and around the same beleaguered cities for whose 
 citizens there seemed no prospect of lasting peace or solid 
 prosperity. 
 
 To one of Angela Merici's heroic and self-sacrificing tem- 
 per, there was abundant opportunity for the display of her 
 characteristic virtues in a city like Brescia. Still while thus 
 reaping a rich harvest of merit and gratitude before God and 
 men, her forty-sixth year had come and gone, and she saw not 
 when she might begin the great work enjoined on her and 
 to be consummated in this same city of Brescia. 
 
 Just then she felt impelled to visit Palestine, not only for 
 the purpose of reverently treading in the foot-prints of the 
 Master on the land privileged to behold Him in the flesh, but 
 to obtain from Him, on the spot where He had shed His blood 
 for mankind, the grace of seeing clearly what His will was with 
 regard to her appointed life-work, and how she was to ac- 
 complish it. Her own Venice was still the mistress of the 
 Adriatic; nor had the Mohammedan as yet overthrown her 
 supremacy on the Mediterranean. Though sadly fallen away 
 from her pristine power and her pristine piety, — for Angela 
 while yet in her early womanhood beheld all Europe in 
 arms against Venice, to the shame of the Christian name, — 
 the grand old Republic still prided herself on protecting on 
 sea or land all who felt inspired to visit Jerusalem and the 
 other holy places. Yearly, in the beginning of May, one of 
 her noblest ships, commanded by a Venetian senator, was 
 placed at the disposal of the pilgrims of every nationality. 
 And in that which was to sail in the spring of 1524, Angela 
 resolved, if possible, to take passage to Palestine. 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 
 LIGHT IN DARKNESS. 
 
 Religious Orders to be long-lived and fruitful in holiness 
 must be Christ-like in their members. Hence it is that we 
 find the great men and women, who have been instrumental 
 in founding these Orders carried beyond themselves by a 
 passionate love for the Crucified and for His Cross. Their 
 humility lay not only in the practice of the most extreme 
 poverty, but in the endurance of the most abject humilia- 
 tions and the bitterest bodily pains, in order to bear a closer 
 resemblance to their Divine Model. Convinced that in the 
 Cross of Christ lay the virtue by which the proud and sen- 
 sual and selfish world around them could be lifted above 
 earth, could be saved and sanctified, they sought in all 
 things to be like Him, — destitute of all earthly comfort and 
 goods, despised and held as most vile, nailed with Him to 
 the bitter wood of shame, and treated like the worst of out- 
 casts and criminals. 
 
 We know that during the years 1523 and 1524 Angela 
 
 practiced a poverty and an habitual self -crucifixion, the bare 
 
 thought of which would appal our cowardly delicacy. There 
 
 happened to pass through Venetia in the summer of the 
 
 former year, and while Angela was on her way to Mantua, a 
 
 noble Spanish soldier, on his way to the Holy Land, whose 
 
 94 
 
8T, ANGELA MERICl. 95 
 
 Christ-like poverty, humility, and sanctity of life, left a 
 heavenly odor behind it wherever he passed. 
 
 He too had been chosen to found a mighty religious soci- 
 ety, and his soul, like that of the Maid of Desenzano, — was 
 tried by seemingly inexplicable delays, and prepared by won- 
 derful experiences. From Genoa, w^here he landed first on 
 the shores of Italy, he traveled on foot to Rome, braving 
 the dangers and outrages to be met with in a country cov- 
 ered with hostile armies and afflicted with the plague. In 
 Rome he astonished and edified all who beheld him, — al- 
 though they knew not how highly born was the poor way- 
 worn mendicant on whom they bestowed their alms, while 
 admiring the preternatural light that shone through his pal- 
 lid and noble features. Back through Central Italy he pain- 
 fully dragged himself dividing among the poor the gold 
 given him to pay his way to Palestine, begging his bread 
 from door to door, arriving in Venice, utterly exhausted and 
 unknown, and, after worshiping the God of his soul in the 
 glorious temple dedicated to St. Mark, sinking to sleep on 
 the pavement outside, beneath the shadow of some of the 
 porticoes around the magnificent square. 
 
 In his splendid palace, near at hand, Senator Marco Trev- 
 isan, illustrious alike for his descent, his learning, and his 
 piety, — one destined later (1553) to fill the highest office in 
 the Republic, — is warned in his sleep to seek and care for 
 the houseless pilgrim. From Jerusalem, where Ignatius de 
 Loyola would have fain dwelt forever, feeding near the 
 Sepulchre of Christ the fire which burned within his heart, — 
 he is forced to return, his hope unfulfilled, and the yearnings 
 of his great love unsatisfied in all save in the cruel sufferings 
 he had to endure. In January, 1524, he lands at Venice and 
 knocks at the gate of the Trevisan palace, clad in '^ a short 
 thin coat and an open vest of black cloth, very ragged at the 
 
96 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 shoulders, with pantaloons of some coarse material, that 
 reached no lower than the knees, leaving his legs quite bare. 
 His sufferings had been great, for the cold was extreme, and 
 there were frequent falls of snow." ^ 
 
 Had Angela heard of the passage of this noble pilgrim 
 through Venice and Upper Italy both in the preceding 
 summer, and during the winter months of 1524? We have 
 no grounds for affirming it positively. Nevertheless, it is 
 anything but unlikely that the name and fame of the heroic 
 Spaniard should have reached Mantua and Brescia. What 
 happened during her own pilgrimage was noised far and 
 near, as we shall presently see. And the saintly virtues of 
 Ignatius Loyola produced a no less profound impression. 
 
 Be that as it may, — the Love of the Crucified drew to 
 Jerusalem both these great souls. To all Christians, in- 
 deed, ever since the birth of Christendom, Jerusalem be- 
 came of all places the dearest and most sacred. It was for 
 all who truly loved the Redeemer, as it is still, — the home of 
 the soul. 
 
 Bartolommeo Biancosi, one of Angela's cousins from 
 Salo, had also longed to visit Jerusalem. 
 
 Happening to visit her in Brescia about this time, he be- 
 came acquainted with her project and asked to be her com- 
 panion on this pilgrimage. He was young, however, and 
 had never traveled, and was but ill-fitted to be the guide 
 and protector of his cousin during so long a voyage, and 
 amid the serious dangers to be met with on sea and land. 
 From this perplexity they were both relieved by Antonio 
 dei Romani, who offered to be himself their guide to Pales- 
 tine and back. To make sure of there being no delay to 
 their setting out in the spring of 1524, Romani went him- 
 
 iStewart Rose, *' Ignatius Loyola and the Early Jesuits," p. 64; 2d ed., London, 1871. 
 
AND THE UBSULINE8. 97 
 
 self beforehand to Venice, and found the flag displayed, 
 which the Republic every year hung out as a signal for the 
 Pilgrims. So he sent word to Angela to lose no time in 
 joining him at Venice. 
 
 Angela forthwith, on the 1st of May, repaired to Said; and 
 both she and Bartolommeo set out on horseback for Venice. 
 They arrived m that city on the 25th, after having en- 
 countered more than one mortal peril. On the 25th, which 
 happened that year to be the Feast of Corpus Christi,they 
 all partook early of the Divine Bread vouchsafed to pilgrims 
 here below, and embarked on the vessel set apart for the 
 yearly pilgrimage, under the command of the Venetian 
 Senator Luigi Giustiniani. 
 
 It fared well with our pilgrims during the whole of their 
 voyage down the Adriatic, and until their arrival at the port 
 of Canea,in the Isle of Crete (or Candia), when without any 
 previous warning or indisposition, Angela was suddenly 
 stricken with total blindness. Thereupon both Romani and 
 Biancosi bethought them seriously of returning to Venice, 
 taking it as an indication of the Divine Will that their dear 
 companion was thus disabled from seeing the Holy Places, 
 and the direct object of their journey was frustrated. Not so 
 Angela : she could, indeed, she saia, well believe that this 
 sudden affliction had befallen her in punishment of her sins. 
 Still, although unworthy of seeing with her own eyes the 
 places where her adored Lord had labored and suffered for 
 her sake, she would only prove to Him both her gratitude 
 and reverence by touching them with her hands and her 
 lips. 
 
 Her friends were too manly and too Christian, not to be 
 moved by such reasons as these. So, without further objec- 
 tion, they pursued their voyage all together, Angela's cheer- 
 fulness and courage under this sudden visitation only serving 
 
98 ST. ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 to increase still more the veneration in which she was held 
 by them, and by the entire ship's company. 
 
 She was received with much honor by the Franciscan 
 Monks in Jerusalem, to whom had been intrusted the 
 guardianship of the Holy Places, and the duty of providing 
 for stranger pilgrims arriving in the city. She wore her 
 Franciscan habit; and the testimony of her fellow-travelers, 
 her own gentle and saintly bearing, as well as her present 
 helplessness, rendered. her an object of ten-fold respect and 
 sympathy to the devoted monks. ^ She found hospitality 
 with her Sister Nuns of the Third Order of St. Francis on 
 Mount Sion. 
 
 Angela was more fortunate than had been Ignatius Loyola, 
 who was not allowed to visit any of the Holy Places outside 
 of Jerusalem, and in Jerusalem itself was treated with 
 unaccountable harshness both by the Turks and by his fellow- 
 Christians. He was compensated for the blows received and 
 for his peremptory dismissal from Palestine, by a vision in 
 which he beheld our Lord Himself, and which filled him 
 with unspeakable joy. 
 
 Unspeakable also was the consolation experienced by 
 Angela, as they led her by the hand from place to place. 
 What happy concourse of circumstances enabled her fel- 
 low-pilgrims and herself to visit Bethlehem, has not been 
 told by her historians. She deemed it an unspeakable privi- 
 lege to be permitted to kneel and adore the Incarnate 
 Word on the very spot where He first blessed His Virgin- 
 
 1 There exists a formal testimony to the veneration with which Angela was regarded 
 in Palestine, from Father John di Calorra, a Franciscan of the strict observance. In 
 his ^' Chronological History of the Province of Syria and of the Holy Land of Jeru- 
 salem," {Storia OrorioCogica ddla Promnda di Siina e Terra Santa di Qerusalemme^ 
 Venice, 1694, book v. ch. 27,— he goes on to say: "At that same time another servant 
 of God shed a great lustre in Jerusalem on the Monastery of the Nuns of the Third 
 Order situated on Mount Sion; her name was St. Angela of Desenzano." 
 
AND THE UR8ULINE8. 99 
 
 Mother with the joys of maternity. Angela, guided as she 
 assuredly was by the Spirit of God, could contempJate with 
 the eyes of her soul the scene of that nativity, as it had 
 occurred so many centuries before: the Mother and her Babe 
 and their devoted guardian, Joseph, cast out at the mid- 
 night hour from the homes and hearts of their kinsfolk; the 
 Messiah born in a wayside cavern, laid after His birth 
 in the poor, cold crib; that Mother and her companion, — • 
 the first companions and followers of the King of souls, — 
 kneeling in rapturous adoration of this infinite self-abasement, 
 divining, though dimly, the mighty mysteries of the career 
 began in the Manger only to end on the Cross of shame. What 
 mattered it that Angela had to be led by the hand, like a child 
 in infancy, as she approached Bethlehem, climbed its hillside 
 road, and entered the church constructed by early Christian 
 piety above the cavern in which the Light of the World first 
 shone from the crib upon the eyes of his Mother? Hers 
 was a soul long habituated to the loving practice of the 
 poverty, the self-abasement, and self-sacrificing chanty 
 taught by the Babe of Bethlehem. From her childhood Angela 
 had been in spirit and truth the faithful companion of Mary 
 and Joseph in that glorious path which leads to Calvary. 
 And here she was on the very soil which their feet had 
 trodden. Here they had knelt by the crib, the two first 
 worshipers of God made man, — His most faithful and loved 
 imitators,— the two most lovingly watchful over Him 
 and His interests while on earth, — and the two most devoted 
 to Him and His Church in Heaven. Here Mary and Joseph 
 had beheld the splendors which shone above the hills of 
 Bethlehem on the ever-memorable night of the Nativity, as if 
 Heaven and its glories were nearer to our earth, — and here 
 they, too, we may well believe, heard the voices of the 
 Angelic multitude singing " Glory to God in the highest," 
 
100 ST, ANGELA MERICl 
 
 while the celestial harmonies sounded in vain for all but the 
 two lonely worshipers by the crib and the poor simple- 
 souled. shepherds in the wilderness. Here Mary's motherly 
 heart was thrilled by the arrival of these poor '' watchers on 
 the wold," flocking to the roadside cavern to do homage to 
 the new-born God of the poor. Alas, and here too were to 
 begin the terrors of that same motherly heart and Joseph's 
 agony of solicitude, when they had, at the midnight hour, 
 to " take the infant" and fly in hot haste across the western 
 mountains to the sea-coast and to Egypt, in order to escape 
 old Herod's pitiless sword. 
 
 For Angela, — nay, for her fellow-pilgrims from Italy, — 
 how eloquent of devotion to the Infant Christ were the tombs 
 shown them within the vast Church of St. Mary, — those of 
 St. Jerome and his two noble disciples in self-abnegation, 
 St. Paula and her daughter Eustochium, and that other great 
 Italian, St. Eusebius of Cremona, from Angela's own native 
 hills, who had sold .his patrimonial estates to cast his lot with 
 Jeiome, — and spread the knowledge and love of the Incar- 
 nate God, from Bethlehem and Jerusalem as a centre to the 
 uttermost boundaries of Asia! Not unworthy of the living 
 faith which inspired her countrywomen in the fourth century, 
 A\as the fervor of the holy Maid of Desenzano. Her soul, 
 while kneeling near Christ's own birthplace, was flooded 
 with light, enabling her to discern the height and depth of 
 the mystery of condescension consummated there. The 
 poor sightless eyes overflowed with a constant and sweet 
 stream of tears, while her whole heart went out to the Divine 
 Babe cast with His Mother, at His entrance into our cold 
 world, like a ewe with her lamb, forgotten in the storm and 
 the darkness, and left to perish by the roadside. 
 
 This abjection, this utter destitution of all human sympathy 
 and earthly comfort, it was which touched the stern soul of 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 101 
 
 Jerome had moulded it to such exquisite tenderness toward 
 Christ and His suffering poor. This too it was that fired the 
 hearts of the noble Paula and her daughters, inspiring them 
 with a love of poverty so passionate, that their deeds even 
 at this distance move our souls to generosity, and their 
 words are like coals of living fire, taken from the altar of the 
 Lamb and inflaming the reader to heroic love of Christ and 
 His Mother.' 
 
 1 Paula was still young when, after the death of her husband, she betook herself to 
 Bethlehem with her daughter Eustochium, and founded at her own expense two monas- 
 teries, one for women, which she governed herself, and another for men under the di- 
 rection of St. Jerome. There both ladies lived and labored till their death, another 
 Paula, the granddaughter of the foundress having come to join them in the full flower 
 of her youth. 
 
 We may judge of the boundless generosity of this great-souled woman by the follow- 
 ing answer to St. Jerome, who was trying to restrain her from ruinous almsgiving. 
 *^I have but one wish," she said, " and that is to die a beggar, so poor that I cannot 
 leave one penny to my daughter, and that I must be buried in a winding cloth bestowed 
 on me through charity. Should I ever be reduced to become a beggar, I shall find 
 plenty of people to give me alms; but should I refuse the poor man who now solicits 
 my aid, and should he perish of want in consequence, who will be responsible for his 
 death, if not I?" She did indeed die without, literally, possessing one cent,— nay, 
 heavily in debt for the maintenance of a host of ^he neediest poor. 
 
 Nor must we, in the midst of a calculating generation whose hearts are narrowed by 
 the perpetual seeking of self and self-interest, and whose minds are being gradually 
 poisoned by the scientific materialism propagated by printing press and professor's 
 chair, and lecturer's platform,— think that this sublime love of the God of Bethlehem 
 and of His poverty, had extinguished in the souls of these ardent followers of His 
 any of the natural and hallowed home-affections which He enjoined and consecrated 
 by His own example. Listen, rather, to the words of the eloquent author of " The 
 Monks of the West," and judge for yourself, dear reader: 
 
 *' One likes to know that these most austere Christians, these Roman ladies, possessed 
 of so high a courage in combatting their o\^ti inclinations, cherished in their hearts a 
 deep spring of tenderness, and clung fervently to the domestic ties which they did not 
 sever in devoting their lives to God. Motherly love and filial piety still overflowed in 
 these brave hearts. During the funeral service of Plesilla, her oldest daughter, Paula, 
 could not repress her grief, and fell into a swoon so deadly, that her life was in danger. 
 St. Jerome found it necessary in order to reconcile her with the Di^^ne Will, to write 
 her an eloquent letter, in which he made use of authority and persuasion, comdncing 
 her that her excessive grief scandalized the heathen, and redounded to the dishonor of 
 the Church and the monastic profession. 
 
 *' When, twenty years later (404), Paula herself died in her monastery of Bethlehem, 
 
102 ST, ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 If Angela's soul was so deeply moved by contact with 
 the sacred soil of Bethlehem; if the vivid light vouchsafed 
 to the interior sense more than compensated the loss of her 
 eyesight, how much more powerful must have been her 
 emotions as they led her, in Jerusalem itself, along every 
 stage which the Man of Sorrows followed during his 
 passion? how much more abundant the clear knowledge 
 imparted to her concerning these unfathomed depths of the 
 Infinite Love? 
 
 It is certain that while kneeling in the Garden of Geth- 
 semane, and on Mount Calvary, and again by the side of the 
 Holy Sepulchre, Angela could not contain herself. Her love 
 and compassion for the Divine Sufferer broke forth in great 
 heart-cries, which melted all who heard them. Little cared 
 she then, absorbed as she was in the contemplation of all 
 these realities of incomprehensible mercy, for the darkness 
 which had fallen so suddenly on her bodily sense. She only 
 yearned, she only craved to be made more and more like to 
 the Master. 
 
 She was permitted again and again to revisit the theatre 
 of our Lord's sufferings, each time with a sensible increase of 
 fervor and comfort, — praying all the while that He for whom 
 alone she wished to live, labor, suffer, and die, would en- 
 
 Eustochium after nursing her mother in her last illness with the most indefatigable as- 
 siduity, had to run from her death-bed to the grotto in which the Saviour was bom, 
 and, prostrate there, to beseech Him with tears and ardent supplications to grant 
 her the grace of dying then and there and to be buried with her parent, St. Jerome 
 held again to interfere, in order to combat this natural weakness, and to remove the 
 orphaned nun from her saintly mother's remains. These were despositedin a tomb in 
 the rock alongside the Cavern of the Nativity ; and on chis tomb Jerome engraved an 
 epitaph of which this is a translation: 
 
 ''Berereposes Patjla the daughter of the Scipios and Paulus JEmil^us, desce.ided from 
 the Ch^acchi and Agamemnon: She was the first of the Senatorial order to forsake 
 tier family, Rome her birthplace, her fortune, and her children, in order to lead a life 
 tf poverty in Bethlehem, near Thy crib, Christ, where the Wise Men worshipped in 
 Thee both Man and (rOC?."— Montalembert, " Monks of the West," vol. 1., pp. 176, 177. 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 103 
 
 lighten her and guide her surely in all things relating to the 
 work He would have her accomplish for His glory. 
 
 And so, unconscious herself of the veneration with which 
 she was regarded by all who approached her in Jerusalem, — 
 by the Franciscan monks and nuns as well as by her fellow- 
 pilgrims, — she had at length to tear herself away from a place 
 in which she would fain have dwelt forever. But feeble, 
 blind, and helpless as she was, and utterly unworthy as she 
 deemed herself, she knew that she was not called to labor 
 there. Her field of action and trial lay in her native land, — 
 in Brescia. And, like Paul, after he had been stricken blind 
 on the road to Damascus,— she allowed herself to be led by 
 the hand, anxious only to do the Divine Will, and to allow 
 not one particle of the grace from on high to fall useless on 
 her soul and her life. 
 
CHAPTER Vin. 
 
 THE LIGHT INCREASING. 
 
 Our pilgrims had left Venice in the end of May; the 
 month of September was far advanced when they turned 
 their backs on the Holy City. It would appear, that they 
 took the road which leads northward to Er-ram (the 
 Ramah of the Bible), and thence towards the west, across 
 the lofty range on which stood Mizpah and Gibeah of Saul, 
 through the broad Suleiman Valley to Lydda and Jaffa. 
 We say "it would appear;" for the pilgrims were forced to 
 remain "eight entire days" shut up in Rama through fear 
 of a band of brigands who were lying in wait for travelers 
 in the mountain passes. The marauders, either wearied by 
 this long delay, or thinking that the caravan of pilgrims had 
 taken the more southern road through Ramleh, disappeared, 
 and left Angela and her companions free to continue their 
 journey to the coast. We must not imagine that Italian 
 pilgrims of the sixteenth century were so unfamiliar with the 
 topography of Palestine, or so unacquainted with the great 
 events connected with each memorable place they passed on 
 their way to and from the Holy City, as to find in these en- 
 forced delays, and in such a spot as Rama, anything but 
 most abundant food for mind and heart. 
 
 Rama, the birth-place of Samuel, and his home while con- 
 104 
 
ST. ANGELA MERICL 105 
 
 trolling the destinies of Israel, was identified from the earliest 
 Christian ages with the highest mountain-summit near 
 Jerusalem, now known as Neby-Samweel (the Tomb of 
 Samuel). It is mentioned by St. Jerome, — who lived so long 
 in Palestine, — as being situated ''near Gabaa (Gibeah of 
 Saul) at the seventh milestone from Jerusalem." Around 
 the summits of Neby-Samweel and Gabaa are Betli- 
 Horon, Gilgal, and Mizpah. In Gabaa Saul was anointed 
 king by Samuel; from Beth-Horon Josue commanded the 
 sun to stand still; Mizpah was the great watch-tower and 
 stronghold of Israel in all the national struggles. There 
 Samuel called the nation together to confess their sins to 
 Jehovah, as a preliminary to their being freed from the 
 yoke of the Philistines; there too Saul's previous selection 
 by God and his consecration by Samuel were ratified by the 
 solemn choice of the assembled people. It was with Bethel 
 and Gilgal one of the three holy cities where Samuel suc- 
 cessively held his sessions as Judge of Israel. And at 
 Gabaa the Ark of the Covenant abode before its translation 
 to Jerusalem. 
 
 The first Crusaders were well acquainted with the claims 
 of these and other memorable places in the veneration of the 
 Christian world. They may have been sometimes misled as 
 to the fixing of certain localities; they were always right 
 as to the feeling which prompted their acts of piety and 
 generosity. They built a beautiful church around the tomb 
 of Samuel at Ramah, and erected a monastery near it, — just 
 as they graced the traditional tombs of Rachel near Bethle- 
 hem, and those of Abraham and Sara at Hebron, with similar 
 structures. What they did in Bethlehem itself, in Jerusalem, 
 at IN'azareth, and elsewhere, is too well known to require 
 anything but the merest allusion. 
 
 Near the remains of the great Prophet-Judge of Israel, 
 
106 ST. ANGELA MEEICl, 
 
 then, Angela and her companions were forced to remain for 
 an entire week. She and they were too well informed in 
 Sacred History not to profit by their stay in a place so full 
 of the most thrilling memories. They could, indeed, from the 
 dominating crest of Neby-Samweel, take in from horizon to 
 horizon every scene consecrated by the visible display of God's 
 power and mercy Desolate and barren as the boundless 
 panorama of hills to the east and south appeared under the 
 late September sun, — they knew how beauteous and blooming 
 the land was when Josue's conquering hosts first swept over 
 it. But Angela's soul needed not the aid of the outward 
 sense, to know what feet had trodden these mountains and 
 valleys, and how near God had once been, in His loving pro- 
 tection to the privileged race who possessed them. She was 
 in the home where Anna with tears and prayers had ob- 
 tained from the Lord and Giver of life the birth of her 
 blessed boy Samuel; and here too it was that she reared him 
 so tenderly and so holily, forming him to that lov'e of 
 prayer and habitual sense of the divine Presence, which 
 were to be the great features of his character and the potent 
 weapons of his glorious administration. On this same spot 
 the devoted mother, — even when her boy had been given up 
 to the service of Jehovah, — yearly wrought for him with her 
 own hands the Nazarite robes which Samuel wore before the 
 Lord. 
 
 Angela, who would have gladly travelled on her knees 
 through the length and breadth of the Holy Land, and whose 
 heart had poured itself forth in such rapturous adoration in 
 Bethlehem and Jerusalem, was also destined to be the mother 
 of a long line of indefatigable workers in Christ's chosen vine- 
 yard. She had seen the beautiful places of Italy laid waste 
 by contending hosts, and all promise of a spiritual harvest 
 destroyed by the evil passions of men. Oh, if she could 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 107 
 
 only save Christian homes in her own dear native land from 
 the utter desolation threatened by interminable strife and 
 the scandals which ever follow swift and strong on the heels 
 of strife! If she could only sow in the souls of the young of 
 her own sex, all over warring, convulsed, and divided Christ- 
 endom, the supernatural faith and practical virtues which 
 would be compensation for the moral ruin she was forced 
 to contemplate! She felt the conviction growing stronger 
 in her soul every day she spent on that sacred soil, treading 
 in the footsteps of the Master and Shepherd of souls, — that 
 the family she was destined to found was to be instrumental 
 in repairing the ruins of the present, and preparing a new 
 and faithful generation to Christ. And, if she clung with 
 regret to those hilltops, so often illumed by the splendors of 
 God's revelation to man, she was also impelled to hasten 
 homeward to begin in earnest the great work allotted to 
 her. 
 
 The pilgrims pursued their journey without molestation, 
 embarked at Joppa, and, after touching at Cyprus, where 
 some of the merchant pilgrims took in a stock of wares, 
 they once more made sail for Canea in the Isle of Candia. 
 They made but a brief stay in this port, which painfully re- 
 called to Angela the loss of her sight ; but brief as it was, it was 
 marked by a miracle that raised her still higher m the es- 
 teem of her fellow-travellers, and was soon noised abroad 
 all over Upper Italy. In one of the churches of Canea was an 
 image of our Crucified Saviour, which had been made by the 
 Divine Goodness the instrument of many wonderful cures; 
 and Angela happening to hear of it, was suddenly inspired 
 to go to the spot, and there implore of Him the restoration 
 of her eyesight. Her companions resolved to accompany 
 her in a body, headed by Monsignor Paola della Puglia, 
 private chamberlain to the Pope, and who had joined their 
 
108 ^T. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 band in Jerusalem. Angela, when she was led to th« foot of 
 the venerated image, lifted her soul to Him whose Sepulchre 
 she had so lately visited, and in whose presence she ever- 
 more dwelt by day and by night. "My Lord and my 
 Saviour," — she prayed, — " were my life to be spent in soli- 
 tude and employed solely in procuring my own sanctification, 
 it would be of no account to remain thus in darkness all my 
 days. But Thou hast made known to me that I was to de- 
 vote myself to the salvation of others, and this blindness 
 renders me helpless ctpu for my wn need. If it be, there- 
 fore, to Thy glory and the furthering of Thy interests that I 
 should recover my sight, do Thou, O Lord, restore it to 
 Thy handmaid. If I can serve Thee equally in this my 
 helplessness, then, dear Lord, let me continue blind to my 
 dying day " 
 
 Scarcely had she pnded this ^hort and fervent prayer, 
 vrhen she cried out that she could see; and the astonished 
 assistants fiocked around her to congratulate her and to join 
 their thanksgiving with hers. How her trusting and gener- 
 ous friends Romani and Biancosi now felt rewarded for their 
 fidelity to her, their compliance with her wishes, and the 
 pious care with which they had watched over her every foot- 
 step during this long and perilous journey! There was but 
 little time left for congratulations, however, as the pilgrims' 
 chip had to set sail that very day, — the 4th of October, 1524. 
 The Governor of Candia embarked with them this time, and 
 two other merchant ships with rich cargoes. Many pas- 
 sengers,— among whom were several noble Venetians, — sailed 
 in company with them. Scarcely, however, had they reached 
 the Ionian Sea, between Sicily and the Morea, when all three 
 vessels were assailed by one of those sudd n and furious 
 storms so frequent and so fatal in that part of the Medi- 
 terranean. During three entire days and nights they were 
 
AXD THE URSULINES. 109 
 
 at the mercy of the winds and waves; the two vessels 
 which had left Canea with them foundered beneath their 
 eyes, perishing with all on board, while the pilgrims' ship 
 was only preserved by what all her company believed to be 
 a visible interposition of Providence. 
 
 And their preservation, under God, they were unanimous 
 in attributing to the holy Maid of Desenzano. From the 
 very first appearance of danger, they all turned to her as to 
 the one person whose prayers could help to save them. She 
 was so calm, so retiring, so humble, and prayerful in the 
 midst of the elemental uproar and the general consternation. 
 From the first also she bade them, with a serene and smiling 
 countenance to put their trust in Him who rules the storm and 
 the whirlwind. She remained in almost uninterrupted prayer, 
 while the hurricane grew in violence, appearing in the midst 
 of frightened crew and passengers, when, at the end of the 
 third day, they beheld the other ships going down before 
 their eyes, — to exhort them to do their duty by their own ship, 
 while trusting themselves absolutely to the divine protection. 
 
 For six other days and nights they continued to drive 
 helplessly before the wind, fearful all this time lest the 
 storm should drive them on the coast of Africa into the 
 hands of the Tunisian or Algerine pirates. This fate would 
 have been a worse calamity than either death or shipwreck. 
 But Angela bade them have no fear. 
 
 At length the wind fell and the sun reappeared, but only 
 to show them how very near they were to the haunts of the 
 Mohammedan corsairs. The ship's head was forthwith 
 turned toward the coast of Albania, which they soon reached, 
 anchoring in the bay of Durazzo, where the Venetian flag 
 still waved proudly. A Turkish fleet had also taken refuge 
 there from the recent storm, and this incident was not with- 
 out its danger to them. The Turks were for the moment the 
 
110 ST. ANGELA MERICL 
 
 strongest on sea, and resolved to pursue and capture the 
 pilgrims' ship. But even in this extrenaity Angela's prophetic 
 voice encouraged them, when they had refitted and taken, 
 in the necessary supplies, to set sail with all secrecy and ex- 
 pedition, promising them a favorable wind and a happy ter- 
 mination to their journey. 
 
 They did not hesitate to obey her, and the issue turned 
 out as she had predicted. They arrived safely at Citta 
 Nova, on the coast of Istria, opposite to Venice, and thence 
 leisurely continued their voyage to the end. 
 
 One may easily conceive how dear all these occurrences 
 had rendered Angela to the entire ship's company, and with 
 what veneration they spoke of her on their landing at Venice. 
 The arrival of the pilgrims' ship, like its departure, was 
 always an occasion of great solemnity in the beautiful city. 
 No one who joined the pilgrims in solemn procession to the 
 High Altar of St. Mark's but was shown the gentle Tertiary 
 of St. Francis, who had been stricken so suddenly with 
 blindness on the voyage and had been so suddenly cured; 
 whose presence had been to all of her fellow-passengers a 
 pledge of safety amid the storm and the shipwreck, and 
 whose angelic modesty, exceeding austerity of life, sweet 
 and unoffensive piety, and superior wisdom had been from 
 first to last their admiration and their model. She, mean- 
 while, utterly unconscious of all but the one overwhelming 
 sense of gratitude to the Fatherly Providence which was 
 guiding her in all her ways, passed up the Grand Canal with 
 its crowd of barges and gondolas and the joyous multitude 
 who from both sides saluted the returning pilgrims, passed 
 up the glorious square of St. Mark's to the shining portals 
 of the incomparable Cathedral, and into the crowded aisles 
 within, intent only on kneeling before the Mercy Seat, and 
 pouring forth there the full tide of her love and thanksgiving. 
 
AND THE URSULINES, HI 
 
 She soon stole away from the thronged church and the busy 
 streets to take refuge with her Franciscan sisters in the 
 Convent of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 She had been, nevertheless, the cynosure of all eyes on that 
 day, — and the public veneration much more even than the 
 public curiosity followed her to the hospitable retreat which 
 the Franciscans provided for pilgrims to the Holy Land. 
 Fallen, as Venice was in the year of grace 1524, both from 
 her proud eminence as a political power and from the simple- 
 minded piety of her most glorious days, — she had not yet 
 ceased to value the glory of possessing one saintly man or 
 woman born on her soil, above the wealth of the East or the 
 homage of the West. Even on the night of Angela's arrival 
 from Palestine, it was a subject of discussion among her 
 merchant-princes as well as among her population of seamen 
 and soldiers how they might best retain in their city one 
 who was so manifestly the favorite of Heaven. In her 
 native town of Desenzano, as well as in Brescia, Angela had 
 shone as the indefatigable friend of the suffering poor, and 
 as the wise and zealous guide of the young persons of her own 
 sex who sought to emulate her charity, or her extraordinary 
 self-abnegation. There were in Venice magnificent institutions 
 devoted to the varied purposes of Christian beneficence; and 
 there were also among all classes of her citizens very many 
 young souls who, while they found no encouragement to enter 
 the monastic profession, were still desirous of serving in the 
 world the poor of Christ, and sanctifying their own souls 
 by a life of self-crucifixion. 
 
 It was suggested to the magistrates of the Republic, — 
 probably by Senator Giustiniani, who had headed the pil- 
 grimage to the Holy Land, — that Angela Merici would be 
 the very best person to whom could be given the general 
 Buperintendence of these great charitable institutions. She, 
 
112 ST. ANGELA MERICI 
 
 wearing as she did the Franciscan habit, would encourage 
 others of her own sex to embrace a similar mode of life, and 
 thus Venice would possess a body of holy women living in 
 the world an unwordly life, rendering active piety attractive 
 and admirable by their own daily virtues, and ministering 
 faithfully to the bodily and spiritual needs of the laboring 
 population of a great commercial metropolis. 
 
 They approached Angela with a proposition to this effect. 
 This was assailing her by her weak side, — the prospect of a 
 field of labor far wider, and a harvest of good incomparably 
 greater than Brescia could present even during a long period 
 of peace and security. And what prospect was there in that 
 same autumn in 1524, that Brescia, still occupied by a Spanish 
 garrison, with the French armies even then returning across 
 the Alps into Upper Italy, — should be otherwise than it had 
 been for half a century, — like a low-lying peninsula between 
 two adverse tides, forever inundated by the raging waters, 
 and offering scarcely a safe foothold for man or beast amid 
 the hostile elements? 
 
 Still Angela's soul, during the six months of her eventful 
 pilgrimage, had become more than ever impressed with the 
 distinct conviction, that the Divine Voice had appointed 
 Brescia as her field of future labor. And from obedience to 
 its direction, no temptation of an apparently greater good 
 could divert her. She answered those who thus honored her 
 by making this proposal, with the gentle modesty and 
 womanly tact which ever marked her intercourse with men 
 of the world. It would seem that they did not understand 
 her as giving them a peremptory refusal. For Angela, 
 fearing that the public authorities might interfere to detain 
 her in Venice, persuaded Romani and Biancosi to leave the 
 city with her that same night, and to take the direct road 
 to Brescia. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WAITING AND WORKING. 
 
 Angela and her two companions arrived in Brescia on the 
 25th of November. She was warmly welcomed by those 
 who were thenceforward to consider themselves her fellow- 
 citizens, both because her father and the Merici family had 
 long been inscribed among the free burgesses of the place, 
 and because her own many devoted services, her gentle vir- 
 tues, and the shining light of her holy life, had made her 
 most dear to the entire city. There was another reason; she 
 had more than once declared that God Himself willed her to 
 do a great work there. 
 
 A great work she had, indeed, already achieved among 
 them during the period of Brescia's most terrible calamities. 
 This, however, the citizens looked upon as only the pledge 
 of a mightier performance. They had not favored her pil- 
 grimage to the Holy Land. Antonio dei Romani did not 
 win many compliments for his volunteering to be Angela's 
 guide on so distant a journey, at a most troublous epoch, and 
 when his own city sadly needed the presence of every man 
 and woman who could help to build up wide-spread ruin, and 
 bind up wounds that seemed beyond all healing, — save only 
 from the All-healing hand of the Creator. 
 
 It might thus seem that the circumstances amid which 
 
 113 
 
114 ST, ANGELA MERICl 
 
 Sister Angela entered this ancient city/ were most propitious 
 to her project. It was far otherwise, however; just when 
 Angela was preparing for her departure to Jerusalem, the 
 French invading army under Bonnivet and Bayard were 
 driven back to France through the valleys of upper Pied- 
 monts—the latter heroic soldier, who had lain wounded in 
 
 Brescia during the horrible assault and massacre of 1512, 
 
 perishing on the battle-field. But the retiring wave of in- 
 vasion was to return more impetuous and terrible than ever 
 before Angela re-entered Brescia on that memorable 25th of 
 November. All through the wmter months, Francis I. 
 poured his troops into the Milanese; and on the 24th day of 
 February, 1525, the hostile armies of France and Spain with 
 their respective Italian allies, met near Pavia, the French being 
 utterly defeated, and their king remaining a prisoner in the 
 hands of the Imperialists. Pope Adrian VI., who had suc- 
 
 JCatuUus (died B. C. 47), who was a native of the neighboring city of Verona, calls 
 Brescia the parent-city. This ill-starred place was again bombarded by the Austrians 
 under Marshal Haynau in 1849. ''The view from the castle (citadel) of Brescia, is 
 indeed a noble one. And it is not a mere noble view; it is a view on which the charac- 
 teristic history of Italy is legibly written. . . . With a single glance of the eye we look 
 down on a crowd of cities, each of which was once an independent commonwealth, 
 with its name and place in history. On one side are the spurs of the Alps on which 
 we are standing, reminding us that there is a land beyond, from which the Emperors 
 came down to demand the crowns of Italy and Rome. . To the far East we get a glimpse 
 of smaller hills on the same horizon, suggesting that the natural ramparts of Verona 
 are not beyond our sight. But to the south the eye ranges over the boundless plains of 
 Lombardy, spreading like a sea, with a tall tower here and there, like the mast of a 
 solitary vessel. Each of these towers marks a city, a city which once ranked alongside 
 of princes, a city making war and peace, and containing within its walls the full life of 
 a nation. The map seems to show that one of them is the mighty tower of Placenzia, 
 and that another is the yet mightier tower of Cremona, the fellow-worker of Brescia in 
 the great work of restoring Milan. . . We have vividly brought home to us how near 
 the great cities of Northern Italy lie to the Alpine barrier, the barrier which was so 
 often found helpless to shelter them against the Northern invader. We think of all 
 the conquerors who have crossed the mountains from Hannibal to our own day. . . 
 From such a point we may well run over the shifting fates of the land before us from 
 Brennus to either Bonaparte."— i^Ve^wa/j. 
 
AJW THE URSULINES, 115 
 
 ceeded Leo X., had persuaded the Repubhc of Venice to be- 
 come the ally of Spain, after having been long faithful to 
 France. But Adrian, who was a Spanish subject, only gov- 
 erned the Church during twenty months; and his successor 
 Clement VIL, Avho was an Italian, reversed Adrian's policy, 
 separated from Spain, and allied himself with France. There- 
 fore, after the disaster of Pavia, the Pope was left defenceless. 
 
 It was the year of jubilee, nevertheless; and Christians 
 not only from all parts of Italy but from every country in 
 Christendom were preparing to visit Rome, in spite of the 
 armies and bands of marauders who watched the passes of 
 the Alps and beset every road within Italy itself. In the 
 universal alarm, distress and uncertainty, Angela could not 
 think of establishing a congregation. Sooth to say, she did 
 not see her way clearly as to the precise object and form of 
 the society she contemplated. 
 
 What better,— in this unsettled condition of public affairs 
 as well as of her own plans, — could she do, than go to the Shrine 
 of the Holy Apostles, and seek there not only an increase of 
 light for her own mind, but the direction of the great and 
 wise men who ruled the councils of the Holy See? Her own 
 countryman, — the noble and saint-like Cajetan de Tiene, now 
 a cardinal, had been one of the most trusted counselors of 
 Pope Adrian VI. While she had been on her way to Pales- 
 tine, in June, 1524, Cajetan and Cardinal Caraffa had ob- 
 tained from Adrian the approbation of a new order of Reg- 
 ular Priests, thenceforward known as "Theatines." Would 
 not the holy Cardinal of Tiene enlighten and assist her in her 
 perplexity? 
 
 To Rome she therefore went, accompanied by several pious 
 ladies and gentlemen of Brescia, to whom her presence on 
 the journey was considered to be a sure pledge of the divine 
 protection. Among her companions were two excellent priests 
 
116 ST. ANGELA MEBIGl 
 
 and Antonio dei Romani, whose veneration for Angela 
 would not permit him to trust her to the guardianship of 
 strangers. There was, for the Brescians and for all who 
 were still subject to the sway of Venice, a special motive for 
 being present in Rome during the solemnities of the Jubilee. 
 The Pope had declared his intention to beatify, during *the 
 month of May, Laurence Justinian (Giustiniani), patriarch 
 of Venice, who died in 1455, one of the most heroic souls 
 who ever graced the priesthood of the Christian Church, — 
 the boast and pride of the grand old Republic in her decline. 
 
 His near relative had been Angela's pi^otector during her 
 memorable pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and he together with 
 the most distinguished members of his illustrious family, 
 and the Duke of Venice, Andrea Gritti, were to represent 
 Venice at Rome on the solemn occasion. Thus the great 
 Republic had a particular interest in securing the safety of 
 all those of her children who visited Rome in this year of 
 Jubilee. And so, — although a terrible pestilence was prev- 
 alent all over the Peninsula, — all who gloried in the name 
 of Venice and revered the name of her saintly archbishop, 
 braved every danger and obstacle in order to visit the 
 Eternal City. And, — in very truth, — the Venetians and 
 Upper Italians formed the majority of the comparatively 
 email concourse of pilgrims. So unsettled and threatening 
 was the aspect of public affairs, and so deadly were the 
 ravages of the plague, which seemed sent on the land to com- 
 plete the fearful destruction wrought by war! 
 
 Angela, as was her wont, lived during the entire journey 
 on what she could get by begging from door to door. ISTo 
 entreaties of Romani or her other fellow-pilgrims could in- 
 duce her to change her ordinary mode of life. She forgot, 
 while in the capital of the Christian world, everything but 
 the one great purpose for which she had journeyed thither, — 
 
AJS^JJ THE URSULINES, II7 
 
 the obtaining in its fulness the grace of the Jubilee, the 
 heart-satisfaction found by the true Christian in visiting the 
 most venerable sanctuaries in Christendom, the delight felt 
 in proclaiming by her every act and word, while near the 
 shrines of the Holy Apostles, her allegiance to the See of 
 Peter at a time when others were revolting against it, — 
 and then the crowning grace of knowing more clearly the 
 Divine Will in her own regard and the courage to fulfill 
 it perfectly. 
 
 The fervor with which she visited the churches of Rome 
 was scarcely inferior to that which had so mnch edified her 
 companions in Jerusalem. Indeed her reputation had pre- 
 ceded her. The princesses of the Gonzaga family from 
 Mantua and Castiglione were residing temporarily in Eome, 
 and they, like many others from Northern Italy, were 
 loud in their praise of Sister Angela's saintly virtues. 
 Monsignor della Puglia, who had learned to revere her in 
 Palestine, and on the journey homeward, soon renewed his 
 acquaintance with her. To the Holy Father he had more 
 than once spoken of her as a living saint, relating how she 
 had miraculously recovered her eyesight in Candia, and 
 how all the ship's conapany attributed to her prayers their 
 preservation from shipwreck and their escape from the 
 Turkish fleet. To Angela herself he had shown every 
 possible mark of respect during her stay in Rome, and to 
 perfect her satisfaction he obtained for her a private audi- 
 ence with Clement VII. 
 
 Angela was too sincerely humble not to feel the deepest 
 gratitude for this favor, and too forgetful of self to feel 
 disconcerted in presence of the Yicar of Christ. She was 
 too familiar with Him in His sacramental presence, and in the 
 sweet and uninterrupted communion of prayer and contem- 
 plation, — to feel abashed when she knelt before His repre- 
 
118 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 sentative. The Holy Father spoke to her with extraordinary 
 kindness, and at great length, questioning her closely on her 
 manner of life and her projects for the future. Her answers 
 confirmed the high estimate he had been led to form of her 
 modesty, her disinterestedness, her devotion to the poor, 
 and her singular tact and discretion. He expressed the wish 
 that she would remain in Rome, promising to further to 
 the utmost her zeal for all good works. He even offered to 
 give her the direction of any one of the charitable institu- 
 tions that she might prefer. 
 
 This compelled the honorable daughter of St. Francis to 
 lay open to the Holy Father the history of her soul, — her 
 visions and the distinct command to establish in Brescia a 
 society of religious women. Everything which he heard 
 from her and saw in her, convinced Clement that the hand of 
 God was there. Without however, — as is the wont of the 
 Holy See, — expressing any opinion on the truth of the 
 visions themselves. His Holiness encouraged her to persevere 
 in her manner of life, and dismissed her with his blessing. 
 
 Father Salvatori adds that, when she had left, the Pope 
 reproved his chamberlain for his lack of discernment, telling 
 him that there were in Angela much higher qualities than he 
 had described, and that it would be a great privilege to keep 
 her in Rome. 
 
 Alas for Rome and for the Pope! Ere twice a twelve- 
 month had passed, the walls of the Eternal Gity would be scaled 
 by the German Lutheran bands of the murderous Frunds- 
 perg, fighting under the imperial standard of Spain, and led 
 on by the French Duke of Bourbon! To the shame of the 
 clergy and people of Rome one of their own noblest fami- 
 lies, — the Colonna, — were but too zealous within Rome's 
 walls to introduce the sacrilegious assailants! And for two 
 whole months every Church in Rome was to run with blood, 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 119 
 
 every monastery and private dwelling-house to be the prey of 
 a brutal soldiery, while Pope Clement was to look on, helpless 
 and forsaken by the whole world, a prisoner within the castle 
 of S. Angelo ! "Never perhaps," says the Protestant his- 
 torian Sismondi, " in the history of the world was a great 
 capital city given over to a more atrocious abuse of victory; 
 never was a powerful army made up of such ferocious 
 soldiers, or freed from every restraint of discipline; and 
 never did the prince in whose name the army fought mani- 
 fest so utter an indifference to the calamities endured by 
 the vanquished. . . . Every dwelling resounded with the 
 shrieks and w^ailings of the wretched inhabitants, who were 
 put to the torture; the squares before the churches w^ere 
 strewn with altar furniture, relics, and all manner of sacred 
 objects, which the soldiers cast into the streets after having 
 torn off the gold and silver ornaments. The German Luth- 
 erans, uniting fanaticism with their greed of spoil, vied with 
 each other in showing their contempt for the worship of the 
 Roman Church, and in profaning the very things which 
 would have been respected by the nations they called 
 heathen." " The Goths," says Gibl)on, — " evacuated Rome, 
 at the end of six days; but Rome continued to be during 
 nine whole months the victim of the Imperialists, — and every 
 day and hour during this time was marked by some abomin- 
 able act of ferocity, licentiousness or rapine. The authority 
 of Alaric knew how to impose limits to the licentiousness of 
 the barbarous multitude who hailed him as fellow-soldier or 
 chief; but the death of the Duke of Bourbon in scaling the 
 walls, left without chief or restraint or discipline an army 
 composed of Italians, Germans and Spaniards." The prince 
 of Orange, who assumed the command after the fall of 
 Bourbon, had too many theological passions to gratify to 
 allow him to put a stop to murder and rapine and sacrilege* 
 
120 ST. ANGELA MEBICL 
 
 We clare not venture on the details of this fearful picture. 
 If Angela's eyes, when they rested for the last time on the 
 throne of St. Peter and the spires and battlements of 
 Rome, had been illumined with a prophetic light to see the 
 black storm which was gathering in the heavens, or if her 
 ears could have heard from afar the tramp of Bourbon and 
 Leyva's impious legions, — how dark for her would have ap- 
 peared the summer skies of her beloved Italy, and how cursed 
 the teeming earth which was condemned to bear the tread 
 of these monsters! 
 
 As it was, she turned her steps homeward, rejoicing that 
 to the Vicar of Christ had been disclosed the inmost secrets 
 of her soul and the most cherished aims of her life, — that 
 his voice had commended them and his hand blessed them. 
 The plague was to be the dread avenger of blood and sacri- 
 lege and robbery. Of the thirty thousand barbarians who 
 glutted all their evil passions in the City of the Holy Mar- 
 tyrs, in the home of the common Father of Christians, but 
 a small remnant was destined to revisit their native land. 
 The pestilence was waiting for the spoilers and their spoil 
 along every road and pathway from Home to the Alps and 
 the straits of Sicily. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 INEVITABLE OBSTACLES. 
 
 . The political and social condition of Brescia, — indeed, of 
 the wliole of Upper Italy, — during the autumn of 1525, and 
 throughout the next five years, was such as to render the 
 execution of Angela's project hopeless and impossible. Pope 
 Clement VII did not wish to see the Emperor Charles V. 
 attain to universal domination in Christendom. Charles had 
 treated Francis I., during the latter's imprisonment at 
 Madrid with intolerable harshness, — imposing on him as one 
 of the only conditions on which he could regain his liberty, 
 the dismemberment of his kingdom. This was a stipulation 
 to which the captive monarch could not lawfully agree, and 
 to which, in order to recover his freedom, he gave a fraudu- 
 lent assent. The partition of the French monarchy thus 
 left Charles not only rightful sovereign of Spain and its 
 newly discovered transatlantic empire, but the lord paramount 
 of all Germany and the Low Countries, the sole undisputed 
 arbiter of Italy, where he possessed Milan and the kingdoms 
 of Naples and Sicily, — the master indeed of all Western 
 Europe, with the exception of England. Even Henry VIII. 
 of England deserted the overruling Spanish monarch and 
 sided with the French King, with whom were now allied the 
 Pope, Venice, Florence, and Francesco II. of Milan. 
 
 121 
 
123 ST. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 Francis I. was liberated from prison in March, 1526, and 
 lost not a moment in rousing his people to revenge. The 
 stipulation made with Charles V. was repudiated by the 
 French nation, and powerful armies were again sent in hot 
 haste into Upper Italy. These were destined to defeat, 
 proving helpless to withstand the imperial forces under 
 Bourbon and Frundsperg. And so all Lombardy and Venetia 
 continued to be the battle-field on which France, Spain, and 
 Germany contended for European supremacy and the pos- 
 session of Italy's most beautiful provinces! Alas for the 
 cities which lay, like Brescia, nearest to the Alps and to 
 the great highways across this mighty mountain-banier! 
 What could Angela do when she reentered once more the 
 hospitable mansion of Antonio dei Romani ? The whole city 
 and the surrounding 'districts were agitated by the most 
 alarming rumors. Industry of every kind was paralyzed, 
 nor amid the perpetual fears and tumults of war, was any 
 leisure left for the cultivation of the sweet Christian virtues, 
 any more than for the study of the arts of peace. Men's 
 minds were unsettled by these ever-recurring conflicts be- 
 tween Christian princes, in which all the most sacred pre- 
 cepts of religion, and all the most inviolable rights of humanity 
 were utterly disregarded, — while religion herself, by her 
 being dragged perforce as a party into all these unhallowed 
 quarrels, incurred the aversion or the contempt of friends 
 and foes. 
 
 The only remedy to these crying and seemingly intermin- 
 able ills, lay in fostering with redoubled care all the home- 
 sanctities of the Christian family, in the increase of regularity 
 and fervor in the Religious orders and the clergy. This 
 was Angela's aim all through the long darkness and desola- 
 tion of these sad years. She did not, however, attempt to 
 exhort others to the practice of any one virtue with which 
 
AJW THE UESULINES. 123 
 
 she had not previously made herself familiar. On her return 
 from Rome, and when the whole atmosphere of Upper Italy- 
 was aflame with the j^reparations for the impending war, 
 the humble daughter of St. Francis, acting under the in- 
 spiration of that unearthly wisdom which is the sure guide 
 of souls, began to increase not only her private austerities 
 but her long and prayerful vigils. She said to the truly 
 pious souls who were bound to her by friendship, and who 
 looked up to her for counsel, what she was ever saymg to 
 herself, — that the divine wrath could only be turned away 
 from sinful Italy, and the woes of the Church be ended, only 
 by the blood and tears and incessant supplications of all the 
 true children of God. Without ceasing any of her charitable 
 labors for the sick and the poor of Brescia, — indeed, while 
 increasing them, — she led, from the Autumn of 1525, a life of 
 uninterrupted penitential rigor and continual pleading with 
 the Divine Mercy. Still, although she constantly exhorted 
 others to fast and pray for the peace of their common 
 country, for the prosperity of the Church, and the relief of 
 the Holy Father, — there were but, very, very few of her most 
 intimate acquaintances who were allowed to witness the ex- 
 tremity to which Angela carried her aiieterities and her per- 
 severance in prayer. 
 
 We have only to recall how St. Teresa and St. John of the 
 Cross made their lives one of continual and fearful self- 
 crucifixion, while laboring to restore the pristine purity and 
 fervor of the Carmelite Order in Christendom, as well as 
 to atone to the Divine Justice for the decrease of practical 
 faith in Spanish society, and the loss of. holiness in Spanish 
 homes. 
 
 We remember also how St. Rose, — the first flower of 
 American saintliness, — and her near relative, Marianna de 
 Paredes, " The Lily of Quito," atoned by a life of appalling 
 
124 'ST. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 rigor for the sensuality of their countrywomen and the 
 wrongs inflicted by Christians on the South American native 
 races. But there is another Spanish-American saint, whose 
 example can enable us still better to grasp the purpose and 
 the spirit of Angela Merici's self-inflicted punishment and 
 unceasing intercession with the Divine Majesty during these 
 years of Italy's agony and of the Church's humiliation. 
 The Blessed Peter Claver,-^the Apostle of Cartagena in 
 New Grenada, — had chosen as his special task to evangelize 
 the numerous slave population of that city and province. It 
 was no easy task to make the hearts of the slave-owners and 
 slave-merchants pitiful towards their wretched thralls, or to 
 win a way to the darkened souls and angry hearts of the 
 poor, deeply-wronged Negroes themselves. How then did 
 the man of God, — the most glorious specimen of Christian 
 nanhood who ever lived on American soil, — fit himself to 
 appease the Majesty of Heaven offended by such monstrous 
 inhumanity, and to win grace with both masters and slaves? 
 His life was, during half a century, one of continual and 
 gigantic labors, sanctified by prayer and self-crucifixion. 
 When he returned in the evening or late at night from his 
 fearful toil on board the slave-ships, in the slave-pens on 
 shore, or in the leprosy hospitals, he would only taste of the 
 coarsest food he could find, mixing even that with ashes and 
 bitter herbs. Besides while preaching, catechising, baptizing 
 his catechumens, tending the sick and the dying, and discharg- 
 ing the manifold duties of his priestly oflSce in a populous sea- 
 port and amid such a mass of spiritual distress and bodily 
 suffering, — he was covered literally from head to foot with 
 hair-cloth studded with sharp iron points and nails. The 
 historians of his life almost terrify the reader by the mere 
 unexaggerated description of his nightly flagellations and 
 protracted vigils. And all thism an equatorial climate! 
 
AI^D TEE URSULINES. 125 
 
 We may think what we please, — but if we believe that He 
 who is the dear Father of our souls, the Man of Sorrows, 
 came to atone for a sinful world, to save and sanctify man- 
 kind, and to be our model, we must feel that Claver and 
 Xavier, and Ignatius Loyola, and Teresa, and Angela Merici 
 only copied the examples set them by the Master. He was 
 born in a stable, brought up in the carpenter's shop, had no 
 home of His own while fulfilling His public mission, spent 
 whole nights watching and praying on the hill-tops after the 
 superhuman toils of the day, and was scourged, crowned 
 with thorns, laden with His own cross, and crucified between 
 two thieves! There is the only Light for man or woman 
 who would labor actively and successfully in helping to raise, 
 to save, to sanctify the world around them in their own day 
 and generation, as well as afterward. 
 
 So, dear reader, if you hear that the. holy Maid of 
 Desenzano, after having received the blessing of Christ's 
 Vicar on herself and her designs, returns to disturbed and 
 still half -ruined Brescia, only to pray more fervently, to weep 
 more abundantly, to afflict her own body more assiduously 
 than ever before, — you must know that it is because she sees 
 that the scourge is heavier than ever before on her beloved 
 native land, on God's people, on His Vicar, and on the 
 Church; and that new and fearful perils are threatening the 
 souls for whom Christ died. When Herod-Agrippa im- 
 prisoned St. Peter, in the infancy of the Church, all those 
 who believed in Christ ceased not by night and day to 
 make intercession to God for the shepherd of the whole 
 flock. 
 
 What was not Angela's affliction, when she learned that 
 the savage German legions of Frundsperg and the unscru- 
 pulous Spaniards of Leyva were led against Rome by the 
 Duke of Bourbon? And what was not the bitterness, worse 
 
126 ST. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 than death, which filled her soul, those of her friends, and all 
 true Italians, on hearing of the sack of Rome, and the out- 
 rages heaped on the Holy Father? 
 
 Her penitential austerities were increased to what seemed 
 an excessive degree during the calamitous months which be- 
 held the Pontiff a prisoner in the castle S. Angelo, his soul 
 tortured by the spectacle of the sufferings he could neither 
 prevent nor alleviate, and equally humbled at seeing the 
 savage invaders abetted by an auxiliary Italian force, led 
 into Rome by one of Rome's chief dignitaries, and by the 
 hypocrisy of the Spanish monarch, who caused his court to 
 go in mourning for the misfortunes of the Holy Father 
 while imposing the most oppressive conditions for his ransom. 
 
 Can we wonder that while the civilized world stood 
 amazed and shame-faced at learning of such barbarities per- 
 petrated in the capital of Christendom, that all good 
 Christians should have covered themselves with sack-cloth 
 and ashes, weeping for the sins that deserved such punish- 
 ment, and looking with fearful eyes into the dark and angry 
 future? 
 
 Even then Angela's health began to be seriously threatened, 
 and her friends began to remonstrate w^th her, and to urge 
 her to moderate what they deemed to be unwise if not sinful 
 excesses. In truth, however, it w^as Angela's heart which 
 suffered most, not her body. Loving the Church of Christ, 
 as she did, with a love scarcely to be distinguished in degree 
 from that which consumed her for Christ Himself, — it was 
 impossible that the indignities heaped upon Christ's Vicar, 
 and the unparalleled atrocities inflicted on all classes in the 
 Eternal City, should not crush a heart so tender, so true, so 
 faithful as Angela's. She would not, nevertheless, allow any 
 one to express for her own sufferings or health anything ap- 
 p.roachLng to sympathy. More than ever she sought all op- 
 
AND THE URSULINE8, 127 
 
 portiinities to be helpful to those around her. And, in truth, 
 Brescia, desolated, distressed, and threatened as she was, 
 afforded ample scope to the good Sister's indefatigable zeal. 
 Ever since her return from Palestine, she was sought after, not 
 only by the poor and sick, but more particularly by persons of 
 the upper classes who needed consolation in their sufferings, 
 or light in their spiritual difficulties. Nobles and plebeians, 
 priests and laymen flocked to her for counsel and guidance. 
 For, — often as we have spoken of the charm of her modest and 
 gracious presence, and of the exquisite tact with which she 
 suited her conversation to the quality, disposition, and need 
 of those who sought her, — we are bound to say, after a careful 
 perusal of her biographers that we have not given the reader 
 any adeqaate conception of the wide and powerful influence 
 exercised by her personal intercourse, — by her words even 
 as much as by her saintly examples. Further on we shall 
 Bpeak more at length of the reforms which that influence 
 effected in the private and public manners of the Brescians; — 
 we can mention even here that the spell which she exercised 
 on men's minds and hearts was felt even by the great artists 
 of Brescia and its neighborhood.^ 
 
 1 We know,— we all know,— how much such painters as Titian and Tintoretto, 
 Venetians both of them, have been exalted by John Ruskin, and bepraised by the second 
 and third-hand critics who admire and imitate Ruskin. There are, however, at least 
 three painters of the Venetian school far more deserving of the admiration and respect 
 of all true lovers of art than either of these two great artists,— for great they assuredly 
 are in many respects. Of these three the two brothers Giovanni and Gentile Bellini,— 
 we do not wish to say more here than that they were truly Christian artists, and are 
 likely to grow in reputation as the enlightened knowledge of art increases. But they 
 were born nearer to Venice than the third, — who is a native of Brescia, a contemporary 
 of St. Angela, and who labored in his native city beneath her eyes, and feeling the full 
 influence of her teaching and examples. 
 
 This is Alessandro Bon\icino,— called H Moretto (1500-1547), who died in the very 
 springtide of his fame, and while all men were looking up to him as the successor of the 
 Bellinis, destined to outstrip them in the loftiest qualities of the Christian painter. " He 
 has," says Kiigler, " a style of his owti. He adhered at first closely to Titian's manner, 
 but afterwards adopted much of the Roman school, and by this means formed a mode of 
 
128 ^T. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 One notable instance of the veneration in which she 
 was held by the most exalted personages, and of the trust 
 reposed in her extraordinary wisdom, relates to the last 
 Duke of Milan, the ill-starred Francesco (Sf orza) II. During 
 the irresistible ascendency of the Spanish power in Upper 
 Italy, from 1525 to 1530, the Duke of Milan, who had been 
 induced to side against the Imperialists, was exiled from his 
 states. In 1528 he found a temporary refuge in Brescia, 
 which was then held by the Venetians; and, impelled by 
 some trouble of conscience, he wished to consult Angela. 
 From the convent of the Hermits of St. Barnabas, where he 
 had taken up his abode, he sent a respectful message to her 
 begging her to visit him. She had too sincere a respect for 
 his misfortunes as well as for his high rank, to hesitate a mo- 
 ment. It became evident to Angela, from the very beginning 
 of her interview, that she had been sought for, not through 
 any motive of worldly curiosity, but through the far higher 
 one of obtaining spiritual consolation and guidance. The 
 prince spoke of the disasters which had fallen upon his peo- 
 ple and himself, as of a chastisement merited by the ingrati- 
 tude of both toward God's most liberal Providence and in- 
 timated the resolution to consult principally the religious 
 welfare of his subjects, whenever it pleased that same Provi- 
 dence to restore him to his capital. Angela's modest and 
 well-timed answer spoke of the great spiritual profit to be 
 derived from suffering and adversity, of the sweet peace 
 which resignation to the Divine Will and a loving accept- 
 
 representation distinguished for a simple dignity, and tranquil grace and stateliness, 
 which occasionally developed itself in compositions of the very highest character. In 
 Buch cases he e\inces so much beauty and purity in his motives, and so much nobility 
 and sentiment in his characters, that it is unaccountable how this master should, till 
 within the last few years, have obtained little more than a local celebrity. . . . Moretto 
 was distinguished by a childlike piety: when painting the Holy Virgin, he is said to 
 have prepared himself by prayer and fasting." 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 129 
 
 ance of the ills which befall even the best, with such fervent 
 and touching eloquence, that her listener was deeply moved. 
 There is such a power in the words of a saint! 
 
 From the account given by F. Salvatori, one would be 
 led to believe that Francesco had opened his whole soul 
 to his venerable visitor, laying bare before her whatever 
 troubled his conscience, and requesting her advice as to his 
 future conduct. At any rate, " he besought her to become 
 his spiritual adviser, and to be his own protectress and the 
 intercessor for his afflicted people near the Divine Majesty. 
 Angela was filled with confusion at this request, and pro- 
 tested that she was only a poor sinner who could have no 
 power with the most holy God. But the unfortunate sov- 
 ereign renewed his importunity with such manifest fervor, 
 that the good Sister was perforce obliged to promise that 
 she would exert in his favor and that of his subjects all the 
 influence she might have with the court of Heaven. And 
 leaving him somewhat consoled, she withdrew." ^ 
 
 Brescia itself soon became an insecure abode for its own 
 inhabitants, as well as for refugees. It was too near the 
 valley of the Etsch (Adige) and Stelvio pass, the great high- 
 way by which the German Emperor kept pouring his troops 
 into Lombard y and Venetia. The remnants of Frundsperg's 
 sacrilegious bands had returned to their native country with 
 spoils so rich, that others were easily found to replace them 
 on Italian battle-fields. The French monarch, on the other 
 hand, was, at the very least, as unscrupulous as his imperial 
 antagonist, and just as regardless of all the most sacred 
 rights of their common religion. In the autumn and winter 
 of 1528 all Upper Italy became filled with the armies of 
 these two unchristian sovereigns, — armies all the more 
 
 1 Salvatori, p. 38. 
 
130 ^^- ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 dreaded by the wi'etched jDopulations of city and country 
 alike, that the treasury of both King and Emperor were 
 absolutely empty, and their soldiers were only kept steady 
 in the service by the unrestrained liberty of pillage and 
 rapine. Under these circumstances Angela had no choice 
 but to take refuge in Cremona, whither she was urged to go 
 in all haste by her dearest and best friends. Among these 
 were Augustine Gallo and Hippolyta, his widowed sister, 
 both belonging to the old Brescian nobility, both as dis- 
 tinguished for their piety as for their rank, and who looked 
 up to Angela as to one who was the living temple of the 
 Spirit of God. Both became also instrumental in for- 
 warding the foundation of our Saint's intended society, as 
 we shall see. So they now besought her to fly with them 
 before the advancing Imperialists had reached the immediate 
 neighborhood of Brescia. She could not resist either their 
 entreaties or the reasons with which they supported them, 
 and, in September, 1529, she set out with Augustine Gallo 
 and his sister, Jerome Patengoli and his wife, and our old 
 acquaintance Romani. She was, however, the guest of 
 Augustine Gallo, during the whole time of her stay in 
 Cremona, where they took up their lodging in the contrada 
 or street of S. Vittore. 
 
 This was the culminating point in the life of Sister Angela. 
 Slowly the fame of her holiness, her unbounded charity, and 
 her supernatural wisdom had spread from Desenzano to 
 Brescia and Venice, to Palestine and to Rome. Her name 
 and the praise of all her gentle virtues and great qualities 
 were on the lips of the laboring and suffering poor; they 
 were still more so on those of the wealthy and noble, of 
 the most learned and most exalted in the Church and State. 
 Duke Francesco Sforza, while still amid his court in Milan, 
 had learned to revere her name from the most influential 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 131 
 
 personages in his own dominions. His brief intercourse 
 with her in Brescia had produced on the exiled sovereign 
 an impression which influenced his aims, his sentiments, 
 the whole of his private and public conduct ever altjrward. 
 In Cremona, he was again to be brought into contact with 
 the lowly daughter of St. Francis, and he was anxious not 
 only to profit himself by this providential nearness to one of 
 God's living saints, but to make every one of the nobles 
 who had followed him thither become for Sister Angela a 
 special object of interest. 
 
 So, while the furious conflict between the hostile armies 
 of Francis I. and Charles V. grew hourly fiercer around the 
 walls of the ancient Celtic city,^ and men's souls despaired 
 more and more deeply of ever seeing their native land freed 
 from the baneful presence of the invader, — Angela was 
 enabled to open a school of spirtuality and practical holiness 
 for the benefit of the crowd of noble exiles who had taken 
 refuge there. Augustine Gallo, who was the daily and 
 hourly witness of all her actions, has testified that from 
 earliest morning till night, his door was continually beseiged 
 by persons of every class, impelled by the needs of their own 
 souls to seek the help of the retiring and ever-humble woman. 
 The most eminent members of the regular and secular clergy 
 were to be seen among those who consulted the unlearned 
 and modest Tertiary on the matters relating to their own 
 conscience, or on the most profound difiiculties of Scripture 
 and theology. Men who had been for many years the spiritual 
 guides of others were known to treasure as practical rules 
 of perfection, — precious beyond all price, — the simple advice 
 
 1 Cremona,— like Brescia and Verona, — was founded by the Celtic tribes who were in 
 possession of all Northern Italy long before Rome came into existence. In the year 
 219 before Christ, it was made a Roman colony, and thenceforward its name became 
 conspicuous in all the wars and revolutions of which Italy was the theatre. 
 
132 ST. ANGELA MEBIC% 
 
 of this poor, timid, shrinking girl, in whose every word there 
 seemed to burn and shine the heavenly fire of charity and 
 the light of the Holy Spirit. From Milan itself, sorely beset 
 as it was by foreign armies, and from every part of its ter- 
 ritory, people soon came thronging in to see one whose whole 
 life was the " Following of Christ" in practice, and whose 
 very appearance was the most eloquent of sermons. 
 
 The amount of good effected in the souls and lives of men 
 by Angela's brief sojourn in Cremona was incredible. Sin- 
 ners could not approach one so pure, so self-sacrificing, so far 
 above the pride, the sensuality, the manifold self-seeking of 
 the worldly crowd, without being touched by the light which 
 revealed the hideousness of their own conduct while it showed 
 so evidently the beauty of holiness. Good men were im- 
 pelled to be better. Even the most generously devoted to 
 the divine service, felt, as they looked upon her pale and 
 radiant features and listened to her glowing words, — that 
 they must strive to attain to that supreme degree of gener- 
 osity, which refuses nothing that the Crucified demands, and 
 is only satisfied in resembling Him in the extremity of His 
 self-abasement. 
 
 It was one of God's greatest mercies to Italy, in that dread- 
 ful age of violence, lawlessness, and sacrilege, — that such 
 souls as Angela were placed on high before the eyes of the 
 warring, distracted, and despairing multitudes, to force men 
 to see that God had not yet forsaken a guilty land, and that 
 the blessed tree of Religion,-— sadly scarred and shattered as 
 trunk and branches were by the terrific storms which pre- 
 vailed,— still bore the loveliest blossoms and the most per- 
 fect fruits of holiness. 
 
 Even in the year 1529 Cremona was overflowing with the 
 rich intellectual life which the church had been sedulously 
 fostering for so many ages. A whole school pf jli^strious 
 
AND THE UR8ULINES. 133 
 
 painters, — for instance, — natives, all of them, of the city 
 itself, were covering the forty-five churches of Cremona, as 
 well as her monasteries, her palaces and municipal edifices, 
 with paintings which are the admiration of artists in our own 
 day.' We have no authentic record of the influence which 
 Ano-ela may have exercised on the minds and lives of these 
 great Christian artists. But the traveler who in our times, 
 after admiring the works of II Moretto in Brescia, passes on 
 to Cremona and pauses in wonder before its wealth of paint- 
 ings, cannot help tracing to the same source the influences 
 which guided the hands and mspired the souls of the contem- 
 porary painters of both cities. So Religion is ever the 
 parent of holiness, just as holiness is the creator of all that 
 is beautiful in life. 
 
 And what would have become of that land of Italy, so privi- 
 leged in its natural and supernatural aspect, — amid the inevit- 
 able ruin and decay consequent upon i half-century of inces- 
 sant warfare and the manifold disorders that war begets inside 
 and outside every Christian home, — even the home of the 
 cloister? What fate must befall us here, in this New World, 
 in a land where we are free to create all that is best in pri- 
 vate or public life and the institutions which express that 
 
 ^The three brothers Giulio, Antonio, and Vincenzio Campi were natives of Cremona^ 
 as well as their cousin Bernardino. They, together with two other native artists, 
 Boccaccio Boccaccino and Camillo Boccaccino,were contemporaries, la boring with a gen- 
 erous rivahy to make the city as beautiful as Milan, or ]!ilantua, or Verona. The cele- 
 brated Bishop-Poet, Mario Girolamo Vida, was prior of the monastery of Canons of St. 
 John Lateran near the church of St. Margherita, while Giulio Campi was painting there. 
 So, sheltered beneath the wings of Religion, the Arts labored unceasingly to create mas- 
 ter-pieces, while war in all its horrors was desolating the land. This was that same 
 age when 
 
 " A Raphael painted, and a Vida sung: 
 
 Immortal Vida, on whose honored brow 
 
 The poet's bays and critic's ivy grow: 
 
 Cremona now shall ever boast thy name 
 
 As next in place to Mantua, next in fame." — Pope. 
 
134 ST, ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 life, had we not in our midst holiness in the cloister and holi- 
 ness at the family hearth, — keeping ever before the minds of 
 young and old the highest models of moral heroism, while 
 freedom all around us seems to become only the liberty t<> 
 degenerate and degrade? 
 
 Holy souls,living in the silence and obscurity of their homes, 
 — so often the poorest homes! — or amid the glare of pub- 
 lic station, — are the germ- centres of that true life with which 
 the All-wise God renovates the face of the earth after its 
 longest wintry periods of desolation and seeming death. 
 This thought consoles the Christian heart in the deep gloom 
 which has settled in this nineteenth century over the face of 
 long-tried Italy, — over France also, and over Spain, the once 
 fertile nursery of saints and heroes. 
 
 The year 1529 was one of the saddest years which had 
 ever dawned upon Italy. The straits to which the Holy 
 See was reduced in its vain efforts to turn away the tide of 
 devastating war from the Peninsula, and to bring about 
 peace between the two great rival sovereigns, — were most 
 deplorable. As we have already said, Angela, now in her 
 fifty-fifth year, believed herself bound, in common with all 
 good Christians, to appease the divine anger by fervent 
 prayers and penitential austerities. Before leaving Brescia 
 she had been most urgent in persuading her friends and ac- 
 quaintances to join her in thus pleading with the Divine 
 Majesty for the afflicted Church, and had increased to an ex- 
 treme degree her long fasts and other self-chastisements. 
 On her arrival m Cremona there was a visible alteration in 
 her health. She did not, however, seem to heed it or even 
 to be conscious of it, so great was her desire to enlist all 
 who came to her in this union of prayers for the peace of 
 Christendom, and so intense her zeal in promoting on every 
 occasion purity and holiness of life in all who sought her in- 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. I35 
 
 tercourse. Her wasted frame seemed to be consumed by 
 the interior fire of love for God and for all His best in- 
 terests. 
 
 At length, while all Cremona was loudest in her praise, and 
 all classes of its citizens were under the spell of her elo- 
 quence and examples, her strength gave way altogether, and 
 she was brought to death's door. The progress of the 
 fever was so rapid, that the physicians pronounced her case 
 hopeless. Jerome Patengoli, her oldest friend among those 
 who now were most devoted to her, took on himself to ap- 
 prize her of her danger. She was prepared for it. Her poor 
 opinion of her own worth and ability caused her to think 
 that she was not a fit instrument for the work appointed to 
 be done in Brescia. At the same time, the prospect of ap- 
 proaching death and of a speedy union with Him who was 
 her sole absorbing love, filled her with unspeakable joy. 
 
 The sick-room presented a most touching scene. Augustine 
 Gallo and his sister, Patengoli and his wife, Antonio del 
 Romani, the generous follower and guardian of Angela in 
 her travels and charitable labors, together with the elite of 
 the Cremona and Milanese nobility, flocked in alarm about 
 what they considered to be the death-bed of the saint. 
 She could not bear to see their tears or to listen to their 
 regrets. Sitting upright on her poor couch, her face all radiant 
 with an unearthly light, and her tongue touched with a 
 seraphic fire, she discoursed to her assembled friends on the 
 bliss of that eternal life into which she was about to enter. 
 As if she already stood beneath the portals of the Everlast- 
 ing City on high, and beheld all its glory with unveiled eyes, 
 she described its citizens and its joys with a such a rapt elo 
 quence, that all who heard her, — as they afterwards solemnly 
 testified, — were carried beyond themselves with wonder and 
 delight. It seemed to them that they were listening to one 
 
136 'ST. ANGELA MERICL 
 
 of the Seraphim sent to entertain them on the incomparable 
 
 felicity of the Eternal Home.^ 
 
 This extr'aordinar} effort and the ecstatic joy with which 
 the sufferer's soul overflowed, brought the fever to a crisis. 
 No sooner had she done speaking than a change for the 
 better was perceptible. Indeed, — so Father Salvat ri re- 
 marks, — from that moment she appears to have been per- 
 fectly cured. If this sudden change added greatly to the 
 joy and astonishment of her friends, it was to Angela her- 
 self only a subject of deep regret. She too had wished with 
 St. Paul to be released from the body and at rest with 
 Christ, She had already entered into the shadow of that 
 ineffable and everlasting peace. And now she must again 
 take up the burden of this life's cares! To her friend 
 Patengoli, who seems to have withdrawn from the sick-room 
 after discharging his painful message, she said, when he 
 returned, that he surely meant to amuse himself in telling 
 her she was going to die. But he called the physicians to 
 support his assertion. And so Angela had nothing for it, but to 
 resign herself, declaring that this new lease of life was given 
 her in punishment for her sins. 
 
 All this had occurred during the autumn of 1529. Mean- 
 while, to all human forecast, the dreadful condition of 
 Italian affairs v^as daily growing worse and worse, without, 
 apparently, any hope of a cessation of these intolerable evils. 
 Angela's sudden and almost miraculous recovery happened 
 at the moment when Charles V. was in Piacenza concentrat- 
 ing the entire available resources of his army and his diplo- 
 macy in a final effort to crush the French power in Italy and 
 to deal the Italian allies of Francis I., — the Pope among 
 them, — a blow so terrible, that they must accept the im- 
 perial domination as the inevitable decree of fate. 
 
 1 Salvatori, p. 40. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 137 
 
 Terror and despair seemed to possess even the most stout- 
 hearted. Angela deemed this the proper time to exhort all 
 those around her to assail the Divine Mercy by solemn sup- 
 plications and pilgrimages to the most revered sanctuaries of 
 Upper Italy. Among these was the Sacred Hill, near 
 Varallo, in the province of IsTovara, and not far from the 
 beautiful lake of Orta. Fifty chapels stationed at intervals 
 along the hillside, and filled with life-like groups of statuary 
 and fresco-paintings, represented the principal events in the 
 life of our Saviour, especially the sufferings of His most bit- 
 ter Passion. To all who visited this place the Sovereign 
 Pontiffs had granted the same spiritual benefits attached to 
 the pilgrimage of Jerusalem, — an inestimable benefit to the 
 surrounding populations, who loved to throng to the hal- 
 lowed spot, and learn as from the most eloquent pages of 
 an ever-open book which all could read and understand, — 
 the divine lessons taught by the Eternal Love incarnate. 
 
 Our old acquaintance Antonio dei Romani became also on 
 this occasion the guide of Angela and her fellow-pilgrims. 
 Passing by Crema and Lodi, they stopped at Loncino 
 to visit the holy Dominican Nun, the Blessed Stefana dei 
 Quinzani, who governed the monastery of St. Paul, which 
 she had founded in that city. Angela had seen this 
 saintly woman more than once; but she was at the present 
 time, more than ever desirous to consult her, not only about 
 her own spiritual advancement, but about the first practical 
 steps to be taken toward establishing her contemplated 
 society. What advice Angela received from her holy friend, 
 has not been put on record. But in Varallo our saint ap- 
 peared to enjoy over again the bitter sweet ecstacies of her 
 visit to the holy places of Palestine. As if she was treading 
 for a second time on the soil made sacred by the blood of 
 the Redeemer, and assisting at the consummation of His labor 
 
138 ^T. ANGELA MEBICL 
 
 of love on Calvary, she poured forth her whole soul in tears 
 and ardent supplications, beseeching Him to give at length 
 peace to Italy and to His Church. Her companions emulated 
 her piety and patriotism, moved most powerfully by her 
 example as well as by the eloquence of the place. 
 
 There is every reason to believe that our Lord was pleased 
 to make known to His faithful handmaid that He had heard 
 her prayers. For she went away from Varallo with a radiant 
 countenance, a more buoyant step, and a more cheerful 
 manner, — telling her companions and all who met her to re- 
 joice, — that the Divine Goodness would soon give peace and 
 rest to Italy. 
 
 And so it befell; for ere the winter had begun, there 
 came glad rumors of a suspension of hostilities. And then 
 all heard that Margaret of Austria and the mother of the 
 French King had taken it on themselves to plead with their 
 royal kinsfolk the cause of humanity and Christendom, and 
 had concluded a treaty of pacification. 
 
 So Angela could go back to Cremona with a lighter heart, 
 and pulses that beat more joyously. Brescia could now re- 
 ceive her in security, and allow her to consummate what had 
 been the purpose of her entire existence. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE FOUNDATIONS LAID AT LAST, 
 
 The peace which Clement VII. accepted with all its in- 
 tolerable conditions, meant only servitude for all Italy as well 
 as servitude for the Church. It was imposed by dire necessity, 
 and made all the more bitter and humiliating to the Pontiff 
 and to every true Italian, that Charles V. insisted on receiv- 
 ing, in the first months of 1530, the imperial crown from the 
 hands of Clement himself. It required a superhuman degree 
 of magnanimity to comply with the demand of the pitiless and 
 conscienceless autocrat. But, for the first time since the 
 Papacy had created the glorious unity of Western Christen- 
 dom, a freak of ill-fortune had made a King of Spain the 
 lord paramount of continental Europe, while not one single 
 sovereign was able or willing to oppose the arbitrary will of 
 him who claimed the crown of Charlemagne only to undo the 
 work of that heroic anti most Christian ruler. ^ 
 
 While Clement YII., therefore, was preparing, in the bit- 
 terness of his soul, to crown the dark and hypocritical con- 
 queror in Bologna, Angela Merici and her friends returned to 
 
 1 It is but a very small consolation to the reader of history to learn that Charles 
 V. ended his life in the same melancholy madness which had fallen on his mother, 
 Joanna. The fits of remorse and wild asceticism which characterized his conduct in the 
 monastery of St. Justo, may well have been prompted by the remembrance of such 
 sacrileges as the sack of Rome. 
 
 139 
 
140 ST. ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 Brescia, grateful that even a short breathing space was given 
 to their grievously oppressed and long suffering country. 
 
 During her late stay in Brescia, she had been the guest of 
 Antonio dei Romani, alternately perhaps, with Augustine 
 Gallo. Now that she was resolved to give effect to her 
 purpose of founding a religious society, she desired to have 
 some little dwelling-house of her own, no matter how poor, 
 in which she might be free to live with one or more com- 
 panions, and to receive the visits of all who might have re- 
 course to her for instruction and guidance. So, after yielding 
 to the earnest entreaties of Gallo and his sister, and enjoying 
 their hospitality for a short time, she made her abode in a 
 poor house near the church of St. Barnabas. 
 
 She felt impelled by an interior voice to begin without delay 
 to find companions for her great Avork. But the diffidence 
 and fears begotten of her extreme humility made her still 
 hesitate. She was unwilling to believe that one so weak and 
 unworthy in every way as she deemed herself to be, could 
 have been selected by the Divine Majesty for an undertaking 
 of such importance. And so her dread of being a prey to 
 some delusion, or of yielding to some hidden motive of pride 
 and presumption, filled her with agony, whenever the thought 
 of creating a congregation of religious women came before 
 her in a practical shape. 
 
 Now it so happened, that while she had been deliberating 
 whether she should go to Cremona with her friends and pro- 
 tectors, or stay in Brescia during the advance of the Imper- 
 ialist forces, she had a dream which made a deep impression 
 on her. 
 
 She beheld in her sleep the holy Yirgin-Martyr of Cologne, 
 St. Ursula, who exhorted her to beoin at once to establish 
 the society foreshown to her in Desenzano, and reproved her 
 for her unwarrantable delays. This, as it would appear, was 
 
AND THE UBSULINE8. 141 
 
 not the first time that St. Ursula had appeared to her, as we 
 shall see further on And yet, though everything was in 
 the most frightful state of commotion in Upper Italy during 
 the summer and autumn of 1529, and though Angela did but 
 yield to the counsels and solicitations of her wisest and best 
 friends in forsaking Brescia for a time, — it afterward ap- 
 peared evident that she might have safely remained in the 
 threatened city, and begun at once the labor of laying the 
 foundations of her long-meditated edifice. For it is now 
 known that the first steps toward a reconciliation between the 
 Pope and the Emperor took place duVing the month of June, 
 while the treaty of peace between Charles and Francis was 
 agreed upon almost at the time Angela was on her way to 
 Cremona. To be sure, it was not to the advantage of either 
 the French or the Imperialist commanders that the tidings 
 of such peace or conciliation should be spread abroad. 
 Neither generals nor soldiers hrd b^en paid for a long time, 
 and they were allowed to pay themselves by plundering, 
 each in their turn, the unfortunate Italians; and so, the 
 armies continued, if not to fight, at least to pillage and de- 
 vastate, for months after their respective sovereigns had 
 made peace. 
 
 If, therefore, Angela might have shown more heroic faith 
 in Providence,.by heeding the words of warning.and exhort- 
 ation sent to her in this dream or vision, she on the other 
 hand, would feel justified in listening to the counsels of those 
 who bade her to fly from Brescia, and bide a more peaceful 
 and propitious season for the beginning she contem- 
 plated. 
 
 Be that as it may, certain it is, that as soon as she had 
 taken up her abode near the Church of St. Barnabas, she 
 deemed it prudent to lay her intention before F. Serafino 
 da Bologna, a member of the Augustinian Congregation, 
 
143 ST. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 Canons Regular of St. Jolin Lateran,' who were at that 
 time attached to the Venerable Church of S. Afra in that 
 city. Father Serafino was himself a man not only of great 
 learning and piety, but one of excessive prudence. For, 
 knowing Angela, as he did, he thought it wise to submit one 
 of her ripe age, judgment, and experience, to a long course 
 of trials and delays. He bade her increase her fervent 
 prayers, her vigils, and austerities, in order to obtain greater 
 light from on high, and then, satisfied that his saintly peni- 
 tent was not laboring under any spiritual illusion, he ex- 
 horted her to go on with what, he doubted not, was the work 
 of God. 
 
 Her long sojourn in Brescia had made Angela thoroughly 
 acquainted with all the persons of her own sex throughout 
 the city. She had watched the growth, from childhood to 
 womanhood, of most of its maidens, and hacJ been instru- 
 mental in forming to all the practices of Christian life the 
 souls of very many of them, — perhaps of most of them. They 
 
 J The establishment at St. John Lateran in Rome, of a body of priests living in 
 community under the Rule of St. Augustine, took place, according to Caesar 
 Franciotti, under Pope St. Leo the Great, between the years 440 and 457. But Panvinio, 
 in his history of the Lateran Basilica, says that this establishment was made in 495 
 by Pope St. Gelasius, who was himself a disciple of St. Augustine. These were the 
 ^rst ^' Canons Regular of St. John Lateran." A branch establishment bearing the 
 fiame title was made about the same time in Lucca, by St. Frigidian, the first bishop 
 and apostle of that city, an Irishman, sent thither by the same Pope. The Roman es- 
 tablishment was broken up by Pope Boniface YIII. (1294-1303) after eight centuries of 
 existence, and a body of secular priests placed in the monastery and at the head of 
 the world-famed school of St. John Lateran. They too bore the title of their prede- 
 cessors without claiming to follow the Rule of St. Augustine. The expelled monks, 
 however, did not give up their rule, or their name, or their mode of living. For we 
 find their successors and brethren living not only in Lucca but in Brescia during 
 the 15th and 16th centuries. Pope Sixtus IV. (1471-1484), decreed that the monks 
 beariug the title of " Canons Regular of St. John Lateran," although dispossessed of 
 their monastery and church in Rome, should retain their ancient denomination and 
 form one of the same congregation or order. They take precedence of all other Reg- 
 r^ar Orders. It is a house of this same Congregation that St. Angela found in Brescia, 
 and to which F. Serafino da Bologna belonged. 
 
AKD THE UBSULINES. 143 
 
 all looked up to her as their model and guide in all that per- 
 tained to true womanly virtue. So, — when the proper time 
 came, she could choose knowingly from among the very 
 flower of the flock. 
 
 History has preserved the name of the first twelve maiden 
 associates of Angela Merici ; — they are: Simona Borni, 
 Catherine and Dominica Dolce, sisters, Dorosilla Zinelli, 
 Pellegrina Casali, Clara Gaffuri, Paula and Laura Peschieri, 
 also sisters, Barbara Fontana, Clara Martinengo, Margaret 
 dell'Olmo, and Maria Bartolletti. 
 
 Of these, Barbara Fontana became Angela's inseparable 
 companion, sharing thenceforward with the latter, all the 
 poverty and privations of what they called their home, — 
 the scanty portion of fare begged from door to door and not 
 doled out to the poor of Christ, the cold hearth on which a 
 fire never glowed, the hard bench on which they both sat by 
 day reading to each other some holy book during the inter- 
 vals of their long prayers, and on which, sitting upright 
 with their backs to the wall, they allowed exhausted nature 
 to snatch the only brief needful repose which they ever en- 
 joyed, — and, with these exercises of prayer and praise, the 
 rapturous fervor of spirit known only to those who take up 
 their cross and follow Christ, and the overflowing consola- 
 tions of His sweetness who is never outdone in generosity. 
 
 The remaining eleven continued to live with their parents, 
 aiding these in the performance of their household duties, 
 edifying all who beheld them by their active but un- 
 obtrusive piety. Two things distinguished every member of 
 the little band; like their model and guide, Sister Angela, 
 they made open profession of that virginal life, which Christ 
 and His Mother had first honored, and which had ever after 
 them continued to be in the Church the source of so many 
 divine virtues and such fruitful self-sacrifice; and, besides, 
 
144 ST. ANGELA MERIGI, 
 
 they sought every opportunity to teach and train the young, 
 and to minister to the suffering and the needy. 
 
 Angela associated them to all her own devotional exercises, 
 carefully forming their conscience, grounding them thor- 
 oughly in the principles and practice of that high spirituality 
 which was the distinctive feature of her own character. 
 Training them to emulate her own extreme poverty and serif - 
 crucifixion, she made them understand that bodily austerity 
 and the most exalted purity of soul only prepared the Chris- 
 tian to approach the Divine Majesty in oral or mental prayer, 
 while mental prayer itself was the furnace in which the soul 
 was inflamed with supernatural charity toward God and the 
 neighbor. 
 
 Self-denial and self-sacrifice, while seeking in all things the 
 honor of that Adorable Majesty and His best interests in the 
 education of youth and the salvation of souls, — such was the 
 grand aim which she set before them, and which she pursued 
 herself with a heroic single-mindedness beyond all praise. 
 She was herself distinguished by a singular tact and a surety 
 of judgment, ripened into preternatural wisdom by her con- 
 stant intercourse with God, and the purity of purpose that 
 guided her in all her actions. She prized exceedingly in those 
 who sought to become her associates, these same sterling quali- 
 ties of uprightness of purpose, excellence of judgment, 
 natural sagacity and tact in dealing with others. She had 
 no patience with pious fools. Her companions were destined 
 to be apostles, who were to learn to make themselves all 
 things to all men in order to win all souls to the divine ser- 
 vice. This required practical wisdom and a sure judgment, 
 the magnaminity which no trial and difficulty could appal, 
 and that humility which leaves self in the hands of God as a 
 passive and docile instrument for every one of His uses. 
 
 It was this absolute f orgetf ulness of self, united to a won- 
 
AND THE URSULINES, I45 
 
 derful appreciation of the needs of the world around them, 
 that earned for Sister Angela and her early associates the 
 sweet name by which they were at first popularly known in 
 Upper Italy, — " the Humble or Little Sisters," Demisse, 
 
 No sooner, therefore, had Angela made proof of the solid 
 virtue and generous self-sacrificing humility of these her 
 twelve apostles, than she resolved to go with them on a pil- 
 grimage to the Holy Hill of Varallo, where she had received 
 so much light and consolation in the autumn of 1529. It 
 was now August, 1532; and as she could not lead her band of 
 devoted maidens to Jerusalem, to make together their act of 
 consecration to the Crucified on the very spot hallowed by 
 His blood, she felt that the next best thing to do was to offer 
 themselves to Him at Varallo, where the Christian heart of 
 Italy had peopled the mountain side and summit with the 
 most life-like representations of Christ's mfinite love. 
 
 In this second visit to Varallo, Angela had also for her 
 fellow-travellers and protectors her dear friends Augustine 
 and Hippolyta Gallo. These noble personages looked upon 
 Angela's religious family as their own, encouraging and fos- 
 tering its timid beginnings by their devotion and generosity. 
 In truth all that was noblest and best in Brescia shared the 
 sentiments of Gallo and his sister toward the infant society. 
 The pilgrims, who had found the chapels on the Holy Hill in 
 an incomplete or ruinous condition three years before, were 
 now delighted to see them repaired and completed. With 
 so much ardor did the people and the artists who shared 
 and interpreted their lively faith vie with each other in 
 bringing to perfection one of the most glorious creations of 
 Christian art! 
 
 Angela, remembering Jerusalem and Bethlehem the while, 
 and knowing well that but few hours were left her of day- 
 light to rear from its foundations the spiritual edifice, which 
 
146 ^T. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 was to be her life-work, besought the Divine Goodness with 
 renewed fervor to grant herself an increase of light and 
 energy with an increase in all holiness, and to shed on her 
 companions the fulness of His Spirit. 
 
 From Varallo the little band went to Milan to venerate 
 the relics of our Lord's passion so carefully treasured there. 
 There again Angela was honored by a visit from the Duke, 
 Francis II. He had asked her, while an exile and a fugitive, 
 to act as a parent toward him, to counsel and direct him in 
 all that pertained to his conscience. The unhappy prince 
 appeared to have followed scrupulously, so far as the tyran- 
 nical force of adverse circumstances would permit him, the 
 advice of the holy woman. He showed himself during the 
 few remaining years of his life, a father to his people and 
 an exemplary Christian in his private conduct. He thereby 
 endeavored to repair the oppressive measures which had 
 made the beginning of his reign so odious. Nor was the Duke 
 satisfied with visiting Angela at her lowly lodgings in the 
 city; he made all his courtiers pay her every possible mark 
 of jespect. Indeed all Milan was moved by the presence of 
 the Saint; and as it had happened to her in Venice, on her 
 arrival from the Holy Land, so now in the capital of 
 Lombardy, — the Duke, the nobility, and the burgesses be- 
 seiged her with prayers to fix her abode in their midst. 
 
 To their entreaties she replied with a gentle but firm de- 
 cision that she owed to God and to the generous citizens of 
 Brescia to spend the remainder of her life in that city. The 
 Milanese, however, as we shall see, were to be rewarded in 
 God's own time by the possession of one of the most blessed 
 colonies of Angela Merici's daughters, — and to no one more 
 than to St. Charles Borromeo, Milan's glorious archbishop, 
 was the whole Order founded by the Maid of Desenzano 
 more deeply indebted for its prosperity. 
 
Am) THE URSULINE8. I47 
 
 No sooner had Sister Angela and her companions returned 
 to Brescia, than the former found it necessary to change her 
 place of abode. She wished to be near the Church of St. 
 Afra,both because it was under the direction of the edifying 
 Canons of St. John Lateran, of which body her spiritual 
 guide, Father Serafino da Bologna, was a member, but because 
 the church itself was a treasure-house filled with the relics of 
 the glorious Christian martyrs of Brescia." Besides, the 
 church of St. Af ra was central, and therefore of easy access to 
 Angela's companions, while St. Barnabas was situated near the 
 walls in an out of the way place. Then again the Canons of 
 St. Afra, who celebrated the divine offices with uncommon 
 regularity and splendor, pressed upon Angela's acceptance 
 an apartment quite near the church, thus affording her 
 every facility for gratifying her ardent piety toward the 
 Most Holy Sacrament, as well as her devotion to Brescia's 
 glorious martyrs. Indeed one of Angela's most distinguished 
 followers in modern Italy = declares that there was a special 
 providence in this change of abode, inasmuch as the Saint's 
 spiritual children could only reach their mother, in her new 
 resting-p lace at St. Afra, by passing over a soil impregnated 
 
 ' The church of this name which existed in the time of St. Angela, was one of the 
 most ancient in Brescia. It was rebuilt about 1600 without gaining thereby in archi- 
 tectural beauty The old church had been erected on the site of a temple of Saturn 
 and was known at first as the Church of St. Faustinus ad Sanguinem, because, as Salva' 
 ton remarks, there St. Faustinus (together with his companion, St. Jovita) and a host 
 of other glorious witnesses, poured forth their blood during the early persecutions 
 It was also called the "Cemetery of St. Latinus," probably because this saint the 
 fourth bishop of Brescia, caused the remains of all these holy martyrs to be collected 
 together and entombed there, and chose the place also as that of his o«-n burial The 
 restored Church of St. Afra, as it is at present, in spite of Its architectural blemishes 
 contains remarkable works of art,-frescoes by Girolamo Eossi, a native of the city 
 and paintings by the younger Palma, Bassano, Tintoretto, Titian, and Paul Veronese.' 
 
 2 The Conntess E. Girelli, nta di S. Angela Mend, Fergine Sresciana, e del suo 
 tanto instUuio, Brescia, 1571. This lady has devoted her life to the establishment of 
 nncloistered TJrsnline Communities according to the primitive plan of St. Angela and 
 uer immediate companions. 
 
148 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 with the blood of martyrs. The very atmosphere of the 
 place inspired with the desire of self-immolation these gen- 
 erous maidens, who were contemplating a manner of life 
 that was in its^elf a perpetual martyrdom. 
 
 Even in our own days, in spite of the anti-christian spirit 
 from which Brescia and its territory have been influenced 
 not a little, this poor room in which Angela dwelt till her 
 death with Barbara Fontana, is a holy spot to which pilgrims 
 from far and near are ever wont to resort. On the place 
 where the Saint breathed her last stands a little altar. There, 
 on the 2'7th of January, every year, the Holy Sacrifice is 
 offered up; and there, too, the veneration of the people 
 jealously preserves and points out to the stranger-pilgrim 
 the poor wooden benches used by Angela and her band of 
 female apostles. On the walls are a few mediocre paintings 
 which recall the principal actions of her life. But to the 
 eye and heart of one who prizes true heroism for what it 
 is worth, such a spot needs no ornament. Everything there 
 is eloquent of the loftiest aims and the noblest deeds. The 
 sweet odor of Christ clings to the room and its poor furni- 
 ture, and a secret virtue goes forth from every object, lifting 
 the Christian m-an or woman who kneels there above earth 
 and its aspirations to God and the things of God.^ 
 
 * The room itself is about ten feet broad, twenty-five feet long, and thirty-eight feet 
 high. On a tablet in the vsall is an inscription of which the following is a translation: 
 
 " In this poor ajmrtment lived and died the illustrious Vi7'gin, Angela Merici. From 
 this place she was wont to send up toward heaven the heart-cries of her ardent charity. 
 Either were wont to come, to this woman unacquainted with worldly learning, as to a 
 school of heavenly doctrine, the theologians condemned to live in an age when error flooded 
 the land. Here, Angela cctlling together pious maidens of her own country, built up that 
 holy society which flourishes more gloriously than ever after three centuries of existence^ 
 and extends throughout the Church and civil society the blessings of its labors.''' 
 
 The Ursuline Convent of Brescia, situated at a short distance from the Church of 
 St. Afra, was suppressed by a decree of the Piedmontese government in 1866. The 
 nuns, however, manage to live on,— a precarious life full of dangers,— within the walls 
 of their monastery, like the flowering shrubs of their native hills beneath the deep 
 Bnow aad bitter cold of winter. The springtide will come for them yet I 
 
a:^D the URSULINE8. 149 
 
 Meanwhile Sister Angela's throng of disciples went on in- 
 creasing. Her narrow room could no longer accommodate 
 them. For there it was she had to instruct them and to 
 perform in common with them those sweet exercises of piety 
 which are the very soul of daily Religious life. The neces- 
 sity of their uniting together in these acts so essential to the 
 spirit of fervor, was all the more imperious in their case, 
 that they had to live during the remainder of the time 
 separate in their respective homes. They came to the re- 
 unions held by Angela, like famished laborers to the common 
 meal, bearing with them in the spiritiml refection there 
 received, the strength needful to sustain them amid their 
 arduous duties in the great outside world. Angela's room 
 at St. Atra was like the upper chamber in the house of Mary, 
 the sister of St. Barnabas, and the mother of John Mark, after 
 the ascension of our Lord. There the Apostles and disciples 
 m?t to celsbrat. the divine Sacrifice, and to fill up their 
 hearts with ihat heroic charity which was to inflame and to 
 Changs the woWd. This was the centre from which apostolic 
 2eal spread like '^ conflagration all over Palestine and Syria, 
 kindling m men's souls the love of God and that of the 
 brotherhood, z.^ it swept round the shores of the Mediterra- 
 nean^ till it enveloped the whole of the Roman Empire in its 
 course. 
 
 From Angela's cold and narrow room beside St. Afra's, 
 every soul among these pious maidens issued all aflame with 
 the desire to make God known and to have Him served more 
 faithfully by all whom she met with in her own home or in 
 the outside world. Indeed each one of them was like a 
 piece of molten metal from the furnace, placed beneath the 
 paternal roof to enlighten and warm to all generous deeds 
 every person who came in contact with her. How could the 
 little band of Twelve, being what they were, and formed by 
 
150 ^^. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 so admirable a mistress, not increase daily? Even so, it soon 
 became imperative on Angela to find some larger place, which 
 she might transform into a community-room and an oratory 
 for her growing flock. 
 
 At this juncture Providence threw in her way a noble 
 widow lady, Elizabeth Prato by name, who gave up to 
 the new Sisterhood a hall in one of her houses, situated on 
 the Cathedral Square (Plaza del Duomo).^ Thenceforward 
 
 1 This Oratory in the house of Elizabeth Prato has always been revered by the Ur- 
 sulines as the cradle of their Order. In course of time, it changed proprietors, and was 
 sadly neglected. In 1621 it was restored by the then master of the house, John 
 Baptist Bianchi, and in 1672, the Italian traveller, Lombard!, visited and described 
 it. There was, above the altar, a wall-painting of the Crucifixion, the Blessed Virgin 
 and St. John standing beneath the cross, with two female saints,— probably St. Mary 
 Magdalene and St. Mary Salome, The interior, just above the entrance door, w^as also 
 adorned with three other frescoes bearing the date of December the 11th, 1533 On 
 the side walls was represented St. Ursula, bearing a palm-branch, the Assumption of the 
 B. v., St. Afra, dressed in the primitive habit of the Ursulines, exposed to the wild 
 beasts in the Amphitheatre and miraculously spared by these ; St. Elizabeth of 
 Hungary, habited like a Tertii-ry of St. Francis, surrounded by a number of young 
 girls all in the Ursuline dress, some of them are occupied in preparing materials for 
 the loom, while others are seated at table and served by St. Elizabeth. St. Paula and 
 her daughter, St. Eustochium were painted as on the point of being shipwrecked. The 
 Biescian martyr-brothers, St. Faustinus, a priest, and St. Jovita, a deacon, being 
 special favorites of St. Angela, occupied another space on the walls. Above the door, 
 on the outside of the Oratory, St. Angela herself was represented with the following 
 inscription: 
 
 Beata Angela Merici, 
 
 BRIXIANARUM VIRGUsUM SPECULtJM IMMACULATUM, 
 
 HUIC PRLMUM SACRAS VIRGINES SJECULARE3 
 
 DiVINO INSTINCTU 
 
 Sapientissime INSTITUIT, 
 PkOPRI^QUE "VTRTUTIS rULGENTISSIMIS RADIIS, 
 
 Heic sjepissime commorando, 
 Illustkavit. 
 CONRUEBAT nSTJURIA temporum et hominitm 
 
 H^C SACRA ^DICULA, 
 
 At Jo. Baptisto blancus tanto nomini de viNCTirs, 
 
 EXSTAURAVIT. 
 
 MDCXX. 
 
 Blessed Angela Merici, 
 Of Brescian maidens the spotless mirror, 
 
AND THE UR8ULINE8. 
 
 151 
 
 the little society began to assume a consistent shape. Al- 
 though Angela's chief care seemed to be bestowed on the 
 selection and training of young girls, who, free from the 
 ties of earthly love, and unencumbered with the formed habits 
 of a more advanced age, could give themselves wholly to the 
 apostleship of education and charity, — there was another 
 class of pious women whom the Foundress labored to attach 
 to her order, — noble widows of spotless fame and known in- 
 fluence. These were to be, in the beginning, the moderat" 
 ing and protecting force in the Order. For an aggregation 
 of young women bound together, principally, by the pur- 
 suit of a common purpose, and living in their own families 
 surrounded by the ordinary seductions and distractions of 
 the world, there was need of the eye, the hand, and the 
 heart of motherly ladies whose virtues made them models 
 and safe guides, and whose ripe experience and worldly 
 rank gave them undisputed authority. 
 
 In truth, when we consider attentively not only the aim 
 which Angela Merici had set to herself, but the means by 
 which she endeavored to reach it, — we are compelled to ask 
 
 Here first impelled by Divine grace, 
 
 Trained and founded, with consummate wisdom, 
 
 A body of consecrated maidens destined to live m the woi^ld. 
 
 And while tarrying here frequently with them, 
 
 She enlightened them 
 
 With the resplendent rays of her own virtue. 
 
 This little Oratory, 
 
 Fallen into decay by the effect of time and neglect of men, 
 
 Was entirely restored 
 
 By John Baptist Bianchi, the devoted servant of so great 
 
 A saint. 
 
 After the year 1672, the Oratory thus restored by the enlightened piety of Bianchi, 
 fell into less pious hands, and became an ordinary apartment, applied to secular and 
 household purposes. The wall-paintings disappeared one by one, the fresco of the 
 Crucifixion having alone been spared. Even this disappeared about 1732, while the 
 room was tenanted by a woman named Semenzi,who had the whole place white-washed, 
 — the workmen, contrary to her instructions, bedaubing with lime the remaining fresco. 
 
152 ST' ANGELA MERICl 
 
 ourselves whether the circumstances of Italian religious and 
 social life were not such as to render an organization like 
 that which she set on foot most timely and most needful ? 
 From the mode of living pursued by Cajetan of Tiene and 
 the early Theatines, by St. Philip Neri and his Oratorians, 
 as well as by Angela Merici and her companions, one might 
 conclude that Italy was in a fearfully disorganized condition, 
 that together with the disorders begotten of awhole century 
 of incessant warfare, there were other perverting influences 
 actively at work, in Italian homes and Italian society, — find- 
 ing their way to the minds and hearts of all classes, unset- 
 tling in souls the faith which had been the guide and consol- 
 ation of preceding centuries, — and disposing the men and 
 women of the 16th to rebel against God, against His Church, 
 and against all that had till then been held as a venerable 
 authority in Christendom. 
 
 Indeed, about this same date, 1533-34, the revolt headed 
 by Martin Luther had not only separated England from the 
 Holy See, arrayed the peoples and princes of Germany in 
 two hostile camps, filled with bloodshed and anarchy some 
 of the fairest portions of that country, but made of Switzer- 
 land and France houses divided against themselves, and 
 created in Upper and Central Italy many bitter elements of 
 religious and political dissension. The most glorious institu- 
 tions of the ages of Italian freedom, and overflowing pros- 
 perity, — the monastic orders and their creations, — were 
 denounced as the work of Satan and the bane of 
 Christendom. That Virginal Life, which since the days 
 of Christ and His Mother, had been so devoted to the 
 best interests of God on earth, — the spiritual welfare and 
 temporal comfort of the people, — and so marvellously fruit- 
 ful in creations of holiness, beauty, enlightenment, and educa- 
 tion, — was held up by unblushing apostate monks and shame- 
 
AJS2J THE URSULINES, I53 
 
 less priests as contrary to the law of God and of nature. 
 
 It became the wise providence of Him, who is ever 
 watchful over His Church and her children, to call holy men 
 and women to live the life of the most austere ascetics in 
 the midst of the world, to raise up in the midst of cities and 
 in the bosom of families, maidens consecrated to God, and 
 wedded to all the sublime charities of the most fervent 
 monastic orders. Have you, dear reader, ever remarked 
 the wonderful art with which Nature repairs the disasters, 
 and heals the wounds of the tree or the plant, and instinct- 
 ively arms it with a sure defence against the sudden and 
 unforeseen changes of weather and temperature? Here is 
 one of those favorite flowers called hyacinths. Just as it 
 was about to blossom, an accident injured the flower spike, 
 so that it bent over and threatened to break. Just then one 
 of the spear-like leaves turned away from its straight up- 
 ward position to support, as with a parent's arm, the droop- 
 ing spike and its opening flowerets. And so it continued to 
 support it, till the vital sap had repaired the injury and re- 
 stored the needed strength. But no sooner was the spike 
 able to resume and maintain, unaided, its erect position, 
 than the friendly leaflet withdrew and returned to its pre- 
 vious upright form. 
 
 We know when the bark has been torn from a portion of 
 the tree-trunk, how all the currents of the vital sap hasten 
 to flow to the wound and deposit the necessary fibrin, rap- 
 idly covering over the raw wound, and forming a new coat- 
 ing of bark to protect the injured part from the inclemency 
 of the atmosphere or the inroads of hurtful insects. Is it not 
 even so that Nature's hidden virtue heals the wounds in the 
 human frame? But in that supernatural organism called the 
 Church, the Mystic Body of Christ, informed as it ever is by 
 the indwelling Creator Spirit, is there not a divine virtue 
 
154 ^^^ ANGELA MERICl, 
 
 which is ever at work to repair the decay of the humaq 
 and perishable elements in the immortal frame? is there 
 not a hidden current of overflowing vital energy which 
 an infallible instinct directs toward the part which is 
 wounded or weakened in the battle with the powers of 
 darkness? 
 
 When the storm has torn from the lordly oak one of its 
 branchesjwill not the tree hasten to put forth another, and 
 on the same side, to enable the stately tree to maintain its 
 proper balance and withstand the assaults of future tem- 
 pests? How admirably are all those analogies verified in the 
 life of Christ's Church during the eighteen centuries of her 
 stormy existence! 
 
 Even so, in the Italy of the early sixteenth century, when 
 th3 very existence of monastic life v/as i^iperilled, when the 
 Virginal Life in the cloister or in the priesthood, or even as 
 it had ever been honored m the Christian family-home, was 
 declared to be contrary to the revealed will of God, — the 
 Church spontaneously produced such aggregations of holy 
 men and women as the Society of Jesus, as the Theatines 
 and Oratorians, as the Ursulines in Venetia, and the reformed 
 Carmelites of St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross in Spain. 
 It was like armies of virginal souls preaching by the exam- 
 ples of their spotless and most useful lives, the necessity and 
 the divinity of the institutions which rampant heresy assailed, 
 just as when a conflagration has swept over the face of a 
 country destroying wheat-fields, pastures, and forests in its 
 course, the ever-present and all-suflScient energy of Nature 
 hastens to cover up the black ruin with her beautiful vesture 
 of green grass, and flowering shrub, and shooting sapling, — 
 the new life budding and blossoming fast on the footprints 
 of death! 
 
 W© can, therefore^ see, about the date of November, 1533, 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 156 
 
 Brescia, desolated by unparalleled calamities/ and still 
 threatened alternately by the hostile armies of France and 
 Spain, bestowing her chief care on making Religion flourish 
 in her ruined churches and monasteries, in encouraging Angela 
 Merici and her companions to make the most generous piety 
 live once more in every home, and in placing the children of 
 both sexes in the hands of such women as the early Ursu- 
 lines, and such men as St. Jerome Emiliani and his as- 
 sociates. 
 
 Home-life, with its supernatural piety and virtues, with 
 its Christian methods of education, and with the high and 
 comforting hopes which a living faith inspires, — such was 
 the pure source of a renewed national greatness that these 
 devoted men and women aimed at creating or deepening in 
 their native land. Brescia, — and the same can be said in a 
 very great measure of the other cities of Upper Italy, — was 
 at the time too poor and too uncertain of the future, to 
 think of founding large and costly monastic establishments. 
 And the spiritual straits were as distressing as the public and 
 private poverty was great. The Spirit of God, who used 
 such instruments as Angela Merici, Jerome Emiliani, and 
 Cajetano de Tiene to renovate the faceof the earth, impelled 
 them to work in the homes of the needy populations, to 
 raise the voice of teaching in the busiest marts of commerce, 
 to display the shining examples of unearthly abnegation 
 along the crowded thoroughfares, — so that every current of 
 
 1 Before tlie destruction wrought by the French in 1512, Brescia, according to a 
 contemporary historian, Robert de la Mark, "was one of the most powerful, of the best 
 fortified, and of the most opulent cities (republics) in all Italy. Nine millions of 
 francs in money were taken away from the hapless city by its French captors,— a sum 
 which was immense for the time. Indeed, we are assured by another contemporary 
 historian, a Frenchman also {Eistorie composeepar le Loyal Serviteur desfaUs, gesies^ 
 tmomphes et. prouesses du hon Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche le gentil Seigneur 
 de Bayard), that the soldiers of Bayard and Gaston de Foy returned to France with 
 such a rich booty that they abandoned the service, to live on their ill-gotten wealth. 
 
156 ^T. ANGELA MEBICL 
 
 the national life might be thus purified and hallowed by their 
 influence. 
 
 In preceding ages, men and women who wished to save 
 themselves from the evil examples of the half -pagan society 
 amid which they were born, fled to the sandy desert or to 
 the most inaccessible mountain-solitudes. At the beo^in- 
 ning of the 16th century, the Divine Spirit led His apostles 
 not into the wilderness, but into the very midst of the battle- 
 field where good and evil were struggling for victory. 
 
 The citizens of Brescia felt how seasonable, how provi- 
 dential was the appearance in their midst, — in their homes, 
 their schools, and their hospitals, — of a band of maidens 
 formed on the angelic model of the Venerable Maid of 
 Desenzano, and watched over and directed by matrons of 
 the highest rank and the most unquestioned virtue. Clergy 
 and people saw the hand of God in the beginnings of this 
 Society. 
 
 Let us now see what induced Angela to bestow on it the 
 name of St. Ursula; and what were the first grand lineaments 
 of the organization. 
 
CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 WHY ANGELA CALLED HER SISTEEHOOD "THE COMPANY OF ST. 
 
 UESULA." ^ 
 
 While Angela and her twelve first companions are forming 
 themselves to the practical duties of their calling by meditat- 
 ing together assiduously in the Oratory of Elizabeth Prato, 
 on the life of Christ and His Virgin Mother^ — it will not be 
 amiss to examine what motives led the holy Foundress to 
 bestow on the association created by her the denomination 
 of "The company of St. Ursula." 
 
 The popular legends recounting the romantic life of this 
 holy Virgin-Martyr and her companions, vary ia many par- 
 ticulars, while agreeing in the main historical facts accepted 
 by the Church and embodied in her liturgy and in the au- 
 thorized record of the Roman Breviary. The traditions 
 differing from each other in Germany and in Italy, do not 
 affect these great substantial facts relating to the existence, 
 the heroic virtues, and the glorious witness of the virgin 
 band. "These traditions, with their sweet devotional per- 
 fume, are like the undergrowth of our southern forests, 
 lovely and graceful plants that spring up beneath the shade 
 of the great trees, and creep up their trunks, hanging their 
 wreaths of bright foliage and brilliant flowers from every 
 branch, — the most beautiful ornament of the forest, but not 
 
 the forest itself. The heart and imagination of man, even in 
 
 157 
 
158 ^^- ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 the most cultivated societies, will produce these flowers of 
 fancy, and wreathe them around his holiest beliefs." ' 
 
 The simple facts of this history are: That about the year 
 382, when Flavins Clemens Maximus, commander of the 
 Roman armies in Great Britain, usurped the imperial 
 title, and crossed over into Gaul, followed by an army of 
 Celts from that island, he expelled from Armorica the origin- 
 al inhabitants, and divided the land among his British sol- 
 diers. Anxious to provide for these colonists wives of their 
 own race, he obtained from Dionoc, prince of Cornwall, that 
 the latter should give his daughter, Ursula, in marriage to 
 Conan, the commander of the British soldiers in the imperial 
 service, and send with her a sufficient number of other 
 maidens to become the partners of the new lords of Armor- 
 ica, thenceforward named Little Britain or Britanny. The 
 vessels which contained the British princess and her maiden 
 companions, were driven by a storm on the coast of Germany 
 and up the Rhine. There the vessels were captured by the 
 pagan inhabitants and brought to Cologne. The prize was 
 a tempting one for the barbarians, who contended for their 
 possession. Ursula, however, exhorted her companions to 
 die rather than submit to the shameful lot which their heathen 
 captors reserved for them. Their resistance caused the en- 
 tire band to be massacred as well in hatred of the Christian 
 faith as in the defence of their virginity. Their place of 
 sepulture was shown at Cologne from the fifth century to the 
 present day, — attesting that their number was considerable, 
 without stating it precisely. 
 
 The heroic manner in which these stranger maidens de- 
 fended their own honor against the assaults of the rude pagan 
 soldiery, and their invincible courage in bearing witness to 
 
 1 " Heroic Women of the Bible and the Church," ch. xxiv., p. 248. 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. I59 
 
 the Christian faith, rendered their name forever fanK)U'.s 
 among the Germanic populations, — especially after the con- 
 version of the latter to Christianity. They became the ideal 
 type of Christian maidenhood, the protectors of all who 
 choose to lead in the world the Virginal Life, while Ursula, 
 who was their leader and instructress, was everywhere looked 
 up to as the patron saint of all who devoted themselves to the 
 education of young girls. 
 
 The legends which became current about these martyrs of 
 Cologne during the middle ages, related, moreover, that this 
 virgin train ascended the Rhine to Basel, crossed the Alps 
 by the Stelvio or the Brenner Pass, visited Venice, Verona, 
 and the principal cities of Upper Italy, and after performing 
 their pilgrimage to Rome returned by the same road to 
 Germany. It is on their arrival at Cologne, that they are 
 are made to fall into the hands of the Huns who massacre 
 them. 
 
 Thus at a very early period, the fame of these British 
 Virgin -Martyrs was as popular in Upper Italy as it was along 
 the banks of the Rhine. The cities of the Venetian territory, 
 especially, claimed them as the special patrons of maiden- 
 hood and of all institutions devoted to the training of youth. 
 Hence it is that we find, in the year 1490, just when Angela 
 Merici was in her sixteenth year, — the city of Venice found- 
 ing an establishment for the education of female orphans, 
 and bestowing on it the name of ''the School of St. Ursula," 
 {Scuola di Scmt Or sold). Now it so happened that one of 
 the most distinguished painters to whom the Great Republic 
 gave birth, Victor Carpaccio, was called, at this same date, 
 to decorate the chapel of this institution with subjects wor- 
 thy of Christian Venice, and representing the history of St. 
 Ursula. Alas, the school of St. Ursula has long ceased to 
 be devoted to its original purpose, and, like so many other 
 
160 ^^' -4iV^G^^X^ MERICl 
 
 creations of the enlightened republican piety of the Queenly 
 City, it has been allowed to fall into irreparable decay. 
 Still, some at least of the master-pieces of Carpaccio have 
 been preserved to posterity, and are now found in the great 
 museum known as the Accademia. 
 
 If Angela, either on her passage through Venice in 1524, or 
 during her stay in the city at any other period, had visited 
 the school of St. Ursula, she might have seen Carpaccio's 
 masterly works on the walls where he had painted them. 
 The artist was, like the Brothers Bellini, inspired by a lively 
 faith and a sincere piety which elevated and hallowed his 
 genius. "The richness of fancy," — says Mrs. Jameson, — 
 "the lively dramatic feeling, the originality and naivet6 
 with which the story is told, render this series one of the most 
 interesting of early Venetian art. Zanetti says that he used 
 to go to the chapel of St. Ursula and conceal himself, to ob- 
 serve the effects which those pictures produced on the 
 minds of the people as expressed in their countenances. 'I 
 myself,' he adds, 'could hardly turn away my eyes from that 
 charming figure of the saint, where, asleep on her maiden 
 couch, — all grace, purity, and innocence, — she seems, by the 
 expression on her beautiful features to be visited by dreams 
 from Paradise.'"* In truth Angela needed not to visit 
 Venice or the school of St. Ursula, to become acquainted 
 with the story of the Virgin -Martyr and her companions, or 
 to find that story told, and well told, by loving artistic 
 hands in other sanctuaries throughout Venetia and Lombardy. 
 
 The great theological school of the Sorbonne, in Paris, had 
 
 1 " Sacred and Legendary Art," vol. 2, p. 514. The picture mentioned by Zanetti is 
 that numbered as 533 in the Accademia. It is the Dream of St. Ursula, in which she is 
 bidden to visit the shrines of the holy martyrs in Rome. Those who have admired the 
 exquisite grace of Raphael in one of his first paintings, " The Marriage of the Blessed 
 Virgin,'' will find that he is surpassed by Carpaccio in every picture of this magnificent 
 series. 
 
AND THE UBSULINE3. 161 
 
 early adopted St. Ursula as the special protectress of its 
 professors and students. How could Upper Italy, with its 
 vivid local traditions, fail to be beforehand with the capital 
 of France ? So, everywhere, the glorious Princess who shed 
 her blood in Cologne, was the accepted model and protec- 
 tress of all who strove to lead the Virginal Life in their own 
 homes or who devoted their existence to educate children of 
 their own sex. 
 
 We can now see how natural it was for Angela Merici to 
 choose St. Ursula as a patron for her Sisterhood. They were 
 to live in the midst of the world, offering their examples as a 
 corrective to the vices of the age, and giving their services 
 to the two-fold cause of education and charity. Who could 
 better plead for their interests in Heaven than the Celtic 
 Princess and her sainted band of virgins? Had not Italy 
 been ravaged again and again by hordes more pitiless than 
 Goth, or Vandal, or Hun? Had they not still possession of 
 her fairest provinces, and was not their sway paramount 
 over all? 
 
 Indeed about this same time, 1533-34, more than one 
 biographer of our saint places a miraculous vision in which 
 Angela beheld St. Ursula herself with her companions 
 urging the immediate organization of a religious order, and 
 promising the foundress their special advocacy and protec- 
 tion. 
 
 This fact, — though not vouched for by any recorded and 
 authentic declaration of Angela, or of her immediate com- 
 panions, seems to be indirectly attested by the artistic 
 monuments left in Brescia and Desenzano by such of her 
 contemporaries as II Moretto and Romanino. In their paint- 
 ings Angela is represented as kneeling before Ursula, who 
 presents her with a standard, while behind and around 
 Ursula the host of palm-bearing virgins smile approval and 
 
162 ^T, ANGELA MEEICl 
 
 encouragement. This became, throughout Italy, the re< 
 ceived way in which artists transmitted to posterity Angela's 
 motive in naming her order. 
 
 Another vision occurring in this same year, and pressing 
 more urgently still on Angela the formal and canonical es- 
 tablishment of her society, is related by the same historians.' 
 This extraordinary event, — which seems strangely at vari- 
 ance with our saint's child-like obedience to the Divine Voice 
 and its habitual guidance, happened in this way. One night 
 while Sister Angela was occupied in her usual exercise of 
 meditation, an angel suddenly stood before her in a threaten- 
 ing attitude. She fell prostrate on the ground, filled with a 
 terror which she could not control. Recovering from her 
 fright and lifting up her eyes, she beheld our Lord Himself 
 standing before her. He reproved her for her lack of 
 courage in pushing forward an undertaking so conducive to 
 the spiritual welfare of His people; and she, filled with 
 equal confusion and sorrow, besought His merciful forgive- 
 ness, promising an immediate compliance with His wishes. 
 
 This last vision is here mentioned, because all the latest 
 historians of the Ursuline Order have recorded it. Without 
 vouching for its having happened, especially with the cir- 
 cumstances above related, we deem it due to the reader not 
 to pass it over in silence. But whether it occurred or not, 
 it is certain that during the year 1535, Angela manifested 
 uncommon activity in preparing her companions, the local 
 Church-authorities, and the public, for a formal inauguration 
 of " The Company of St. Ursula." 
 
 She was too humble, too sincere a lover of holy obedience, 
 not to submit all her plans, as she matured them, and every 
 step she purposed taking toward their execution, to her di- 
 
 1 Among others, Eistoire de rOrdre de Ste. Ursula^ Paris and Orieans, 1776, vol. I., 
 page 57. 
 
AISD THE UBSULINE8. 163 
 
 rector, and through him to the episcopal approbation. And 
 so the month of November came, when she had settled, 
 with the consent of those who held for her God's place on 
 earth, to bind herself and her twelve associates by the solemn 
 obligations of their religious profession. 
 
 The 25th day of November, 1535, is a date ever memor- 
 able in the great family of St. Angela Merici. It is the 
 feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr, — 
 one of the many women who shone by their superior learn- 
 ing in the world -renowned schools of the Egyptian capital. 
 St. Catherine had shared with St. Ursula the honor of being 
 the patron-saint and protectress of the great universities of 
 Christendom. Was it because both of these saints repre- 
 sented the union of heroic maidenly purity with superior 
 knowledge, that Angela chose the name of the one as that 
 by which her Company should be known through all time, 
 and the feast of the other as the most propitious day 
 for its inauguration? Is there a divine instinct in the 
 founders of Religious Orders, which compels them to 
 build better than they know? And does not the spiritual 
 edifice grow to a degree of supernatural beauty and 
 strength, all unconscious the while of the Hand which 
 guides the builder? 
 
 On the morning, then, of November the 25th, 15S5, 
 Angela with her chosen Twelve began the day by assisting 
 at early Mass in her favorite church of St. Afra, and receiv- 
 ing in Christ's divinest Gift here below the pledge of that 
 eternal possession with which He rewards the souls who give 
 themselves wholly to Him and to promoting His interests. 
 Then proceeding, intoxicated with a holy joy, to their 
 Oratory on the Cathedral Square, they fulfilled, in presence 
 of the proper authorities, and their invited friends, the 
 solemn formalities required for the canonical institution of 
 
164 ST. ANGELA MEEICl 
 
 the Company of St. Ursula/ After pronouncing their vows, 
 all subscribed an act by which they bound themselves to each 
 other and to a full observance of the rules of the Company. 
 But the Spirit who presided over that pious assemblage 
 and these touching formalities, moved others among the 
 
 1 Let us compare what thus took place in Brescia, on November 25th, 1535, with 
 what had occurred in Paris on August 15, 1534. One of the most God-like men of the 
 many w^ho glorified God and His Church in the 16th century, the Blessed Peter Favre, 
 thus relates, in his own private diary, the first inauguration of the ''Company of 
 Jesus:"— "In this same year, 1534, in August, on the feast of the Assumption of the 
 Holy Virgin, we, all of us having come to the same resolution, and made the Spiritual 
 exercises,— Master Francis (Xavier) had not done this yet, though he had the same res- 
 olution as ourselves,— went to the chapel of Notre Dame (deMontmartre), near Paris, 
 and each made a vow to go at the time fixed to Jerusalem, and to place ourselves ^lihen 
 we returned in the hands of the Pope; and to leave, after a certain interval, our kins- 
 folk and our nets, and keep nothing hut the money necessary for the journey. At this 
 first meeting were present Ignatius, Master Francis (Xavier), myself, Bobadilla, 
 Laynez, Salmeron, Simon (Rodriguez), and M. John (Cordure). Le Jay had not come 
 to Paris, and Paschase (Bronet) had not yet been gained. The two following years we all 
 returned on the same day to the same place to renew our resolve, and each time we 
 felt greatly strengthened." 
 
 The holy place in which the Company of Jesus thus had birth, was a crypt beneath 
 the Church. Peter Favre, the only priest among them, celebrated Mass. Before gi^dng 
 them communion, he turned toward them with the Blessed Sacrament. Each in a firm 
 voice recited the vows of chastity, poverty, obedience to the Pope, and a vow to go to 
 Palestine to convert the infidels. They promised, moreover, not to aecept any money 
 for their sacerdotal ministrations. Then they received the Divine Gift,— the Almighty 
 Giver flooding their souls with such joy and blissful fervor, that to the end of their 
 lives they could not recall the memory of that day without feeling their souls lifted up- 
 ward by a great wave of spiritual rapture. " When I think of that time," says Father 
 Genelli, "I seem to behold the entire scene, to share the hopes and great designs of 
 that little band, to see through the thickening gloom of the intervening years light 
 from Heaven descending, glorifying the obscure crypt and filling those souls with a 
 thrill of triumph. In that moment, so full of mighty promise for the coming years, 
 these men must have known that God was with them, that His Spirit was fitting them 
 to achieve lofty deeds and glorious ^ictories in the midst of a generation whose hearts 
 had lost all generous warmth, and who were buried in the apathy of absorbing self- 
 love. Never till that day did so small a band of soldiers set forth bent on conquering 
 a world; never were true hearts inspired by a higher courage." 
 
 The rest of the day was passed near a spring in the fields, whose waters, tradition 
 said, had been stained by the blood of the martyred St. Denis. There they broke their 
 fast, while feasting their souls on the sweet manna of brotherly love. . . Oh, how 
 like to each other are the works of the Spirit of Christ in Paris and at Brescia! 
 
AND THE URSULINE8, 165 
 
 maidens of Brescia then and there to cast their lot with 
 Angela. So that, ere they quitted the Oratory on that 
 memorable morning, fifteen others had joined the Twelve, 
 raising their number to twenty-eight in all. Who can tell 
 the joy of Angela Merici on that day which crowned the 
 long labors, the long waiting and suffering of a life now in 
 its sixty-first year? 
 
 There was for the Foundress and her companions, one 
 special reason for choosing the Feast of St. Catherine as the 
 day of the formal inauguration of their company, a reason 
 which we should distinctly point out here. The great Maiden- 
 Scholar and Martyr of Alexandria, had lived in the bosom 
 of her own family, professing before the whole world that 
 she was the bride of Him who had died on the cross to re- 
 deem our souls, and choosing to die a most fearful death 
 rather than violate the faith which she had pledged to Him. 
 Hence is it that Christian Art, embodying the constant tradi- 
 tion of preceding ages, represents St. Catherine, when re- 
 ceived into Heaven, after her triumph over the persecutor's 
 fury, as receiving from Christ Himself the ring, the symbol 
 of eternal fidelity and unfailing love. 
 
 I^ow, — as we shall be able to convince ourselves, when 
 analyzing the constitutions given to the early Ursulines by 
 St. Angela, — every one of the twenty-eight whose names 
 were registered as her companions on November 25, 1535, 
 was a maiden and purposed to be the ever-faithful bride of 
 the Crucified. It was this dignity of Spouse of Christ, 
 which was the goal of these young hearts' ambition. This 
 conception of their spiritual aims, was to be fundamentaL 
 for every one of them. To a life of utter devotion to Christ 
 and His dearest interests, as the natural sequence of their 
 divine espousals, these young girls had been carefully trained 
 by Angela; and they in their turn, living up to this sacred 
 
166 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 ideal, in the midst of the world, were to educate the yonng 
 girls entrusted to them, training such of them as the Spirit 
 of God moved to adopt the Virginal Life, to become in due 
 time, the faithful, deyoted, self-sacrificing brides of the 
 Lamb. 
 
 The Virginal Life in its most perfect purity, the exalted 
 rank of Spouse of Christ, with the absolute devotion to His 
 honor and interests imposed by such a dignity, — this was the 
 central notion in the mind of Angela, the generating principle 
 of her Institution. 
 
 And yet, during the first stage of the Ursuline Order, the 
 Foundress would not impose the emission of any vow what- 
 ever, even a vow of celibacy, as an absolute condition of 
 membership. While leaving to time, to the Spirit who 
 guided her companions, and to the Director of their conscience, 
 to determine whether such vows were necessary, and when 
 they should be made, Angela insisted on the most perfect 
 practice of the virtues themselves. 'Not only would she not 
 have them, during this first period, — when they were on 
 trial beneath the eyes of all Brescia ?nd all Upper Italy — 
 subject to the seclusion of a cloistered life, or to the obliga- 
 tion of living together in a community; but she would have 
 them, on the contrary, remain beneath the paternal roof as 
 a living and most eloquent refutation of the calumnies of 
 the German Reformers, and the most eloquent exhorta- 
 tion as well to the practice of the most heroic Christian 
 virtues. They were to demonstrate daily and hourly by 
 their conduct that Christian maidens and Christian women 
 of all classes, may lead a life of prayerful retirement and 
 penitential austerity, while seeking and seizing every op- 
 portunity to practice charity and benefit the neighbor. 
 
 They were bound, by the rules their Saintly Parent gave 
 them, to find out the persons of their own sex who were in 
 
AND THE UB8ULINE8. 167 
 
 need of spiritual consolation, or suffering from illness or 
 poverty. They were to use all industry and prudence in 
 instructing the ignorant, especially in the knowledge of the 
 truths and duties of religion. But, above all, they were to 
 draw to themselves the little children, those of their own 
 sex in particular. The training and education of these 
 little ones was to be their principal labor, to which all their 
 other labors were to be subordini:,ted. But the novices and 
 younger members of the Order were to avoid carefully the 
 acquaintance of all persons of ill or doubtful repute. The 
 reclaiming ot* these was to be the work of others. 
 
 In other respects Angela opened as widely as possible the 
 doors to the admission of all who were deserving, — whether 
 they were rich or poor, learned or unlearned, of high or of 
 low degree; she excluded no postulant who brought to the 
 company a virginal soul, a sound judgment, any one who was 
 well principled, constant in her purpose, single-minded and 
 single-hearted. 
 
 As to their dress it was to be of woollen texture, modest 
 both in its color and its make, with a black veil of the same 
 material, and cloak for inclement weather. Thus apparelled, 
 the members of the Sisterhood would be able to attend to 
 their holy avocations in the most public places or indoors 
 without creating surprise or calling forth comment. Angela 
 herself continued to wear to the end of her life the dark blue 
 habit by which she was so well known, — and the close re- 
 semblance to it of that worn by her associates only served to 
 conciliate respect and popularity. 
 
 The members of the Company were to cultivate toward 
 each other the most active charity, — all, no matter how dis- 
 tinguished otherwise by rank or by wealth, laboring to sup- 
 port themselves by their own manual labor, in imitation of 
 Christ and His Apostles, — and all contributing promptly and 
 
168 ^T. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 generously to aid such among them as were suffering from 
 extreme poverty or illness. Indeed they showed the most 
 tender care of their sick and dying Sisters, as well as a pious 
 zeal in decently burying their <lead and seeing to it that the 
 souls of their departed dear ones were not forgotten in the 
 Holy Sacrifice and in the good works performed by the living. 
 
 Toward their parents, their nearest relations, or such as 
 b^Id toward the Sisters the place of father and mother in the 
 home, Angela was careful to inculcate the greatest and 
 most loving reverence. It was a chief object of her wise 
 solicitude to secure the hearty co-operation of the heads of 
 families and households in forwarding the great work she 
 had in hand, and in fostering among their children or de- 
 pendents the pursuit of holiness and the accomplishment of 
 the sacred labors of charity and teaching. 
 
 As we said above, the noblest and most influential men and 
 women in Brescia took an active part in forwarding the 
 establishment of the Company of St. Ursula, and in protect- 
 ing it from all obstacles during its early stages. Outside of 
 Brescia, in Milan, Cremona and Bergamo, as well as in Des- 
 enzano, Salo, and Verona, the most powerful personages and 
 the most distinguished for enlightened piety, sympathized 
 heartily with the Foundress and her work, and were waiting 
 impatiently to see the goodly tree of the Company so speed- 
 ily attain to its full growth that it might extend its off-shoots 
 to their own neighborhood. 
 
 The new Sisterhood, as we have also said, was called by 
 Angela, '* the Company of St. Ursula," just as at the same time 
 the glorious spiritual militia organized by St. Ignatius Loyola 
 was by him denominated *nhe Company of Jesus." There 
 was, both in the mind of the Holy Maid of Desenzano and 
 in that of the heroic Spanish soldier, a military conception. 
 Angela wanted her associates to form in the midst of secular 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 169 
 
 life, a band of Maidens, like Ursula and her followers, holding 
 aloft the banner of the Virginal Life, and becoming the 
 fruitful spiritual parents of the young of their own sex and 
 the loving nurses and handmaids of Christ's poor and afflicted 
 wherever they were found. Ignatius, on the other hand, 
 called his associates to become the Companions of the Lord 
 Jesus, the Great Captain of Salvation, in subjecting the whole 
 earth to the knowledge, the love, and the service of the 
 Father and King of Ages. Angela never concealed her purpose 
 of placing her Companions as the defenders and promoters of 
 the Catholic faith, the Catholic life and institutions, in every 
 city and in every household into which the doctrines and 
 practices of Luther and Calvin were then sought to be intro- 
 duced throughout Italy. It is, indeed, a well-known histori- 
 cal fact, that Calvin not only visited Margaret of Navarre 
 and made of her court a centre from which he propagated his 
 tenets, but that he visited her sister Renee, Duchess of 
 Ferrara, in order to confirm the latter in her attachment to 
 the new Reformation. Besides more than one of the vil- 
 lage-communities in the valleys of Upper Italy had embraced 
 or favored the Reformed doctrines, — while in the great cities 
 themselves, like Venice, such apostates as Bernardine Ochino, 
 the General of the Franciscans, were laboring stealthily under 
 the monastic garb or the priest's cassock, to pervert the minds 
 of their unsuspecting fellow-citizens. 
 
 Indeed, there were thus two hostile armies, standing face 
 to face in the homes and cities of Northern and Central Italy, 
 — the army of the disguised enemies of the Catholic Church 
 and its distinctive institutions, — and another army, composed 
 of the Company of St. Ursula, the little band called the Com- 
 pany of Jesus, and St. Cajetano de Tiene's more numerous 
 cohort. of Theatines. The latter, — the Catholic army, — 
 strove, and strove effectually, to counteract the manoeuvres 
 
170 ST. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 of the former, to fill all minds, homes, and hearts with the 
 light of the Christian faith and the beauty of holiness, and 
 thus was stopped the progress of Protestantism in Italy. 
 
 But let us look more attentively at this first organization 
 of the Company of St. Ursula. Angela, for the purpose 
 she had in view, divided the city of Brescia into *^ districts.'^ 
 The novices and accepted young maidens of each district 
 were under the immediate care and instruction of a Mistress, 
 who was always a person of superior virtue, zeal, and prac- 
 tical knowledge of things spiritual. To her came for in- 
 struction and guidance all the younger novices and members 
 residing within the districts; and on her it was incumbent 
 to visit, once at least within each fortnight, all who were 
 subject to her, in their own houses. Each district had also 
 another officer named Directress, — a widow-lady of at least 
 50 years of age, of spotless reputation, high social rank, 
 and of known prudence and wisdom. These were to repre- 
 sent the Foundress, to bestow on their respective charge all 
 the watchful care and tenderness of the truest motherly love, 
 never losing sight of any of the young souls committed to 
 them, warding off from them every danger, cultivating in 
 them every quality of heart and mind, encouraging them to 
 aim higher and higher every day, and shining before them 
 on the road of perfection with the steady glow of their own 
 holiness. To each Governess was assigned an Advisor, — 
 who was to be her assistant and executive, taking note of 
 everything that required attention and remedy, and referring 
 it to the Directress. These Advisors or Counselors were 
 also called by the Saint CollonnelU^ — a military designation 
 from which is derived our own word colonel.^ Thus every 
 district had its own government. Matrons, Counselors, 
 
 1 The Italian collonnello,— from coUonna, a column,— was a title given in the 16th 
 century to the leader or commander of a column of soldiers. 
 
AI^D THE UBSULINES. 171 
 
 Mistresses, Members, and Novices, — all moving forward in 
 the regular performance of their assigned duties, — these 
 superior officers referring to Angela herself at all times for 
 special direction whenever there was need of it, and all, at 
 stated intervals, meeting her in council to confer with her 
 upon the advancement and welfare of the Company. 
 
 The Foundress, experienced as she was m the Ways of the 
 world and the things of God, was also careful to secure for 
 her associates protectors and defenders among tlie most il- 
 lustrious citizens of Brescia. Of course snch men as Penta- 
 goli, Augustine Gallo, and Antonio dei Romani, could never 
 fail to befriend Angela and her daughters to their utnaost. 
 Nevertheless, she used these old and trusty friends to pro- 
 cure the powerful support and protection of other men of 
 the world, who should, at any moment, be ready to defend 
 the nascent society and its members from the insults, the 
 slanders, or the injustice of wrong-doers. 
 
 There is no exaggeration, therefore, in saying, that not 
 only all Brescia, but all Lombardy and Venetia, felt deeply 
 interested in the experiment tried with such singular success 
 by the Holy Maid of Desenzano. We know that at the very 
 time, on that November morning, 1535, Angela and her band 
 of twelve were receiving Holy Communion in the Church of 
 St. Afra, and thus preparing to bind themselves to each 
 other by solemn promise later in the forenoon, Ignatius 
 Loyola was scrambling, way-worn, sore-footed, fainting, and 
 sick, across the Appennines from Genoa to Bologna, and 
 thence to Venice, there to await the arrival from Paris of 
 his nine first companions. It is a tale that moves to the 
 loftiest sympathy the soul of the Christian reader, — this of 
 the noble Spanish Cavalier and his chosen followers coming 
 to Venice on foot across the continent, through fatigues and 
 dangers which might discourage the bravest spirit and break 
 
172 ^^' ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 down the most robust, and then, after vainly waiting for 
 a passage to Palestine over seas infested by the pitiless 
 Mohammedan, offering their lives to the Vicar of Christ, re- 
 ceiving holy orders beneath the shadow of St. Mark's, and 
 then spreading over Northern and .Central Italy, with hearts 
 ? 11 aflame and tongues of living fire, to kindle in all who 
 heard them the love of the Holy Xame, the deep regret for 
 sin committed, and the heroic resolve to lead godly lives.' 
 
 1 Stewart Rose (" Ignatius Loyola and the Early Jesuits") thus describes the voyage 
 of Ignatius from Valencia to Venice: *' When Ignatius left the house of his friend 
 Martin Perez, where he had lodged in Valencia many days, to embark for Italy, the 
 sea was infested by pirates; Barbarossa had driven Muley Hassan from Tunis, and 
 swept the Mediterranean with a fleet of 100 galleys, plandering both by sea and land. 
 He did not fall in with the vessel which bore Ignatius; that danger was averted by 
 another; it was caught in a violent storm, the helm carried away, the mast broken. . . 
 At last they reached the port of Genoa; but he was not yet safe. In crossing the 
 Appennines to Bologna, he lost his way, and found himself, after much scrambling and 
 climbing, on the brink of a precipice, where he could neither advance, nor without 
 difficulty, return. He had to crawl on hands and knees up steep rocks, which over- 
 hung a torrent far below, holding on by ledges of rock, or by herbs gro\N'ing in the 
 cre\ices. He said afterwards that he had never been in greater danger; his escape 
 seemed to him a miracle. He arrived sick at Bologna. The winter was advancing, 
 the rains had set in, the roads were flooded, and when at last the weather mended 
 and he had reached the town, as he entered it his foot slipped in passing a bridge, and 
 he fell into a moat. He rose bruised, wet through, and covered with mud. All along 
 the streets the boys shouted at him; he asked alms but nothing was given to him; he 
 would have perished of hunger and cold but for the Spanish College, which took him 
 in and sheltered him kindly until he had recovered strength. Then after a week he 
 set off for Venice.'" This was in the beginning of December. Not before January 6, 
 1537, did his nine companions from Paris join him in Venice. Theirs had been a long, 
 exhausting, and most perilous journey, — doubly perilous, because they had to pass 
 through Lutheran Switzerland and Germany, while a new and terrible war was break- 
 ing oat between Francis I. and Charles V. In Venice " they resided in the Hospital 
 of the Incurables and that of St. John and St. Paul. There they all taught the truths 
 of their religion, attended the sick, helped the dying, and followed the dead. . . These 
 men of consummate learning and rare gifts, some of them highly bom, thought no 
 oflice too humble for them. They washed and lifted in their arms men suffering from 
 loathsome diseases; watched them by night, consoled, and showed them how to make 
 sufferings and misfortune a privilege and a joy." No wonder that " this great charity 
 edified all who saw it; the Senators and chief men of the Republic often went to look 
 at th«ir apostolic work, and many shed tears of emotion at the sight." 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 173 
 
 Little knew those who looked upon the pale, emaciated, 
 love-lit countenances of the poor strangers, as they sped, two 
 by two, through the cities and hamlets of the beauteous but 
 desolated land, lisping divinest exhortation in the unfamiliar 
 Italian idiom, — that these poor priests would soon swell 
 to a mighty host of apostles covering both hemispheres with 
 their cohorts, and thrilling astonished Christendom with 
 their God-like labors and sufferings. On what lowly but 
 divinely fashioned foundations was to grow that Company 
 of Jesus, the undying object of so much hate, and such 
 atrocious misrepresentation, but the object too of world- 
 wide love and enlightened admiration! 
 
 Without instituting comparisons which might startle the 
 imperfectly informed reader, though more than acceptable 
 to the conscientious student of history, — we may say this 
 much, that Ignatius himself was but vaguely conscious in 
 1536, of the mighty growth to which his Company was des- 
 tined, and could not have foreseen all the varied labors v/hich 
 his sons were destined to embrace in their zeal for the 
 glory of God. Still less did Angela Merici forecast the per- 
 manent forms which the Church, within half a century 
 after her death, was to bestow on the original mode of life 
 and the inspired rules bequeathed to the Company of St. 
 Ursula as Brescia beheld it at its birth. Both founders 
 " builded better than they knew." 
 
 At any rate, while the pulpits of "the Hundred Cities of 
 Italy" resounded with an eloquence that rekindled on every 
 side the expiring fiame of faith and piety, — people flocked 
 from the countryside and all the neighboring cities to Brescia, 
 to be edified by the eloquent lives of Angela and her com- 
 panions. Their pulpit was in the family-home, in the school- 
 room, in the hospital, in the darkened hovel of poverty, and 
 by the bed of suffering, — in the divinely-appointed sphere 
 
174 ST- ANGELA MERICl 
 
 of woman's loving, devoted, and irresistible influence. They 
 toiled away, that lowly maiden band, making themselves 
 most worthy of God, their supreme Love, and most careful 
 of the interests of the souls dear to Him, leaving to Him 
 and to His Providence over the Church — to grant an increase 
 to their numbers, and a blessing to their labors, and Guch 
 form as might please His wisdom to their little Company. 
 
 And so that Company went on, purifying, gladdening, en- 
 lightening all homes and hearts in Brescia, — like the stream- 
 lets descending through the Alpine valleys above the old 
 Celtic city, which fertilize and brighten every home-field 
 on their way, till they pour, at length, their united waters 
 into some one of Northern Italy's majestic lakes, or thence 
 flow onward to join some one of its lordly rivers, as these 
 roll onward to the Adriatic, blessing the teeming plains and 
 adorning the populous cities on their way. 
 
 And is it not a strange coincidence, that, while we are 
 describing the beginnings, in Italy, of these two great relig- 
 ious societies, — the members of both should be compelled by 
 the prevailing anti-Catholic Revolution in that same Italy, 
 to live, throughout the length 'and breadth of that land,— 
 as lived their parents from 1535 to 1540? The Countess E. 
 Girelli, the author of one of the best lives of St. Angela,^ 
 tells us how she has labored in Northern Italy, to maintain 
 or to restore the suppressed Ursuline communities by induc- 
 ing them to live in their homes according to the form of the 
 piimitive Company. Thus, though driven from their homes, 
 and despoiled of all their property, the daughters of St. 
 Angela are able to do God's work as they may, blessed of 
 Him in their labors, and blessed as well by the people who 
 more than ever need their example and their womanly 
 
 1 These Ursulines thus living in the world are known as the Pious Union. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 175 
 
 charity. Even so is it with the Sons of St. Ignatius. They, 
 too, are forced to place themselves at the command of the 
 bishops, and labor as labored Francis Xavier, and Peter 
 Favre, and Ignatius himself. And so God's work is carried 
 on, despite the adverse powers which would seem to sweep 
 away the laborers and to destroy the harvest. The Radical 
 tidal wave which is sweeping over Europe, and which 
 threatens the whole civilized world, may " suppress" every 
 religious institution, and disperse mercilessly the members 
 of all religious communities. But if the spirit of Angela 
 Merici and Ignatius Loyola still animates their per- 
 secuted children, the apostleship of edification and educa- 
 tion will be carried on quietly, obscurely, but most fruitfully 
 despite the persecutor's utmost vigilance. Achab and 
 Jezabel had fancied that their ubiquitous emissaries had ex- 
 terminated the schools of the Prophet throughout Israel. 
 They had driven even Elias to seek an asylum and a morsel of 
 bread from the starving widow of Sarephta, in the land of 
 the idolaters. But Elias was doomed not to die, while 
 Achab was to perish on the spot where he had shed the 
 blood of the innocent Naboth, there the dogs were to lick 
 up his guilty blood, while a still more terrible fate awaited 
 his wicked queen, as the great prophet had foretold. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Angela's woek — the constitutions of the company of 
 
 st. ursula. 
 
 Those who habitually approached the saint during this 
 important period of her life, are unanimous in attesting that 
 her assiduity in prayer and her customary austerities were 
 increased to an incredible degree. She was more than ever 
 anxious to obtain light from on high in order to frame for 
 her Company such constitutions and rules as should secure 
 unity and stability, while leaving free scope to the modifica- 
 tions required by the future necessities of time and place. 
 More even than her advanced age, her increasing bodily in- 
 firmities warred her to give definite shape to her handiwork. 
 Although she not only read Italian authors, but was well 
 versed in Latin literature, in all that pertained to the Scrip- 
 tures and their most authorized commentators, in particular, 
 she had never accustomed herself to write. She was boi^n 
 while the art of printing was in its infancy and before skill in 
 penmanship had ceased to be the science of the few. She 
 therefore called to her assistance a Notary of Brescia, 
 Gabriel Cozzano by name, a man held in high estimation for 
 his learning, integrity, and solid virtue, — one in whom she 
 could repose the most implicit trust; and to him she dicta- 
 ted the constitutions which were to be submitted, first to 
 176 
 
ST. ANGELA MERICL I77 
 
 the approbation of the diocesan authority, and then to the 
 supreme judgment of the Holy See. She consulted on 
 every point, which came under consideration, the most en- 
 lightened and experienced of her own associates, as well as 
 her trusted spiritual guides, and the devoted lay friends who 
 had sustained and protected her during her long years 
 of trials and discouraging delays. When the matter sub- 
 mitted to these for deliberation had been determined in her 
 own mind, she had recourse to prayer, — pushing her holy 
 vigils far into the night, beseeching the Divine Majesty for 
 special guidance during Holy Mass and communion, and pro- 
 longing before the altar her pleadings with the Master, till 
 the interior Voice had told her that her supplication was 
 heard. 
 
 Cozzano, who wrote under her direction, after protracted 
 communications with the source of heavenly light, says of 
 the primitive Ursuline Rule as drawn up by him beneath the 
 eye of the Foundress : "In this work there is nothing which 
 belongs to me, except the trifling merit of having expressed 
 in writing, as faithfully as I could, her own (Angela's) sen- 
 timents. . . She alone, divinely inspired as she was, is the 
 Foundress of this great edifice; but, in a letter prefatory to 
 the Rules, she humbly expressed the wish that I should not 
 mention her name." ^ 
 
 If we compare the method followed in Brescia by the 
 Foundress of the Ursulines with that afterward pursued in 
 Rome by St. Ignatius in drawing up the constitutions of his 
 Company, we cannot help being impressed by the fact, that 
 
 '^Non vi ho niente del mio, eccetto un pochetto de scriver fidelmente, quantopotei^ li 
 suGi sentementi. Ella sola divinamente inspirata e stata la Foundatrice de tanta opera^ 
 ma in una epistola prcemiale alle Regole, voile per umilta, che io tacessi il suo nome. 
 
 These words are taken from a published pamphlet of Cozzano' s, in which he explains 
 the Bull of Paul III., Begimini univeralis ecclesice^ approving the work of St. Angela. 
 
178 ^T' ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 the same preternatural wisdom presided over the delibera- 
 tions of both the one and the other. It is fashionable among 
 modern liberal non-Catholic writers to say of Ignatius that 
 he was an enthusiast, — sincere, indeed, in his convictions, 
 and acting up to them as he best knew how, but that he 
 was, nevertheless, nothing but an enthusiast, and as such 
 subject to the most dangerous illusions. Such, — to name one 
 among many, — is the repeated assertion of the fascinating 
 but most untrustworthy Macaulay. 
 
 Now, if we look into authentic history and read on the 
 testimony of the most venerable and enlightened witnesses, — 
 what method Ignatius scrupulously followed in framing his 
 Constitutions, we are struck by two things; the incredible 
 patience with which at every step aiid on seemingly minor 
 details, this most reasonable of saints balanced long and se- 
 riously the motives for and against every prescription and 
 rule as it came in order, — and the superhuman fervor with 
 which he sought the aid of the divine light. 
 
 "In framing the Constitutions which were to regulate his 
 society through all time," — says Mr. Stewart Rose, — '^ Loyola 
 proceeded with the utmost circumspection and humility, 
 preparing himself before he wrote by prayer and meditation; 
 then, imitating the holy Pope Leo, he placed what he had 
 written upon the altar, and offered his plans to God in the 
 Sacrifice of the Mass. He deliberated on every point with 
 extreme patience and caution. A fragment of the journal 
 kept by him, which escaped the flames when he burned all 
 his other papers, a short time before he died, refers to the 
 question he long weighed, — whether the churches and sac- 
 risties of the houses of the Professed should be able to ac- 
 quire property. He considered this point forty days; he 
 wrote down eight reasons on one side and fifteen on the 
 other, laying the whole as usual before God. , . On one 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. I79 
 
 point he deliberated ten days, and after deciding, passed four 
 more in prayer. He consulted the other Fathers on every- 
 thing, but usually not till he had well considered the matter 
 himself, and come to some decision; and it was a common 
 practice of his to write down the reasons for and against in 
 parallel columns. He withdrew sometimes from all other 
 business to carry on this work. When he was in his room, 
 Benedetto Palmia, a novice, was placed at the door that he 
 might not be interrupted. He had read with great attention 
 the rules of other Religious Orders, and employed Polanco 
 to make extracts from them. But while he wrote his own, 
 no books were near him, except the Scriptures and the '* Imi- 
 tation." Perhaps Cardinal Lega knew this when he said 
 that the art by which the Society of Jesus had been so aptly 
 and admirably formed, was divine, not human, and that 
 Ignatius had built it up rather by inspiration than by skill." ^ 
 At any rate, both Angela and Ignatius showed in the child- 
 like simplicity with which they submitted every word they 
 wrote or dictated to the judgment of the Church, — that 
 God was with them, and that they sought Htm alone in the 
 crowning work of their lives. No sooner had Angela com- 
 pleted her sketch of the Constitutions, than she hastened to 
 submit it to Francis Cornaro, Cardinal-bishop of Brescia, and 
 through him to the authority of the Holy See. From Rome, 
 where all such things are weighed with the slow deliberation 
 of a wisdom derived from the experience of ages, no appro- 
 bation came till several years after the death of the Found- 
 ress. In Brescia, however, Cardinal Cornaro, who derived 
 such consolation from the labors of Angela and her com- 
 panions, at once committed the examination of the precious 
 document to his Vicar-General, Lorenzo Muzio. The latter 
 would not chancre an iota in what he knew to be the work of 
 
 'Ignatius Loyola and the Early Jesuits," pp. ^40-41, 2nd ed. 
 
180 ^T. ANGELA MERIGI, 
 
 a saint and believed to be dictated by the Holy Spirit. So 
 an oflScial decree was issued on August 8th, 1536, bestowing 
 on the Constitutions and Company of St. Ursula the canoni- 
 cal approval of the Ordinary in terms of the highest com- 
 mendation. 
 
 It was a happy day for Angela, who felt assured that the 
 supreme judgment of the Vicar of Christ would, in God's 
 good time, be added to that of the Bishop of Brescia. And 
 so, the vision of Brudazzo, in which, forty years before, the 
 Maid of Desenzano had beheld that glorious company of 
 virgins descending and ascending amid a throng of angels 
 and the chanting of heavenly harmonies, had at length re- 
 ceived its complete realization. The command then imposed 
 on her to establish in Brescia a like company of virgin souls 
 devoted to God and His Church, was fulfilled in spite of in- 
 terminable delays and obstacles ever-recurring and seemingly 
 insurmountable. 
 
 During the ensuing Autumn and Winter the holy Found- 
 ress busied herself in explaining to her subordinates every 
 point of the Rule thus sanctioned by the ecclesiastical 
 superiors, and in impressing on the minds of all the spirit of 
 absolute devotion to the Divine Majesty and most perfect 
 self-renouncement which underlay the letter of the Consti- 
 tutions. It was her wish that every one of those who 
 elected to adopt this Rule as their law of life, should do so 
 understandingly, freely, and lovingly. The allegiance 
 pledged to its observance was not to be a divided al- 
 legiance: the pledge was to come from a heart that wholly 
 belonged to God. 
 
 So far the Company which ^he had created looked up to her 
 as a parent whose sway all acknowledged and obeyed with 
 unquestioning submission and grateful love, No one, in 
 their estimation, could ever, so long as she liY^dj take her 
 
AJ^D THE URSULINES, 181 
 
 place at the head of their little company of apostles. No 
 one had so deep a horror of the Reformed doctrines which 
 were daily gaining ground in Upper Italy, thanks to the 
 constantly renewed quarrels between the King of France 
 and the Emperor, — and to the undisguised and unholy policy 
 of Francis L, who encouraged the Lutherans, throughout 
 the Empire, to refuse all settlement of their religious diffi- 
 culties, while he subsidized the Turkish sovereign to invade 
 the dominions of Austria and ravage the coasts of Spain 
 and Italy. Angela instinctively and intuitively felt the 
 danger which threatened faith in her native land, and knew 
 that God demanded of herself and her daughters to combat 
 the spread of the new errors in every home in Brescia. 
 
 But she believed herself incapable of governing the Com- 
 pany and of directing its fresh energies to the best advan- 
 tage. She was therefore anxious to place in younger and 
 firmer hands the charge which she had borne hitherto. And, 
 as the Rule prescribed that an election should be held as 
 soon as possible after the canonical approbation of the dio- 
 cesan authority had been obtained, Angela was impatient to 
 see this done, and thereby to secure the legal establishment 
 of her Order. Imperative reasons, however, compelled her 
 to put off, from month to month, the holding of the first 
 general Chapter till the spring of 1537. 
 
 They met in her poor room at St. Afra's on the 18th of 
 March. A Notary Public was called in to draw up in legal 
 form the minutes of the proceedings, so that everything 
 should be done with blameless regularity. Angela, it is said, 
 spent the whole of the preceding night in prayer, and was 
 even favored by another apparition of St. Ursula, who took 
 on herself the protection of the new Company, assured the 
 Foundress of God's especial favor, and of the perpetuity of 
 her work, and left the great motherly heart all flooded with 
 
182 ^T. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 unspeakable consolation. The Notary counted 59 persons 
 present in the crowded room, and 17 were reckoned as being 
 unavoidably absent, thus raising, on this first authentic roll 
 of the Company of St. Ursula, the total number of mem- 
 bers entitled to vote, to 76 in all. 
 
 The choice of a Superior-General was the first thing in 
 order, and, as the authentic record of the meeting testifies, 
 Angela was elected instantly and unanimously; she alone 
 combating the wisdom of such a choice by every argument 
 she could think of.^ She prayed, she besought them with 
 the greatest earnestness to reconsider their vote, and to re- 
 member her own manifold un worthiness and incapacity. 
 And as they persisted in their determination, she alleged, as 
 a reason which must strike and convince them all, her ad- 
 vanced age and increasing bodily infirmities, which precluded 
 her from attending to the duties of so important an office, 
 especially when there was need of sovereign wisdom and in- 
 defatigable activity. She had to yield; for nothing could 
 move the members present to make another choice. Only at 
 their venerated Mother's urgent solicitation, they consented 
 not to press upon her the title of Foundress, nor to have it 
 inserted in the records of the Order. God alono, she 
 thought, was to be considered as the originator of their 
 choice band of maiden champions of His cause. 
 
 They next proceeded to elect Mistresses for the different 
 wards of the city, and Lady-Directresses. These latter were 
 only four in number for the present, the Lady Lucretia, widow 
 of Count Hector Lodrone, the Lady Ginevra (Genevieve), 
 widow of Alexandro Luzzago, the Lady Ursula, widow 
 of Jerome Gavardo, and the Lady Maria, widow of Antonio 
 Avvogadro. To these was added, as supernumerary, the 
 Lady Lucretia, wddow of Paul Luzzago; she, however, did 
 
 1 Salvatori, whom we follow here as elsewhere. 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 183 
 
 not long continue to occupy this place in the Company. The 
 number of Lady-Directresses was soon increased to eight as 
 the Foundress saw that the rapid increase of the Com- 
 pany demanded a corresponding increase in the number of 
 these important functionaries. So, to the first four names 
 were added those of the Lady Veronica Buzzi, Joanna Monte, 
 Elizabeth Prato, Leonella Pedezocca, and Catherine Meia. 
 To each of these was assigned the care of one of the eight 
 districts of Brescia. The Countess Lodrone became Angela's 
 chief assistant, her right hand in governing the Sisterhood, 
 and was appointed by her in her last illness Vicar, with power 
 to govern in her stead till her successor had been duly elected. 
 As we shall see, Lucretia Lodrone was chosen to fill Angela's 
 place. 
 
 No sooner was the Company thus definitely organized, than 
 the Superior-General deemed it incumbent on her to provide 
 for the spiritual direction of its members priests alike pre- 
 eminent for their spotless life, their knowledge of theology, 
 and their experience in guiding souls. . It is so necessary, in 
 a great religious body, to make sure that one spirit shall control 
 the consciences of all, and point their united efforts in the 
 same road toward self-sanctification and the service of others! 
 Fortunately for Angela and her Ursulines, they found two 
 such men in Brescia ready and willing to bestow their 
 enlightened zeal in forwarding the best interests of the 
 new Order. These were Father Paul of Cremona, a member 
 of the Order of Canons Regular of St. John Lateran, and 
 Father Chrysanthus, a member of the Venetian Congregation 
 of St. George-in-Alga and a Canon of the Church of San 
 Pietro in Oliveto, at Brescia. To these may be added a 
 noble Brescian, Father Francis Cabrini, whose family took 
 their title from the neighboring domain of Alfianello. This 
 last saintly priest, himself the founder of a religious Congre- 
 
184 ST. ANGELA MEEICI, 
 
 gation,* was not, however, associated with the two preceding 
 in their ministrations toward St. Angela and her first com- 
 panions. Not before 1556 did he become the spiritual guide 
 of the Ursulines of Brescia; but his zeal and devotion to 
 them were such as to cause his memory to live among them 
 by the side of their first venerated directors. 
 
 One other name merits a special mention here by the side 
 of Angela herself, with whom she was singularly united in 
 holy friendship and ardent zeal for the progress of the Com- 
 pany. This noble lady's name is Girolama Buschi. Even 
 in the world Girolama lived the life of a saint, and threw 
 herself with her whole heart and with all the influence of 
 her high position into the good work of co-operating with 
 Angela's female friends and admirers in Brescia, — such as 
 the Countess Lodrone and Elizabeth Prato, — lending them 
 her countenance and active aid in their labors in the hospi- 
 tals, and in their successful efforts to educate the rising gener- 
 ation. She was a true child of God, this magnanimous 
 daughter of Brescia, and she walked with no faltering or 
 tardy step in the road of self-sacrifice. Angela owed to her 
 not a little of the rapid progress which the Ursulines made, 
 both in the well organized labors which gained them so wide 
 a popularity, and in the heroic virtues which won them the 
 admiration of their most intimate friends and watchful 
 observers amorig the clergy and laity.'^ Girolama herself be- 
 came an Ursuline, and died in the odor of sanctity in 1545, 
 yearning to be united in Heaven to her dear Mother Angela, 
 and there to pray for th« growth of the Company. 
 
 We must not pass away from this portion of our subject 
 
 1 The Congregation of Regular Clerks of Santa Xaria della Pace, in Brescia, united 
 In 1611 to the Congregation of St. Philip Neri. 
 
 2 In the rare manuscript called Brescia Beata is a biography of the distinguished 
 lady, from the pen of its author, F. Benjamin Zacchi, an Augustinian monk. 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 185 
 
 Without bestowing on the written Constitutions of the Order 
 which Angela Merici founded, such notice as may enable the 
 reader to grasp their aim and scope. The Constitutions 
 themselves are given in their entirety elsewhere/ Being the 
 work of our Saint, it is proper that the reader should be able 
 to judge of this production, not by unsatisfactory extracts, 
 but from a faithful translation of the document itself, as it 
 comes to us from the very best authority. 
 
 As to the purpose which the Holy Foundress had in view, 
 we can best gather it from the lips of the Sovereign Pontiffs, 
 who, from the 16th to the 19th century, have uttered their 
 solemn judgment on St. Angela and her Institute. 
 
 We quote m the first place the words of Pius IX. In 
 the year 1861, just when only a narrow strip of territory 
 was left to him around the walls of Rome, and when the 
 rest of Italy was overrun by the destroying hosts of Radi- 
 calism, the Holy Father felt instinctively that the future of 
 Christian Italy must depend on the education given to the 
 young girls. They would be the mothers of the coming 
 generation; and on them would depend whether their sons 
 and daughters would be the disciples of a godless materialism 
 and an anti-christian socialism, or the fervent disciples of 
 the Faith which had made Italy the light and envy of the 
 world. 
 
 The Pontiff knew that Angela had been the first Apostle 
 of Female Education in modern times, and that the Order 
 founded by her had devoted its entire energies to creating 
 Christian mothers for Christian homes, true Christian women 
 for the edification of all classes of modern society. He 
 therefore bethought him, beleaguered as he was by the ad- 
 vancing tide of the Revolution, that one of the most effica- 
 I ^ 
 
 1 Chap. 
 
186 ST, ANGELA MERIGI, 
 
 cious means of saving the faith and the future of Christen^ 
 dom, was to glorify in the person of St. Angela the devotion 
 to the task of educating youth, — female youth, especially. 
 Hence a solemn decree of July 11, 1861, making the cele- 
 bration of the office of St. Angela obligatory on the universal 
 Church, and eulogizing her in the following terms: 
 
 "Angelic in her life as well as in her person, St. Angela 
 Merici, while upon earth, like a lily blooming among thorns, 
 shed all around her a wonderful sweetness. This maiden, 
 entering joyously from her youth on the road of perfection, 
 reached -so high an eminence, that, a few years after her de- 
 cease, St. Charles Borromeo openly declared that she was in 
 every way worthy of being herself placed among the 
 saints by the Holy See. After having visited with feelings 
 of the deepest piety the holy places in Palestine, she came 
 to Rome to venerate the tombs of the Apostles Peter and 
 Paul. There she felt herself moved to promote the educa- 
 tion of young girls, well knowing that these, surrounded as 
 they were by the spreading errors of Calvin and Luther, 
 would be in peril of losing the flower of their virginal life, 
 choked as it must be by the thorny growth of heresy. She 
 therefore established in Brescia a new Sisterhood of reli- 
 gious maidens under the patronage and name of St. Ursula, 
 Virgin and Martyr: and to their care she entrusted the 
 young daughters of poor as well as rich families, to have 
 them taught the elementary doctrines of our holy faith, to 
 train them to lead a life of virtue and purity, and to initiate 
 them into all the arts and industries which befit their sex. 
 
 "From the labors of this Company Angela reaped a 
 plentiful harvest of good to the advantage both of the 
 Church and of civil society; and so plentiful was the grace 
 bestowed on the Company from on high, that it spread all 
 over the world, and that our Lord manifested to His servant^ 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 187 
 
 the Foundress, a short time before her death, that it would 
 last forever. 
 
 " In these latter and baneful times, when wicked men use 
 every means to ruin both the Church and civil society, and 
 in order the better to effect their purpose, endeavor to 
 corrupt the souls of women, of young girls especially, so 
 that from the perverted mind of mothers the poison of error 
 should flow more deeply into those of their children; — peti- 
 tions have come to our Holy Father Pope Pius IX., from 
 several Cardinals and many other Prelates throughout the 
 world, beseeching him instantly to extend to the' whole 
 Church the office and Mass of St. Angela Merici, Foundress 
 of the Company of St. Ursula, — to the end that, by her 
 help and merits, our Lord may be pleased to preserve the 
 female sex from stain of impurity and taint of error, and 
 that, baffling the designs of His enemies. He may grant to 
 His Church uninterrupted peace." 
 
 So, then, it was in Rome, while visiting the tombs of the 
 Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, during the Jubilee,1525, that, — ■ 
 according to Pius IX., Angela "• felt herself moved to pro- 
 mote the education of young girls, w^ell knowing that these, 
 surrounded as they were by the spreading heresies of Luther 
 and Calvin, would be in peril," cherishing as they did the 
 purpose of leading the Virginal Life in the midst of the 
 world, "of losing the beautiful flower of their purity, choked 
 as it must be by the thorny growth of heretical practices." 
 
 With these maidens, thus saved from the blight of the 
 spreading contagion, aud enrolled in the Company of St. 
 Ursula, she set about caring for the "young daughters of 
 poor as well as of rich families, teaching them the elements 
 of Christian doctrine, training them to a life of virtue and 
 innocence, and initiating them into all the arts and industries 
 of their sex." 
 
188 ^^' ANUELA MEBICl, 
 
 Thus the Ursulines, from 1540 to 1545, — the year in which 
 their Institute was first approved by Paul III., — were doing 
 in Brescia w^hat the Jesuits were doing in Rome, what St. 
 Francis Xavier did in India, catechizing little children, sav- 
 ing the little ones of the flock, and through them, saving 
 their parents, but saving the little ones at any rate, by 
 teaching them to know and to follow Christ. This is why 
 Paul III. is said to have uttered the remarkable words put 
 on record by the Annalists of the Ursuline Order, and ad- 
 dressed, on the very day when he approved the Constitutions 
 of St. Angela, to Ignatius Loyola: ^'Lo! we have given you 
 sisters!" 
 
 When St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, was sent 
 by the Holy See as Visitor Apostolic to examine into the ac- 
 tual condition of the Company of St. Ursula, some forty 
 years after the death of the Foundress, his soul was filled 
 with joy at seeing the good the Sisterhood was effecting in 
 the great work of education, not only in Brescia and Cremona, 
 but in the surrounding territories. 
 
 *' Among the manifold consolations and spiritual joys, 
 granted to me during this visitation," — he writes to them in 
 1581, — " not the least was to find your devoted Company mak- 
 ing such solid progress in the ways of God, — to find among you 
 so many persons whose lives are a true imitation of the 
 Blessed Ursula and her companions. . . This is why I have 
 felt no weariness amid the various heavy labors of this visit- 
 ation." . . Elsewhere, addressing the nuns of St. Paul in 
 Milan: "It must be to us a cause of deep confusion to see 
 some souls, — I have known such, — who, like the Sisterhood 
 of St. Ursula, are so truly pious, so athirst for the things of 
 God, so fervent in receiving the Holy Communion, so averse 
 to all worldly pleasures, so wrapped up in the sweet solitude 
 of their own spirit; so mortified, humble, and little in their 
 
AND THE UB8ULIJVES. 189 
 
 own esteem; and withal ever content and resigned to the 
 Divine will! Albeit they live in the world, they display in 
 it virtues which cloistered nuns might imitate to advantage." 
 
 On the other hand, the bull of canonization of St. Angela 
 (1807), affirms, in speaking of the miraculous vision of Bru* 
 dazzo,that in it the Maid of Desenzano " heard the voice of our 
 Lord commanding her to establish m Brescia a select com- 
 pany of maidens." . . . And further on: God from heaven 
 called her to the labor of procuring by manifold and won- 
 derful means the eternal salvation of the neighbor and of be- 
 stowing on him many other advantages. He at first moved her 
 to found a Company of Maidens under the name and patronage 
 of St. Ursula, for the purpose of promoting and propagating 
 the pious and Christian education of young girls. And this 
 Company — continues Pius VII. — " like the rose in spring- 
 tide gladdens the Church by the sweet odor of its virtues, 
 acquiring in the present age, as it will with the Divine Aid 
 in the future, rich and glorious merits by instructing the 
 youth of its own sex." 
 
 The Church and her Pontiffs have thus declared that An- 
 gela's purpose in founding her society was the Christian 
 training of children of her own sex. The preternatural wis- 
 dom shown in organizing the Company of St. Ursula, in 
 framing for it Constitutions so admirably fitted to its two- 
 fold aim of living an uncloistered life of absolute purity and 
 all-embracing charity, and of winning the respect and love 
 of all Christian families, — tended only to promote the essen- 
 tial object of EDUCATION, thoroughly pious and Catholic 
 education. 
 
 No word is said in the Constitutions drawn up by St. An- 
 gela of this great design, for which she and her companions 
 and daughters through all time were the chosen instruments. 
 But these Constitutions, as well as the two admirable docu- 
 
190 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 meuts which she dictated on her death bed, are to he read in 
 the light of this providential design. When we thus study 
 them, we understand how marvelously fitted they are to 
 form a body of mistresses able to meet all the educational 
 needs of any age or country, and able as well to survive 
 what would appear radical and ruinous changes in the organ- 
 ization of any other religious body. 
 
 The holy Foundress would have her Company, as she first 
 organized it and gave it laws and rules,f orm as it were a com- 
 ponent part of the civil society in which she lived, with its 
 roots at every hearth-stone, — so that its own divine and 
 heavenly life should embrace and penetrate the whole frame- 
 work of the busy world around it, and pour into all minds, 
 hearts, and homes, the saving and sanctifying influences of 
 supernatural faith, teaching, piety, and example. We re- 
 member how a Maryland farmer once explained to us long 
 ago how the wild mulberry tree took such a wonderful hold 
 of its native earth, pushing its sturdy and countless roots 
 far and wide, so as to extend beneath the houses of an entire 
 village, or to cover with their hidden network several neigh- 
 boring fields. Ah, but sweeter far, and far more precious 
 than the mulberry, were the fruits borne by the tree of St. 
 Angela's Sisterhood wherever it took root; and fairer and 
 more glorious than all the richest silks of the East is the 
 glorious soul-vesture which her daughters, — devoting them- 
 selves, like the silk-worm to one purpose in life and .deaths — 
 weave for the female youth of Christendom! 
 
 She was but an instrument in the hand of the Divine 
 Workman, that Holy Maid of Desenzano; and, like Moses, 
 she built the Ark and its temporary surroundings as the 
 Divine Voice dictated. Moses knew that a more glorious 
 and permanent structure would one day replace the precious 
 wood, the gold, and the gems employed in building the 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 191 
 
 Holy of Holies. David continued the work of Moses, and 
 Solomon executed the designs of David, erecting to the one 
 true and living God a temple in which a nation might wor- 
 ship. But the Ark of Moses was the very soul of Solomon's 
 Temple. 
 
 So was it with Angela. She knew that her Company was to 
 last forever. She gave to its beginnings that organic form 
 which was in the most perfect keeping with the spirit and 
 the needs of her country and age, — infusing into that first 
 form the soul of those characteristic virtues, of that heaven- 
 sent wisdom, which were to pass with the name of Ursuline 
 into every transformation and change rendered afterward 
 necessary by the circumstances of time and place, and ap- 
 proved and directed by the Spirit of God in the Church, 
 
 Thus, with a marvelous adaptability, the parent Sisterhood 
 allowed its off-shoots to be transplanted to Milan by St, 
 Charles Borromeo, and there subjected to the restraints of 
 cloistered life without losing any portion of its spirit, of its vi- 
 tality, or of its attachment to the Brescian Company, — al- . 
 though the members of this persisted in rejecting every mod- 
 ification not imposed by the extreme necessity of obedience 
 to lawful authority. From Milan the cloistered communi- 
 ties spread to other parts of Europe, accepting with each new 
 abode such change as lawful authority imposed. They were 
 swarms from the primitive hive, building their own whereso- 
 ever they settled, in garden or in wilderness, in strict con- 
 formity with their surroundings, — with the soil and the 
 climate, — but everywhere making sweetest honey, although 
 every swarm was an independent community in itself — de- 
 pendent only on His direction and guidance, who ruleth 
 all things with the resistless might of the Infinite Creator, 
 who ordereth all things with the loving gentleness of the 
 best of Parents. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV, 
 
 THE LAST LABORS AND TRIALS — MOST BEAUTIFUL COUNSELS-— 
 THE STRONG WOMAN SETTING HER HOUSE IN ORDER. 
 
 The approbation given to the Ursuline Institute by Cardinal 
 Cornaro, bishop of Brescia, could only permit of its extension 
 within the limits of that prelate's jurisdiction. In order 
 to see the Company called to labor outside the diocese of 
 Brescia, it was necessary to obtain the official approbation 
 of the Holy See. At no period in the history of the Church, 
 since the era of Constantine, was it more difficult to have the 
 Sovereign Pontiff's sanction for the establishment of a new 
 religious order. And, as we have seen, the Company of St. 
 Ursula seemed, at first sight, to deviate widely from the 
 traditional and consecrated forms of monastic life and rule, 
 especially with regard to women. As an innovation, there- 
 fore, upon what had since the thirteenth century, been uni- 
 versally regarded as essential to the constitution of female 
 Religious Orders, — the year of grace 1536 was singularly 
 unfavorable towards its acceptance in Rome. The schism 
 just consummated with such ruthless atrocity in England, 
 and the successful progress of the Reformation in Germany 
 and Switzerland, compelled Churchmen in Italy to be on 
 their guard against innovations. It had required all the 
 
 authority and influence of St. Cajetauof Tiene and of Cardinal 
 
 192 
 
ST. ANGELA MERICL I93 
 
 Caraffa (afterward Pope Paul IV.) to obtain a formal ap- 
 probation of the Theatine Institute, well and widely known 
 as its founder and members were throughout Italy for their 
 zeal in the service of the Church, the purity of their lives, 
 and the purity of their doctrine, as well. 
 
 When, in 1538-39, Ignatius Loyola and his companions 
 presented themselves to Paul III., giving him, all Rome, and 
 all Italy, proof of their uncommon learning, their sound 
 orthodoxy, their holy life, and most fruitful zeal, it required 
 more than one delay^ and the removal of more than one 
 formidable obstacle to get from the admiring Pope a first pre- 
 liminary approbation of the new institute as the Company 
 of Jesus, even though they only demanded to be looked upon 
 as simple priests livmg in community and under a rule, like 
 the Theatmes, and not as monks, like the Dominicans, 
 Franciscans, Benedictmes, or Cistercians. 
 
 The form drawn up by St. Ignatius was presented to the 
 Pope by Cardinal Contarini on Sept. 3, 1539. Paul III., 
 after carefully reading this form and the accompanying 
 documents, exclaimed: "The finger of God is here!" 
 Nevertheless, he would not dispense with the usual examin- 
 ations prescribed in such weighty matters, and committed the 
 petition of Ignatius and the abridged form of the proposed 
 Company to a commission of three Cardinals. " But one of 
 them," — says Stewart Rose — "was Bartolomeo Giudiccioni, 
 of Lucca, whose opinion was entirely hostile to Religious 
 Orders; and he would not even take patience to read the 
 papers sent him; for^ said he, all Orders become relaxed^ and 
 then do more harm to the Church than they did good In the 
 heginningP Giudiccioni was a redoubtable opponent,, for he 
 was an excellent theologian, a distinguished poet, possess- 
 ing great abilities, and so highly venerated for his holy 
 Kfe, that when he died, Paul HI. exclaimed: My successor is 
 
194 ST, ANGELA MERIGI, 
 
 dead. His horror at the disorders into which many of the 
 monks and nuns had fallen, made him desire, not reform, 
 but suppression; he wished all orders abolished but four, 
 which he would remodel and place under strict governance. 
 To allow a new Order, was, to his mind, an idea not even de- 
 serving to be discussed. He would not waste a thought on 
 the scheme of Ignatius; and the weight of his judgment 
 carried with it that of the two Cardinals conjoined with 
 him/ 
 
 Such then was the disposition of the most eminent men in 
 Rome, of those with whom rested the practical decision of 
 the weightiest concerns of Church government. To be 
 sure, Cardinal Giudiccioni was brought to change his opin- 
 ion about the Company of Jesus by something which very 
 much resembled a miracle. None the less can we see, from 
 the above passage, how opposed the best and most influential 
 men in the Church then were to the establishment of new 
 Religious Orders. 
 
 This was one cause of Angela's disappointment in not 
 seeing her work sanctioned by the supreme authority in the 
 Church. There were others which stood even more in the 
 way. Charles V., now the undisputed master of Italy, as 
 well as of Spain and the Netherlands, and Emperor of 
 Germany as well, was again at war with the restless king of 
 France. While (1535) the Emperor had been chastising the 
 Mohammedan pirates of Tunis and liberating from the most 
 cruel bondage 22,000 Christian slaves, the Most Christian 
 King was consummating an alliance with Solyman II., of 
 Constantinople, and inducing him to send an army to in- 
 vade Hungary and a powerful fleet to ravage the coasts of 
 Italy, himself the while pouring his armies into Lombardy 
 
 1 ''Ignatius Loyola and the' Early Jesuits,'* pp. 213-214 
 
AlSD THE UBSULINES, 195 
 
 and uniting his galleys with those of the Turks. Returning 
 triumphant from Tunis, Charles V., at the head of 7,000 
 choice troops, proceeded to Rome, where he did his best to 
 overawe the Pope and his Cardinals, and deported himself 
 as if he were in reality the head of the Church as well as 
 the arbiter of Europe. But the Pope, who was the Supreme 
 Pastor and Father of all Christians, was anxiously casting 
 about for some scheme of mediation, some plan by which he 
 might pacify the two warring sovereigns, and thus avert 
 from Italy and from the Church the manifold calamities of 
 invasion by land and by sea, the sacrilegious ravages of the 
 Turkish fleets let loose to prey upon both shores of the 
 Peninsula, superadded to the butcheries of Henry VIII. in 
 England, and the sanguinary dissensions which marked in 
 Germany the progress of the Reformers. 
 
 And so Paul III., in his 71st year, and burdened by grief 
 and care, had to undertake a long voyage by land to meet 
 Francis and Charles at Nice, and there endeavor to bring 
 about a reconciliation (1538). Then again the Holy Father 
 was endeavoring to remove all obstacles, — and these were 
 many and seemingly insurmountable, — to the speedy assem- 
 bly of an oecumenical council, in which, he flattered himself, 
 the German Reformers could be brought to terms and in- 
 duced to return to the bosom of Catholic unity. 
 
 Such were a few of the many obvious reasons why Angela 
 Merici's petition was not immediately complied with, and 
 why the last years of the laborious life of trial and ex- 
 pectancy were somewhat clouded with this supreme hope 
 deferred. 
 
 Nor was this the only or the greatest trial which Angela 
 had to endure after the establishment of her Company. 
 Just as both Theatines and Jesuits, — because they had not 
 adopted the distinctive dress and forms of the old Regular 
 
 L 
 
196 ST ANGELA MEBIGl 
 
 Orders, — were assailed by long, bitter, and most unmerited 
 opposition; even so was the Ursuline Sisterhood in Brescia 
 reviled by many, because the members were not distin- 
 guished by the customary religious habit, nor bound by the 
 usual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, or compelled 
 to live together in community. Even before the formal es- 
 tablishment and official recognition of the Company, the 
 rigorous formalists had sneered loudly enough, at Angela and 
 her attempts to conciliate the freedom of a secular life be- 
 neath the paternal roof, with the practice of the austere vir- 
 tues and difficult duties of the Religious state. The sneers 
 reached her ears, but moved her not. Remonstrances also 
 came; but were set aside with that gentle and courteous 
 firmness which ever won her the respect and affection of 
 those whose opinion she had to reject. Even though it had 
 not been given to the humble Foundress to witness the rapid 
 increase of the Company and the immense good it was doing 
 in the diocese of Brescia, she was too deeply convinced of its 
 being the work of God to be affected by mockery, reproach, 
 remonstrance, or unworthy aspersion. So, wholly intent on 
 forming her daughters to all manner of godliness, of so fill- 
 ing their souls with an absorbing devotion to the DivinQ 
 Majesty that they should deem no sacrifice great enough to 
 glorify and serve Him, — she allowed the idle murmurings of 
 the few discontented outsiders to pass by her with the same 
 indifference with which she heard the rain-drops pattering on 
 the window-panes of her lowly home at St. Afra. 
 
 The whole machinery of her government worked so 
 smoothly, the entire Ursuline Family was so knit together by 
 themotherly love and watchful tenderness which she and the 
 Lady Directresses displayed in their management, — that all 
 serious-minded ecclesiastics as well as laymen could not help 
 saying, " The hand of God is here!" 
 
AND THE UBSULINES, 197 
 
 Of course, the constant application demanded by the care 
 of so large a body of young women dispersed over an en- 
 tire city, an entire diocese, did not induce Angela, though 
 long past her sixtieth year, to mitigate the uniform austerity 
 or her own private life, or to abridge her long prayerful 
 vigils. The Holy Spirit had said to the Israelites through 
 Moses' what the Master repeated to the enemy of all holi- 
 ness and self-denial:^ '' Not in bread alone doth man live, but 
 in every word that proceed^th from the mouth of God.'* 
 The manna of the Old Law was but a figure of that of the 
 New, in which the Giver bestows Himself in His gift. But 
 the near communion with that covered and veiled Presence, 
 only prepares the believer for the unclouded contemplation 
 and the blissful possession of the Divine and Infinite Reality* 
 How can we, who firmly believe in these most consoling 
 facts of our Holy Faith, wonder that men and women so 
 forget themselves and all their bodily needs, while convers- 
 ing in prayer, with Him, or prostrate m adoration at His 
 feet in holy communion, as to need no other sustenance than 
 that of His near and blissful Presence? Of how many saints 
 do we not read, that they could live for weeks and months 
 on the sole Eucharistic Bread? Moses, — so the Scripture af 
 firms, — conversed forty days on the mountain-top with the 
 Lord, and felt no bodily hunger the while. And Elias, the 
 mighty prophet, journeyed forty days amid the fearful soli, 
 tudes of Southern Palestine, sustained by the single cake 
 of bread the Angel had brought him. We read of one of 
 Angela's own contemporaries, — whose holy life shed its 
 splendors on Rome: — "When our Father was dead, we pro- 
 ceeded to embalm him as well as we could, . . and this 
 caused greater wonder and edification; for his stomach and 
 
 1 Deuteronomy, viii. 3. » Matth. iv., 4. 
 
198 ^^^' AJSGELA MEEICl 
 
 abdomen were empty and shriveled up, whence his phys- 
 icians judged his abstinence to have been great in former 
 times, and his fortitude also, since in so much weakness he went 
 about his laborious duties with such constant serenity. When 
 they examined the liver, they found three small stones, 
 which testified how true was what the good old man Diego 
 d'Eguia said, that certainly for a long time past our Father 
 was kept in life by a miracle. I, at least, cannot guess how, 
 with a liver so diseased, he eould have lived in a natural 
 way, if God our Lord had not provided for this organic dis- 
 ease, and kept him in life while he was necessary to our 
 Society!"^ 
 
 Yes, — to see God face to face, to love and possess Him se- 
 curely^ and to sound forth His praises in one eternal heart- 
 song, this is the food of the Blessed above, the true life of 
 the everlasting Kingdom. And why should not those who 
 here below solely seek Him and His justice, — as the flower 
 seeks the pure air and the sunlight, not have such a sweet 
 and protracted foretaste of the eternal fruition, that they 
 seem to be raised above the need of bodily sustenance? 
 
 Even so, most actively devoted to every duty of her high 
 office to every detail of her administration, did Mother 
 Angela, — as she was then called, — live on through these 
 closing years of her life. Nothing could persuade her to 
 give her attenuated body rest, or to abridge her long 
 meditations. But there were many among her daughters 
 who knew well from what well-spring she drew the waters 
 of life which strengthened and intoxicated her, or enabled 
 her to go forward without fainting or faltering to the 
 Mountain of God, where alone she could rest. 
 
 About the beginning of Spring, in the year 1539, however, 
 
 * Father Polanco's letter recounting the death of St. Ignatius Loyola,— quoted by 
 Stewart Rose, 
 
AJSD THE URSULINES. I99 
 
 a low fever seized upon the weakened and aged frame. She 
 struggled in vain against the lassitude and sense of oppression 
 it caused. Her accustomed manner of seeking sleep, by sit- 
 ing on a low bench and leaning back against the bare wall, no 
 longer reposed or refreshed her. She had been forced, of 
 late, to seek the luxury of lying down on a poor pallet; — she 
 would have none other. But she was at length induced to 
 accept a bed. The consulting physicians, knowing the purity 
 of her blood and her habitual abstemiousness and austerity, 
 did not think, at first, that the feverish symptoms threatened 
 anything serious. She, apparently, knew better* 
 
 True mother as she was, in her absorbing love for her 
 charge and her all-embracing forethought, she did not want 
 the direction of the Company to remain for a single hour in 
 the hands of such as she now was, sick and prostrated by 
 utter debility. She forthwith summoned to her bedside the 
 Lady-Directresses and her secretary, Gabriel Cozzano^ and 
 bade the latter draw up an act appointing as her Yicar in the 
 government of the Company, the Countess Lucretia Lodrone. 
 The choice was one which gave universal satisfaction, and the 
 Lady Catherine Meia was immediately named by the Saint 
 and elected by those jDresent to fill the new Vicar's vacant place 
 among the eight Lady-Directresses. Thus relieved from the 
 burthen of immediate care, Angela was able to dictate to her 
 secretary, Gabriel Cozzano, two of the most touching and 
 pregnant documents ever bequeathed to a Religious Order, 
 by its founder. One of these is a series of half-counsels, half* 
 injunctions addressed to the Lady-Counselors (^^?;^5a^r^c^^), 
 whom Angela to the end designated as Colloiielli, — because 
 they were, in her thought, to be, each in her own district, the 
 leaders and advisers of the Ursulines therein residing, under 
 the control of the Lady-Directresses. This most important 
 document we shall give presently. The other is addressed, as a 
 
200 ^^ ANGELA MERICl 
 
 kind of spiritual last will and testament, to the Vicar and the 
 Lady Directresses; and this shall be given in its place, after 
 we have told of the Saint's death and burial. For, according 
 to the most reliable authority, it was only after the funeral 
 that Cozzano read this testament to the ladies for whom it 
 was destined. 
 
 In the uncertainty regarding the precise date when Angela 
 felt her end approaching, — or rather, was assured of it by a 
 special warning from on high,^ — we may be nearest to the 
 truth in assuming that with the beginning of January, 1540, 
 it became apparent that she could not last much longer. 
 
 Unwilling to wait till the last day and the latest hour to 
 give her daughters the solemn instructions demanded by 
 her very peculiar, — and, as it appeared to many, precarious, — 
 position, she called the Lady- Counselors or ColonelU to her 
 poor room at St. Afra, and, when tlie first greetings and 
 inquiries were over, she desired Cozzano to read in her name 
 the precious instructions, destined to remain for all time the 
 living and eloquent expression of her motherly tenderness, 
 provident care, and superhuman wisdom toward those who 
 glory in being her children. 
 
 " Sister Angela, unworthy handmaid of Christ Jesus, to 
 her beloved Daughters and Sisters, the Lady-Counselors 
 ( ColonelU) of the Company of St. Ursula. 
 
 " May the strength and true comfort of the Holy Ghost 
 be with all of you, that you may thereby be enabled to bear 
 and execute manfully and faithfully the task which you have 
 undertaken, — and may also look forward to the great reward 
 which God hath prepared for you. 
 
 '' Let each one of you earnestly apply herself within her own 
 
 1 Doneda positively asserts that St. Angela knew of the day of her death by revelation. 
 This knowledge is not inconsistent with the facts related by other historians. There 
 is only confusion in placing them. 
 
xliYD THE UR8ULINES. 201 
 
 district, to be both faithful and pains-taking for the welfare 
 of her Maiden charge, all of whom have been committed to 
 your care, as to that of guardians, watchful shepherds, and 
 efficient ministers. Hence it is that you have a great need 
 of continual prayer, in order to obtain from God that He 
 may enlighten you, direct you, and show you clearly what 
 it is incumbent on you to do, for love of Him, toward the 
 fulfillment of your trust, — a trust than which none can be 
 more exalted, smce it consists in being the guardians of those 
 who are affianced to the Most High God. Hence also arises 
 the reason for your conceiving a lofty esteem for them; for 
 in proportion to your respect for their quality will be the 
 love you bear them; and the more you will love them, the 
 greater will be your care and watchfulness. Thus will it 
 become an impossible thing for you not to bear about you, 
 night and day, the image of each one of them, as if it were 
 attached to your breast, imprinted on your very heart; for 
 such is the effect of true love. Far from being averse to 
 such a task, you should, on the contrary, give God most 
 heart-felt thanks for your being of the number of those whom 
 He chooses for the burthen of government and the keeping 
 of His dear treasures. This is both a great favor, and a most 
 enviable lot, if you would only learn to prize it! Nor must 
 you lose heart if you think that you have neither the knowl- 
 edge nor the practical wisdom required by so special a gov- 
 ernment as ours. Place your hope and firm trust in God; 
 He will surely help you in every difficulty. Be instant in 
 praying to Him, in humbling yourselves before His Almighti- 
 ness; for most assuredly, since He hath trusted this undertak- 
 ing to you, so will He give you strength to carry it out, pro- 
 vided only that you fail Him not. Do your duty, therefore, 
 go about your active functions, be full of trust, of courage, 
 of high hope, send up your heart-cry to God in your need; 
 
202 '^T. ANGELA MEEICI, 
 
 and doubt not but you will see Him do great tbings for you, 
 while you will aim at doing all things for the praise and glory 
 of His Infinite Majesty, and for the spiritual welfare of the 
 souls dear to Him. 
 
 '^Among the other duties, which you have to accomplish 
 with the aid of God's grace, — I entreat you all and beseech 
 you by the Passion of Christ and that of His Blessed Mother, 
 to do your best to put in practice these few Advices which I 
 trust to you to carry out after my death. They will at 
 least help to remind you somewhat of my intentions and 
 wishes. Thereby, too, I shall know if you take pleasure 
 in doing me a grateful thing: for you are well aware that, 
 presently, I shall enjoy a fuller life than I did while among 
 you, and that I shall see more clearly and value more ac- 
 curately and gratefully the good deeds I shall always behold 
 you performing; and that I shall have both a greater will 
 and a greater ability to assist you, and to do you service in 
 every emergency. 
 
 "Fb'st Adi^ice. — I therefore remind you above all things, 
 Daughters and Sisters mine in the blood of Christ Jesus, to 
 bestow your utmost effort with the help of our Lord, in 
 penetrating yourselves with this deep and humble conviction, 
 that you are not worthy to be Superiors and Officers, but 
 hold yourselves as the poor servants and handmaids of your 
 Sisters; considering the while that you are more benefited 
 by the services you render them, than they are by your 
 government of them; for God might, have provided them 
 with more efficient instruments of His loving care than you 
 know yourselves to be. His Fatherly mercy deigns to use 
 you for your own greater good, that you may acquire a 
 larger store of nierits in the sight of His infinite liberality, 
 and thus furnish Him a motive for bestowing a fitting 
 reward. Lay to heart the lessons taught by our de^r 
 
AlilD THE URSULINES. 203 
 
 Lord during His life on earth, where he labored as a servant, 
 obeying His Eternal Father down to His dying day. There- 
 fore did He say, ^ Which is greater, he that sitteth at table 
 or he that servethf^ (St. Luke xxii. 27). Which means 
 * I have been with you as one who was the servant of his 
 brothers, not as one Avho received service from them.' And 
 St. Gregory the Great, Pope as he was, always styled him- 
 self ' the servant of the servants of God.' He so discharged 
 his oiSce as superior and Supreme Pontiff, that in his heart 
 he esteemed himself the least of all men, really the servant 
 of all God's servants, bearing constantly in mind the wordg 
 of the Gospel: He that is greater among you, let him becom9 
 as the younger, (Ibid. 26.) In like manner must you, for 
 the very reason that you know you are placed over others, 
 esteem yourselves as their inferiors. For this very reason 
 God will raise you up in proportion to your self-abasement. 
 Therefore, too, is it that all true servants of God will never 
 fail to abase themselves in their own heart, and to trample 
 under foot and destroy all feelings of self-esteem and the 
 natural yearning to be extolled by others. They set their 
 hearts on the solid delight arising from the true glory and 
 unfading honor which they expect from the Master, — rely- 
 ing on his own words, He that shall humble himself, shall he 
 exalted. (St. Matth. xxiii. 12.) 
 
 " Second Injunction, — Be affable and courteous toward 
 your dear Daughters, and endeavor to show yourselves and 
 to be solely animated by the love of our Lord, as well as 
 by the purest zeal for the souls dear to Him, whenever you 
 admonish them, or give them advice, when you would per- 
 suade them to strive after some good, or to avoid some spirit- 
 ual danger. You will effect more by loving words, and a 
 courteous manner, than by bitterness, or sharp reprehension, 
 which should neyer be used but in extreme necessity, and 
 
204 ^-^- ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 with a prudent regard to the place and time, as well as to 
 the disposition of the person addressed. True charity, which 
 aims in all things to honor God and to be useful to souls, 
 knows how to teach this practical discernment; — it impels 
 the heart to be, according to the necessities of time and 
 place, now affable and courteous, now sharp and stinging, 
 with a proper measure in gentleness or reproof, as need may- 
 be. Whenever you see a weak soul, timid, and disposed to 
 lose hope and heart, comfort her, give her courage, open up 
 to her the bright vision of God's infinite mercies, and enable 
 that shrinking heart to open itself wide to the sweet influ- 
 ences of consolation. On the other hand, when you meet 
 with a presumptuous soul, who follows the dictates of a lax 
 conscience, without much fear or compunction, — then must 
 you fill her with salutary terror, with a just apprehension of 
 the rigorous judgments of the Most High, with a sense of 
 the dreadfully contagious nature of sin, with a great fear of 
 the pitfalls which beset the sinner's path, and a dread of the 
 awful uncertainties of this mortal life, — recalling ever to 
 mind the inspired warning: JBlessedis the man that is always 
 fearful; but he that is hardened in mind shall fall into evil. 
 (Prov. xxviii. 14). 
 
 ^' Third Injunction. — Be subject to the head Mothers, whom 
 I leave in my place, for this is but right. Wherefore, what- 
 soever you do, do it in obedience to them, and not as follow- 
 ing the bent of your own will. In obeying them you obey 
 me; in obeying me, you obey Christ Jesus Himself, who, in 
 His boundless condescension hath chosen me to be, in life 
 and in death, the Mother of this glorious Company, — albeit 
 on my part I was most unworthy; and who, moreover, after 
 choosing me, bestowed on me the grace to govern it in ac- 
 cordance with His holy will. 
 
 ^' Should it so happen that you find any just cause for oppos- 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 205 
 
 ing or censuring these Superiors, do it with great delicacy 
 and reverence. And if they should not yield to your repre- 
 sentations, bear the disappointment patiently, convinced that 
 simple justice demands of you to love your Mothers when 
 they are good; and when they chance to be otherwise and 
 differ with you, then must you bear with them; be careful 
 never to give way to murmuring, or complaint, or to speak 
 ill of them to any one, above all to your Daughters. On the 
 contrary, maintain the honor and reverence due to your 
 Mothers, considering that it is God's command, that we should 
 honor not only our fathers and mothers according to the 
 flesh, but still more so our Spiritual Parents. Thus will you 
 succeed in always raising them high in your own esteem and 
 respect^ but more so still in that of your own dear inferiors. 
 When you are blessed with good Superiors, bethink you that 
 you do not deserve to have them; and when they are not 
 what they ought to be, reflect that they might be still worse. 
 When in your heart you feel sure of having some reason 
 to be dissatisfied with them, you can without scruple 
 speak of it, under the seal of secrecy, to some pious 
 and trustworthy person. Wh^n, however, you clearly 
 see that there is any danger to the souls or honor of 
 your Daughters, you must on no account remain passive, 
 or indifferent, or afraid to offend others by your inter- 
 ference. In all these things proceed advisedly and with 
 due deliberation. 
 
 ''Fourth Admonition, — You must show solicitude and 
 watchfulness in taking cognizance of all that relates to the 
 conduct of your Daughters, and inform yourselves of their 
 spiritual and temporal needs. Provide for their wants to the 
 best of your power, in order to throw as little of such bur- 
 den as possible on the shoulders of the Lady Directresses. 
 If, however, it be not in your power to provide the needful. 
 
206 ST' ANGELA MERICl 
 
 have recourse, and that without delay, to the head 
 Mothers, and expose to them fearlessly the wants of your 
 little flocks. Should they be slow to act on your representa- 
 tions, speak to them again and again. And on this point I 
 bid you to be importunate and exacting. For, should any 
 soul in your charge be lost through your neglect, God will 
 call you to a strict account for it on the Day of Judgment. 
 Wherefor-e, you must know and hold for certain, that He 
 will never fail to provide you with all that is necessary 
 both for body and soul,— if you are careful to do 
 your part well Whence too, since it is God who has 
 established this Company, even so will He never forsake 
 it, in accordance with the words of Scripture: I have 
 not seen the just forsaken, no7* his seed seeking bread, (Ps. 
 xxvi. 25). 
 
 ^^Fifth Admonition. — Be pleased to go often (according as 
 you have time and convenience), especially on Feast Days, 
 to visit your dear Daughters and Sisters, and to greet them 
 in all kindness, to see how they are, to comfort them, and to 
 encourage them to persevere m the manner of life they have 
 chosen, to excite to a desire of the heavenly joys and pos- 
 sessions, to look longingly forward to the joyous feasts and 
 unspeakable delights of the City of God, to its blissful and 
 everlasting triumphs, and to tear themselves away from the 
 love of this pitiful and treacherous world, where no one can 
 find either true rest or contentment, but only empty delu- 
 sions, bitter labor, and everything miserable and paltry. Put 
 them in mind of their obligation to lead at home lives regu- 
 lated by good sense, and distinguished by prudence and 
 modesty. Let them be well-mannered and temperate in all 
 things. Let them take food, and drink, not for the pleasure 
 of the appetite, but simply to sustain nature, and enable 
 themselves to do God's work. Let them be moderate also 
 
AND THE URSU LINES. 207 
 
 in their sleep, giving to it the time required by necessity; 
 and so in laughter, let it be decorous and subdued; in hearing 
 others discourse, let them never listen to anything that is 
 not modest, and proper, and to the purpose; and so in their 
 own discourse, let their conversation be instructive and 
 courteous, not harsh or rude, but gentle and peace-loving 
 and charitable. Tell them, that it is my wish, wherever 
 they happen to be, that they should give good example, 
 charming all by the sweet odor of their virtues, show- 
 ing obedience and submission to all who have authority 
 over them, and zealous to promote good feeling and 
 peace everywhere. Above all, let them be humble and 
 affable, and let holy charity regulate their whole bear- 
 ing, their every action and word, and let them bear every- 
 thing patiently; for with these two virtues, — charity and 
 patience, — one is sure to crush the head of the enemy lying 
 in wait for souls. 
 
 '^And when you visit them. Ibid you, in rny name, to greet 
 them and take them by the hand. Tell them also that my 
 desire is that they should maintain great union and mutual 
 harmony, all of them bending their wills to the one pur- 
 pose of standing together obedient to the Rule: that the 
 one thing most important of all for them, is to cherish the 
 honor of Christ Jesus, to whom they have promised both 
 their maidenhood and themselves; and so they must place 
 their hopes and their love in God alone, and in no living 
 creature. Give these dear ones comfort and courage, and let 
 them be of good cheer! For you may also give them these 
 glad tidings, which I announce to them from Christ and our 
 Blessed Lady, — that they have great cause to exult and make 
 holiday in their hearts, inasmuch. as in Heaven for all and 
 each of them in particular is prepared a new crown of glory 
 and bliss, — provided only that they keep themselves firm and 
 
208 'ST. ANGELA MEBIGIy 
 
 immovable in their holy purpose, and strenuously observe our 
 Rule. Of this assured prospect let nothing make them 
 doubt, no matter what may be their trouble or difficulty; for 
 all these little miseries will soon vanish from their path, 
 and be succeeded by serenity and joy; and, then again, 
 the little we may have to endure in this life is as nothing 
 in comparison to the wealth of happiness stored up in 
 Paradise. 
 
 " Besides, let them hold this too for most- certain, that 
 they shall never be forsaken in their necessities. God will 
 provide for them in a wonderful way. Let them never lose 
 heart or hope. How many Nobles, Queens, and otlier ex- 
 alted personages are there not, who in spite of all their 
 treasures and powers, are not able to find any sweet comfort 
 in the hour of their most extreme need. And yet their 
 poorest dependents can enjoy abundant consolation and 
 cheer! ... 
 
 " Assure them, moreover, of this, — that I shall, by and by, 
 be more truly living, than I was when their eyes beheld me 
 in the body, and that soon I shall see them and know them 
 better, and be better able to help them, inasmuch as I shall 
 be always in their midst with Him who is my Love, who is 
 the Love of all of us. Wherefore, as they believe all this, 
 let nothing damp their courage or dim their hope. Thus 
 must you enlarge upon the promises made to your Sisters^ 
 resting in the assurance that the realities will more than 
 correspond to their expectations, — and this do ye particularly 
 in favor of such as you may find desponding, wavering, or 
 pusillanimous. 
 
 *' Tell them that they must wish to see me, not on earth, 
 but in Heaven, where our Love is. Let them place their 
 hopes on high, not on the things of earth. Let Christ Jesus 
 be their only treasure; since the object oi their affectioQ 
 
AND THE UESULINES, 209 
 
 must be sought for, not here below, but in the highest 
 Heaven, where He thrones at the right hand of His Father. 
 Hence the Apostle said; If you be risen with Christ, seek the 
 things that are above : where Christ is sitting at the right 
 hand of God, (Coloss. iii. 1.) 
 
 '' Sixth Injunction, — You must so live and demean your- 
 selves, that your conduct shall be a mirror for your dear 
 Daughters. Whatever, then, you would have them do, that 
 do yourselves first. What weight can your reprehensions or 
 admonitions have, if the fault you would correct is but too 
 apparent in your own conduct? How can you counsel or 
 persuade them to the practice of virtues, which you evidently 
 lack yourselves? At least must you, to make up your 
 deficiency, begin to work in earnest with your Sisters. Let 
 your conduct, therefore, be such as may move and encourage 
 them in the pursuit of virtue. Nor must you fail to shape 
 your lives so as to conform with them in all praise-worthy 
 and virtuous actions befitting your profession and within 
 your power, especially in your outward bearing, in the 
 practices of frequent Confession and Communion, and other 
 such good works. It is but right and proper that Mothers 
 should be models and mirrors to their Daughters, — particu- 
 larly in blameless life, and modest carriage, as in all other 
 things which regard exterior life. 
 
 ^^ Seventh Reminder. — Bear in mind that it is your duty to 
 protect and rescue your lambs from wolf and thief, — that is 
 from two classes of pestilential persons, namely, — fair- 
 speeched worldlings and hypocritical religious, on the one 
 hand, and heretics on the other. In the first place, regarding 
 your intercourse with the worldly-minded, — be especially 
 averse to any kind of familiarity with young men, or indeed 
 with men of every age, no matter how spiritual-minded they 
 may be. For too great a familiarity with even the spiritu^- 
 
210 ST, ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 minded, leads to anything but to spirituality. You must not 
 allow them to keep up any acquaintance, so far as you can 
 with women who lead an aimless life, with such as show 
 themselves averse to purity, or who are fond of gossiping 
 about frivolous things, or enjoy nothing but worldly amuse- 
 ments. See to it, also, that no Confessor, or Religious, shall 
 cause them to make little of any of their holy resolutions, — 
 of their customs of fasting, or their settled purpose of keeping 
 their virginity inviolate, or their attachment to this holy 
 Rule of ours, divinely prepared for us; or of any other such 
 things. For there are many persons who, under some 
 specious pretense of seeking a higher good, will turn away 
 the mind of poor young girls from following up their own 
 virtuous inspirations and resolves. Now, as to guarding your 
 charge from the contagion of heretical opinions, whenever 
 you learn that such a preacher or other public personage has 
 the reputation of entertaining heretical opinions, or that they 
 preach novelties in contradiction to the settled doctrines of 
 the Church, or in opposition to what we have been teaching 
 you, — then must you take means to prevent your Daughters 
 from hearing such doctrines. For it not unf requently happens 
 that certain little seeds of doubt cast into the mind, become 
 so deeply rooted there that they can scarcely be plucked out. 
 With all such persons you must have no familiar dealings. 
 Leave these men to go their own road; and, while abstaining 
 from judging any one rashly, be prudent in guarding your 
 own souls from evil. For it is better to follow the beaten 
 path where you apprehend no danger, than to expose your- 
 selves to pitfalls on a road untried. Follow ever the broad 
 highway of the Church's teaching and practice, laid out and 
 perfected by the hands of so many saints under the direction 
 of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 " Live yourselves a new life. As to the doctrines which 
 
AND THE VE8ULINE8, 211 
 
 ^^ 
 originate in our day, or which may arise hereafter, let them 
 
 pass by like clouds borne along by the winds; they do not 
 concern you. Meanwhile, pray, and make others pray, that 
 God may not forsake His Church; but that it may please 
 Him to reform her as best beseemeth Him, and as He shall 
 judge more conducive to our good, to His own greater honor 
 and glory. Indeed, in these times, so pregnant with 
 danger and with moral pestilence, you can find no better 
 refuge than at the feet of Christ Jesus. If He directs 
 and teaches you, you shall be well taught indeed, as the 
 prophet says: Blessed is the man whom Thou shalt instruct^ 
 O Lord, and shalt teach him out of Thy laid (Ps. xciii. 
 12.) Humble yourselves beneath His mighty hand, and 
 you shall find the light and joy mentioned by the same 
 Prophet: Enlighten tny eyes that I may never sleep m death, 
 (Ps. xii. 4.) 
 
 ^^Eighth Reminder, — Show an equal love to all your dear 
 Daughters, nor must you permit yourselves to show partial- 
 ity to any in preference to the others. For all are what God 
 made them, and you know not what glorious use He may 
 yet make of them. How can you tell but those very persons 
 who seem to be of little account, or even utterly worthless, 
 are not about to become the most generous and the most 
 acceptable to His Divine^Majesty? Besides, to whom has it 
 been given to read the hearts and penetrate the secret thoughts 
 of His creatures? Take them all to your heart, therefore, and 
 bear with them all tenderly; for you have not been appointed 
 to judge God's handmaidens. He alone knoweth what His 
 own purpose is: He can from the stones of the street create 
 children worthy of Himself. As for you, do what your office 
 enjoins: correct your dear ones lovingly, charitably, when 
 you see them falling through human infirmity. Thus will 
 you continue to prune the vine committed to you by our 
 
213 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 Lord; leaving the result to Him, who will bide His own time 
 to do wonders for you. 
 
 ^^Last Reminder, — The last word of prayer which I address 
 to you, and which I could write with my own blood, is that 
 you continue to be bound together in so sweet and loving a 
 union that all have but one heart and one will. Yes, — let 
 the bond of charity so draw you to each other, that you 
 may prize and esteem each other, help each other, and 
 support each other in Christ Jesus. If you are earnest in 
 your endeavor to be thus united, doubt not but our Lord God 
 shall be in the midst of you. You shall have as your pro- 
 tectors our Blessed Lady, the Apostles, the entire company of 
 blessed men and women, with the Angels, the whole Heavenly 
 City, and the whole order of this Universe. For such is the 
 eternal law of our Creator, that all those who labor unitedly 
 for His honor, shall prosper in everything, that their efforts 
 shall be crowned with success, inasmuch as they have with 
 them God and all His creation. You may thus admire the 
 wonderful effects of union and harmony of wills. 
 
 "Wherefore you must desire it, seek it, cherish it, and 
 hold it fast with all your might. I assure you, that if you 
 thus stand together with united hearts, you shall be like a 
 mighty rock or tower, impregnable against all the ill fortune, 
 the persecutions, and the Satanic assaults of the future- 
 This, moreover, I assure you of, — that every grace you may 
 ask of God shall be infallibly granted to you, and that I 
 shall be always in your midst, assisting you to obtain the 
 object of your prayers. 
 
 "Exhort and encourage your dear ones, therefore, to carry 
 out the undertaking we have begun; and in so doing, cheer 
 each other with the assurance that all things shall most 
 certainly turn out for you as I now say. Beside the immense 
 and priceless grace which my love as well as your own, will 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 213 
 
 grant you when death is nearest, — for true friendship is 
 best known in the extremity of need, — hold this also for 
 certain, that in that hour especially you shall know me to be 
 a true friend to you. 
 
 "And now 1 leave you. Be comforted, and have a lively 
 faith and hope. I wish you to be blessed, In the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 Amen." 
 
OHAPTEE XV. 
 
 THE GATES AJAR — LOYE STRO:S^G Iiq" DEATH — THE PILGRIM 
 
 AT REST. 
 
 Very few death-bed scenes in the history of the holy found- 
 ers of religous orders approach in touching solemnity and 
 deep interest to that presented in the poor narrow room at St. 
 Afra's, where lay, near the end of her long pilgrimage, the 
 parent of the most numerous and wide-spread order of 
 women in the Church — the first of their sex specially devoted 
 to the great apostleship of education. The only change 
 allowed in the poor and scant furniture of this lowly dwelling 
 — which Angela was allowed to occupy by charity — was the 
 little bed rendered necessary by the exigencies of her long 
 illness, the rush-pallet introduced as a first modification of 
 the sufferer's austerity in the beginning of her sickness, and 
 now probably used as a luxury by the faithful Barbara 
 Pontana, and the crowded woodeiv benches on which sat the 
 sorrowing daughters of this great Mother of saints and 
 missionary nuns. 
 
 One may easily picture to one's self the pious emotions of 
 the lady-counselors who had been from the beginning among 
 the most tried and trusted helpmates of the foundress in 
 spreading and strengthening her institute. It is not unlikely, 
 too — although no mention is made of the fact by Father 
 Salvatori, — that the lady-directresses were also present ; for 
 
 2U 
 
ST, ANGELA MEIilCL 215 
 
 the admirable advices and directions contained in the Eicordi 
 are more precious than gold or the choicest pearls to all who 
 are charged with the government of others. Gabriel Cozzano 
 liimself^ identified as he was with the labors, the fears, the 
 hopes, the successes, and the joys of Angela and her company, 
 could not help drinking in every one of the inspired lessons, 
 which his own ear had first heard from the lips of his saintly 
 friend, and Wtich his own hand had put in writing for the 
 benefit of all after ages. 
 
 We must not forget amid what disheartening prospects 
 Angela beheld her little company as the shadows of death 
 were gathering around herself. Of the wars — the insane, 
 fratricidal, and ruinous wars — between the two greatest 
 princes of Christendom, which broke out with renewed fury 
 at this time, like the sudden eruption of a volcanoes long pent- 
 up fires, we need say nothing. All Brescia — all upper Italy 
 indeed — was in an agony of the most terrible expectancy. 
 From the horrors of war, however, Angela most probably 
 knew, in the prophetic light vouchsafed her so abundantly as 
 the eternal day drew near, that Brescia and her dear ones 
 would be safe. But there were other — less apparent and 
 more formidable- — perils for the members of her company, of 
 which she had a vi vid consciousness. The nascent Ursulines 
 were to be assailed, both from within and from without, by 
 the same enemies and the same dangers, which went so near, 
 — at the very same time, too — wrecking the Society of Jesus 
 under Claudio Acquaviva. But nearer to Angela, around her 
 very home, in the public squares and streets of Brescia, within 
 her monasteries as within the homes of her patricians, nu- 
 Tueroas enemies were lurking, who were lying in wait for the 
 faith of her daughters, and most anxious to overturn from its 
 founjdations^ the edifice of virginal life and missionary zeal 
 which the Maid of Desenzano had been instrumental in rais- 
 
216 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 ing. In 1540 nearly one half the population of Brescia 
 either belonged to the Protestant faith or was disposed to 
 adopt it ! And the dying saint, from her death-bed near the 
 watch-towers of the ancient Celtic city, could see the new 
 doctrines spreading over Lombardy, Venetia, and Piedmont, 
 like the resistless waters of the Po and Adige, swollen by the 
 wintry streams from her own native hills, inundating and 
 devastating Italy's fairest and most fruitful regions. 
 
 One half of Brescia Protestant ! What a light this simple 
 fact throws on the fervent admonitions addressed to the lady- 
 counselors to protect their young flock of maidens from this 
 rising flood of heresy and the consequent heretical hatred of 
 the virginal life and all that bore the semblance of monastic 
 institutions ! Surely, even in this nineteenth century, and 
 in every land under the heavens, it is daily becoming more 
 and more a matter of vital importance to guard the young 
 from these '' little seeds of doubt cast into the mind, and be- 
 coming so deeply rooted there, that they can be plucked up 
 only with the utmost difficulty.^' Surely, in these days of 
 independent thought and scorn of all religious authority, even 
 young children will understand how much wiser it is " to 
 follow the beaten path where no danger can be apprehended, 
 instead of the untried road among pitfalls and precipices" I 
 And how timely is the advice to " follow ever the broad high- 
 way of the Church's teaching and practice, in which so many 
 saints walk before us" ! 
 
 What strikes one as most precious in these reminders of a 
 dying saint and foundress are the beautiful and most practical 
 lessons on the lofty esteem in which they should hold their 
 own institute and the virginal life which is its immediate 
 purpose and the mainspring of its efficiency ; the absolute 
 trust to be reposed in the Divine aid, and the no less absolute 
 humility and self-denial which must be characteristic of 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 217 
 
 their service toward the Divine Majesty ; and then the un- 
 limited and unwearied charity with which they must cultivate 
 the happiness and spiritual interests of their flocks of devoted 
 maiden souls. 
 
 One is apt — in a self-seeking and sensual age, amid a society 
 where the sweet ties of parental love and filial duty are daily 
 and hourly growing weaker, and becoming, like obsolete 
 statutes, things of the past, lifeless and without any practical 
 virtue — to fancy that of all places in which the counterpart 
 of the home affections ought to prevail, monasteries are the 
 last ; and that nowhere would one be less disposed to seek for 
 the perfection of parental piety than in the bosom of a 
 cloistered or even an uncloistered nun. Yet here we have 
 the practical injunction of the sweetest, the most delicate, 
 and the most self-sacrificing motherly tenderness inculcated 
 and enjoined by the holy Maid of Desenzano ; and we may 
 be sure that the Ursulines who have inherited her spirit never 
 could have covered both hemispheres with their teeming 
 houses, did not that angelic motherly love still govern the 
 breasts of the sisterhood and influence the souls of their 
 countless pupils. 
 
 It is, however, of that motherly tenderness so necessary in 
 the heart of the superiors of a monastery, and so much needed 
 by their inferiors, that we wish to speak here. In no family 
 or household in the world outside of the cloister do the 
 inmates need and crave such kindness, such loving care, such 
 unvarying patience and gentleness, a tenderness so deep and 
 true and exhaustless, as they do within the cloister itself. If 
 superiors who read this will only remember their own need 
 in the past, and the vain yearnings for a true mother's heart 
 to lean upon, and the unsatisfied want of the true maternal 
 instincts ever inseparable from patience, gentleness, and 
 devotion ! 
 
218 JST, ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 Listen rather to that wonderful woman— whose life seems 
 to have been one continuous and successful effort to stifle all 
 the dearest sentiments of her sex and to crush within her 
 heart all the most sacred family affections — listen rather to 
 that heart, as, like a fountain unsealed, it pours forth as with 
 a mighty rush of water the tide of its hallowed womanly 
 charity. 
 
 The trust committed to these lady-counselors is to be ^^ the 
 guardians of maidens who are affianced to the Most High 
 God. ... It will become impossible for you not to bear 
 about with you, night and day, the image of each one of 
 them, as if it were bound to your bosom or imprinted on your 
 very heart. . . . Penetrate yourselves with this deep con- 
 viction, that you are not worthy to be placed over others ; but 
 rather you should deem yourselves the poor servants and 
 handmaidens of your sisters. ... Be gentle and courteous. 
 . . . You will effect more by loving words and gentle 
 courtesy than by bitterness and sharp reproof, which should 
 never be used except in extremity. Whenever you see a weak 
 and timid soul, . . . comfort her, give her courage, . . . 
 open up to her the bright vision of God's mercies, and enable 
 that sensitive and shrinking heart to open all its avenues to 
 the sweet influence of consolation. . . .'' 
 
 Angela left her daughters uncloistered, scattered through- 
 out their homes in the city ; some of them were but poor 
 seamstresses, or servant-girls toiling hard for their masters, 
 and sanctifying their respective households by the example of 
 a pure life and a generous piety. The lady-counselors are to 
 make themselves thoroughly acquainted with the most needy, 
 whether spiritually or otherwise — with those, more especially 
 still, whose great need puts the life of body or soul in peril. 
 That need must be supplied instantly. Where the counselors 
 are helpless to provide, they must apply forthwith to those 
 
AND THE URSULINES. -219 
 
 above them. ^^ On this point I bid you to be importunate' 
 and exacting/^ says the great motherly heart. '' Should any 
 soul in your charge be lost through your neglect^ God will 
 call you to a strict account for it on the Day of Judgment. 
 . . . For, hold for certain that He will never fail to provide 
 you with all that is necessary to both souls and bodies.'^ 
 
 As to the young maidens themselves, who are members of 
 the Order, or postulants on trial, no matter how highly or 
 lowly born, ^^ Tell them," the dying parent says, ^Hhat it 
 is my wish, wherever they happen to be, to give good ex- 
 ample, charming all whom they meet by the sweet odor of 
 their virtues, showing obedience to all who have authority 
 over them, and zealous to promote good feeling and peace 
 among their friends." It is on record that these early 
 disciples of Angela Merici were perfect models of all the 
 filial virtues in the homes where they continued to reside. 
 The noble Brescian families, as well as those of the burgess 
 class, who gave their darlings to the company of St. Ursula, 
 were amply rewarded by the untold blessings which these, 
 in return, brought to the paternal fireside. The Company 
 spread and took such deep root in Brescia and its territory 
 only because every man, woman, and child within it had 
 daily and hourly experience of the beautiful lives and heavenly 
 virtues of these modest followers of the Maid of Desenzano. 
 
 " Tell them also," their venerable Mother says, " that the 
 one thing important above all others is to cherish the honor 
 of Christ Jesus, to whom they have promised both their 
 maidenhood and themselyes. On Him alone must they build 
 their hopes and place their affections. . . . Let them take 
 comfort and aourage ! . . . For you may impart to them these 
 glad tidings, which I bring them from Christ Himself and 
 our Blessed Lady — that they have good cause to exult and to 
 make holiday in their hearts, inasmuch as in Heaven for all 
 
220 ST. ANGELA MEUICl 
 
 and each is prepared a new crown of glory and bliss — pro- 
 Tided only that they remain immovably firm in their holy 
 purpose, and strenuously observe our holy rule. . . • Assure 
 them moreover of this — that I shall presently be more truly 
 living than when they saw me in the body, and that soon I 
 shall see them and know them better, and be more able to 
 help. For then I shall be in their yery midst with Him who 
 is not only my Love, but the Love of all of you. ..." 
 
 When Secretary Cozzano came to the last ^^ Eeminder,'* 
 Angela sat up in her bed, not only that she might catch 
 every word more distinctly, but that she might so remember 
 this concluding paragraph as to repeat it to her daughters 
 when the Secretary had finished. The feelings which the lady- 
 counselors labored to restrain, as every portion of the touch- 
 ing paper was read to them, became uncontrollable toward 
 the close. It might well seem to them as if they stood at the 
 gate of Heaven, with its portals ajar, ready to receive their 
 worshiped Mother, and the light from within streaming out 
 on them. So divinely did she speak of their dignity, their 
 duties, their assured reward, and the promise given to the 
 foundress, that the company should " ever be like an un- 
 shaken rock, and a tower which no enemy could ever possess ;" 
 while, beside the continual presence and aid of Christ in 
 their midst. His love and the motherly care of Angela herself 
 should be more particularly shown to each of them in her 
 dying hour. 
 
 They had to restrain their tears when Cozzano had con- 
 cluded. For Angela, summoning all her remaining strength, 
 and uttering every word with glowing face and a tongue on 
 fire with the charity of the other life on which she was enter- 
 ing, spoke so firmly and so fervently, that she seemed to pour 
 her own soul into theirs. 
 
 One, in reading of such a scene, is reminded of the two 
 
ANB THE URSULINES, 221 
 
 great prophets of Israel at its darkest hour — Elias ascending 
 to Heaven in a chariot of living flame, and Elisaeus gathering 
 up his master's cloak with the inheritance of his God-like 
 spirit, and gazing upward at the receding figure of the divine 
 man, while he bethought him of the Israel of Achab and 
 Jezabel, God-forsaken and plunged in the most fearful 
 idolatry. 
 
 The daughters of St. Angela present at her death-bed could 
 not help feeling that their parent spoke in God's own name ; 
 that their calling was indeed from God ; that the great insti- 
 tution they were laboring to complete was truly the work of 
 the Most High ; and that the promises so explicitly and so 
 solemnly made and reiterated by the dying saint would be 
 realized both with regard to the permanence of the company 
 of St. Ursula, and with regard to the special assistance guar- 
 anteed in life and death to its faithful members. 
 
 ^Everything was supernatural in this interview between 
 Angela and the lady-counselors. Not that the sweet and holy 
 emotions of natural love and gratitude found no vent there, 
 but that the tears which were shed and the grief felt and ex- 
 pressed at parting with one who had been most truly the 
 mother of their souls, was so tempered and brightened by the 
 almost heavenly atmosphere of that poor bare sick-room, and 
 by the sensible nearness to the blessed company of the ever- 
 lasting city, that earth was forgotten in the light of Heaven, 
 and filial sorrow swallowed up in the great flood of joy aoid 
 hope which lifted upward all their hearts. 
 
 It would appear that the energy with which Angela spoke 
 while repeating the last '' Eeminder'^ and the motherly bene- 
 diction on her dear ones was such that she seemed to them 
 to be, for the moment at least, restored to her former 
 strength. Both directresses and counselors went away from 
 St. Afra's with the hope that a life so precious would be 
 
222 ST. ANGELA MEBICl, 
 
 spared to them yet awhile. Such was also the impression 
 produced on the attendant physician^ Dr. Gardoni. Among 
 the citizens of Brescia, howeyer, there was produced by the 
 rumor of the saint's danger a feeling akin to consternation. 
 They had been so long familiar with the modest and gentle 
 presence, had so of ten experienced the benefit of Angela's wise 
 and heavenly counsels, had found her so true and helpful a 
 friend in their sore need, so safe a confidant and guide in 
 their troubles and doubts, and the families of high and low 
 had been so often blessed by the holy influences which she 
 and her daughters brought with them in their visitations, 
 that to lose her now was to lose the common parent of poor 
 and rich alike. 
 
 As we have already seen, from the very first beginning of 
 Angela's stay in Brescia (1516) the reputation of her sanctity 
 and wisdom was such that her advice was eagerly sought by 
 persons of every class. She thenceforth became the spiritual 
 guide of all persons who aspired to a life of greater perfec- 
 tion — to the young and old of her own sex particularly. 
 The long years which elapsed, and the dreadful misfortunes 
 and vicissitudes which befell Brescia in the interval and up 
 to 1540, instead of diminishing her influence over minds and 
 hearts, had only endeared her more with every successive year 
 to the entire city, and had only served to increase the uni- 
 versal veneration felt toward her. 
 
 We have said '' universal veneration," for even those who 
 were led astray by the doctrines of Luther and Calvin were 
 so convinced of Angela's superior merit and extraordinary 
 virtue, that they approached her as they approached, in the 
 church outside of Brescia, such men as Cardinals Contarini, 
 Pole, Caraffa, de Tiene, and such saints as Philip Neri and 
 Ignatius Loyola. The historians of that age inform us of the 
 repeated attempts to enlist, under the pretext of reforming 
 
AND THE URSUZmES. 223 
 
 the Church, such great men as these in the unholy rebellion 
 which made reform a by- word of scorn and derision. 
 
 Even at the present day, in spite of the fearfal inroads 
 made by radicalism and impiety among- the inhabitants of 
 Upper Italy, the entire city and territory of Brescia are yearly 
 moved by the* return of the anniversary of Angela Merici's 
 death, city and country pouring forth their population around 
 her tomb in St. Af ra. But we are anticipating. 
 
 During the whole period of her illness her lowly abode 
 near that venerable church was beset daily by anxious visitors.* 
 Two in particular are mentioned by Father Salvatori — the 
 Cavalier James Chizzola and Signer Thomas Gavardi. Both 
 had, as they afterward testified, been much benefited by her 
 counsels and direction ; they now came to seek a last advice 
 from one whom they believed to be led by the Spirit of God. 
 Sitting up in her bed, as her two noble friends besought this 
 last favor from her, she first addressed herself to Chizzola, 
 seting forth, with an eloquence and cogency of argument 
 which he had never before witnessed in her exhortations the 
 duties of the true Christian man. Her yery fervor, however, 
 exhausted her, and when she turned to Gavardi she could 
 only say, with an air and an adcent that stamped every word 
 on his soul forever after, WJiatever you would wish at your 
 dying liour to have done in health, that do noio while you may ! 
 
 There were others besides the two gentlemen present who 
 heard these words and were deeply moved by them. More 
 than one took them to heart and began to lead a truly Chris- 
 tian life. They were repeated abroad in the city, and fell, 
 like the dew from heaven on the parched earth, on many a 
 needy soul, sinking deep into generous hearts, and helping to 
 reform the course of more than one erring life, or to spur to 
 
 1 BeUa vita di S. Angela Merici, vergine Bresciana, E. Girelli, pp. 169-171. 
 
224 ST, ANGELA MEBICT, 
 
 nobler effort and higher aims those already on the right road. 
 
 How long an interval elapsed between Angela's last con- 
 ference with the lady-counselors and her death, has not been 
 explicitly stated by her biographers. The testament, ad- 
 dressed to the lady- directresses, had been, according to some 
 writers, intrusted to the Countess Lodrone, as soon as the 
 latter had accepted the charge of Mother Vicar. This testa- 
 ment was to be communicated to the proper persons only 
 after Angela's death. As to Angela herself — without repel- 
 ling from her door or her bedside the friends and acquaint- 
 ances who came to see her for the last time, or to hear her 
 loYcd Yoice once more, or without refusing to receive such of 
 her daughters as yearned for a last interview with their 
 mother — she intimated her desire that the members of the 
 Company should not quit their post of duty to satisfy even 
 these cravings of a grateful love. But she alloAved free access 
 to all other persons, mindful to the last of the golden rule of 
 true piety and Christian charity, that one may leave God's 
 presence in prayer to find Him equally present in the needy 
 souls who seek one's aid. So, ardently as she wished to de- 
 vote to communion with Him alone the brief interval that 
 separated her from the Judgment, she continued to be in 
 death what she had ever been in life — the ever-ready and most 
 patient counselor of those who sought her guidance. 
 
 But one can scarcely form a conception of the holy fire 
 which filled her heart and served to chasten still more, amid 
 her bodily ills, the pure soul which had been chastened by 
 more than half a century of suffering and voluutary cruci- 
 fixion. "With that sovereign reverence for her virginal body 
 which the Christian doctrine and practice inculcate, she 
 would allow no hand to touch it save her own as she prepared 
 it for its supreme repose in the sepulchre. It is said that on 
 the eve of her death, dismissing even Barbara Fontana from 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 225 
 
 her room, and shielding herself from every mortal eye, she so 
 prepared and decked herself, that it only needed her poor 
 Franciscan habit to be ready for her place in St. Afra. And 
 there she lies at this day, as she had laved and vested to 
 meet the Heavenly Bridegroom. ^ 
 
 It would appear that some anxious visitor knocked at the 
 closed door while Angela was thus decking herself for death's 
 bridals, and when admitted expressed surprise to find her 
 able to leave her bed. When Barbara Fontana returned with 
 such of her sisters and Angela's lady friends as were admit- 
 ted with the former, they too could scarcely help chiding the 
 brave-hearted sufferer for what they considered an act of im- 
 prudence or even foolhardiness. But she had been so well 
 accustomed through life to rise above every bodily weakness, 
 that even in death she seemed to make the sinking flesh do 
 the will of the spirit. 
 
 She told them, however, that death was at hand, and with 
 an air and in a tone that dispelled all doubt and hesitation. 
 It was time to administer the last sacraments and divinest 
 consolations of religion. So Extreme Unction washed away 
 every vestige of soil contracted by these unwearied feet in 
 their many pilgrimages, every stain which might have re- 
 mained on her hands, even when breaking daily and hourly 
 the bread of charity to God's poor, or while binding up the 
 inveterate wounds of others. And into the temple of her 
 virginal body, thus anointed anew for the coming of its Lord, 
 Christ Himself came in His last gift to mortal man. Holy Vi- 
 aticum, the bread of the traveler about to cross the boundary 
 between this vale of tears and the land of the living. 
 
 To Catholics who believe in the Divine Eeality of this great 
 central sacrament, the veiled presence consoling, cheering. 
 
 1 Salvatori, p. 119. 
 
226 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 and fixing our hearts on God during this life of faith and 
 trial, it. scarcely needs to be told with what transports the 
 saints and all holy souls approach the mercy-seat on our altars 
 during their pilgrimage here below. But when the end has 
 come, when faith is about to give place to the clear vision of 
 God, souls like Angela Merici, who had made of prayer and con- 
 templation their daily bread, who had knelt before our taber- 
 nacles as if the treasure these contained were visible m its 
 divine form to them, must see with a keener sense as they 
 stand within the first beams of the coming brightness. To 
 those who have lived a life of sensual enjoyment, m conform- 
 ity with the instincts of the natural man, the clear-sighted. 
 ness vouchsafed to ^Hhe pure of heart'' while still in the 
 body is a thing absolutely incomprehensible. But when 
 these pure hearts, cleansed from the very last alloy of earth, 
 gaze, at the very verge of eternity, on the face of their Em- 
 manuel, their hidden God, through the thin and wasted 
 shreds of their mortality — as one beholds the face of the rising 
 sun through the veil of the morning — are they not filled with 
 ecstatic joy, as every instant brings the unclouded form of 
 the luminary more distinctly before the eye ? 
 
 ^'Writers say'' — such are the words of Father Salvatori 
 — '' that at the approach of the Holy Viaticum she appeared 
 transformed as with the beauty of Paradise ; and that as 
 soon as she had received it she folded her arms as in a trans- 
 port of love, breaking forth into the most tender expressions 
 of devotion. After having thus entertained for a long time 
 her divine guest, like one intoxicated with holy love, she 
 summoned around her all the members of her company, and 
 addressed them a moving discourse on charity, obedience, 
 humility, the faithful observance of the rule, the wariness 
 with which they should guard the treasure of their virginity, 
 and the love and holy fear of the Most High God, till they 
 
AND THE URSULIJSfES. 227 
 
 all broke forth into uncontrollable weeping. Then, loving 
 mother that she was, she blessed them, and took leave of 
 them, saying that on earth they should not meet again, but 
 giving them all a rendezvous m Heaven. Having thus ful- 
 filled every duty, and feeling that her Beloved was now ap- 
 proaching fast, she bade them fetch her habit of a Tertiary 
 of St. Francis, and put it on herself. Then, as the tradition 
 has it, she arose from her bed, and lay down on the rush-mat. 
 Thus extended on the floor, she forgot everything earthly, 
 and, like one in ecstasy, she gave no further sign of seeing or 
 hearing what passed around her. Only her eyes, peaceful 
 and shining with a preternatural light, remained fixed on 
 Heaven, while she was heard from time to time to utter, amid 
 her ardent sighs, the sweet name of Jesus. Presently, with 
 her face overspread with unearthly joy, she broke forth into 
 the dying words of Christ on the cross : In manus tuas 
 commendo spiritum meiim.^ She thereupon bowed her head 
 on her chest, closed her eyes, and the blessed spirit went 
 peacefully forth from its tenement on the 27th day of Janu- 
 ary, 1540. It was a Tuesday, about six o'clock of the after- 
 noon. ..." 
 
 Thus closed a life marked by obscure toil and suffering ; by 
 constant striving, in the face of ever-recurring obstacles, 
 after the accomplishment of a mighty enterprise divinely 
 foreshown, and rendered seemingly impossible of execution 
 by the imperious necessity of adverse circumstances. But, 
 while yielding to the misfortunes of the times, the brave and 
 faithful spirit continued to hope against hope itself, schooling 
 her own mind and heart to the acquisition of supernatural 
 wisdom and the practice of the most heroic virtues, leading 
 the life of an anchorite in the midst of a crowded city, the 
 
 1 " Into Thy hands I commend my spirit " (St. Luke xxiii. 46). 
 
228 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 visible providence of the poor and afflicted, the guide of all 
 classes and both sexes in the road of Christian perfection, the 
 teacher of prelates and priests, the trusted counselor of 
 princes, a reformer who shone by the unearthly splendor of 
 her own heroic generosity and self-denial in the age of a false 
 and calamitous Kef ormation — a great missionary, though but 
 a poor, single-handed girl, in the midst of a population demor- 
 alized by such a fatal succession of wars as the world had not 
 seen since the age of Attila, and in comparison with which 
 the wars of the First Napoleon were only a thunder-shower 
 in a summer sky. 
 
 No : not merely a missionary, and working single-handed 
 to reform an age more unfortunate than guilty, and to re- 
 store the bright days of early Gospel faith and enlightened 
 piety among a people blessed above all others by the lavish 
 hand of nature and nature's God ; but who were the victims 
 of domestic political passions which they neither shared nor 
 could control, and of the most unholy foreign ambitions be- 
 gotten by the very sight of their most beautiful country. 
 Angela Merici was an apostle, the first of a class of apostolic 
 women sent to educate the youth of their own sex at the be- 
 ginning of an era hostile to all the divine teachings of Chris- 
 tianity, and thereby to save the society of the future just as 
 the floodgates of Socialism and Communism were about to let 
 loose on Christendom that deluge of error which threatened 
 the foundations of the family home and of all social life. 
 
 In the pictures at Brescia and elsewhere in Upper Italy, 
 painted too in the sixteenth century, the vision in which St. 
 Ursula and her band of virgin martyrs appeared to the Maid 
 of Desenzano, is so represented that Angela, kneeling, re- 
 ceives a standard from Ursula's hand, while around the kneel- 
 ing figure are a numerous train of followers. If we may look 
 upon the three centuries and a half which have now elapsed 
 
AND THE URSULmES, 229 
 
 since that lowly death-bed scene in Brescia as embodying the 
 realization of Angela's vision or dream, we cannot help 
 being struck by the fact that, while the company founded 
 by* the Maid of Desenzano was the first established for 
 educating female youth, other holy women, following 
 her example, have founded similar societies, each at present 
 vicing with the Company of St. Ursula in numbers, zeal, and 
 efficiency. 
 
 None the less to that sweet and heavenly form lying low 
 in death beneath the shadows of St. Afra's Church is due 
 the leadership among this glorious band of apostolic women, 
 educators of youth, and destined to be, in the hand of God's 
 Church, the most successful agents for saving society and the 
 moral world. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A saikt's testame:n^t akd legacies — A people's geati- 
 TUDE . A:NrD ye:n^eratiok — ikcorruptio:n" lastii^-g 
 
 THROUGH centuries. 
 
 In some biographies of St. Angela the reading of the testa- 
 ment intrusted to Mother Lucretia Lodrone is deferred till 
 the conclusion of the last solemn obsequies, which only took 
 place several weeks after her decease. They also separate the 
 testament itself from its proper place in the narrative, and 
 oblige the reader to seek for it in an appendix. Assuredly, 
 one so wise as Lucretia Lodrone, and who knew so intimately 
 the intentions of her saintly friend, could have deemed no 
 time so opportune for the reading of the document as that 
 immediately following her own and her sisters' bereavement, 
 and no place so suggestive of heroic resolutions and generous 
 sentiments as the room in which lay all that was mortal of 
 their worshiped parent. 
 
 We can, therefore, assist in spirit at this meeting in the 
 death-chamber of the nine women to whom Angela Merici had 
 given, while she was still among the living, the grave re- 
 sponsibility of continuing her own divinely-appointed work, 
 and of imparting a final and perfect shape to an institution 
 from which Christendom was to derive such abundant and 
 lasting benefit. 
 
 Here is this last will and testament^ translated as closely as 
 
 230 
 
8T. ANGELA MERICL 231 
 
 the sense would permit from the original presented to the 
 Eoman tribunals during the process of Angela's canonization, 
 and transcribed faithfully by Father Salvatori : 
 
 '^ Testament draivn up ly St, Angela during lier last illness^ 
 and addressed to the Lady-Directresses of the Company. 
 
 '' Sister Angela, unworthy servant of Christ Jesus, to my 
 Lady the Countess Lucretia, Head Mother of the Company 
 of St. Ursula, and to the other Directresses and Mothers, 
 the noble matrons Lady Genevieve di Luciagi, Lady Maria 
 di Avogadri, Lady Veronica di Bucci, Lady Ursula di Gavardi, 
 Lady Jean di Monti, Lady Isabella da Prato, Lady Lionella 
 di Pedeciocchi, Lady Caterina di Mei. May the everlasting 
 blessing of the Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 be upon you all ! Amen. 
 
 ^^As it has pleased God, Sisters mine most dear to my 
 heart in the blood of Christ Jesus, and Mothers worthy of all 
 honor, to choose in His eternal counsels from out this vain 
 world many persons, virgins especially, to form this Company 
 of ours, and as it hath also been His pleasure, in the immensity 
 of His goodness, to select me to co-operate with Him in this 
 great work, without considering how incapable and unworthy 
 a servant I was ; even so hath He deigned, as is the wont of 
 that same goodness, to bestow on me the necessary graces and 
 gifts enabling me to govern in accordance with His will and 
 to provide for the manifold needs of my charge — particularly 
 hath He vouchsafed the grace of directing and maintaining 
 them in the manner of life to which they have been called. 
 But among these gifts and needful provisions made for me by 
 the Almighty, you are one of the most precious : you who have 
 been found worthy to be the true-hearted mothers of so noble 
 a family, a family placed in your hands that you may cherish 
 and care for its members as if they were your own proper 
 
232 ST. ANGELA MEBIC% 
 
 children — indeed, to show them a greater love, if such be 
 possible. And here I wish you to consider most attentively 
 how great a favor and high an honor God hath vouchsafed to 
 do you, by making you the parents of so many virgins, and 
 by placing in your hands and committing to your faithful 
 care these souls affianced to Himself. What reason have you 
 not to thank the Divine Majesty, and to beseech Him that 
 just as He hath been pleased to place you at the head of 
 this great flock, even so it may please Him to grant you the 
 wisdom and strength necessary toward fulfilling your charge 
 with honor to Him, and with perfect fidelity to your own 
 obligations ? It behooves you, therefore, to come to a 
 generous and firm determination to accomplish most perfectly 
 His holy will ; to accept with a living and firm faith the task 
 imposed on you by His love ; and, come what may, to persevere 
 to the end in your glorious labor. Above all things, I pray 
 and beseech you by the Passion and Blood of Christ, to take 
 to heart with all earnestness the execution of these few dying 
 injunctions, which you may see written down here one after 
 the other. I am now leaving this life, and put you in my 
 place, so that these counsels of mine shall be like bequests 
 made to you, my heirs, which, being the expression of my last 
 will, I leave to you to execute faithfully. 
 
 '' Eirst, and principally, therefore, beloved Mothers and 
 dear Sisters in Christ, endeavor with the help of God to con- 
 ceive and cherish in your hearts the purpose of taking on 
 you this charge and its cares for the sole love of God and the 
 pure zeal for the salvation of souls. Thereby the whole course 
 of your labors and government will be like a tree planted and 
 rooted in this twofold love, incapable of bearing any but the 
 sweetest and most healthful fruit. Our Lord hath said it : 
 A good tree cannot Iring forth evil fruit (St. Matt. 7 : 18) ; 
 that is, the soul and will aflame with charity and directed by 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 233 
 
 it, can only bring forth good and holy deeds. This also is 
 the reason why St. Augustine says, Ama, et fac quod vis ; 
 ' Only love, and then do what you will ; ' as if he said. Only 
 fill your soul with that supernatural love and charity, and 
 you cannot help doing well ; or as if he said more openly. 
 Perfect charity cannot sin. 
 
 '' Second Bequest, I next beseech you to bear not only in 
 your mmd, but graven on your heart, all your daughters, and 
 each one of them in particular ; not their names merely, but 
 their quality, their natural disposition — all that concerns each 
 one, in a word. Nor will this be difiicult if you love them 
 truly. For it is the nature of true motherly love among 
 persons of the world, that if a parent had a thousand sons 
 and daughters, she would have all and each of them perfectly 
 present to her mind and heart. This is the law of love. 
 And experience proves that the more children one has, the 
 greater grows for each the parent's loving care. How much 
 more so, in the spiritual order, can and should Mothers such 
 as you manifest a like love of their dear ones. Supernatural 
 love is incomparably stronger than that of nature. Where- 
 fore, dearest Mothers, if you only love these dear daughters of 
 ours with a lively and heartfelt love, it will become impossible 
 for you not to have their images deeply imprmted on both 
 heart and memory. 
 
 '' Third Bequest. In the third place, I ask of you as a 
 favor to attract and direct these dear ones with the gentle 
 and loving hand of motherly tenderness, instead of treating 
 them haughtily and rudely ; under every circumstance be 
 gentle and courteous to them. Listen to the Master, saying : 
 Learn of Me, lecause I am meelc and Jiumlle of heart (St. 
 Matt. 11 : 29). Of the Almighty Creator and Ruler it is also 
 said, that He ordereth all things siueetly ; and the Master 
 says of Himself : My yoTce is sweet, and My durthen light 
 
234 ^2: ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 (Ibid. 30). Thus it behooves you to employ the utmost 
 gentleness. Above all, take care never to use compulsion. 
 God hath made us all free-willed, and to no one's free-will 
 doth He do violence. He leads them to obey Him by show 
 of reason, by inviting motives, and by gentle persuasion. 
 Thus, doth He say in the Apocalypse : / counsel thee to luy 
 of Me gold -fire-tried, that thou mayest he made rich (3 : 18). 
 ^I counsel thee/ He says; not ^I compel thee.' On this 
 point, however, I do not wish to be understood as blaming 
 reproof unqualifiedly ; for both reprehension and sharp 
 correction may be required in certain circumstances, and 
 prove useful at times to certain persons. Only, in order to 
 make them useful and seasonable, one should be moved by 
 charity and by zeal for the spiritual welfare of souls. 
 
 '' Fourth Bequest, You must be desirous and zealous to 
 see your daughters clad with the beautiful vesture of 
 innocence, and adorned with all manner of virtues, that so 
 they may find grace in the eyes of Christ Jesus, their Spouse. 
 More particularly, still, must you see to it that they do Him 
 perfect and chaste service by every act of theirs, by their 
 modest and gentle bearing, by their reserve and prudence, 
 their patience and charity. One sees mothers in the world 
 bestow so much care and earnestness in dressing and adorn- 
 ing their daughters, to make these pleasing to their suitors ; 
 and the more these earthly lovers are elevated in rank, the 
 more pains do such parents take in adorning their dear ones, 
 suiting the artificial graces with which they set forth their 
 charms to the personal taste of him whom they want to win. 
 Indeed, these mothers seem to make their happiness consist 
 in having daughters worthy of such courtly suitors, and place 
 their hope on the friendship and favor these will show them 
 for love of their daughters. Wherefore, bethink you how 
 much more zealous you ought to be concerning the spiritual 
 
AND THE URSUZmES. 235 
 
 loveliness of these maidens of yours, who are lifted up to the 
 heavenly rank of affianced brides of the eternal Son of the 
 Most High God ! Oh, what honor and dignity are yours to 
 be thus the rulers and Mothers of these brides of the King 
 of kings, and to stand in the relation of parents to the Son 
 of God, drawing His favors down on yourselves through your 
 daughters ! Yes, most happy will it be for you if you show 
 yourselves prompt and eager to feel and assert this new and 
 singular rank bestowed on you. 
 
 *^ Fifth Bequest. In the fifth place, when it happens that 
 you have kindly admonished three, or at most four times, 
 any one of your subjects, without finding in her any disposi- 
 tion to obey, then let her alone, and send to her neither 
 Counselor nor other visitors. For this neglect may induce 
 the poor culprit to conceive regret for her obstinacy, as well 
 as a more fervent desire to remain and persevere in the Com- 
 pany. One reason why God banished Adam from the earthly 
 paradise was that his isolation should force him to acknowl- 
 edge his fault and, do penance for it. Should any one of the 
 maidens thus left to herself desire to return and manifest sorrow 
 for her fault, you must receive her on the condition that she 
 shall ask pardon of all of you, as well as of her own Counselor, 
 and let her, in expiation, fast one Friday on bread and 
 water. 
 
 '^ Sixth Bequest. In the sixth place, when you find a 
 young person so vain of her personal appearance as to have 
 great difficulty in laying aside her pretty head-dress or other 
 trifling ornaments, this should make you conceive but a 
 feeble hope of her persevering in such a life as ours. For if 
 she is unable to make such trifling sacrifices as these, how 
 can she be expected to have strength for far greater ? How- 
 ever, there is need of discernment in such cases. For it may 
 happen that a soul who thus yields to her inclination in some 
 
236 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 trifling matter, will afterwards in all other difficulties show 
 superior generosity. 
 
 " Seventli Bequest. Seventlily, you must endeavor to as- 
 semble the Counselors {colonnelli) once or twice a month, and 
 consult with them, examining with great care the details of 
 your administration, especially what the Counselors may lay 
 before you with regard to the conduct of your daughters, to 
 their circumstances, their bodily and spiritual necessities, so 
 that you may provide for all as the Holy Spirit shall direct 
 you. 
 
 " Eighth Bequest, You must also be careful to call your 
 daughters together from time to time, in such place as you 
 may deem best or most convenient, and there, when you 
 have at hand a proper person, give them the benefit of 
 a short sermon or exhortation. Their meeting each other 
 thus, will enable them to greet each other like true sisters, to 
 converse about their spiritual concerns, to exchange con- 
 gratulations or- consolations, as the case may be, and thus to 
 go back home greatly delighted. 
 
 " Ninth Bequest, You should know that, had it not been 
 both useful and proper for our Company to possess any source 
 of revenues, our Lord would not have begun to provide us 
 with them. Wherefore I advise you to be in this matter good, 
 prudent, and true Mothers, employing these revenues for 
 the welfare and increase of the Company, in conformity with 
 the dictates of your motherly love and prudence. On this 
 point I wish you not to seek counsel from outsiders. Do 
 what is needful among yourselves alone, being directed by 
 your charity and the light of the Holy Spirit, aiming in all 
 your measures to procure the spiritual benefit and advance- 
 ment of your daughters — not only for the purpose of inciting 
 the existing members of the Company to a greater love of their 
 vocation and to a stricter obligation to be perfect, bat also to 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 237 
 
 attract to you a fresh accession of numbers. For the chari- 
 table use of wealth, that which is acceptable to God, consists 
 in bestowing pecuniary aid and showing real kindness where 
 by so doing souls can be saved from sin or dangerous habits, 
 or induced to practise virtue or to contract good habits, or 
 again to seek a higher degree of spiritual advancement. 
 Thereby the almsgiver in a manner forces the recipients to 
 act in a certain manner and in a given direction, as it pleaseth 
 him : just as we see a young girl in the world who consents 
 to receive presents from another contract the obligation of 
 so pleasing that person that she may no longer say him nay. 
 In like manner, neither more nor less, presents and alms well 
 bestowed attract and impel the recipients to the practice of 
 virtue, and bind them to persist therein. Keep to these well- 
 tried methods, and they shall not lead you astray. 
 
 '^ Tenth Bequest. I entreat you from the bottom of my 
 heart to keep an anxious and watchful eye on all these sub- 
 ordinate guardians of the holy flock I intrust to your keeping. 
 Be careful that no discord or uncharitableness shall grow up 
 among them ; be especially so to preserve them from every 
 breath and taint of heresy in this pestilential age. Remember 
 that the devil never slumbers, but evermore seeks our ruin 
 under a thousand disguises. "Wherefore keep a strict watch, 
 and take particular pains to maintain among your flock union 
 and harmony of wills, as we read of Christians in the primi- 
 tive Church, that the multitude of lelievers had hut one heart 
 and one soul (Acts 4 : 32). Such must you endeavor to make 
 the union between yourselves and your daughters. For the 
 more united you are the more will Christ be with you, ful- 
 filling the office of Father and Good Shepherd. Indeed, you 
 can have no surer mark by which you may know if the 
 Company has the grace of God, than in this mutual love and 
 close union of its members. Christ Himself hath said it : By 
 
238 ST. ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 this shall all men hnoiu that you are My disciples, if you have 
 love one for another (St. Jolm 13 : 35). So, then, mutual 
 love and union of wills are an infallible sign that the road we 
 follow is the good road — that which leads to God ! "Where- 
 fore, dear Sisters and Mothers, be watchful here. The enemy 
 will cover his snares with the fair appearance of good. So, 
 as soon as you perceive the first sign of mischief, hasten at 
 once to guard against it with all the energy God may give 
 you. Do not allow the baneful seed of disunion to take root 
 for one moment among you ; it would injure your credit in 
 the city as well as beyond it. Disunion in every corporate 
 body means dissolution and death. Our Saviour hath said 
 it : Every Icing dom divided against itself shall he made 
 desolate (St. Matt. 12 : 25). 
 
 ^' Last Bequest, In conclusion, make it your highest 
 care that the ordinances made for you, especially all the pre- 
 scriptions of our Eule, shall be scrupulously obeyed. Should 
 the lapse of time or other circumstances render it necessary 
 to make new ordinances, or to change in aught your manner 
 of doing things, make the change warily and with the aid of 
 wise counsel. Let your main resource in all emergencies be 
 to go to the feet of Christ Jesus. There superiors and sub- 
 jects must unite in fervent prayer to Him. For, most 
 certainly. He will be in the midst of you ; He will enlighten 
 you and teach you — true and kind Master as He is — what 
 it behooves you to do. Of this be firmly assured, that this 
 Eule of ours comes immediately from His hand, and that He 
 will not forsake this Company so long as this world lasts ; for 
 if He has had the chief share in establishing it, who can ever 
 overthrow it ? Trust to Him ; doubt not ; and believe with 
 an unwavering faith that this shall be as I say. I know what 
 I am saying to you : Blessed are those who really lose their 
 own mind on this matter. 
 
AND THE UBSULINES. 239 
 
 "If yon are faithful to act in this way in these and similar 
 circumstances^ under the direction of the Holy Spirit and in 
 conformity with the need and gravity of the times, I bid you 
 to rejoice and to be brave of heart. Lo, great is the reward 
 prepared for you ; and where the daughters will be there shall 
 be the Mothers. Be comforted and doubt not ! We should 
 wish to see you in our midst in Heaven, even as our common 
 Love will have it ; and who may withstand Him ? His light 
 and the sweet splendor of His truth shall surround you in 
 the hour of death, and shall deliver you from the hand of 
 the enemy. So, then, persevere joyously and faithfully in 
 the work you have undertaken. Beware, beware, I say, of 
 yielding to tepidity. Every promise which I make you shall 
 be fulfilled with overflowing measure. Now I am about to 
 depart ; and you must, within the interval, do what you have 
 to do. I embrace you all and give to all the kiss of peace, 
 beseeching God to bless you. In the name of the Father, and 
 of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Ame7i.'' 
 
 The Company of St. Ursula over which Lucretia Lodrone 
 now found herself placed numbered one hundred and sixty 
 members. Their field of labor, so far, did not extend be- 
 yond Brescia and its suburbs. Within these limits their 
 virtues and services were familiar to every household. The 
 death of their parent was, therefore, a subject of general 
 regret and admiration : of regret for the loss of one who had 
 long been revered as a public benefactress and a shining model 
 of the highest Christian perfection ; of admiration, because 
 all the circumstances of her saintly death only served to bring 
 before the mind of the Brescians these supernatural qualities 
 of purity, charity, forgetfulness of self, unbounded devotion 
 to the good of others, of masculine courage and endurance in 
 a weak and aged woman, of extraordinary knowledge and far- 
 
2:1:0 ST, ANGELA MERIGI, 
 
 seeing prudence both in tlie things of God and the concerns 
 of every-daj life : in a word, of angelic goodness and almost 
 divine wisdom in one who had lived and died a poor Tertiary 
 Sister of St. Francis. 
 
 They knew instinctively — as indeed all true Christians do 
 — this good people of Brescia, what constitutes true sanctity ; 
 they had seen more than one saint in their midst or in their 
 near neighborhood during Angela's lifetime. All the declama- 
 tions or insidious calumnies of the emissaries and adepts of 
 Calvinism had not yet succeeded in persuading them that 
 the Church of Italy was not fertile in saintly men and women. 
 And a quarter of a century's intimate acquaintance with 
 Angela Merici's person, with her comings and her goings, 
 and with every detail of her labor among the sick, the poor, and 
 the young, every feature of her obscure life of prayer, poverty, 
 and self-denial, had only convinced them beyond all possibil- 
 ity of doubt or error, that the Maid of Desenzano was most 
 
 truly A SAIKT. 
 
 And, now that the angelic spirit had gone to join its kin- 
 dred hosts on high, there was nothing to prevent the thou- 
 sands of town and country who cherished her name from 
 paying the lifeless remains the honors due to a saint. The 
 emaciated frame, clad in the poor brown Franciscan habit, 
 lay on the rush-pallet where she had breathed her last. The 
 sweet, modest face, beautiful all through life, but most beau- 
 tiful in death, seemed still to wear the ecstatic smile with 
 which the Holy Xame and the last sacred words were uttered. 
 And, although the eyes were closed, one could fancy that they 
 looked upward toward the eternal hills over which the true 
 day-dawn was breaking, and that a faint reflection of its 
 splendors rested on the calm and pallid features. 
 
 She had, with her own hands, decked herself for the long 
 sleep in expectation of the Resurrection Day. Her daughters 
 
AND THE URSULINES, ' 241 
 
 had not even to cross her hands on the virginal bosom : they 
 had been meekly folded there when the last prayer was ut- 
 tered ; they only had to close the eyelids. There she lay, 
 from the first moment of her repose, as she has lain ever smce 
 in her tomb at St. Afra's, no matter how costly the structure 
 and its ornaments, in her brown Franciscan habit, with her 
 pilgrim's staff by her side. 
 
 The pilgrimage was over at length ; the weary feet would 
 travel no more. With what transports of mingled sorrow 
 and joy did Lucretia Lodrone and her companions kneel in 
 succession to kiss these feet which had trodden the hill-sides 
 of Bethlehem, the streets of Jerusalem, the ascent to Cal- 
 vary, the precincts of the Holy Sepulchre, and all the foot- 
 prints of the Saviour in and around the Holy City ! These 
 poor, cold, motionless feet had, like those of the Master, been 
 unwearied in seeking out the stray sheep of His flock and 
 bringing them back to the fold, or in marking out for souls 
 athirst of perfection the steep and rugged paths that lead to 
 sanctity. 
 
 And while the daughters of Angela Merici Avere thus satis- 
 fying their own instinctive feelings of veneration for the 
 departed, others were thronging to the well-known door to kiss 
 these same feet and gaze upon the transformed features of their 
 benefactress, their counselor, their guide. Prelates, priests, 
 monks, nobles, burgesses, tradesmen and laborers, ladies of 
 the most exalted rank, and the poor seamstresses and servants 
 whom Angela was wont to console, to cheer, to teach, and to 
 guide toward all good — they came streaming in all day and 
 all night, day after day, and night after night — city-folk 
 and country-folk — from Milan and Bergamo and Yerona, 
 from Angela's own home in Desenzano and from Salo, which 
 loved to claim the holy maid as half her own ; it was pitiful 
 to see the poor and the lowly surging around that door and 
 
242 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 that inanimate body — the sacred tabernacle of a saintly soul ; 
 it was glorious to see the heartfelt homage of prince and 
 priest^ of the exalted in rank and learning and fame, kneel- 
 ing by that poor rash-pallet to honor God's goodness, wisdom, 
 and power in His greatest master-work— A saik"T. 
 
 The affluence was so great from the very first announce- 
 ment of Angela's death, that, to prevent accident, to afford 
 an easy access to the ever-increasing throng, as well as to 
 snow proper respect to the departed, the body had to be re- 
 moved to the adjoining Church of St. Afra in the evening: of 
 the 28th. This removal was effected in the most solemn 
 Dfianner, amid an immense concourse, the ladies putting on 
 mourning as if for one of their nearest and dearest, the en- 
 tire clergy and gentry of Brescia joining in the cortege. 
 Brief as was the space which separated the death- chamber 
 from the mam portal of St. Afra's, the crowd was so dense 
 that those who bore the corpse, and the Sisterhood who sur- 
 rounded and followed it, could only move through the surg- 
 ing mass with extreme difficulty. Yet there was no dis- 
 order ; there was only an intense -desire to cast one look on 
 the face of the saintly dead, or to touch even the hem of the 
 poor Franciscan habit. And while the solemn chants of the 
 church ascended to Heaven, with them mingled the sobs of 
 the multitude, the fervent blessings on the blessed departed 
 and her sorrowing daughters, and the prayers and loud cries 
 of praise which come so warm from the generous Italian 
 heart. No earthly prince or potentate could command or 
 expect to receive such a spontaneous and fervent homage of 
 the deepest and holiest affections of the human soul, offered 
 by the united voices of a whole people. 
 
 In the venerable and beautiful church which Angela had 
 loved so well in life every altar beheld the Adorable Sacrifice 
 offered np for the repose of her soul. The Augustinian Can- 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 243 
 
 ons, whom Angela had so deeply trusted, paid to her remains 
 and her memory every mark of respect, of veneration even. 
 The voice of the multitude inside and outside of the sacred 
 edifice ceased not to call her Saint {Beata) ; bishops and 
 priests who had long known her echoed the popular Yoice 
 with heart and lips. The emotion of the dense crowd who 
 filled the church was a something indescribable. It lifted 
 one's soul to God, and inspired every heart with heroic reso- 
 lutions. The touch of Elisaeus' holy remains recalled to life 
 the dead man cast hurriedly into his sepulchre by terrified 
 friends ; why should not the near presence of yonder vir- 
 ginal body, reminding the worshiper of sixty-five years o'f 
 unsullied purity, of heroic deeds of self-denial, self-sacrifice, 
 and widespread beneficence, not warm into newness of life 
 the tepid bystanders ? How could all these men and women, of 
 whatever degree, not feel their hearts beat with more generous 
 pulsations as they remembered how much that lowly Maid 
 of Desenzano had accomplished, single-handed, for God and 
 themselves, and how aimless and barren their own lives had 
 been? 
 
 And so, when the Divine Victim had been offered up, 
 where she had so often worshiped, they bore her remains to 
 the crypt or lower church, known in the city as '' the most 
 holy place,'' because there were buried the glorious martyrs 
 who, like St. Afra herself, had died in Brescia to bear their 
 witness to Christ. 
 
 The entombment, however, was not allowed to be com- 
 pleted according to the prescribed legal form. The chapter 
 of the Cathedral Church claimed the privilege of possessing 
 Angela's precious remains, because she was the foundress of 
 an Order, and as such ought by right to be buried in the 
 principal church of the diocese. The clergy of St. Afra, 
 which was Angela's parish church, had an undoubted canoni- 
 
244 ST. ANGELA MERICL 
 
 cal right to give her a resting-place within their own pre- 
 cincts. And then the Minor Observants of St. Francis could 
 urge in their own favor the fact that Angela was a Francis- 
 can, recognized as such while living, and in death wearing 
 the honored habit of their founder. 
 
 To the superficial reader it may appear an unseemly strife 
 — this arising for the possession of the remains of a poor re- 
 ligious. But the Church has ever held in such honor the 
 bodies not only of her saints, but of all her children. St. 
 Paul affirms that the Christian's body is the temple of the 
 Holy Ghost : ^ if this be true of all the baptized faithful, how 
 iriuch more true of these heroic souls who, following gener- 
 ously the promptings of the Holy Spirit, lay down their lives 
 in glorious witness to the divinity of their faith, or demon- 
 strate- that divinity by a long life of God-like abnegation 
 and self-sacrifice ! Hence the extraordinary care with which 
 the bodies of the early martyrs were buried in some secret 
 place where the Holy Sacrifice could be daily offered on their 
 tombs. Hence, when persecution had ceased, and men were 
 called on not to die as witnesses of the Gospel truth, but to 
 live in perfect conformity with its teachings and its Divine 
 Ideal, the reverence with which all those who died in odor 
 of sanctity were buried near the sanctuary, and, when their 
 holiness had been solemnly recognized by the Church, the 
 splendor with which their shrines were ornamented. And 
 all this because, in the truest sense of the word, these holy 
 bodies had been in life the temples of the Holy Ghost. 
 Church vied with church, city with city, nation with nation, 
 for the possession of these sacred treasures, which were to all 
 
 1 " Know you not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, 
 whom you have from God; and [that, therefore] you are not your own ?'' (1 Cor. 6 : 19.) 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 245 
 
 who approached them in God's house a perpetual exhortation 
 to sanctity and Christ-like generosity. 
 
 Angela had, indeed, obtained in 1532 a brief from the 
 supreme authorities in Kome, authorizing her to choose the 
 place of her burial. It does not appear, however, that she 
 had in her last moments either produced the brief or ex- 
 pressed any definite wish about its application. When, there- 
 fore, it was found and produced, it failed to settle the dis- 
 pute. So that a delay of thirty days occurred, and during 
 this interval the body remained unburied in the crypt of St. 
 Afra's, exposed on a simple bier to the view and veneration 
 of the faithful. It was, doubtless, a providential delay. It 
 afforded pious pilgrims — and their numbers were countless — 
 the opportunity of gratifying their devotion by coming from 
 far and near to gaze upon that heavenly face, to kiss the feet 
 of the great benefactress of the people, and to touch the hem 
 of her Eranciscan robes, as if they knew that a virtue went 
 forth from them. It was a species of popular canonization, 
 the voice of the people being here, in the true sense, the voice 
 of God. The whole of Lombardy and Yenetia seemed moved 
 by one mighty impulse to pay this thirty days' homage to the 
 dead Franciscan Tertiary, herself the foundress of a great re- 
 ligious family**' whose future no one then could forecast. 
 
 And this judgment of the popular mind and heart was 
 shared by the high-born, the learned, and the clergy. In- 
 deed, it was the fact of her having been in her lifetime uni- 
 versally regarded as a saint that had given rise to the edify- 
 ing contestation about her place of burial. 
 
 During the first week that the holy remains thus reposed 
 in the crypt of St. Afra's, keeping company with the glori- 
 ous martyr-band buried there, the city was startled and awe- 
 stricken at beholding a preternatural brightness in mid-air 
 above the sacred edifice : there it continued during three 
 
246 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 whole days and nights, shining like a beacon-light to guide 
 the multitude to the spot where Angela Merici lay unburied ! ^ 
 
 But there was given to the sorely tried and tempted popu- 
 lations of Upper Italy a still greater sign than this radiance 
 in the heavens. Throughout these thirty days that the body 
 lay exposed to the air, in this low, damp, underground place, 
 although no precautions had been taken to protect it from 
 the air, and there could have been entertained no thought 
 of embalming it, the flesh remained without the least sign 
 of corruption, sweet-smelling, fresh-colored, flexible, and 
 elastic,^ bearing to all external appearance every sign of a 
 living body. Not only was there about it nothing redolent 
 of putrefaction, but an aromatic fragrance seemed to ema- 
 nate from it and to fill the whole crypt. 
 
 This interval also, Father Salvatori assures us, aflEorded 
 the pious artists of Brescia ample time to take plaster casts 
 of the saint's features, or to paint her as she lay in the calm 
 majesty of death. Thus, many of Angela's noble Brescian 
 friends were enable to obtain admirable likenesses of their 
 venerated spiritual guide. ^ 
 
 Nor, reflecting on the extraordinary state of incorruption 
 in which the body of the saint was found at the end of these 
 thirty days, must we imagine either that it could be ac- 
 counted for by the state of the atmosphere; or that it ceased 
 
 1 F. Salvatori, p. 125. 2 p. Salvatori, ibid. 
 
 3 The two celebrated Brescian painters, of whom we have already spoken so favorably, 
 Moretto and his pupil Romanini, were kept busy at this work in the crypt of St. Afra's. 
 To them we are indebted for the only authentic portraits of Angela Merici, as she lay 
 thus in life-like death. There is not one of Moretto's beautiful works that does not 
 bear some trace of the Christian ideal, which the conversation of such a woman while 
 living and the contemplation of her angelic features in death, were so apt to create in 
 the artist's mind. From such conversation and contemplation did Giotto, and Fra 
 Angelico, and Fra Bartolomeo draw the ideal forms which charm and captivate us in 
 their immortal works. 
 
AND THE URSV LINES. 24:7 
 
 when the final ceremonies of sepulture had been performed 
 and dust was returned to its native dust. As we have said, 
 the crypt was underground, and very damp ; while the 
 crowds of pilgrims who poured in continually increased both 
 the heat of the place and its dampness, and could only serve 
 to hasten the progress of putrefaction. Incorruptible, how- 
 ever, the virginal flesh of the Maid of Desenzano continued 
 to remain for more than a century and a half after the inhu- 
 mation. Faino, the historian of St. Angela, who speaks of 
 what he had seen with his own eyes, affirms that it was free 
 from corruption in 1672.' Bonifazio Bagata reaffirmed the 
 same fact eight years later,^ adding that the same extraor- 
 dinary fragrance which filled the crypt of St. Afra's before 
 the solemn ceremony of entombment was still sensible when 
 the remains were uncovered. 
 
 So, after the thirty days of patient investigation, the eccle- 
 siastical judge gave his decision, and the Canons-Eegular of 
 St. Afra were authorized to bury the body of Angela Merici 
 where it had been so long lying, in the very place which An- 
 gela's own heart had chosen to rest foreyer. Of course, the 
 good Fathers were overjoyed to possess all that remained of 
 one whom they had known so long and so well, and had 
 learned to revere as a saint from the very beginning. They 
 made immediate preparations for the funeral solemnities, 
 their Superior, Father John Francis Saramondi, setting 
 artists to work — Moretto and his scholars, most probably — to 
 design a tomb in every way worthy of so great a servant of 
 God, and worthy as well of Brescian gratitude and piety. As 
 is the wont in Italy, accurate representations of the monu- 
 ment, with its mosaics and sculptures, were forthwith painted 
 
 1 Bernardo Faino, a native of Breecia, Superior-General of the Brescian Congregation, 
 in his *'Life of St. Angela," published in Bologna in 1673. 
 
 2 Admiranda Orbis Chrisiiani, fol., Venice, 1680. 
 
248 ST. ANGELA MERIt% 
 
 for trie day of entombment, the erection of the real tomb 
 itself in its costly materials being left to the near future. 
 Among the devoted friends and admirers of Angela^ beside 
 Moretto and his scholars, there were poets also, and they too 
 would add their tribute of praise to the works of architect, 
 sculj)tor, and painter. Foremost among these was Gabriel 
 Cozzano, whose intimate intercourse with the saint during 
 the last years of his life had made him love her with a filial 
 love full of infinite reverence. Another was Father Valeri- 
 ano, of Bergamo, one of ihe Canons-Eegular of St. Afra ; 
 and a third was a no less devoted and grateful admirer of the 
 saint — the Doctor Zanetti, of Brescia.^ 
 
 1 The Latin verses written for this occasion were afterward engraved on the slab of 
 black marble which covered the tomb. They are given by all the biographers of the 
 saint, and for this reason they are reproduced here : 
 
 1 Angela virtutum varia redimita corona 
 
 Hie jacet, extremo rcstituenda die. 
 Spiritus cethereas penetravit ferv'idus arces, 
 
 Et smnmo ingcnuus astitit ille Deo, 
 Ilia hiEC est Virgo, quae morum regula viva 
 
 lllustrem ercxit virginitate chorum. 
 Brixia, crede mihi, sacrum venerare sepulchrum : • 
 
 Nil non Sancta, Deo proxima, Virgo potest. 
 
 Behold, deck'd with her varied virtues' crown, 
 
 Here Angela awaits the resurrection morn ; 
 
 The while her spirit 'mid the angelic throng 
 
 Resplendent shines before God's awful throne. 
 
 She is that Maid whose heavenly purity 
 
 Drew Brescia's maids to that angelic band, 
 
 To suff'ring consecrate and innocence. 
 
 Ah, Brescia ! fear not thou to venerate 
 
 Her tomb who, near High God, still pleads for thee. 
 
 2 Proposita Martyr, Virgo actibus, ore Magistra: 
 
 Sic tribus aureolis, Angela, dives ovas. 
 Angela, nuper eras morum vita?quc ^Magistra : 
 Nunc patriae Tutrix Prsesidiiimque veni. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 249 
 
 No one can read these tributes, as well as the authentic 
 narratives of all that took place immediately after her death 
 and during the interval between her funeral obsequies and 
 the final entombment, without feeling convinced that the 
 popular conscience proclaimed her a saint, and that the pop- 
 ular heart with a resistless impulse paid her the veneration 
 due to a saint. 
 
 This sentiment only grew with each succeeding year, and 
 was intensified by the miraculous favors which were wrought 
 through her intercession by Him who delights in honoring 
 
 A martyr in desire, in life a spotless maid, 
 
 By words and shining acts our teacher thou, 
 
 Angelic woman ! Thus a triple crown 
 
 On high thou bear'st. Angel of earth, thy deeds 
 
 A pillar of fire before us shone. 'Mid Heaven's bliss 
 
 Be still the guardian angel of thy native land. 
 
 3 Angela viva f ui, nunc Angela mortua dicor : 
 
 Sum tamen angelicis Angela juncta choris. 
 Vos qui me nostis, exemplo vivite nostro : 
 Sic facile ut docui mortua adhuc doceo. 
 
 Angela they named me living ; dead, Angela still 
 They call me, though now mix'd with the angel choirs. 
 O you who loved me ! I would have you live 
 E'en as you saw me 1 so might my life with you 
 A speaking mirror be to loving eyes. 
 
 4 Conditur hoc tumulo cui nomen et insuper onmis 
 
 Vita superis asquiparanda choris. 
 Angela divlsa est tria per loca : Corpus in urna, 
 Spiritus in Coelo, nomen in ore virum. 
 
 This last is from an anonymous pen : 
 
 Within this tomb lies one whose name and life 
 
 Made her most angelic on earth appear. 
 
 Angela our treasure now divided is : 
 
 This urn her virgin body keeps ; her soul 
 
 Shines 'mong the blessed ; and her name 
 
 Is on men's lips where'er they worship God-like deeds. 
 
250 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 after their death the great servants whose life was devoted to 
 the promotion of His glory. 
 
 One display of the divine power, in connection with "An- 
 gela's tomb, must be related here, because in this instance 
 God vindicated the outraged honor of the Maid of Desenzano/ 
 A priest belonging to the noble family of Eossi had come, 
 some time in 1571, to visit the crypt of St. Afra and to ad- 
 mire the tomb of Angela Merici. He was accompanied by a 
 theological student, also of noble birth, but whose name is 
 not mentioned by any biographer of our saint, probably 
 through respect for the young man's relatives. He was per- 
 fectly familiar with the popular veneration toward Angela ; 
 he had witnessed the heartfelt piety with which the faithful, 
 after worshiping the Blessed Sacrament on the principal 
 altar, came to kneel and pray before the shrine of their fel- 
 low-citizen and benefactress. He could not help being ac- 
 quainted with the leading facts in Angela's history, and with 
 the priceless services rendered to Brescia by herself and the 
 Order she had founded. Yet, standing before her shrine, 
 he examined the decorations and inscriptions with the irrev- 
 erent mind of a sceptic and a scoffer. He was one of those 
 shallow young men who think they are giving proof of 
 superior knowledge and judgment, when they rise above the 
 belief of the unlettered crowd, and who deem it a merit to 
 sneer where others worship and adore. Most likely our scio- 
 list thought that Signer de Rossi was, like himself, too en- 
 lightened to pray to Angela Merici. So, after gazing, half- 
 amused, at the simple-hearted men and women who knelt, 
 wrapped in devotion, before the tomb of the saint, and criti- 
 cally reading such verses as we have just quoted, the young 
 divine turned to his companion with a smile. *' God only 
 
 * This fact is related at length by F. Salvatori, p. 128. 
 
AND THE VRSULINES, 251 
 
 knows/' said he, '' whether she merits all this praise.'' The 
 words were scarcely uttered when two fearful explosions as 
 loud as thunder-claps, seemed to issue from the shrine 
 itself, and people started in terror to their feet, as if they 
 felt the church falling about their ears. One of the Canons 
 who happened to be occupied within the choir in the upper 
 church ran down to see what terrible accident had occurred. 
 The imprudent young scoffer, however, did not wait for any 
 further signs of the divine displeasure, for he, at least, 
 needed no explanation of this prodigy. Falling on his knees 
 he besought aloud God's forgiveness, and that of God's great 
 servant whom he had dared to asperse. His shallow scepti- 
 cism was changed into sincere veneration, and, let us hope, 
 he lived to be a better and a wiser man. 
 
 The shrine, with its architectural and artistic decorations, 
 remained in the state in which they had been completed till 
 the year 1580, when the renovation fever seized upon the 
 good Fathers of St. Afra. After disfiguring the upper church 
 in conformity with what they deemed the rules of classical 
 art, they resolved to repair or to disfigure the crypt also. 
 The remains of Angela, as well as the relics of the ancient 
 Brescian martyrs, were taken from their place of rest while 
 the work of restoration proceeded. The good Canons wished 
 to erect new shrines more in keeping with the piety of the 
 people and more worthy of the sacred treasures they were to 
 contain. An appeal was made in particular to the Ursulines 
 of Brescia, and a modest sum, proportioned to the means of 
 a poor and growing community, but suflBcient for the pur- 
 pose in an age when money was scarce and artists and work- 
 men still labored for the love of God and His saints, was 
 placed in the hands of the Canons. 
 
 On the north side of the large chapel dedicated to St. Calo- 
 cer the builders constructed a monumental tomb ot whitei 
 
252 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 marble^ of good design for the age, adorned with sculpture 
 and painting. On the pediment was inscribed in gold letters 
 the following distich : 
 
 Conditur lioc 'cere tumiilo Angela : quid ni? 
 Terrain terra tegit ; spiritus astra tenet,^ 
 
 The tablet bearing this inscription is supported by two 
 angels kneeling with their faces bent reverently toward the 
 tomb beneath. The shrine proper, placed within the thick- 
 ness of the wall, was ornamented externally by Moretto's 
 beautiful j)ainting, in which the entire figure of the saint 
 was shown in profile, as she lay on her death-bed. When it 
 became necessary to show the body of the saint, this orna- 
 mental painting opened out on hinges, and from the thick- 
 ness of the wall was drawn forth a metallic chest containing 
 the precious remains. On removing the lid, these were seen 
 enclosed in crystal. In recent times — since the canonization 
 in 1807, most likely — a more convenient disposition of these 
 relics has been adopted. The body is placed in a shrine be- 
 neath the altar, raised a few feet above the floor, and sur- 
 rounded by a crystal frame longer than the body, which thus 
 permits the latter to be seen by the pilgrim. 
 
 A living writer who visited Brescia in 1867 ^ thus speaks 
 of the present condition of St. Angela's tomb and remains : 
 
 '' On the very evening that I arrived in Brescia I went to 
 see the saint's body in St. Afra's. I expected to find nothing 
 but a skeleton, or a waxen figure covering the bones. ' But 
 what was my surprise to see the original features preserved 
 
 ^ ''Within this tomb Angela lies truly buried : why not ? 
 
 Earth here covers what of her was earthly ; her soul dwells in Heaven." 
 
 Or : Believe this tomb doth Angela contain ; 
 
 For here dust covers dust ; her soul with Christ doth reign. 
 2 L'Abbe Richaudeau. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 258 
 
 entire during three hundred and twenty-seven years ! It is 
 of course very much shrivelled ; but putrefaction has not 
 touched it. The skin is entire ; the chin, the lower lip, the 
 forehead, have scarcely lost anything of their first form. The 
 cheeks are flattened, but not very much so. The upper-lip 
 has shrunk and exposes the teeth, of vrhich not one is miss- 
 ing. The eyes are sunken from the evaporation of the liquid 
 parts of the sockets ; but these are not empty. The eye- 
 lids are closed and joined. The nose has suffered most ; 
 it is very flat. The general color of the face is very pale, 
 approaching a yellowish rather than a leaden color. The 
 whole figure has none of the repulsive features of a corpse ; 
 quite otherwise — my companion and myself thought its ap- 
 pearance pleasing, apart from the flattened shape of the 
 nose. 
 
 " On our return to the monastery (Ursuline), the Lady 
 Superior showed us a plaster cast of St. Angela's features, 
 made soon after her death, as well as an engraving which 
 showed how she looked in life. The resemblance 'is so strik- 
 ing, that any one who had seen St. Angela living could not 
 fail to recognize her features as they appear at this day in 
 her shrine. The right hand has been taken away ; the left, 
 placed on her pilgrim's staff, shows five fingers extremely 
 emaciated, the skin barely covering the bones. 
 
 '' In what state is the rest of the body, covered with the 
 brown habit and bound at the waist with the white cord of 
 St. Francis ? Doneda, who wrote at the beginning of the 
 present century, says that the precious remains were dis- 
 jointed by the frequent shocks it received while being taken 
 out from the wall in its casket to be exposed to the veneration 
 of the faithful. He adds that the body is now but a skele- 
 ton. He is certainly mistaken, so far as this assertion re- 
 gards the face and the left hand, as well as the left foot 
 
254 ST, ANGELA MERICL 
 
 which is in the possession of the Ursulines of Brescia, and 
 which is still surrounded by the dried flesh. . . . 
 
 " I afterward visited the chamber in which Angela lived 
 and died. It has been preserved in the state in which she 
 left it, without one additional ornament, save a few engrav- 
 ings that recall the principal incidents of her life. The walls 
 are just in the state in which she beheld them. At the end 
 of the room is an alcove or recess where her bed was. Xow 
 it contains an altar, within which is her first coffin. On the 
 wall, opposite to the window, is an inscription in gilt letters, 
 setting forth that — 
 
 ''In this poor chamler the most eminent theologians and en- 
 lightened churchmen were wont to consult St, Angela, and 
 went away astonished at the knowledge communicated iyher.^^ 
 
CHAPTEK XVIL 
 
 VEKERATIOi^ PAID TO ANGELA MERICI — MIRACULOUS FAYORS 
 IK AK"SWER TO THE POPULAR TRUST IK HER IXTERCES- 
 SIOK — WHY HER SOLEMK BEATIEICATIOK AKD CAKOKIZA- 
 TIOK WERE SO LOKG DELAYED. 
 
 We have seen how spontaneous and universal was the im- 
 pulse which moved the popular heart in Brescia and its ter- 
 ritory to show the dead Maid of Desenzano the veneration 
 due only to such as live and die in " the odor of sanctity/^ 
 This last expression is too familiar to Catholic readers to need 
 any explanation here. The life of every one of us diffuses 
 within our homes and the social sphere in which we move the 
 good or ill odor of our virtues or our vices. Elias and Eli- 
 saeus, living among the mountain solitudes of Carmel, in the 
 evil days of Jezabel's ascendancy in Israel, and of the gen- 
 eral apostasy of God's people, had sent their fame far and 
 wide through the northern tribes — like the fragrance of Car- 
 mel itself when the spring-tide breezes from the Mediterra- 
 nean waft the united perfumes of all its flowers inward all 
 over the land. And just as in mountainous or Alpine regions 
 the lowland cattle, after their long winter, become wild with 
 impatience to be led into their familiar upland pastures as 
 soon as the winds bring them down the scent of fresh grass 
 and spring flowers,^ even so, and more particularly after 
 
 1 It is customary in Switzerland, as it is in Tyrol, to lead the herds and flocks to the 
 
 255 
 
256 ST, ANGELA MERICl 
 
 long seasons of religious aridity and disturbance, are the 
 souls of all who believe in the true God drawn irresistibly to 
 those men and women whose virtues and supernatural lives 
 convince all who approach them that the Spirit of God is in 
 them, and works through them. It needed no stupendous 
 miracle performed by any one of these devoted servants of 
 the Most High to make all who closely observed their lives to 
 exclaim, " Now, by this I know that thou art a man of 
 God V (3 Kings 17 : 24.) Even before Elisseus'had obtained 
 by his prayers that his kind but childless hosts at Sunam 
 should be gladdened by the presence of a son, they had dis- 
 covered the holiness of the man. The " Great Lady^^ who 
 was to have such signal proof of the prophet's power might 
 well say to her husband : ^^ I perceive that this is a holy man 
 of God, who often passeth by us'^ (4 King s4 : 9). Was it 
 the sole wisdom of Debbora that made " the children of Is- 
 rael go up to her for all judgment, ^^ as '' she sat under a 
 palm-tree ... in Mount Ephraim'^ ? Was not Debbora's 
 wisdom only one effect of her sanctity — a supernatural gift 
 of the Holy Ghost, like the extraordinary learning of Angela 
 Merici, which made her poor chamber of St. Afra's the oracle 
 of priests and laymen alike, of the most learned and the most 
 
 uplands — high up near the glaciers and everlasting snows— as soon as these Alpine 
 pastures are covered with the first verdure of spring. There, as is well known, the 
 flocks and their guardians remain till the end of summer. It is a most curious spectacle 
 to watch the motions of the cattle as the day approaches when they are to be led to their 
 grassy paradise among the hills. They refuse to eat, and manifest their impatience to 
 set out by their frequent lowing, their restlessness, and by turning toward the familiar 
 upland road. When, at length, they are allowed to set out, nothing can exceed the 
 joyous alacrity with which they hasten toward their goal. They are drawn to the green 
 and iiowery slopes of their favorite " Alps" just as the bee is infallibly directed to the 
 far-off garden or meadow where it can load itself with sweels and then return to the 
 hive. The spiritual and the physical order, the soul-world unseen, and this beautiful 
 earth we live on, are full of the most marvelous and striking analogies — of lessons of 
 living light to eyes that can Si'e— because they are the work of the one Almighty hand, 
 planned by the same all-wise Mind. 
 
AND THE VESULINES, 257 
 
 exalted? Wisdom alone, the mere gift of extraordinary sci- 
 ence in man or woman, apart from the merited fame of true 
 sanctity, may attract the curious or the ambitious learner. 
 But who will think of opening his conscience, of laying bare 
 the deep sores of his heart, or of begging spiritual guidance 
 for future needs from the worldly savant or scientist ? It is 
 to Samuel, the man of prayer from his infancy, the ]N'azarite 
 from his birth, not to Saul, taller by head and shoulders than 
 the multitude of his brethren and superior in wisdom as he 
 was in stature, that the people of Israel say in their sore dis- 
 tress : '' Cease not to cry to the Lord our God for us, that He 
 may save us out of the hand of the Philistines ^' (1 Kings 
 7:8). 
 
 Yes ; a holy man or woman, no matter how poor and mean 
 their exterior, no matter how carefully they conceal them- 
 selves and the place of their abode from the public gaze, is 
 like a vessel filled with a most exquisite and penetrating per- 
 fume. You may hide it away in the remotest and darkest 
 recess of your house ; but its fragrance will spread around in 
 spite of your pains to conceal it. The Spirit of God in man 
 and woman will betray His presence and His gifts, despite 
 every precaution which humility may take to hide them. 
 " The sweet odor of Christ '^ will go abroad, and will spread 
 far and near. For a true saint of God is God's master- work 
 here below ; and the priceless and incomparable gifts with 
 which He endows an Angela Merici in Brescia, a Teresa in 
 Avila, or a Francis Xavier among the heathens of India and 
 Japan, are only the " sweet odor" of a goodness all divine, 
 which draws the souls of men heavenward. 
 
 And just as high and low were thus drawn to the poor and 
 narrow room of Angela beneath the shadow of St. Afra's and 
 Avhile Angela was still among the living, even so when Angela 
 was laid to her rest in the crypt of St. Afra's, among the 
 
258 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 tombs of kindred saints, the Christian people could no more 
 be restrained from flocking to her grave, and bestowing on 
 the sweet recumbent figure of the holy pilgrim their heartfelt 
 testimonies of yeneration, of love, of gratitude, than the 
 swollen waters of the neighboring Adige could be made to 
 flow back to their source in the Tyrolean mountains. 
 
 The people — and when we say the people, we mean all 
 classes of the population, and churchmen as well as laymen 
 — began at once, ere Angela had been laid in 'her tomb, to 
 bestow on her the appellation of '' Saint." A. quarter of a 
 century after her death, a great Italian saint and bishop, St. 
 Charles Borromeo, declared openly his conviction that she 
 was worthy of the honors of canonization. He only gave 
 utterance to the universal sentiment throughout Upper Italy 
 — the sentiment of the clergy, of the higher and. most en- 
 lightened portion of the community, as well as the feeling, 
 deep and heartfelt, of the masses. 
 
 It was to be expected that Desenzano, the native town of 
 Angela Merici, where her angelic life and heroic virtues, in 
 childhood, girlhood, and womanhood, had ever been house- 
 hold topics of edification, would not be backward in paying 
 homage to the memory of one so inexpressibly dear to the 
 inhabitants. The municipality w^as not slow, very soon after 
 the death of Angela, in choosing their saintly townswoman 
 as their special patron and protectress in Heaven. In 1587 
 her picture was placed in the principal church among those 
 of the saints.^ And in 1608, as the miraculous favors ob- 
 
 1 To restrain within dne limits the popular feeling toward persons dead " in order of 
 sanctity," wise regulations forbidding certain acts of public veneration were enacted 
 by Popes Clement VIII. (1592-1605) and Paul V. (1G05-1G21) ; and these, again, were 
 rendered still more stringent by Urban ^^II., who in lG2o decreed that no such honor as 
 those mentioned above in the case of Desenzano, should be paid to any person what- 
 ever, who had not been solemnly beatified or canonized. The Church in her wisdom 
 forbids that the titles of " saint" or " blessed" or " venerable" be applied to any per- 
 son till the Apostolic See has first bestowed it officially, and after due examination. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 259 
 
 tained by her intercession increased the devotion felt toward 
 her by the citizens, a chapel was set apart in the same church 
 and called after her name, to which were attached a special 
 chaplain and a guardian salaried by the grateful inhabitants 
 of " Desenzano-on-the-Lake." Remembering, moreover, the 
 two miraculous visions sent to ^Hhe Holy Maid/' as they 
 loved to call her, near the town, they built on the farm owned 
 by the Merici family, and on the spot pointed out by tradition 
 as the scene of one of those apparitions, a little oratory, Avhich 
 became forthwith a favorite resort of pilgrims, and w^here 
 pious priests loved to come and offer up the Adorable Sacrifice. 
 " With the spread of the Ursuline Order to the cities of 
 Lombardy and Venetia, the veneration for their foundress 
 was also extended in proportion. The virtues and services of 
 the daughters could not fail to conciliate reverence and affec- 
 tion for their saintly Mother ; and so, throughout the rest of 
 Italy, through every country of Continental Europe, through 
 Canada, where the venerable Mary of the Incarnation and her 
 Sisters were the first apostles of female education, and through 
 more than one country of Spanish and Portuguese America, 
 the name of Angela Merici was always mentioned with that 
 mingled love and respect with which the faithful regard the 
 saints. Pictures, statues, medallions, and engravings of the 
 Holy Maid of Desenzano became common, expressing every- 
 where the sentiments with which she was regarded. Gregory 
 XV., in a bull issued on the 9th of February, 1621, in favor 
 of the Ursulines of Tulle, in France, mentions, without 
 censuring it, the custom followed in their monastery of 
 '^honoring by a special devotion St. Augustine, St. Ursula, 
 and their own blessed Angela. '^ Archbishops and bishops in 
 their respective dioceses authorized or approved the custom 
 of celebrating her feast with a public office — in some instances 
 with a whole octave — enjoining a strict fast on the vigil of 
 
260 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 the feast, and marking the solemnities of the latter by a public 
 procession, in which Angela's picture was borne along. 
 These were honors reserved to canonized saints; and in 
 tolerating or sanctioning them the bishops themselves were 
 carried away by the current of an enlightened public opinion 
 anticipating the solemn judgment of the Holy See. 
 
 Indeed, this instinct of popular piety, which is so sure in 
 discerning true holiness of life from its hollow semblance, 
 had been, from the very beginning of Christianity, one of the 
 chief grounds on which the Church based her judgment about 
 the sanctity of the illustrious dead. During the ages of per- 
 secution, the people as well as the clergy watched carefully 
 the remains of the martyrs, preserved a record of their acts, 
 and honored and perpetuated their memory by erecting over 
 their burial-place churches or chapels, called, most appro- 
 priately, " Memories'' of the martyrs. This was the testimony 
 of the Christian people to the heroic souls who had so 
 gloriously " witnessed," by shedding their blood to the divin- 
 ity of Christ Himself and of His religion. When persecution 
 ceased, the heroic sanctity of such men as St. Basil and St. 
 Chrysostom, St. Augustine and St. Martin, was as well proven 
 to those whom they evangelized and edified, whom they fed 
 by the bread of their lofty teachings and induced to practise 
 what they taught by the eloquent persuasion of their own 
 saintly examples — was as easy, as familiar, and general a 
 theme of j)opular opinion, as the martyrdom of St. Cyprian 
 or St. Irengeus or St. Polycarp. And, when these great 
 fatherly souls and lights of God's people had gone to their 
 reward, their tombs were visited and their memory cherished 
 with a veneration as great and a gratitude as undying as 
 those shown to the martyred dead. 
 
 Still, while allowing all due weight to popular sentiment 
 on facts which were open to the judgment of all, the Church 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 261 
 
 never ceased to exercise the wisest discernment in the suj^reme 
 sanction she gave — as was her exclusive right — to all de- 
 votional practices in honor of persons of reputed sanctity. 
 
 This prudent discernment was not only practised in Rome, 
 where a body of ^^ notaries," or official recorders, collected 
 and arrayed in the most authentic form all that pertained to 
 the life and death of the holy martyrs and confessors, but in 
 every episcopal centre throughout the entire Church. We 
 have one remarkable instance of it in the precautions taken 
 and the instructions issued by St. Cyprian — destined himself 
 to bear a glorious witness to Christ. He commanded, as may 
 be seen in his 37th and 79th epistles, that correct lists should 
 be kept of all those who had suffered for the faith, and that 
 these, together with the most precise information relating to 
 their trial and execution, should be sent to himself. 
 
 These precautions, instead of diminishing, increased with 
 every succeeding age and with the growth of the Church, the 
 central authority in Eome gradually reserving to its own 
 tribunals the task of examining and sifting the testimony sent 
 to it concerning all persons to whom attached the fame of 
 sanctity. Pope Urban VIII. (1623-44) gave to the pontifical 
 legislation on this weighty matter its present complete and 
 permanent forms ; and the entire proceedings used in the 
 long and patient investigation of all claims to the supreme 
 degrees of heroic virtue presupposed by true sanctity were 
 most admirably explained by a Pope of the last century, 
 Benedict XIV. (1740-58). 
 
 During the half-century succeeding the death of St. 
 Angela, however, the bishops of Italy and other Catholic 
 countries followed the custom hitherto prevailing in their 
 respective dioceses, and sanctioned or permitted the demon- 
 strations of private and public devotion toward the Foundress 
 of the Ursulines — all which, of course, was done without 
 
262 8T. ANGELA MERIGI 
 
 prejudice to the rights of the Holy See, which is alone the 
 seat of infallibility. In some houses of the Company, as in 
 that of Treyiso, for instance, the name of Angela was in- 
 troduced into the prayer Confiteor (^' I confess to Almighty 
 God, etc.") after the names of Saints Peter and Paul. This 
 was authorized by custom in Upper Italy, and was a usual 
 mode of honoring the patron-saints of parishes, religious 
 communities, dioceses, and guilds. Not only were wax-tapers 
 lighted in honor of the '^Blessed" Angela, 'as she was 
 generally called, but lamps were kept perpetually burning in 
 her honor. In France, where, during the first half of the 
 seventeenth century, the Ursuline communities spread with a 
 marvelous rapidity, a complete '' office,'' with appropriate 
 hymns, lessons, and anthems, was composed and recited in 
 the Ursuline monasteries. ^ They went further, and drew 
 up forms of prayer for every day in the week, with special 
 litanies reciting the virtues and glorious actions of the 
 saint. 
 
 Nay, in Eome itself the Ursuline monastery, in 1718, 
 celebrated an eight-day festival in honor of Angela, whose 
 panegyric was daily pronounced from the pulpit to a crowded 
 church, and the church itself hung with paintings from the 
 hand of the best artists, representing the saint and the 
 principal incidents of her life and death. What is most to 
 the point is the fact that the reigning Pope, Clement XI., 
 honored these solemnities with his presence, thereby indirectly 
 sanctioning the public veneration thus paid to the Holy Maid 
 of Desenzano. 
 
 This ciiltus (worshipful veneration) paid to St. Angela in 
 advance of the sovereign judgment of the Vicar of Christ 
 received an uninterrupted, though indirect, sanction from the 
 Holy See up to the beginning of the judicial process instituted 
 at Rome for her solemn beatification, in 1763, It will be 
 
AND THE UE8ULINES. 283 
 
 well worth the reader's while to glance at the main facts on 
 which this long sanction is founded. 
 
 In the year 1G17 Cardinal de Sourdis, Archbishop of 
 Bordeaux, induced the colony of Ursulines which he had 
 introduced from Italy to adopt the rules of cloistered nuns. 
 This change inyolyed some serious modifications in the Kule 
 established by St. Angela, as well as additional obseryances, 
 among which was the keeping of a strict fast on the yigil of 
 Angela's feast (27th January), and the receiying of Holy 
 Communion on the feast itself. Eyery one of these pre- 
 scriptions, as well as the Ursuline Rule thus modified, was 
 approyed. and rendered obligatory on the Congregation of 
 Bordeaux by a decree of Paul V., dated February 3d, 1618 ; 
 they were further confirmed by Clement IX., on October 
 12fch, 1667, who extended the Rule thus sanctioned, with the 
 deyotional practices in honor of the foundress, to all the 
 Ursuline monasteries of Germany. All this was made 
 obligatory on the monastery jast founded in Rome by Innocent 
 XI., in 1688. Last, but not least, the great canonist and 
 theologian, Benedict XIV. himself, on May 22d, 1753, con- 
 firmed this same Rule with its obseryances, after a most 
 careful reyision, and made them obligatory on all monasteries 
 of the Ursuline Order for all time.^ 
 
 The decrees of Pope Urban VIII., howeyer, enact that no 
 judicial proceedings shall be instituted by the Roman tribunals 
 for the beatification of any person till the fiftieth year after 
 the death of such person. This, we know, was deyiated 
 from in the case of St. Alphonsus Liguori ; and, again, quite 
 recently in the case of Pope Pius IX., a deyiation was asked 
 for and refused. 
 
 Now, with respect to St. Angela, the first judicial steps 
 
 1 Father Salvatori, pp. 134, 135. 
 
264 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 were taken by the municipality of Brescia m 1560, and a 
 commission was appointed to make inquiries and collect 
 documentary evidence. In 1568 the Bishop (Bollano) of 
 Brescia commissioned John Baptist Nazari, a notary-public 
 and resident of the city, to obtain the sworn testimony of the 
 persons who had intimately known Angela Merici. Among 
 these were Antonio dei Eomani, Augustine Gallo, Bertolino 
 Boscolo, and James Chizzola — our old acquaintances, nearly 
 all of them. From the evidence thus collected 'Xazari drew 
 the materials of his Life of Angela Merici — the first 
 published biography of the saint. In 1572 the town-council 
 of Brescia besought St. Charles Borromeo to use his influence 
 with the Eoman authorities for " the introduction of Angela's 
 cause ;'' but as he did or could do nothing, they again 
 renewed their instances in 1581, Avhen the holy archbishop 
 was in Brescia, as Visitor Apostolic. Eome was in no hurry 
 then as now ; and a century nearly elapsed before anything 
 could be done. In 1674 the French TJrsulines began to move 
 in the matter, the monastery of Dijon taking the lead and 
 sending to Eome a commissioner with the funds necessary to 
 pay all the costs of the proceedings. He tried in vain, how- 
 ever, if he tried at all ; and, although the good nuns made 
 persistent attempts to have the cause opened in 1674, 1682, 
 and iu 1692, their perseverance proved unavailing.^ 
 
 The time chosen by the French TJrsulines to urge these 
 proceedings on the Eoman tribunals was most unfortunate. 
 To be sure, the daughters of Angela Merici and the promoters, 
 under them, of the beatification of their parent, must have 
 been roused to renewed zeal by the canonization, on April 
 12th, 1671, among others, of St. Gaetan de Tiene, St. Francis 
 Borgia, and St. Eose of Lima (born 1586 ; died 1617). But 
 
 1 Salvatori, pp. 138, 139. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 265 
 
 the question of the regalia, or royal rights over the revenues 
 of beneJSices, had already been raised by the French Parlia- 
 ment in 1668, and assumed such a formidable aspect all 
 through the succeeding years, that God's providence alone 
 saved the Church of France from being hurried into both 
 schism and heresy, as the Church of England was by Henry 
 VIII. Pope Innocent XI., who ascended the pontifical 
 throne in August, 1676, was one of the purest, the most 
 learned, and the most fearless rulers ever given to Christ's 
 flock. He did not create the terrible storm which assailed 
 the Church and lasted all through his pontificate. It was 
 the work of the French king's intolerable arrogance, abetted 
 as he was by his Jansenistic lawyers and parliament, and 
 but very mildly contradicted by the majority of his bishops. 
 In 1682 was issued that famous and fatal " Declaration of the 
 Galilean Church" which a royal decree made obligatory on 
 all teaching bodies, and which became thenceforward a kind 
 of national creed, till monarchy, creed, parliament, and 
 hierarchy went down, ingulfed in the tidal wave of the 
 French Eevolution. There is no need, therefore, of suppos- 
 ing for a moment that the Eoman tribunals were guilty of 
 unaccountable supineness during these calamitous years 
 (1676-89) when the French ambassador at the head of an 
 armed force braved and insulted the Pope in his own capital, 
 and all the energy and patience of Eoman statesmen, jurists, 
 and theologians were taxed to the utmost to solve the mighty 
 and perplexed questions pressed on their attention by the 
 king, the bishops, and the parliaments of France.^ 
 
 The favorable opinion entertained of the Ursulines and 
 their foundress by Benedict XIV., as we have seen above, 
 
 1 See the biographies of Innocent XI. , and of his immediate predecessors and succes- 
 sors, in Artaud'B "Lives of the Popes,'' vol. ii. 
 
266 ST, ANGELA MERICl 
 
 and the tacit approbation given by him to the ciiUus of the 
 latter, encouraged the Order to prosecute her cause more 
 zealously than ever under that pontifiE's successor, Clement 
 XIII. (1758-69). The cause, thanks to the energy of the 
 then superior of the Ursuline Monastery in Eome, was 
 formally opened in 1763. All the evidence pertaining to 
 Angela Merici's life and death, to the honors paid her by the 
 faithful, to the heroic virtues practised by her, and the 
 miracles performed through her intercession, was scrupulously 
 and unceasingly sifted year after year till April 30th, 1768, 
 when Clement XIII., by a solemn judgment, sanctioned the 
 cultiis paid to the Holy Maid of Desenzano, and confirmed as 
 rightful the appellation of " Blessed'' bestowed on her from 
 the hour of her death by the public voice. 
 
 The " beatification" of a holy personage, however, only per- 
 mits the breviary office and the mass appointed by the con- 
 gregation of Eites to be recited within a religious order, or 
 within the limits of a diocese, etc. ; whereas,^ in the solemn 
 ceremony of canonization, the Vicar of Christ pronounces his 
 judgment ex-cathedra, addresses his sentence to the entire 
 church, and extends to the whole flock of Christ the cultus 
 hitherto paid in a private or limited manner to the saint. 
 
 When the certainty of the approaching beatification be- 
 came known in Brescia, it caused a deep joy among the now 
 numerous but still fervent company who claimed her as parent, 
 and clung with undying devotion to the place of their birth 
 and the shrine which contained her remains. 
 
 One may not unreasonably regret that they were moved 
 by their piety to give her a more splendid tomb, and to dis- 
 turb the virginal body from its repose, especially as it had 
 already been disturbed during the reparations of 1580. The 
 appearance of the remains, preserved as they had been till 
 then from the corruption of the grave, could not fail of being 
 
 / 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 267 
 
 injured by this second remoyal. The miraculous preservation 
 of the body and the sweet fragrance which continued to cling 
 to it were enough of themselves to make the lowliest of sepul- 
 chres venerable and lovely to the Christian heart. All these 
 removals — made without due care, perhaps — shook and dis- 
 located the frail texture of the dried flesh ; and there ensued 
 deterioration and disfigurement. 
 
 " In 1774/' says Father Salvatori, ^^ a casket of more beau- 
 tiful shape and material was made, adorned with carving and 
 gold, and in this, reposing on cloth of the most precious 
 texture, was placed the body of the saint, protected further 
 by plates of crystal. Now, while taking it out of the old 
 casket and replacing with a new the old Franciscan habit, 
 they found it still incorrupt in several parts. The head was 
 still covered with the skin, as in life ; the hair was entire ; and 
 in the right socket the eyeball was full, showing the pupil with 
 its natural black color, and the eyelids open, but slightly 
 shrunken. The left leg, in its full length, was covered with 
 the skin, as well as the chest, the parts about the heart being 
 perfectly preserved, and not at all displaced. The rest of 
 the body was but a skeleton ; and on one finger was a ring of 
 lead, on which were engraved the words Jesus Ohristus. 
 After expelling from these sacred remains the humidity 
 which clung to them, and replacing the old Franciscan habit 
 with a new one of silk of the same shape and color, the Ursu- 
 lines laid them reverently in the new casket and restored this 
 to its proper position in the old tomb. 
 
 '' Two years later, however, it was resolved to transfer the 
 remains to the drier atmosphere of the upper church. So, 
 the Pontifical rescript (July 1st, 1776) authorizing this 
 change having been obtained, they set about preparing a 
 beautiful tomb of white marble adorned with gilt bronze, 
 situated above the altar of St. Latinus, and immediately 
 
268 ST, ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 beneatli the picture of that saint. They also constructed 
 another shrine, of the exact size of the old one, and richly 
 decorated. Eyerything being ready, on the 4th of April, 
 1777, the Bishop of Brescia, John Nani, accompanied by a 
 select number of ecclesiastics, noblemen, and Ursulines, 
 went to the lower church and took out the casket, which was 
 then carried in solemn procession by priests to the upper 
 church, and placed on a table richly draped. A delay of a 
 few days was granted to the Ursulines, from among whom the 
 bishop chose a few to cleanse the sacred body and to reclothe 
 it with the former habit. A distinguished professor of anat- 
 omy, with trusty witnesses, was present the while, the pro- 
 fessor seeing to it that each bone was replaced in its proper 
 position, and all the proceedings being carefully attested. 
 
 " When the TJrsulines had thus satisfied their filial piety, 
 the church was magnificently draped, and on April 12th 
 the bishop headed a solemn procession, and the new casket, 
 borne on the shoulders of priests, was deposited in the new 
 shrine, where it is at present venerated. Then clergy and 
 people united in the celebration of a most joyous festival. ^'^ 
 
 One can scarcely recall these dates, and the triumphant 
 festivities of the Ursulines throughout the world, in France 
 and Eome particularly, without remembering at the same 
 time the calamities under which the Society of Jesus lay 
 crushed, and to all appearance annihilated forever. During the 
 month of November, 1775, while the Eoman Ursulines were 
 laboring to obtain the necessary authorization for the solemn 
 translation of the remains of their foundress to a more splen- 
 did monument in the upper church of St. Afra, Lawrence 
 Eicci, the Superior- General of the suppressed Company of 
 Jesus, was dying, a prisoner and heart-broken, within the 
 
 1 Salvatori, pp. 139, 140. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 269 
 
 Oastle of St. Angelo^ in Kome. With his dying breath, in 
 presence of his Judge, yeiled in the Holy Viaticum, and in 
 the hearing of more than one exalted personage, the dying 
 man — as pure-minded, great-souled, and devoted a priest as 
 had ever sat in the place af St. Ignatius Loyola — protested 
 that the Society goyerued by him, and suppressed amid cir- 
 cumstances of such odious barbarity and barefaced injustice, 
 was guiltless of the crimes charged against it by the royal 
 conspirators of the Houses of Bourbon and Braganza, and by 
 their Jansenistic and anti-Catholic abettors and agents. 
 
 It was a strange contrast — that of the two great teaching 
 orders, founded almost the same year, by saintly personages 
 so much alike in wisdom unacquired in the schools, in au- 
 sterity of life, loftiness of purpose, and deep appreciation 
 of the needs of their country and age : the one providentially 
 exalted, praised, fostered, and flourishing more and more 
 daily ; while the other, which on one day counted an army 
 of 30,000 apostles of the heathen and preceptors of youth, 
 was on the next utterly swept from the face of both hemi- 
 spheres ; the one celebrating the beatification of its glorious 
 parent amid the transports of the millions who looked up to 
 her daughters with such deep gratitude and trustfulness, 
 while the head of the other was dying, imprisoned like the 
 worst of convicted criminals, and those who still loved to call 
 him " Father^' pining, themselves, amid the dungeons of 
 Portugal and Spain, or condemned to hold down their heads 
 beneath the intolerable load of calumny all-powerful iniquity 
 compelled them to bear. Not forever were they to bear or 
 forbear. The sacrifice which combined kings and conspiring 
 statesmen wrung from the helplessness of one Pontiif was to 
 be compensated by the fearless maguanimity of another, who 
 had also drunk deep of the cup of persecution held to his lips 
 by despotic hands. 
 
270 ST, ANGELA MERld 
 
 But from November, 1775, to August 7th, 1814, how assid- 
 nously were both tlrsulines and dispersed Jesuits to labor for 
 the one great cause so unspeakably dear to the heart of the 
 Church — the cause of female education ! The sons of St. 
 Ignatius, in their accepted exile and obscurity, and while cher- 
 ishing the fond hope that the resurrection-dawn would soon 
 come again for their suppressed Company, worked untiringly 
 to provide educators for the young generation of the nine- 
 teenth century ; they gave, as Sisters and auxiliaries to the 
 tJrsulines, the daughters of Sophie Madeleine Barat and 
 /ulie Billiart, without mentioning others ! 
 
 And so the two immediate successors of the sorely-tried 
 Clement XIV., Pius YI. and Pius VII., might well make it 
 a labor of love, in the midst of the unceasing persecutions 
 which assailed them, in their turn, to encourage the Roman 
 tribunals in forwarding the canonization of the Blessed An- 
 gela Merici. 
 
 A decree of Pius VI., dated July 16th, 1777, declared that 
 the virtues practised by the Maid of Desenzano were heroic, 
 each in its kind. Meanwhile, the Congregation of Rites was 
 diligently inquiring into the authenticity and nature of the 
 miracles attributed to her ; for, in this matter of miracles, 
 the Holy See demands the most absolute and overwhelming 
 certainty, as a condition toward canonization. As we shall 
 see in the next chapter, God was pleased at this very juncture 
 to glorify His lowly handmaiden before men, and in a most 
 troublous age, by working at her intercession miracles most 
 solemnly attested. 
 
 At length, on the 27th January, 1790, Angela's two- 
 hundred-and-sixteenth birthday, Pius VI., after offering up 
 the Holy Sacrifice in the chapel of the Ursuline Monastery in 
 Rome, promulgated the decree which declared the miracles 
 authentic, and authorized the final proceedings toward canon- 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 271 
 
 ization. Two months later, on the 29th of March, he ad- 
 dressed to the assembled cardinals the memorable allocution 
 in which he deplores the an ti- Christian revelation taking 
 place in France. A few years afterward Pius himself was to 
 be carried away by force from Kome and Italy, to die in a 
 French prison at Valence ; while during the intervening 
 years the Ursulines of France were to be driven from their 
 monasteries by the revolutionary storm, and more than one 
 of them was to glorify her Mother Angela and the faith of 
 her fathers by laying down her head on the scaffold or perish- 
 ing amid the horrors of the Terrorist prisons. 
 
 And thus was the Company of St. Ursula tried by blood 
 and fire, and prepared for the memorable 24th of May, 1807, 
 when the voice of the lamb-like but heroic Pius VII. pro- 
 claimed her sanctity in St. Peter's, uniting with her in these 
 supreme honors of canonization the French peasant-girl St, 
 Coletta or Nicoletta Boillet (1380-1447), who reformed the 
 Poor Clares of France ; the noble Hyacintha Mariscotti 
 (1588-1643), of Viterbo ; St. Francis Caracciolo (1563-1603), 
 a native of the Abruzzi, and the founder of the Minor Clerks 
 Eegular ; and St. Benedict Filadelf, a man of negro parent- 
 age (1526-1589), and the light of Messina, his native city, 
 and of all Sicily in his day. How like to each other were the 
 three saintly women thus united in the veneration of the 
 Church, one may know who reads their most edifying lives. 
 
 Six years afterward, Pius VII. himself was dragged from 
 Eome by the soldiers of the French Emperor, and subjected 
 to the long trials of which the world has heard the details 
 with equal pity and indignation. 
 
 Thus the Ursuline communities, amid their mingled joys 
 and sorrows, hopes and fears, could exult in the honor be- 
 stowed on the name of Angela Merici, and invoke her name 
 with increased fervor and confidence, while addressing them- 
 
272 ' ST. ANGELA MEBIOL 
 
 selves to the arduous labors of a new era and looking forward 
 anxiously to the pregnant and threatening future. They, 
 like their sisters in Valenciennes/ might lose even their 
 lives for the faith ; but they now could believe with un- 
 bounded trustfulness the divine promise that they were 
 not' to perish, while such pure and generous blood as theirs 
 could only impart to the wide-branching Ursuline tree a new 
 vitality and fruitf ulness. 
 
 1 "On the 17th and 23d October, 1794, eleven Ursnlines belonging to the Monastery 
 of Valenciennes sealed their apostleship of teaching by martyrdom. On the eve of their 
 execution they were so happy as to receive Holy Communion from a priest, who was 
 their fellow-prisoner and soon became their fellow-martyr. They were allowed to cele- 
 brate their Last Supper together, saying to each other that on the morrow they would 
 celebrate it in Paradise. All who beheld them thus shed tears of admiration. . . . 
 They cut each other's hair (to be ready for the guillotine), issued from prison with their 
 hands bound behind their backs, . . . and went to the scaffold chanting the Te 
 Deum. . . ,''''— Bohrbacher^ '' Hist, of the Churchy 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 MIRACLES, AND YIRTUES AS MARVELOUS AS MIRACLES. 
 
 Whe:!!^ the Son of God had come down to teach and to save 
 the world. He, concealed as His infinite majesty was beneath 
 the lowliness of our human nature, did not ask of His coun- 
 trymen to believe in Himself and His mission on the simple 
 ground that He asserted Himself to be the long-expected Ee- 
 deemer. His first disciples ; after the miracle of Cana in Gali- 
 lee, " believed in Him,'' because by changing the water into 
 wine He '^manifested His glory'' — that is, displayed His 
 power as God and Author of nature. When John the Baptist, 
 aftertheresurrectionof the widow's son at Na'im (St. Luke 7), 
 sends two of his own disciples to ask of the Master, ''Art 
 thou He that art to come ? or look we for another ?" He, an- 
 swering, . . . said to them :" Go and relate to John what you 
 have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the 
 lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, to 
 the poor the Gospel is preached." To the Jews who per- 
 sisted in closing their ears to the divinity of His teaching. He 
 solemnly said : " I speak to you, and you believe not ; the 
 works that I do in the name of My Father, they give testi- 
 mony of Me. ... If I do not the works of My Father, believe 
 Me not. But if I do, though you will not believe Me, be- 
 
 i St. John 10 : 25, 37, 38. 
 
 273 
 
2Y4 ST. ANGELA MERICT, 
 
 Nor was this divine miracle-working power to cease with 
 Him : it was to remain throughout all future time, with His 
 apostles and their successors in the Church, as the seal of 
 their mission and the conyincing proof of that Church's sanc- 
 tity. He said, in His yery last discourse to them before His 
 ascension : " These signs shall follow them that belieye : in 
 My name they shall cast out devils ; they shall speak with 
 new tongues ; they shall take up serpents, and if they shall 
 drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall 
 lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover/' ^ 
 
 "When, therefore, St. Peter, in fulfillment of the Master's 
 promise, had performed in the most conspicuous and fre- 
 quented entrance to the Temple a stupendous miracle, he 
 said to the astonished crowd of Jews : '^ Ye men of Israel, 
 why wonder you at this ? or why look you upon us, as 
 if by our strength or power we had made this man to 
 walk?"^ 
 
 It is impossible to resist the evidence of our senses when 
 we see a man at one moment a helpless cripple who has never 
 walked in his life, and behold him the next moment stand- 
 ing upright before our eyes, walking, sound in every limb, 
 and praising God for the sudden change. There is another 
 sense, too, whose evidence goes irresistibly with that of the 
 eye — that divine light of reason in the soul which tells us, 
 when such a cure has been thus made in the name of God 
 or of His Christ, that the calling on that name is a chal- 
 lenge to His power and goodness, and that the cure which 
 follows is as surely the work of His right hand as was the 
 creation of the world in the beginning. Yoar Liberal, 
 your atheist, your modern scientist and materialist, could no 
 sooner see that cripple suddenly, cured by the invocation of 
 
 1 St. Mark 16 : 17, 18. ^ Acts 3 ; 12. 
 
AND THE UR8ULINES. 275 
 
 the Holy Name than all the voices of his soul would call on 
 him to kneel and worship Jesus as the true living God. 
 
 Priests and children of the Catholic Church and heirs to 
 all Christ's promises, we believe in miracles to-day, as did our 
 fathers before us since the days of the apostles, since Peter 
 and John stood in the Beautiful Gate. Our fathers have seen 
 miracles age after age, and year after year ; and they have 
 borne their witness to the fact that God in their midst still 
 continued to be glorified in His saints, and to glorify them by 
 using them as the instruments of His power and fatherly 
 mercy. Nor can we Christians of the nineteenth century 
 believe that the hand of God is shortened ; for He multiplies 
 on every side the prodigies of His power to convince an un- 
 believing and devil-ridden generation that there is still a God 
 who is the Judge of the whole earth. 
 
 We give the following miracles in the order in which they 
 are given by Father Salvatori, who followed himself the acts 
 of canonization, and the order followed by the Sacred Con- 
 gregation of Eites : 
 
 1. Angela Filippini iii 1777. This lady was the wife of 
 Pietro Kavelli, a notary and well-known citizen of Brescia. 
 She was a long and patient sufferer. Her illness began by a 
 great sense of lassitude in every member, accompanied with 
 acute muscular pain, and soon followed by the appearance of 
 livid spots, now in one part of her body and now in another. 
 Her teeth grew black, her gums became swollen and emitted 
 frequently a fetid and bloody matter, while she experienced 
 extreme difiBculty of breathing, great wakefulness, a burning 
 fever, and convulsions. All these symptoms became intensi- 
 fied when she reached her sixty-seventh year. Besides, her 
 arms, chest, and stomach were covered with small tumors, 
 which caused excruciating pain. In October, 1776, two 
 sores more painful than all the others broke out on her lower 
 
276 ST, ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 limbs, and these soon became ulcerated. .After some time, 
 however, the ulcer on the left leg was closed, but that on the 
 right increased in size and malignancy. . . . The issue from 
 these sores was of the most offensiye nature ; but a cessation 
 of it only threw the poor sufferer into deadly spasms. Under 
 these circumstances. Dr. Charles Tebaldi, her physician, and 
 a man of great repute, declared that these symptoms were 
 those of a yirulent scurvy which had poisoned the entire sys- 
 tem. He advised the lady to have recourse merely to appli- 
 cations of soothing vegetable poultices which would keep the 
 ulcers open. And in this advice he was sustained by the 
 surgeon. During the five months which intervened between 
 his advice and the lady's miraculous cure, the ulcers only 
 grew more frightful, so that no hope of a change for the bet- 
 ter remained. 
 
 Just then the approaching solemnities of the translation of 
 the remains of St. Angela gave a great impulse to the popu- 
 lar devotion in Brescia. There was to be a Triduum or 
 three days' public prayers immediately following the trans- 
 lation, and a friend of Madame Eavelli's strongly urged her 
 to have recourse to the saint. So, on the 10th of April, 1777, 
 the translation occurring on the 12th, the poor sufferer began 
 to pray fervently to the Blessed Angela. But her suffering 
 only seemed to increase with every prayer she offered up. 
 She was not discouraged, nevertheless. Indeed, she seemed 
 to have from the first moment a firm confidence that she 
 Avould be healed. On the 13th day of April — that is, the first 
 day of the solemn Triduum — she had herself taken, in spite 
 of her bodily torture, to the neighboring Church of St. Zeno, 
 where she made her confession and received Holy Com- 
 munion in honor of the saint, thereby hoping to incline the 
 latter to favor her suit, and to render herself more worthy of 
 the grace she solicited. Her efforts apparently did but aggra- 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 277 
 
 vate the ulcers and increase in proportion her agony of suf- 
 fering. Still, this very increase only inspired the patient 
 with a firmer trust in Angela's intercession. The morning 
 of the 15th April dawned ; it was the last day of the Tri- 
 duum. She asked to be taken to the Church of St. Afra ; 
 and no one could find heart to dissuade her from her pur- 
 pose. So, leaning on her husband and her maid, she dragged 
 herself along with indescribable pain, and stopped not till she 
 was before the tomb of the saint. Nothing could prevent 
 her from kneeling down to hear the Mass which was begin- 
 ning ; and having heard a first without much difficulty, she 
 remained kneeling during a second and a third, praying the 
 while with extraordinary fervor. The last Mass being over, 
 she arose of herself and without either assistance or pain, and, 
 feeling no longer the presence of anything like swelling in 
 her limbs, she hastened homeward without the slightest as- 
 sistance, to see what had become of the ulcer. The poultices 
 fell away of themselves, leaving the entire limb perfectly 
 sound, no trace remaining of the dreadful ulcer but that the 
 lips of the scar which marked, its place were not yet quite 
 closed. 
 
 " Thereupon,'' says Salvatori, '^ she applied to the wound 
 an image of the saint, beseeching her most earnestly not to 
 leave incomplete the merciful work of her perfect cure. Nor 
 was the prayer unheard ; for, withdrawing soon afterward 
 the image, the cure was seen to be perfect in the fullest sense. 
 It were out of place," continues the historian, " to paint the 
 astonishment, the joy, the deep devotional feeling, not only 
 of the lady herself, but of her household and of the entire 
 city. The reader will easily understand them, and allow me 
 to pass to the other miracles Avhich I must mention." 
 
 2. The second miracle occurred in the great City Hospital 
 of Brescia. The person who was this time the subject of 
 
278 ST. ANGELA MEEIGl 
 
 God's infinite goodness and the motherly solicitude of Blessed 
 Angela, was a girl by name Maria d'Acquafredda, a member 
 of a '^ Conservatory" or training-school for nurses attached 
 to the hospital. She was in her twenty-seventh year, and in 
 a very poor state of health, when, on the 20th of February, 
 1779, she was struck with apoplexy. She fell senseless to the 
 ground, her right side paralyzed, her teeth so firmly set that 
 it was with extreme difficulty a few spoonfuls of liquid were 
 introduced. Eight entire days of the most energetic and 
 skilful treatment only served to make the patient recover a 
 little consciousness, leaving her, however, quite speechless. 
 The paralyzed members remained insensible to the action of 
 lancet or fire. This state of lethargic prostration lasted 
 till the end of May, when the rector of the parish and the 
 attendant physicians judged it necessary that the sufferer 
 should receive the last sacraments. As the 31st of May was 
 the day on which the Blessed Angela's feast was always cele- 
 brated in Brescia, the poor, dying girl, collecting all she 
 could of her remaining strength and impaired senses, besought 
 by signs her attendants to invoke in her favor the interces- 
 sion of the saint. This suggestion had first come from one 
 of the girl's companions, Maria Faustina, who bent all her 
 efforts to excite in her friend the most unlimited confidence 
 in the Blessed Angela's prayers. A present of olive-oil was 
 therefore sent to St. Afra's to be used in the lamps kept burn- 
 ing before the shrine, and from the lamps themselves a little 
 oil was taken back to the hospital. While the sufferer was 
 exhorted to lift her heart to God and to pray fervently to His 
 glorious servant present near Himself in Heaven, the infir- 
 marian took a feather, dipped it in the oil, and anointed there- 
 with the mouth. At the very first touch of the oil the jaws 
 opened freely, and the infirmarian proceeded to touch in like 
 manner the teeth and tongue and side. In an instant Maria 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 279 
 
 d^Acquafredda recovered her speech, and felt that her para- 
 lyzed limbs had recovered their sensibility. She rose forth- 
 with from her bed, and began to move through the room as 
 if in the full possession of health and vigor, exclaiming the 
 while, " I am cured ! I am cured V^ Maria Faustina, like 
 one beside herself, and scarcely able to believe her own senses, 
 ran about the hospital telling everybody of the miracle. 
 The Superior and her companions came hurrying in to the 
 sick-room to see with their own eyes what had taken place, 
 and remained overwhelmed by the sudden and total change. 
 In the afternoon the happy girl in whom it had been 
 wrought anointed herself once more with the oil, supped 
 with the community, and on the next day went about her 
 usual occupations as if she had not been ailing for a single 
 hour. More than that, not a trace of the chronic affection 
 from which she had been suffering before her paralytic 
 stroke remained with her recovered health. She felt she 
 had a new lease of life, and lost no time in going to the tomb 
 of her benefactress, and showing in the most public manner 
 her gratitude and veneration. 
 
 3. Following the narrative of Father Salvatori, as well as 
 the order in which these miracles were examined and reported 
 by the Congregation of Eites, we come to another cure not a 
 little like the preceding, which took place in Verona in 1778. 
 Maria Angela Comini, a professed nun of the Monastery of 
 St. John the Evangelist della Beverara, in Yerona, began, 
 when in her twenty-fourth year, to be afflicted with a pain 
 in the chest and left side, which prevented her from lying 
 down, or from resting on her left side. On the 13th of Oc- 
 tober, 1777, she found, on attempting to leave her bed, that 
 she had lost the use of her left leg. Then, in spite of the 
 medical aid called in, she lost the use of the right arm and 
 hand, besides experiencing an intense pain in her head, a 
 
280 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 partial paralysis of ilie organs of speech^ and extreme diffi- 
 culty in breathing. The symptoms went on increasing till 
 at length the whole left side was paralyzed and Yoid of all 
 sensibility. The first appearance of these paralytic symp- 
 toms was accompanied with a violent fever^ which, with 
 slight intermissions, lasted nine whole months, and had all the 
 symptoms of an acute inflammation. During this long interval 
 the patient was bled thirty times, and every other remedy 
 tnown to the ripest science of the day was employed in vain. 
 She complained of excruciating pain in her chest, which fre- 
 quently deprived her of consciousness, and the purulent dis- 
 charges noted by the physicians convinced them that there 
 was an internal tumor in the chest. For six entire months she 
 lived on a little broth — so little, indeed, that it was a mat- 
 ter of wonder how she could live at all, with want of nourish- 
 ment and her sleepless nights and unceasing agony. '' It was 
 not,'' says, in his sworn testimony, the physician in charge, 
 '' so much apoplexy that we feared she was coming to ; but 
 what caused us most apprehension was the pain in the chest, 
 which had brought her to death's-door ; no medicament 
 could be introduced by the mouth for forty days before the 
 cure, as she had not the power to swallow anything ; nor dur- 
 ing tliis interval did her extreme debility allow us to think 
 of bloodletting." Indeed, the sufferer had more than once 
 received the sacraments of the dying, as her attendants be- 
 lieved that her last hour was come. Such was the condition 
 of Sister Mary Angela on July 13th, 1778, nine months 
 after her first attack of apoplexy. Then it came into the 
 mind of Sister Teresa Fortunata Gamba to make the patient 
 have recourse to the Blessed Angela. A relic of the saint 
 was forthwith placed near her bed on a table between lighted 
 tapers, and a novena of prayers was at once begun. From 
 that moment a slight improvement was noticeable, and this 
 
AND THE URSULIFES, 281 
 
 became more so still on the next day, the confidence and 
 fervor of the sick nun increasing with this sensible change 
 for the better. On the third day, carried away by her fer- 
 vent faith in the powerful intercession of Blessed Angela, she 
 besought her in the most touching tones to obtain her per- 
 fect cure, saying to the saint that a perfect restoration of her 
 strength and health within the next twenty-four hours would 
 prove to every one that the change was a true miracle, due to 
 God, the author of every blessing. This was on the 15th ; 
 and on the 16th, in less than twenty-four hours after putting 
 up her fervent petition, Sister Mary Angela stood before the 
 entire community, completely cured of every ailment ! She 
 dressed herself without any assistance, and went to an- 
 nounce to one of the Sisterhood what G-od and Blessed An- 
 gela had done for her. Not a trace was left of her former 
 ills. And her physicians, overcome by the surprise of a 
 change so sudden, affirmed that it was a double miracle, and 
 testified to this effect in the juridical proceedings instituted 
 by the local authorities. 
 
 These are the three miracles examined with such consci- 
 entious care by the Roman tribunals ; all the documentary 
 evidence relating thereto being of the most authentic kind, 
 and a single imperfect link sufficing to cause the judges to 
 set aside inexorably proofs which would be accepted as con- 
 vincing by any judge or jury among us or outside of Eome. 
 As the reader may perceive on perusing carefully the above 
 narratives, the miraculous cures were most public, most sud- 
 den, and most perfect. The patient in each case was re- 
 duced to such extremity, that all human skill was of no 
 avail, and the physicians themselves had to confess their 
 utter powerlessness to effect a change for the better or to ar- 
 rest the fatal course of the disorder. Then came the sudden 
 and perfect change, for which no remedy, no agency, other 
 
282 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 than the almighty power of the Creator, could account. Here 
 there is no possibility of delusion or of the intervention of 
 any cause, natural or preternatural, save that of the sole Lord 
 of life and death, and of the pleading vrith Him in Heaven of 
 the great motherly heart which had ever been on earth the 
 ready friend of all kind of human suffering. 
 
 Other miracles, through every century which has elapsed 
 since the death of the Holy Maid of Desenzano, have attested, 
 both in Italy and all over the world, the efficacy of her inter- 
 cession. It would be pleasant to present them here for the 
 edification of the reader, were it not that our limited space 
 warns us to reserve for matters which may not be omitted 
 our remaining chapters. 
 
 But as miracles such as these described are the test of real 
 personal holiness, and constitute the assurance of a saintly 
 personage's power with the all-powerful Creator and all- 
 merciful Dispenser of graces, even so are the heroic virtues 
 practised by Christian man or woman the very substance 
 and soul of that holiness of life of which miracles are the 
 seal. . 
 
 Not less carefully, patiently, and thoroughly do the 
 tribunals appointed by the Holy See examine into and 
 scrutinize every detail of the public and private life of those 
 who die in the odor of sanctity, and for whom the honors of 
 canonization are claimed. As to the life which we have been 
 describing — though our delineations be never so imperfect — 
 yet must we have failed to grasp ourselves and to convey to 
 our readers the distinctive traits of Angela Merici's heroic 
 figure, or she must stand before the mind's eye as different 
 in her own beautiful womanly character from other saintly 
 women, as John the Baptist was from the prophets and 
 saints who preceded him, and as St. John the Evangelist was 
 from his fellows in the College of Apostles. But, no matter 
 
AND THE UBSULIKES, 283 
 
 in what sphere the saints move during their lifetime, and no 
 matter what may be their sex, their avocation, or the personal 
 gifts and endowments which they may bring with them to 
 their calling, the virtues and qualities which go toward 
 making up true, perfect, heroic — supernaturally heroic — 
 manhood and womanhood, are substantially the same in all. 
 '^ Very various are the saints, ^^ says Cardinal Newman;^ 
 "their very variety is a token of God's workmanship; but 
 however various and whatever was their special line of duty, 
 they have been heroes in it : they have attained such noble 
 self-command, they have so crucified the flesh, they have so 
 renounced the world ; they are so meek, so gentle, so tender- 
 hearted, so merciful, so sweet, so cheerful, so full of prayer, 
 so diligent, so forgetful of injuries, they have sustained such 
 great and continued pains, they have persevered in such 
 vast labors, they have made such valiant confessions, they 
 have wrought such abundant miracles, they have been blessed 
 with such strange successes, that they have set up a standard 
 before us of truth, of magnanimity, of holiness, of love. They 
 are not always our examples, we are not always bound to fol- 
 low them ; not more than we are bound to obey literally some 
 of our Lord's precepts, such as turning the cheek, or giving 
 away the coat ; not more than we can follow the course of 
 the sun, moon, or stars in the heavens ; but though not 
 always our examples, they are always our standard of right 
 and good ; they are raised up to be monuments and lessons, 
 they remind us of God, they introduce us into the unseen 
 world, they teach us what Christ loves, they track out for us 
 the way which leads heavenward. They are to us who see 
 them, what wealth, notoriety, rank, and name are to the mul- 
 titude of men who live in darkness — objects of our veneration 
 and our homage/' 
 
 1 '* Discourses to Mixed Congregations," p. 94, Eng. ed. 
 
284 ST. AJVGELA MERICl 
 
 And here it is that the divine truth and beauty of the Cath- 
 olic teaching and practice shine forth so transcendently. For 
 truth is, to our minds, but the knowledge of beings and their 
 relations toward each other : it is like the light, at the close 
 of the darkest night, dawning upon earth and sky and mak- 
 ing them and all that they contain visible to the eye. And 
 beauty is the resplendent creation of truth, just as color is 
 the creation of light. Now because the Catholic, doctrine is 
 divine it enables the mind of man to take in not only the 
 relations which bind nature to its Author, but more especially 
 the essential ties which bind the natural man to his Maker, 
 the natural virtues which merely as man he has to practise 
 in order to fulfill the idea of manhood stamped on the souls 
 of the entire race by the hand which made them. And these 
 virtues are exalted to a sublime, inconceivable, and divine 
 ideal in the Person of our supernatural model, God made 
 man for our imitation. 
 
 The perfect Christian man is man with all that is good and 
 great in his moral nature exalted to the dignity of adopted 
 child of God, and so living in that divine rank as to verify 
 the saying of the old Roman pagans about their Christian 
 contemporaries : Christiaiius alter Christus, " every Chris- 
 tian in another Christ,'^ as if every son born of the blood of 
 Calvary reflected in his conduct the divine virtues of Jesus 
 Christ. The ordinary good and serious-minded Christian 
 man is he who with his whole heart strives to be Christ-like 
 in thought, and word, and deed ; the saint is the man or the 
 woman who is truly and in a sublime degree Christ-like in 
 their interior and their exterior life, in mind and heart and 
 conduct. 
 
 As to Angela Merici, we may here quote appositely to our 
 purpose the pen-portrait drawn of her by John Baptist 
 Nazari, her earliest biographer, and the man to whom was 
 
AND THE UR8ULINES, 285 
 
 committed to draw up a juiidical and authentic summary of 
 her life and virtues, from the sworn testimony of those who 
 had known her longest and best in Brescia. " In her/' he 
 says, " one could discover no unworthy affection, because she 
 was a stranger to ambition, vainglory, and anger. Her sole 
 delight was in humility, in the quiet, contemplative life 
 fostered by religious rule. In this manner of life, as in the 
 pathway marked out by our Lord, she practised fasting, 
 long vigils, and prayer, so that, like a true religious, she was 
 always firm in her faith, humble in her conversation, modest 
 and exemplary in her dress, unwearied in her nightly vigils, 
 fervent in all her prayers, most patient in ill- fortune, most 
 devout in receiving the sacramants, and ever most ready to 
 practise all the good works of a Christian.'^ 
 
 Ther Heroic Manner in luMcTi St, Angela practised all the 
 Moral Virtues. 
 
 To begin with those virtues which are enjoined by the law 
 of nature written on the hearts of all men, as with what is 
 easiest and most accessible to our good-will, let us give a 
 glance at the four principal of these — the Cardinal Virtues, 
 as they are termed, because they are the very foundation of a 
 true moral excellence in every man and woman deserving of 
 the name. These are the fundamental virtues on which the 
 heathen philosophers of old made all manly goodness and 
 greatness to hinge, and on which they made the existence of 
 all human society to depend. They are Prudence, Justice, 
 Temperance, and Fortitude. 
 
 If prudence, in the sense in which its nature and attributes 
 are usually understood by theologians, be considered as the 
 habitual disposition toward choosing the highest and holiest 
 end, and employing the means best suited to its attainment, 
 
286 * ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 "we can see that virtue shine forth in Angela's conduct from 
 her childhood to her latest day. Under the impulse of the 
 Diyine Spirit, when yet in every sense a child, her whole soul 
 seemed fixed on striving after the highest good — after that 
 supreme holiness of life of which she heard in the Lives of 
 the Saints. And she pursued this supernatural ideal constantly 
 ever afterward, while allowing herself to be governed by the 
 wise counsels of her parents ; just as, arrived almost at woman- 
 hood, she submitted unmurmuringly to the restraint's which her 
 uncle Biancosi advised her to put upon her yearning after soli- 
 tude. All through life, while pursuing with inflexible firmness 
 the course of rigorous ascetical practices she deemed necessary 
 for her own sanctification, she nevertheless was always found 
 ready at a moment's notice to give up her loved solitude, the 
 sweets of prayer and contemplation, and her penitential au- 
 sterities, to minister to the good of others. She was admired 
 and revered almost as much for her reserve, her discretion, 
 her tact, her exceeding wisdom in counseling all sorts of per- 
 sons, as she was for her devotion to the poor, the suffering, 
 the ignorant, or for that spotless purity of life and exalted 
 spirit of prayer which seemed to make her on earth a 
 blessed soul enjoying the beatific vision. But our readers will 
 take in our meaning better by comparing, on this head, the 
 words and actions of other saints with those of Angela. Take, 
 for instance, the prudence so necessary to the saints in 
 moderating bodily austerities, when these are no longer 
 necessary toward the repression of the sensual appetites, or 
 the making the body most docile to all the workings of the 
 Spirit. Hear what is said of St. Ignatius Loyola. 
 
 '' He had learned by his own experience the true principles 
 of that asceticism which perfects the moral nature without 
 ruining the body, which carefully avoids all imperfect and 
 false direction in the spiritual career, and which never allows 
 
AN'B THE URSULINES. 287 
 
 the sentiment of feeling to predominate at the expense of 
 reason and understanding. He used to say that in the first 
 days of conversion men ought to lead a more severe life ; 
 but from the time that the soul has come to a state of greater 
 purity from its stains, exterior mortification should be some- 
 Avhat diminished. We will cite here one example. He al- 
 owed St. Francis Borgia at the beginning of his conversion, 
 and while he was still Viceroy of Catalonia, to follow the im- 
 pulse which led him to penitential austerities; but when he con- 
 sidered that he had done enough, and that he seemed to attach 
 too much importance to practices of this kind, he interposed 
 his authority and regulated the practice of his spiritual exer- 
 cises. As I consider in our Lord, Ignatius writes to him, 
 that certain spiritual and corporal exercises are necessary at 
 one time, and not so at another time, and that after having 
 teen useful to us they are not so useful in the sequel, I luish 
 to say to you, in the presence of the Divine Majesty, that 
 which presents itself to my 7nind with regard to this matter, 
 . . . First, as to what concerns the ti7ne you have prescribed 
 to yourself for these i7iterior and exterior practices of prayer 
 and penance, I thinlc the one half of them anight ie retrenched. 
 For if in proportion as our thoughts are carried aioay either 
 'by our otvn evil inclinations or by the devil to vain and un- 
 lawful things, and if again in proportion as toe feel ourselves 
 to be the more disposed to be attached to these unlawful things, 
 we ought to multiply our practices of penance, so as to overcome 
 our propensities, each one according to his disposition, or ac- 
 cording to the variety of his thou§hts and temptations, that 
 the will may take no pleasure in them nor consent to them ; so^ 
 on the contrary, as these (evil) thoughts are put to flight and 
 give place to holy iyispirations, it is our duty to give entrance 
 to such inspirations into our mind, and to open ivide to tliem 
 the gates of our soul. And, therefore, as you have no longer 
 
288 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 need of so much defensive armor to repel the enemy, I think in 
 our Lord that you will do letter to employ the half of that 
 time in the government of your estates, and in spiritual con- 
 ferences and studies ; for in the future acquired science will 
 he more necessary to you and more useful than infused Tcnoivl- 
 edge. But, at the same time, endeavor to heep your soul in 
 peace and repose, and ready to receive all the tvorJcings of our 
 Lord in it. ... 
 
 ''In the second place, loith regard to fasting and abstinence, 
 I thinh that it is better for the glory of our Lord to preserve 
 and strengthen the stomach and other poivers of nature, than 
 it is to debilitate them ; for, ivhen we have the fixed resolution 
 rather to die than of deliberate purpose to commit the least of- 
 fence against the Divine Majesty, and lohen loe are not at- 
 tacked by any particular temptation from the devil, the world, 
 or the flesh, exterior mortification is no longer necessary, Noio 
 I am convinced that you are in this disposition of which I have 
 been speaking, and that you are free from temptations j I desire, 
 therefore, that you will fully master this thought — that the 
 soul and the body are the gift of God, our Master and Creator, 
 and that you will have to give Him a strict account of both, and 
 that for His sake you ought not to enfeeble your bodily nature, 
 because if you take aivay its strength the spiritual nature 
 cannot act any longer loith the same energy. . . . We ought 
 so much more to love the body, and to wish it tvell, the more it 
 obeys and serves the soul ; and the soul in its turn finds in 
 this obedience and assistance of the body increased strength 
 and energy to serve and glorify God our Master and Creator. 
 
 ''As to the third point, namely, the chastisements ivhich you 
 inflict upon your body : I would avoid, for our Lord's sake, to 
 spill even the least drop of blood. If hitherto the Divine Maj- 
 esty has given you, as I am convinced He has, a particular 
 grace and attraction to this practice^ , . . I do not hesi- 
 
AND THE URSULINES. . 289 
 
 tafe to affirm, . • . that it is better for the future to leave 
 ^ off these things, and, instead of trying to draw a little blood, 
 to seek to unite yourself more closely luith the Lord of all, 
 ashing of Him 7nore precious gifts, as, for example, the grace 
 to shed a fountain of tears, or, at least, some feiu drops, 
 whether it be for your own sifis or for those of others, or 
 whether it be in contemplating the rnysteries of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ in this Ufe or in the next, or in considering or loving 
 the divine perfections. And these tears luill be the more 
 precious and meritorius as the thoughts and meditatio7is 
 which make them flotu shall be more elevated. And although 
 in these several objects the third is in itself more perfect- than 
 the second, and the second than the first, nevertheless that is 
 the best for each individual in which the Lord our God the 
 more abundantly communicates LLimself to him, and bestows 
 on him a greater abundance of His holy gifts and spir- 
 itual graces, for He hnoios and sees what is the most 
 advantageous to him, and shotus him the way lohich he 
 ought to Tceep, for He Tcnows all things. But in order that we 
 may discover this by His grace, it is very useful to prove and 
 try many ways, so that all may choose the one •which is the 
 safest and the best for us in this life, and the most conducive 
 to life eternal, Noiv among these gifts L recTcon those which it 
 is not in our poiver to be possessed of at our will, but lohich 
 are simply bestoioed upon us by the Giver of all good, such as 
 are those which have a 7nore immediate relation with His Divine 
 Majesty, namely, actual faith, hope, and charity — spiritual 
 peace and joy, interior coiisolations, elevation of soul, divine 
 impulses and lights, together with all other spiritual impres- 
 sions and joys, having altvays regard to the due subordination 
 between these gifts, and manifesting all respect and humble 
 obedience to our Holy Mother the Church and to those who are 
 appointed rulers and doctors in it, , , . I do not mean to 
 
290 ST. ANGELA MEEICI, 
 
 say that we ouglit to seek these gifts simply for the pleasure 
 they cause us j stilly all our thoughts, words, and actions, 
 ivhich without them are cold, confused, and disorderly, would, 
 through them lecome, to the greater glory of God, fervent, en- 
 lightened, and just. And when the hody finds tliat it is in peril 
 through its excessive exertions, the hest thing to le done is to 
 seeTc for these gifts iy spiritual acts and other exercises talcen in 
 moderation. It loill tlieyi come to pass that not anly will the 
 soul le in a sotmd state, but there tvill be a sound mind diuell- 
 ing in a sound body, and the whole man will be the more 
 healthy and better disposed for the service of God.^^ ^ 
 
 It is impossible to read this extract^ so pregnant with heavenly 
 prndenc^ without remembering the wise practical rules for self- 
 direction and the methods of governing others contained in St. 
 Angela's " Eeminders'^ and '' Spiritual Testament/' as well as 
 those interspersed here and there in her Constitutions. One 
 is reminded, both in perusing what she has written and in 
 reviewing the actions of her life, of the beautiful figure of 
 Prudence sculptured by Giovanni Pisano on the Baptistery of 
 Florence. She is represented as having a double head : the 
 one is that of a young woman, whose face is toward the 
 earth with its temptations and its cares, while in one hand 
 she holds up a serpent, as if to warn off some assailant ; the 
 other face is masculine and bearded, with the eyes fixed on the 
 Eternal Hills. The head is surrounded with a halo — the 
 attribute of supernatural sanctity. Such was the prudence 
 of Angela with its twofold aspect, the soft, delicate, shrinking 
 womanly nature ever using the wisdom of the serpent in 
 dealing with a world full of deceit and danger ; while, on the 
 other hand, she ever kept the eye of her soul turned heaven- 
 ward, planting her foot from early girlhood resolutely on the 
 
 1 Genelli, " Life of St. Ignatius Loyola,'' Meyrick's translation from tlie French. 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 291 
 
 royal road of self-sacrifice^ and persisting in it with indomi- 
 table courage. But this already brings us to the virtue of 
 Fortitude. 
 
 Of Temperance, in the case of Angela Merici, we need say 
 but little. If by the word we understand the virtue which 
 teaches us to moderate and keep in subjection not merely our 
 unruly bodily appetites, but the passions and movements of 
 the soul itself, we are forthwith reminded not only of the 
 heroic generosity with which our saint subdued every evil 
 inclination and kept in subjection these passions, which cause 
 so much sin and misery, but was to the end of her life the 
 perfect mirror of abstinence as she was of purity and gentle- 
 ness. 
 
 The natural virtue of Justice, as moralists explain it, 
 consists in our rendering to the full whatever we owe to God, 
 to the neighbor, and to ourselves. Her whole life was one 
 uninterrupted effort to repay the Divine Goodness for all its 
 gifts — with what supreme purity of intention, we know now, 
 after reading the preceding chapters. Kor did she separate 
 devotion to the good of the neighbor from her devotion to 
 the glory of the Creator. The Company of St. Ursula, with 
 its far-reaching services, proves abundantly how she paid to 
 her kind the debt of her love. Nor did she forget to be just 
 to herself — loving herself, so far as she might, as God loved 
 her, and working till her last hour to make herself worthy of 
 Him, by decking her soul with the ornaments of most per- 
 fect righteousness. 
 
 As it belongs to Prudence to see and to choose the road 
 which leads to the highest moral perfection, and by it to 
 the Most High God, so does it pertain to Fortitude to per- 
 severe in it in spite of all obstacles, dangers, and difficulties. 
 As we have shown, the way of Christian holiness is the com- 
 panionship with Christ in labor and suffering — to the garden, 
 
292 ST, ANGELA MEBIGl 
 
 the pillar, and the cross. The Maid of Desenzano never, so 
 far as human evidence can attest it, separated herself from 
 His blessed side, whose whole life, as St. Bonaventure 
 expresses it, '* was a cross and a martyrdom." 
 
 The heroic temper which buoyed up Angela in her formed 
 purpose of founding the Company of St. Ursula never 
 forsook her for a day amid the disheartening delays and 
 constantly occurring difficulties of well-nigh forty years. And 
 this she knew how to breathe into others. How she gave 
 courage and energy to her companions, when after the loss 
 of her eyesight they wished to return to Venice and give up 
 their journey to the Holy Land ! And again, during the 
 fearful perils of the storm at sea, how the strength which 
 filled her own soul was communicated to all on board, enabling 
 officers, crew, and passengers to work with a will in keeping 
 the ship afloat, while trusting themselves unreservedly to 
 God's keeping ! 
 
 The fact is, that all these sweet womanly virtues which 
 graced Angela's life and character, and these sterner qualities 
 which gave her such invincible strength ^Ho bear and to 
 forbear," were sustained, vivified, elevated, and perfected by 
 the supernatural virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity, which 
 are the fruits in the soul of the indwelling Spirit of God. Hers 
 was the faith which, all through life, enabled the eye of her soul 
 to behold God near her, as if the veil of mortality had been 
 withdrawn. '' Blessed are the clean of heart : for they shall 
 see God !" The perfect faith which the Holy Ghost, the 
 Spirit of our adoption, bestows on willing souls, is that 
 firm belief, instinct with charity and buoyed up by yearning 
 hope, that He who is the Infinite God is as present to us as 
 the atmosphere we breathe and the light that fills it by day 
 — that He is present within us in our heart of hearts, prompt- 
 ing its every aim and aspiration, its every affection, its deeds 
 
AND THE URSULINE8, 293 
 
 of self-sacrifice and divinest generosity. Let any one read the 
 "Meditation on Divine Loye'^ in the spiritual exercises of 
 St, Ignatius Loyola^ spelling to himself slowly and patiently 
 the characters and syllables of that most divine of human 
 conceptions, and he will know what is the Faith — the 
 illuminated eye of the soul — and what the Charity which 
 accompanies true faith as necessarily as the warmth of the 
 sun's rays is poured out with his light. Oh that our hearts 
 could see as do those of the saints ! — that our life were as full 
 of unceasing activity for God and the neighbor as His life is 
 unceasingly devoted to our souls' welfare ! — that, like St. 
 Ignatius and St. Angela Merici, our heart was so purified 
 from all earthly affections, and the eye of our soul so un- 
 clouded as to see in all that is fair and good and perfect here 
 below but the reflection of His beauty and goodness and 
 illimitable perfection — the streams descending from the ocean 
 of all being and perfection, up which our souls may reascend 
 to the Primal Source of life and love and joy eternal ! On 
 this one absorbing vision of the One infinitely true and fair 
 and good and lovable beyond all present thought, such pure 
 souls as Angela's are set from the dawn of reason. As to St. 
 Agnes, the little Roman maiden, so beautiful in the exquisite 
 simplicity of her childlike character, so heavenly in the angelic 
 light in which she beheld her Betrothed and the magnificences 
 of the invisible world — so to Angela Merici there was One 
 ever present who drew her eyes and her heart all to Himself, 
 and left no room in her soul for other love. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ST. Angela's con^stitutioks. 
 
 "We may fitly pause in spirit before the shrine of St. Angela 
 Merici in the Church of St. Afra, and, while kneeling with the 
 pilgrims from every land to look upon her venerable remains, 
 and to adore that God whose glory shines forth so wonder- 
 fully in His saints, cast our eyes upon the Constitutions 
 which she has left behind, as upon the worthiest monument 
 which could be placed beside her tomb. 
 
 These Constitutions divinely given to her, as she herself 
 hints repeatedly in her last instructions to her dear ones, 
 were the mould in which were cast and formed these primitive 
 Ursulines of Brescia, Cremona, and Milan, who so won the 
 admiration and reverence of all Upper Italy during the last 
 half of the sixteenth century, that France, the Low Countries, 
 and all Germany were fain to possess them. What though 
 the outward form changed with the new countries in which 
 they were called to labor, and with the imperious necessities 
 of the altered times and the increased labors they had to 
 assume ? The apostolic spirit breathed by St. Angela into the 
 Company of St. Ursula as trained and constituted by her, 
 the mighty educational purpose which lay at the foundation 
 of her institute, and the heroic virtues to which she had 
 formed her daughters and which result necessarily from that 
 formation — all passed into the congregated Ursulines of 
 
 29J: 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 295 
 
 Milan, and from them into the glorious monasteries of Aix 
 and Lyons, of Bordeaux and Paris. The spirit of St. Angela 
 so lived in the hundreds of Ursuline establishments which 
 flourished in France and the Netherlands, in Italy and Ger- 
 many, before the calamitous events of the French Revolution 
 and the Napoleonic Empire, that the dry-rot of tepidity or 
 worldliness never touched these nurseries of true Christian 
 womanhood. 
 
 Nor have all the storms which have assailed, in these same 
 countries, the impoverished and persecuted Ursuline monas- 
 teries during the present century impaired in aught either 
 the admirable fervor of these devoted teachers of youth, or 
 the culture which they bestow on their precious charge. In 
 New York, as in New Orleans and Quebec, as in Paris and 
 Brussels, as in Bordeaux and Vienna and Rome, the Virginal 
 Life of the daughters of Angela Merici sheds the same 
 heavenly fragrance all over the land, and bears the same 
 undying fruits for Christian homes and public society. 
 
 The study of these Constitutions, therefore, the principal 
 literary work bequeathed to us by St. Angela, is of deep 
 interest to the statesman as well as the churchman — to every 
 class of enlightened readers, indeed. 
 
 Travelers through Italy who have paused in Assisi to visit 
 the shrine of St. Francis will remember the beautiful little 
 Church of ^^the Portiuncula,'' preserved, like a casket of 
 gems, within the splendid temple erected above and around 
 it by the faith and piety of generations. The lowly little 
 Oratory of the Portiuncula was the first possession ever 
 bestowed on the seraphic saint and his followers — the first 
 spot which they might call their own to worship God in with- 
 out let or hindrance. When afterwards arose that stupendous 
 structure on which Christian artists lovingly lavished, century 
 after century, the tribute of their genius, they had no thought 
 
296 ST. ANGELA MERIGI, 
 
 of disturbing the primitive chapel in which the sweet saint 
 loved to refresh his soul in prayer. They covered it, on the 
 contrary, with artistic gems, the love-offerings of the Christian 
 heart to the cradle of a mighty religious Order. 
 
 Even so will the Ursulines of our day, no matter what may 
 be the congregation which claims their jBlial homage, cherish 
 this first cradle of their Order, and preserve it intact with 
 infinite reverence, while never ceasing to be grateful to God 
 for the more perfect Constitutions given to them, respectively, 
 by the Vicar of Christ on earth. 
 
 IK THE iq-AME OF THE MOST HOLY TKIKITY. 
 
 The Rule of the Company of St. Ursula of Brescia, 
 
 As it hath pleased God, my beloved daughters and sisters> 
 to draw you out of the darkness of this miserable world, and 
 to unite you in the service of His Divine Majesty, you are 
 bound to return Him endless thanksgiving for having be- 
 stowed on you after so special a manner this singular favor. 
 For how many exalted personages are there not — empresses, 
 queens, duchesses, and the like — who, in view of their own 
 greater glory and happiness, would be glad to be your humble 
 handmaidens, considering how much more noble and enviable 
 your condition is ? Wherefore, dear sisters, I exhort, or 
 rather, I beseech you, who have been chosen to be most truly 
 the chaste spouses of the Son of God, to consider how great, 
 how unheard-of, and how admirable is the dignity thus 
 conferred on you ; and then to endeavor by every means 
 within your power to remain ever worthy of the title by which 
 you are called. Seek to find and follow ev^ery path that can lead 
 you infallibly to this happy result, and in this path persevere 
 to the end. For no good beginning avails that is not crowned 
 by perseverance. These persons alone can save themselves 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 297 
 
 without difficulty who are willing to profit by all the neces- 
 sary ways and means. For there is but little difference in 
 saying to one's self, I am resolved to serve God no longer, and 
 in making up one's mind to reject the means and neglect the 
 rules which can alone help one to remain faithful in God's 
 service. 
 
 Hence the greater is the need which we have, dear sisters, 
 to be watchful in this matter, that we are the more called 
 upon to be so by the sublime dignity of our rank of affianced 
 brides to the Son of God, and destined queens of His king- 
 dom. Wherefore, also, the greater need of wariness and 
 prudence, that what we have engaged ourselves to accomplish 
 is of infinite importance. We must bear in mind that we 
 shall meet on our path all manner of formidable obstacles. 
 We are surrounded with dangers and snares. Our bodily 
 appetites and senses are not dead. And there are our sworn 
 enemies, " the world, the flesh, and the devil ;'^ the last rag- 
 ing and roving around us, seeking by every artifice to surprise 
 and devour us. Let not this, however, terrify us, dear sisters. 
 H in all future time you are resolved to live as becomes those 
 who are in very truth the brides of the Redeemer, and to 
 keep this Rule as the way by which you have to walk and in 
 which all is ordained for your good, I firmly trust and hope 
 in the Divine Goodness that we shall not only overcome all 
 difficulties and dangers, but that our victory shall be attended 
 with such honor and joy, that our little day of life shall seem 
 to be all consolation, that grief and sadness shall be changed 
 into sweetness and exultation : every thorny and stony path 
 shall become flowery, smooth, pleasant, and filled with golden 
 splendors.^ There the angels and the heavenly choirs shall 
 keep us company so long as we lead like them an angelic life. 
 
 1 Le strade spinose, erte, e sassosi faransi a noi floride, plane, gioconde, e di flmssimo 
 oro coperte. 
 
298 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 Let us then, dearest sisters, all together take this rule to our 
 hearts, coming as it does to us from the hand of God. Let 
 the careful observance thereof be to you what the arms of 
 Judith were, enabling her to cut off the head of Holofernes. 
 "We too shall cut down our enemy the devil, and gloriously 
 enter Heaven, triumphing there to the joy of both Heaven 
 and earth. 
 
 Wherefore, with the aid of God's grace, open your ears and 
 your heart to these precepts. 
 
 CHAPTER I. — HOW POSTULANTS AEE TO BE ADMITTED. 
 
 Let every one who desires to be received into this Company 
 bear in mind, above all things, that she must be a virgin. 
 Then, having moreover the firm purpose of serving God in 
 our way of life, she must come to us cheerfully and of her 
 own free-will. Thirdly, she must not be one who has bound 
 herself to enter any monastery, or who was disappointed by 
 a human lover. Fourthly, if she has a father, a mother, or 
 other superiors, she must begin by obtaining their permission. 
 The lady-directresses of the Company may, if needful, see the 
 latter and speak to them, whenever without a legitimate 
 reason they should chance to oppose their charge in their 
 wish to take on themselves the yoke of our holy obedience. 
 Fifthly, the postulant must have attained the age at least of 
 twelve years, before asking to be received ; she must be fifteen 
 before receiving the habit, and being admitted to the chapter ; 
 and she must be from eighteen to twenty when the time 
 comes for her receiving the veil and having her name inscribed 
 on the Company's register. Let those who are under age 
 remember that they can only be admitted among us for the 
 purpose of being trained to our way of life. 
 
AND THE UMSULINES, 299 
 
 CHAPTER II. — THE HABIT WORIT IK THE COMPANY. 
 
 Be it also borne in mind that the dress worn by us should 
 be becoming and simple, such as maidenly modesty demands. 
 Each one must wear her dress covering the entire figure, and 
 over it let her wear a linen veil of good texture, but by no 
 means transparent like cambric. Of this same quality should 
 be the other stuffs. The garments should be of woollen cloth, 
 or serge, and of a dark color. [Let them also wear a long 
 leathern cincture as a badge both of exterior and interior 
 mortification, and of perfect chastity ; and it is hereby 
 declared that the habit proper to the virgins of this Company 
 consists in the veil of linen and the leathern cincture. This 
 habit shall be forfeited by any one of the members who for 
 disobedience to the superiors, or for any other reason, shall be 
 dismissed from the Company ; and any one who would refuse 
 to lay the habit aside after dismission would incur the 
 penalty of excommunication, as it has been decreed by the 
 illustrious and most Reverend Charles (Borromeo) Cardinal 
 of St. Prasede, Visitor Apostolic, and at present a canonized 
 saint.] Their slippers, sandals, and shoes shall be black, 
 simple, and of becoming shape. Their underclothing must 
 have no embroideries ; they must not, finally, wear any of 
 the fashionable vanities in vogue, which might leave a stain 
 on their own conscience, be a cause of scandal to the neighbor, 
 or appear to be in opposition with virginal modesty. 
 
 CHAPTER III. — THE MAN^KER OF LIYIKG 1^ THE WORLD. 
 
 They must, moreover, bear in mind : firstly, to have noth- 
 ing to do with women of ill-repute ; secondly, that they must 
 never consent to receive messages from anj? man or woman, 
 particularly secret messages ; thirdly, that they are not to 
 
300 ST, ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 go to weddings, balls, carousals, and other sucli spectacles 
 where worldlings have their pleasure ; fourthly, that, for many 
 reasons, they are to avoid standing on balconies, beneath 
 doorways, or in the streets ; fifthly, that in passing through 
 the public highways they should have their eyes cast down, 
 their garments modestly closed and gathered up ; they should 
 go on their way quickly without loitering or stopping here 
 and there, or standing still to admire anything whatever ; 
 for in all places they may find manifold danger, and hidden 
 snares of the enemy ; sixthly, whenever their mothers or 
 other persons placed above them in the world would expose 
 them to any such dangers, or prevent them from fasting, 
 praying, going to confession, or any other such good work, 
 they are to lay the matter before the lady-directresses of the 
 Company, who will provide a remedy. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. — OK FASTIJSTG. 
 
 They are also to remember that each one ought and must 
 practise fasting from bodily aliment, as a thing that is nec- 
 essary and as a means for practising spiritual abstinence, by 
 which all mental vices and errors are extirpated. We are 
 evidently called on to^ do so by the example of all holy per- 
 sons and by the whole tenor of Christ's life, which is for us 
 the sole way leading to Heaven. This also is what the Church 
 our mother sounds in the ears of all her children, saying to 
 God (in the Preface for Lent) : '' Thou who by bodily fast- 
 ing dost repress vice, lift up the soul, and bestow both vir- 
 tue and its reward.'' ' Just as gluttony was the source of all 
 our woe, even so is it befitting that abstinence become the 
 origin and means of all our spiritual weal and increase. 
 Hence, we exhort every one of you to observe as a special 
 
 1 Qiii coi^porali jejvnio I'itia comprimis, mentem elevas, virhitem largiris et pre^nid- 
 
AND THE URSULIXES. 301 
 
 fasting day each of the following days throughout the year, 
 oyer and above the fasts prescribed by our Holy Mother the 
 Church. 
 
 1. We must fast during the whole of Advent. 
 
 2. We must fast three days each week, beginning with the 
 Wednesday following the second Sunday after the Epiphany. 
 
 3. We must fast, beginning with the week following the 
 octave of Easter, three days in each week, namely, Wednes- 
 day, Friday, and Saturday. 
 
 4. We must fast on the three Kogation Days, or the three 
 days immediately preceding the feast of the Ascension, dur- 
 ing which the Church chants the Litanies in solemn procession 
 to obtain the divine assistance for the Christian people. 
 
 5. We must fast and persevere in prayer, every day after 
 the Ascension to the coming down of the Holy Ghost — that 
 is, ^^the Easter in May" — beseeching the fulfillment of 
 Christ's magnificent promises to His elect and to all who 
 are intent on good works. 
 
 Inasmuch, however, as nothing is here demanded that is 
 not in accordance with reason and discretion, let no one un- 
 dertake the above fasts without the advice of the spiritual 
 father, and of the lady-directresses of this Company, to 
 whom it belongs to modify the number of these fasts as ne- 
 cessity may demand. 
 
 CHAPTER V. — 0^ PRAYER. 
 
 Bear also in mind that each one of you should be diligen 
 in what regards prayer, both mental and vocal ; for prayer 
 goes always hand in hand with fasting, even as the Scripture 
 saith : '^ Prayer is good with fasting ;'' ^ and hence we read 
 in the Gospel of Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, that she 
 
 * Tobias xii. 8. 
 
302 ST, ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 '^departed not from the Temple, by fasting, and prayers 
 serying night and day ;" ^ and as by fasting one mortifies 
 one's bodily appetites and senses, even so by prayer one ob- 
 tains from God the real gift of spiritual life. Wherefore, 
 considering our constant need of the divine assistance, we 
 should apply mind and heart to the task of praying without 
 intermission. AVe also, and by all means, recommend the fre- 
 quent use of Yocal prayer, which, by making us collect our 
 senses, disposes the soul to mental prayer. Let every one of 
 you, then, recite daily at least the Office of the Blessed Vir- 
 gin Mary and the seven Penitential Psalms, with attention 
 and fervor ; since, in reciting the Office, we converse with 
 our Lord. Those who do not know how to recite the Office 
 should learn from those who do. As to such as cannot read, 
 let them recite daily, at the hour of Matins, thirty-three 
 times the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary in honor of the 
 thirty-three years of our Lord's mortal life. At Prime let 
 them say the same seven times, to obtain the seven gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost ; and so at each of the other hours — Tierce, 
 Sext, Xone, Vespers, and Complin. And in order both to 
 afford matter for mental prayer, and to open some sort of a 
 way to it, we exhort every one of you to lift her soul to God 
 every day and to exercise herself in this manner of praying, 
 saying, in the secret of her heart, the following or some 
 other such form of prayer : 
 
 " Lord ! shed thy light on the dark places of my heart, 
 and grant me the grace rafcher to die than ever offend Thy 
 Divine Majesty. Give stability, Lord ! to my affections 
 and sentiments, so that they may cause me to commit no 
 transgression, nor to take my eyes away from the light of 
 Thy countenance, which is the sweet comfort of every afflict- 
 
 » St. Luke ii. 37. 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 303 
 
 ed soul. Oh, with what bitterness I feel, as I look into my 
 own heart, how I should blush to lift my eyes to Thee, know- 
 ing as I do that I deserve to be buried in hell ! Besides, 
 when I consider the errors of my ways, my spiritual deform- 
 ity, my baseness, the monstrous perversity of my actions, the 
 fearful fancies and figures that haunt my imagination, I am 
 compelled night and day, whether I walk or stand, work or 
 reflect, to cry out to Heaven, and to implore Thee, my God ! 
 to pity me and grant me time to do penance. 
 
 ^^ Vouchsafe, therefore, Lord ! to pardon all my sins, all 
 my faults — everything in which I have offended Thee since 
 my baptism. Vouchsafe also, Lord ! to forgive the sins of 
 my father and mother, of my relatives and friends, and of 
 all mankind. I beseech Thee to do so by Thy most sacred 
 Passion, by Thy precious Blood shed for the love of us, by 
 Thy Holy Name of Jesus, which I beg all earth and Heaven, 
 all the choirs of angels and archangels, to bless and praise 
 eternally. 
 
 ^' I am heartily sorry, Lord I to have begun so late to 
 serve Thy Divine Majesty. Wretch that I am, I have never, 
 up to this moment, shed so much as one drop of my blood 
 for love of Thee ; I have cared so little to be obedient to Thy 
 law, that the most trifling misfortune would fill me with 
 bitterness, loving Thee so little as I did. 
 
 '' My God, I grieve and feel my heart wrung with pain at 
 seeing all these unhappy creatures of Thine, who are so blind 
 as not to know Thee, who have no care of being made sharers 
 in the merits of Thy sacred Passion. Most willingly would 
 I, were it in my power, give my life to have the veil removed 
 from their eyes. 
 
 " Wherefore, my Lord and my God, Thou who art my 
 life and my hope ! I beseech Thee to take this unworthy and 
 unclean heart of mine, and to cleanse and chasten it in the 
 
304 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 furnace of Thy love. I beg Thee, Lord ! to take from me 
 all self-will, which, infected and blinded by sin, is nnable to 
 distinguish good from eyil. Accej)t, then, Lord ! every 
 thought and word and action of mine — everything, indeed, 
 whether interior or exterior, that belongs to me. I place 
 all here at the feet of Thy Divine Majesty, entreating Thee 
 not to reject it, all unworthy as my offering may be.^^ 
 
 CHAPTEK YI. — ON HEARIi^G MASS DAILY. 
 
 Let every one go to Mass daily, and hear at least one with 
 all modesty and devotion. In this adorable Sacrifice are con- 
 tained in the most wonderful way all the merits of the Pas- 
 sion of our dear Lord. The greater the attention, the faith, 
 the contrition of the assistants, the greater must be the 
 share they have in these blessed merits, and the deeper the 
 consolation derived therefrom. Thus you may communicate 
 spiritually. However, you must not loiter too long in the 
 church. If you are moved to make a longer prayer, go and 
 shut yourself up in your room, and there pray as the Spirit 
 of God and your own conscience shall dictate to you. 
 
 CHAPTER YII. — ON CONFESSIOK. 
 
 You are exhorted to go frequently to confession, in order 
 there to receive the remedy needful to the wounds of our 
 souls. Let every one present herself to the priest, as she 
 would to God, our Eternal Judge ; and there, grieving 
 with heartfelt sorrow and a firm purpose of renouncing every- 
 thing sinful, let her confess her sins and ask pardon therefor. 
 Let her kneel before her confessor with the reverence ex- 
 pected from persons of solid piety. Besides, you must 
 not forget that a particular place or church must be desig- 
 nated in which all must meet on the first Friday of each 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 305 
 
 month, and there receive communion from the spiritual 
 father. Moreover, we exhort each of you to confess and 
 receive communion in her own parish church on the great 
 feasts of the year. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. — 01^ 0BEDIE:S'CE. 
 
 We exhort each of you to observe holy obedience, which is 
 the only and true renouncement of one's own will. Obedi- 
 ence grounded in charity is, in the soul of man, like a great 
 light, in whose brightness all his works are made good and 
 acceptable. To have this light, let every one of you, first of 
 all, observe the Divine Precepts ; for it is written : " They 
 are accursed who decline from Thy commandments.'^ ^ Next, 
 we must obey the commandments of our Holy Mother the 
 Church, of whom the Truth hath said : " He that heareth 
 you, heareth Me ; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me." ^ 
 In the third place, you must obey your own bishop and 
 pastor, your spiritual father, the lady-directresses and other 
 superiors of the Cc mpany. In the fourth place, you must 
 obey your parents and the other persons placed above you at 
 home, of whom we advise you to ask pardon once a week in 
 sign of your obedience and of the love you bear them. 
 Fifthly, you must obey the laws and ordinances of the civil 
 magistrates. There is, besides, obedience due to our in- 
 terior inspirations, when on the judgment and approbation 
 of the spiritual father we know them to be from the Spirit 
 of God. 
 
 To resume : we are bound to obey God for love of Him, 
 and, following the injunction of the Apostle, we should be 
 subject '^to every human creature for God's sake," ^ where 
 what is commanded is not opposed to the divine honor, to 
 our own, or to our eternal salvation. 
 
 1 Ps. cxviii. 21. 2 St. Luke x. 16. » 1 Peter ii. 13 
 
306 8T. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. — OK YIRGINITY. 
 
 Eace: one must be careful to preserve holy virginity ; and 
 this, not because our Rule binds any one to make a vow of 
 virginity, but because every one should form the firm pur- 
 pose of keeping her virginal treasure entire for God. For vir- 
 ginity is so highly prized, that she is called the sister of the 
 angels, the conqueror of all sensual appetites, the queen of 
 virtues, and the mistress of all spiritual treasures. "Whence 
 it behooveth every one of you so to conduct herself in all 
 things, that she be conscious of doing nothing toward her- 
 self or in presence of others that might seem unbecoming a 
 bride of the Most High God. Therefore, above all things, 
 let her keep her heart pure, and her conscience free from 
 every evil thought, from every shadow of envy, ill-will, dis- 
 sension, rash judgment — in a word, from every sinful emotion 
 and desire. On the contrary, let her be joyous, filled with 
 charity, faith, and trust in God. 
 
 In conversing with the neighbor, let us be sensible and 
 modest, observing the counsel of the Apostle : " Let your 
 modesty be known to all men :^'^ thereby every action and 
 word of ours shall be decorous and well-timed. We must not 
 pronounce lightly the name of God ; nor use expressions like 
 an oath, but simply say '^ No, no ;^^ ''Yes, yes,'^ even as 
 our Lord taught us ; nor give haughty answers ; nor do what 
 we are asked with ill grace ; nor keep up anger ; nor mur- 
 mur ; nor ever relate what we saw that was evil ; nor, in 
 fine, must we ever be seen doing an action, or making so 
 much as a gesture, that could be deemed unseemly, especially 
 in one who glories in being Christ's handmaiden. Let all 
 our words and actions and movements be such as to edify 
 and teach those who know us intimately, proceeding always 
 
 » Philippians iv. 5. 
 
AND THE URSULmES, 307 
 
 from a heart inflamed with charity. Furthermore, each one 
 of us should be disposed to die rather than ever consent to 
 soil what is her sacred joy and her treasure. 
 
 CHAPTER X. — ON POVERTY. 
 
 "We exhort every one of you to embrace poverty, not merely 
 that which rids us of all love of temporal wealth, but above 
 all that poverty of our spirit, by which the soul puts away 
 from herself, all attachment to and hope of created and 
 transitory things, indeed, all love of one's self ; placing 
 all her treasures in God, and esteeming herself, without God, 
 poor in all things, and herself a mere nothing ; while, pos- 
 sessed of God, she possesses all things. This is what the 
 Gospel says : '^ Blessed are the poor in spirit !" ^ For this 
 purpose, let each one set herself about divesting herself of all 
 things, and placing all her wealth, her love, her delight, not 
 in dress, or in eating and drinking, or in her parents and 
 relatives, or in herself or her personal foresight and wisdom ; 
 but in God alone, and in His fatherly and infinitely wise 
 providence. This is why our Lord hath said : '' Seek ye, 
 therefore, first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all 
 these things shall be added unto you.^'^ Again He saith : 
 " Be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for 
 your body, what you shall put on. . . . For your Father 
 knoweth that you have need of all these things.^' ^ 
 
 chapter XI. — 0^ the G0YER5TMEKT AISTD OFFICERS OF THE 
 
 COMPANY. 
 
 Just as the Council of Trent has enjoined on all bishops 
 to have a care of those who lead the virginal life and live 
 under the regular discipline of monasteries ; even so are 
 
 1 St. Matthew v. 3. a xbid., vi. 33. » Ibid., 25, 33. 
 
308 8T, ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 bishops and pastors bound to have no less care of those who 
 lead the virginal life and have resolved to lead it forever 
 wJiile remaining within their own homes. Indeed, a greater 
 care would seem to be needful to the latter, w^hose perils are 
 greater and more numerous. Therefore it is that the Com- 
 pany of Virgins who combat under the standard and name 
 of St. Ursula, recognizing and obeying as their father, pastor, 
 and superior the present Bishop of Brescia, and every one 
 of his lawful successors, submit themselves to his obedience, 
 and recommend themselves to his fatherly and pastoral care. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. — OF THE FATHER OF THE EKTIRE COMPANY. 
 
 And because the care of so large a diocese would not per- 
 mit the bishop to occupy himself with all the concerns of our 
 Company, in the measure which would be necessary to main- 
 tain and advance its prosperity, it is indispensable that he 
 should have a vicar placed over it, whom all should accept as 
 their Father, and as the superior placed over them by the 
 bishop, and selected to fill the latter's place — a man to 
 whom all must render the obedience which is due to him. 
 
 As it belongs to the episcopal office to select this Father 
 and to place him over the whole Company of St. Ursula, as 
 his own vicar, so is it his privilege to confirm him, or to 
 change him at his owm discretion, when he shall know this 
 to be expedient or more useful to the Company. 
 
 This Father will have charge of all that regards the ad- 
 vancement of the Company, making it his duty to remove 
 every obstacle which may present itself in the general govern- 
 ment thereof, or arise from the conduct of some individual 
 subjects, and having recourse to the episcopal authority 
 whenever it is necessary. 
 
 The ladies who are charged with the government of the 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 309 
 
 Ooinpany may not convene a general congregation without 
 the said Father being present thereat, or without his formal 
 permission and approval ; wherefore, all the acts of such con- 
 gregation in which the said Father wo aid not be present, or 
 which would be held without his consent, are to be considered 
 as null and void. 
 
 The maidens who ask to be admitted into the Company 
 must be first examined and approved by the Father ; and 
 should any one be admitted without such examination and 
 approbation, she is in no wise to be considered to be admit- 
 ted, till she has been by him examined and approved. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. — 0^ THE SUBSTITUTE. 
 
 It is proper that there should be given to the spiritual 
 father, as a substitute and coadjutor, some other priest. 
 For, because of the increase of members and the extension of 
 the Company, it would become a very difficult matter for a 
 single priest to suffice for all the demands upon him, while, 
 on the other hand, the first Father hapj)ening to fail or to 
 be absent, it would be needful to have another used to the 
 spiritual government of the Company, and taking a heciriy 
 interest in its welfare. 
 
 This substitute shall .only have, in what regards the Com- 
 pany, such powers as the bishop may give him, and shall 
 only act under the direction of the Father of the Company. 
 
 On the two feast days which we particularly celebrate, 
 those, namely, of St. Catherine and St. Agnes, the solemnity 
 must be honored by the presence of the bishop, and timely 
 invitation must be sent him, so as to allow him to be with 
 us in good season. This must be more particularly observed 
 when on either of these feasts any of our sisters are, 
 through greater devotion and a desire of higher perfection, to 
 
310 ST, ANGELA MERICl 
 
 make a public yow of virginity. We here declare that such 
 Yows, although made in public, are not intended to be other 
 than simple vows. If on these feast days the bishop cannot 
 be present, the Father of the Company will do what is need- 
 ful. 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. — OK THE MOTHEE OF THE WHOLE COMPANY. 
 
 There shall be one Mother and Superior of the whole 
 Company, whose office shall be for life, and who shall be 
 chosen by the two thirds of the members conYcned for the 
 election, in the presence of the bishop, or, at least, in that 
 of the Father of the Company, and the person thus chosen 
 shall have no authority till she has been confirmed therein 
 by the bishop. 
 
 For this election of tlie Mother shall be convened all the 
 Lady-Directresses, and all the Mistresses, the Counselors {Av- 
 visatrici), with all the sisters who have been received into the 
 Company ; and the assembled electors shall be expressly ad- 
 monished to select the member most distinguished for her 
 edifying life, one of exemplary conduct, and tried by long 
 years in the practice of all the virtues ; so that she may pos- 
 sess over all the moral authority necessary toward directing 
 and leading them to that perfection of life which should be 
 the aim of all, and toward maintaining therein so many 
 souls, the servants and brides of our Lord. Above all, let 
 this person be known as a woman of eminent charity and 
 tenderness toward the young members of this Company, so 
 that in all their needs she may prove herself one who with a 
 ready motherly heart can help and comfort them. 
 
 "When they are assembled to elect the Mother, let each one 
 have with her a paper on which is written the name of her 
 chosen candidate, and this she shall place, folded, in a box 
 prepared for that purpose in the room. 
 
AND THE URSULmES. 311 
 
 If a person with the above qualities can be found among the 
 maiden sisters of the Company, she ought to be preferred to 
 a widow, inasmuch as the former belongs to a higher condi- 
 tion, to that indeed of those over whom she has to be placed 
 as Mother. In such a person, too, it is more likely to find a 
 deeper love and tenderness for the Company, whose child she 
 is and on whose milk she has been fed. Nor is it unlikely 
 that in her shall shine forth with greater lustre all the vir- 
 tues necessary to such a Mother, and in the practice of which 
 a maiden sister had always lived. 
 
 When, however, because of immature years or other rea- 
 sons, a proper person cannot be found among the maiden 
 sisters, let a widow be chosen on whom God hath bestowed 
 more abundantly than on the others the gifts above enumer- 
 ated. 
 
 The Mother should hold her office till death, unless her 
 great age or serious infirmities should disable her, or that^ for 
 some other cause connected with the greater good of the 
 Company, the bishop should deem it expedient to have 
 another chosen. 
 
 Although in choosing the Mother greater regard should be 
 had to maturity of spirit and tried constancy in virtue than 
 to ripe years ; nevertheless, it seems becoming that she 
 should not be under forty years of age when elected, and 
 that she should have been ten years a member of the Com- 
 pany, if a maiden sister, or, if she be a widow, she must 
 have moreover filled the office of vicar during ten years. 
 
 CHAPTER XY.— THE MOTHER YICAR. 
 
 liT order that the body of the Company should never on 
 any occasion remain without a head to rule and govern it, it is 
 of great importance that a vicar should be given to the 
 
312 
 
 ST. ANGELA MEUICI 
 
 Mother^ to hold the latter' s place when absent, and to aid her 
 in every emergency. 
 
 In the vicar should be found, let us say it briefly, the re- 
 quirements and qualities demanded by such an office, which 
 are none other than those which we have mentioned as neces- 
 sary to the Mother herself. 
 
 The Mother Yicar shall be elected with the formalities 
 prescribed for that of the Mother, and must, like her, be 
 confirmed by the bishop. 
 
 Although the Vicar fills the Mother's place during her ab- 
 sence, she may not in her absence introduce any innovation, 
 or change anything decreed by the Mother. Her duty shall 
 simply be to execute the Mother's ordinances or such meas- 
 ures as are prescribed by the Eule or otherwise decreed. 
 
 On all occasions she shall hold the first place after the 
 Mother, whose vicar she is. 
 
 When the Mother is present, the Vicar's authority shall 
 not differ in any way from that of the other assistants ; in 
 the absence of the Mother, she shall possess just the measure 
 of authority granted to her by the Mother, on whom, while 
 she lives, the Vicar has to depend in everything. 
 
 When the Mother dies, the government passes into the 
 hands of the vicar till the election of a new Mother, when 
 the vicar's ofiice ends. To the vicar belongs to perform all 
 that is needful for the burial of the dead Mother as well as 
 for the election of a new Mother, according to the ordinances 
 of the Company. 
 
 She can not lawfully, either during the lifetime of the 
 Mother, or during the interval between her death and the 
 election of a successor, admit either to the chapter or into 
 the body of the Company any maiden-sister, even though 
 the assistants and the lady-directresses should consent to her 
 doinir so. And what is here said of admissions must be also 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 313 
 
 understood of dismissions from the Company. This must be 
 reserved to the Mother to whose office it properly belongs ; 
 and we hereby declare that all admissions or dismissions 
 occurring during the absence or death of the Mother are 
 absolutely null. 
 
 The yicar shall make no outlay that is not usual or de- 
 manded by urgent necessity during such absence or death. 
 
 Although the office of the vicar and of the assistants 
 expires with the creation of a new Mother, the vicar can be 
 continued in her charge, should the general congregation 
 judge this expedient in view of the divine glory, and the 
 utility of the Company, 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. — THE ASSISTANTS. 
 
 Although it has been settled that there shall be but one 
 Mother Superior of the whole Company, in conformity with 
 the wise opinion which prefers the government of the one to 
 that of the many ; nevertheless, taking into consideration the 
 great needs of all these servants of Christ our Lord, exposed 
 as they are to manifold and various perils of soul and body ; 
 and considering also that the unaided strength of a single 
 person cannot provide for so great a family without the risk 
 of harm or disorder among her charge — we deem it necessary 
 to give to the Mother four other ladies as her assistants, with 
 whom she can confer and consult concerning all the affairs 
 and needs of the entire Company, or which may relate to any 
 one of its subjects. 
 
 Let the Mother Superior hold no deliberation on matters 
 of any importance relating either to the common welfare or 
 •the good of individuals, without the advice and consent of 
 the majority of her assistants or of at least two of them — and 
 this in order that the deliberations should be conducted with 
 
314 ST, ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 more light, more prudence, more aid from the Holy Spirit, 
 to the greater glory of our Lord, and the increase of peace 
 and progress of the Company, as well as the riper benefits for 
 all its subjects. For it is a thing on which all men have 
 agreed, that the eyes of two persons see more than those of 
 one. 
 
 The qualities required in the assistants, as is evident from 
 the nature of their office, should resemble those demanded of 
 the Mother Superior herself. They shall be chosen by the 
 same electors and in the same form as the Mother ; imme- 
 diately after her, and with the approbation of the bishop. 
 
 "What was said above of the Mother Superior must also be 
 said of them ; they should be riper in mind and virtue than 
 in years. Nevertheless, for very just reasons, no one should 
 be elected to the office of assistant, who has not passed her 
 thirtieth year ; and if they are maiden sisters, they must have 
 had ten years of membership in the Company ; and if widows, 
 they must have spent five years in governing the Company. 
 
 Their office is not for life, but expires with the Mother, 
 with whom they were elected. They may be confirmed in 
 their charge at the election of a new Mother ; and should any 
 one of them die before the Mother, another person is to be 
 chosen in her stead by the Mother, the remaining assistants, 
 the lady-directresses, the mistresses, and counselors, in pres- 
 ence of the Father and with his consent. 
 
 The office of the assistants consists in affording as much 
 help as possible to the Mother. Let them meet once in the 
 week to consult together on such affairs as have to be dis- 
 patched to provide for all the pressing needs of the Company 
 at large or of particular members. Hence they must not call 
 together the lady-directresses save when this can be done 
 without inconvenience, and v/hen some grave and urgent 
 necessity occurs to which they are not equal. 
 
AND THE VBSULINES. 315 
 
 One of the assistants shall be selected to take the Mother^s 
 place in keeping the moneys of the Company, as well as a full 
 account of receipts and payments. She must carry out with 
 diligence and charity whatever shall be determined by the 
 assistants in council or what shall be ordered by the Mother. 
 To fill such a charge as this, the person selected must be one 
 who, in the judgment of all, shall have displayed equal ability 
 and experience in treating business matters as well as in her 
 own household management. 
 
 What has been said about the Mother should be reaffirmed 
 of the assistants and of all persons fit to govern the Company ; 
 when subjects are found among the maiden-sisters dis- 
 tinguished for prudence, charity, and other shining virtues, 
 they are always to be preferred to ladies who are not of 
 maidenly condition, and that for the reasons already 
 enumerated. 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. — OK THE LADY-DIRECTRESSES. 
 
 CocN'SiDERii^'G the large number (ever increasing through 
 the blessing of our Lord) of His servants and spouses, and 
 hoping for a still larger increase, and for the purpose of secur- 
 ing to them better government with greater security and 
 provision against every need, let there be elected also eight 
 ladies, distinguished for their practical judgment, their 
 prudence, and other ripe virtues, more even than for their 
 advanced age, to each of whom one district of the eight into 
 which the city has been divided shall be made over that she 
 may have a special and loving care of the sister maidens living 
 in that district, which should also be her own place of resi- 
 dence. Below shall be found the rules and methods to be 
 followed by each in governing her little Sock. 
 
 These lady-directresses are to be elected and confirmed in 
 
316 ST. ANGELA MERIGI, 
 
 the manner prescribed for the assistants and for the Mother ; 
 and when any one of them is taken away by death or other- 
 wise, let another be chosen in her place by the Mother, the 
 assistants, the lady-directresses, and all the others who meet 
 to elect the assistants. 
 
 To these lady-directresses it will belong to make known all 
 the needs both of the Company in general, and of their own 
 charge in particular. ISTo one of them, howeyer, may busy 
 herself with the concerns of another lady-directress's charge 
 — unless she be impelled to do so by informing such lady- 
 directress of what relates to persons subject to the latter, and 
 in order to enable her to provide a proper remedy. Should 
 the latter, however, neglect to do so, then the matter can be 
 laid before the Mother and her assistants, that they may see 
 to it in their wisdom. 
 
 No postulant shall be presented by any person to the 
 Father or to the Mother of the Company, either to receive 
 the habit, or to be accepted and admitted into the Company, 
 or to make the vows, unless such postulant shall have been 
 first examined by the lady-directress of the district in which 
 such postulant lives. Moreover, the mistress who in this 
 same district is like the executive of the lady- directress, 
 should also beforehand have had information about such 
 postulant. Furthermore, the Mother Superior herself of the 
 whole Company may not accept or present for acceptation to her 
 council of government any maiden whatever, without follow- 
 ing the order prescribed here ; and this, in order that every- 
 thing may be done with greater regularity and uniformity, 
 and that these maidens may be well known and carefully 
 examined, who are to be accepted or who are preparing to 
 be accepted in the future. 
 
 Whenever it happens that one of the lady-directresses is 
 chosen to be assistant to the Mother, another directress is to 
 
ANB THE URSULINES. 317 
 
 be elected in her place, who shall replace the new assistant in 
 hor charge over the maiden-sisters. 
 
 What has been said of the proper age of the assistants 
 applies equally to the lady-directresses. 
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. — THE OFFICE OF THE LADY-DIRECTRESSES. 
 
 The ladies should inform themselves minutely about the 
 maiden -sisters intrusted to their care. Let them know the 
 name (rf each, with that of her abode and family ; let them 
 be acquainted with the rank and condition of each, with their 
 habits, their conduct, and their conversation both inside and 
 outside their homes. 
 
 Let them see to it that the sisters are most diligent in 
 putting into practice all the prescriptions of the Eule as 
 taught them by the mistresses. This they can make sure of 
 by making the former give an account from time to time of 
 the lessons taught them by the latter. With those in particu- 
 lar whom they suspect of carelessness, of tepidity, or of little 
 liking for spiritual things, or who are exposed to some great 
 danger, they must exercise a more diligent watchfulness. 
 
 Let them also know who is the confessor appointed for 
 each, and endeavor to ascertain whether the sisters are 
 punctual in receiving the sacraments of Penance and 
 Eucharist on the days prescribed, if they are constant in 
 going to the same confessor, or if they like to change. Let 
 them try especially to know if the sisters are in need of help 
 either for their bodily or for their spiritual wants. 
 
 And, although our chief concern should be about the soul, 
 nevertheless it is a duty of charity to bestow also help on 
 the body — especially when sickness or poverty has reduced 
 any of the maiden-sisters to real want. For, then, it should 
 be seen to that bodily want become not a danger for the soul 
 itself. 
 
318 ST. ANGELA MERICI 
 
 This motherly care must increase whenever any one belong- 
 ing to their charge is drawing near her last hour ; then, two 
 sisters, judged the most able to assist the sufferer in her 
 extreme need, should be sent to remain with her. 
 
 When any sister dies, her lady-directress should provide for 
 all that is necessary toward her funeral service and burial, 
 notifying the spiritual father and the Mother Superior, that 
 these also may do their duty. 
 
 They shall have the greatest care of the novices, making 
 the mistresses and counselors visit them, and seeking by every 
 means to obtain a detailed knowledge of their habits and way 
 of living ; so that when the time comes for admitting these 
 to the chapter or unto the Company, the ladies may be able 
 to give certain and truthful information concerning them to 
 the other directresses. 
 
 Every directress should call to her the mistress and coun- 
 selor at least every fortnight, in order to consult about the 
 wants of the maiden-sisters of their district. 
 
 Let them be also careful to assemble all the sisters of their 
 district at the time appointed, inquiring into and providing 
 for the need of each ; let them make a note of the necessities 
 which present themselves and endeavor to meet them ; and 
 if they cannot do so, let them expose them in the general 
 congregation. 
 
 Should any one of the sisters be guilty of disobedience, or 
 misbehave in any other way, her lady-directress must impose 
 on her some salutary penance, v/hich, being in conformity 
 with the delinquent's disposition, may, with the help of God, 
 bring about amendment. 
 
 Above all things, let each lady-directress love all the 
 maiden-sisters of her charge with that true charity which 
 comes from the heart, and which is due to those who are the 
 chosen brides and dear children of Christ Himself, endeavor- 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 319 
 
 ing to take them all to her heart with a true motherly 
 affection ; not looking down on them as persons beneath her 
 own rank, but seeing in them God Himself, for whose sake 
 she has undertaken to care for them. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. — OF THE MISTRESSES. 
 
 Besides the directresses, it is necessary that there should be 
 eight other persons — mistresses, as it were, who, under the 
 direction of these ladies, shall deal more familiarly and 
 frequently with the maiden-sisters of each district, comforting 
 these assiduously with loving care, and, whenever there is 
 need, correcting them with that charity and respect which 
 the Spirit of Christ requires. Whenever they meet with 
 that obstinacy and incorrigibleness which renders correction 
 unavailing, they must lay the case before the lady-directress, 
 relating what they have themselves done in the way of reproof, 
 and then the directress will apply the proper remedy. 
 
 As to the mistresses, their endeavor must be to manifest 
 their great solicitude for the maiden-sisters of their charge, by 
 taking pains to become acquainted with the natural disposi- 
 tion of each one, her inclinations and habits. Let them 
 observe how they behave both in the bosom of their families 
 and outside of their homes ; and for that purpose let them 
 pay the sisters frequent visits, and that unexpectedly. 
 
 Let these mistresses be ordinarily chosen from the maiden 
 class, and persons of such ripe judgment, exemplary life, and 
 proved virtue, that they can be unhesitatingly intrusted with 
 the formation and direction in spiritual life of so many 
 servants of our Lord. They should be adorned with such 
 shining virtues, that any lack of authority due to their youth 
 might be compensated by the esteem and respect in which 
 they are held by all. 
 
320 ST, ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 These mistresses shall be elected and confirmed in the same 
 manner as the lady-directresses ; and to each directress it will 
 belong to designate the mistress who^ in her judgment, is the 
 best fitted for her district : each mistress, in order to qualify 
 herself for the efiicient discharge of her important functions, 
 being careful to observe the following rules, to read them 
 often, and then bear them easily in mind, when an opportunity 
 occurs to apply them : 
 
 The office of a mistress shall be — as the name itself in- 
 dicates — to train the maiden-sisters placed under her care. 
 The first means for so training these must be the mistress's 
 own exemplary life, in which ought to be mirrored forth the 
 life to be led by all the maiden-sisterhood of St. Ursula. 
 
 She must often call around her these maiden-sisters, and 
 exhort them with loving words dictated by true charity to be 
 earnest in acquiring the spiritual perfection which is necessary 
 to their calling, to use unhesitatingly all the means at their 
 command, to avoid everything that might be an obstacle on 
 the road to holiness, and to bend all their energies toward a 
 most faithful observance of our rules. 
 
 When the time appointed for a congregation (or general 
 meeting of all the sisters) of each district, the mistress shall 
 give them the following " Eeminders :'^ 
 
 1. Let them be mindful to fulfill carefully and lovingly 
 God's holy commandments and those of His Church, showing 
 thereby openly the reverence and awe which they entertain 
 toward the Divine Majesty. For — and they must not forget 
 it — if it be incumbent on all true Christians *to observe both 
 the law of God and that of His Church, how much more so 
 are our sisters obliged thereunto ? 
 
 2. In urging upon them the faithful observance of the 
 Divine Law, we intend also to remind them more particularly 
 of the precept enjoining reverence and obedience toward those 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 321 
 
 whom they call '^Fathers" and ''Mothers/' both of the 
 body and of the soul — and indeed toward all superiors. One 
 who carefully remembers and diligently fulfills the latter 
 precept of reverence and obedience toward parents and 
 superiors, will be all the more likely to fulfill the former ; 
 indeed, it will help toward fulfilling all the others. 
 
 3. Inasmuch as it is most proper that one who professes to 
 be the bride and servant of Christ should be the faithful 
 imitator of all the virtues of the Divine Bridegroom ; and 
 because among the manifold virtues which adorned His life, 
 charity, humility, meekness, and gentleness shone forth with 
 a special lustre ; therefore is it becoming that the mistresses 
 should, in these general assemblies, specially impress upon 
 their young charge the necessity of displaying in their home- 
 life these same virtues of charity, patience, humility, and 
 gentleness. 
 
 4. They are to be reminded not to cultivate the acquaintance 
 of all sorts of persons. Let them be familiar only with such 
 as lead a pious life like themselves ; such persons only can by 
 their intercourse contribute to the good name of our sisters 
 as well as to their real happiness. As to worldly-minded and 
 ill-famed women — they are to be shunned. The sisters must 
 never converse with men without having a companion with 
 them, and without a real neccessity. 
 
 5. Those who make profession of the virginal life should 
 ever bear with them the lighted lamp of good works, so as 
 to shed the light of edification on all who see them. They 
 should, therefore, have a care not to give cause of offence to 
 others, as, for instance, one might easily do by being talka- 
 tive, or by conversing about frivolous or worldly matters — 
 and much more so by backbiting, or by giving ear to detrac- 
 tion. It would be most unedifying to be seen running to the 
 
322 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 window, loitering beneath doorways and porticoes, or stand' 
 ing still to gossip in the streets. 
 
 6. Let the mistresses confirm those of their charge in their 
 design of remaining maidens, or (for such as have made it") 
 of keeping faithfully their yow of virginity. And let them 
 impress upon the sisters that such virginity should be not 
 merely that of the body, which once lost is lost forever ; but 
 that of the soul, toward the preservation of which all the 
 avenues of the senses should be most sacredly guarded. 
 
 7. Let their dress be such as becomes their calling and the 
 spiritual perfection which they professedly strive after, and 
 in conformity with our Rule. As they are bound to wear 
 a veil and cloak of non-transparent stuff, so they must avoid 
 these habits of softness and fastidiousness, which constitute 
 no slight danger for maidenly modesty, when they do not 
 tend to ruin it inevitably. 
 
 8. Let the sisters receive the sacraments at least once a 
 month, and more frequently if it should be judged proper by 
 the confessor of each. Let them assist punctually at sermons 
 and Scripture-lessons ; and learn from them what may 
 greatly help toward their own spiritual advancement. 
 
 9. When no lawful impediment prevents them, let them 
 endeavor to hear Mass every morning, making it their care to 
 assist at this Divine Sacrifice with all interior devotion, while 
 edifying by their exterior reverence all those- who are present. 
 
 10. Let the mistresses recall to them the necessity of 
 busying themselves, each with the approval of her confessor, 
 in some pious work, and particularly in giving christia^^ 
 EDUCATiO]^. Let the sisters be prompt and obedient to the 
 voice of their superiors, and so demean themselves in their 
 special good works, and particularly in teaching, that their 
 pupils shall learn from them virtiious habits as well as the 
 knowledge of their religion. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 323 
 
 11. Such of them as are compelled by poverty to leave 
 their own homes and live with others, are to be told that 
 they must not visit outside of their abode without the con- 
 sent of their confessor and of their lady-directress. Nor 
 must they change their place of residence without the knowl- 
 edge and consent of the same. 
 
 12. They are also to be told that, however praiseworthy a 
 thing it be to make a long stay in the church, nevertheless, 
 when, in the judgment of those who have care of their souls, 
 they have spent in devotion the necessary time, they must go 
 home. It is not becoming that our maiden-sisters should be 
 overmuch abroad ; and prolonged absence must inconvenience 
 their household. Let them be caref al to derive as much de- 
 votion from their staying in the house as they are to edify by 
 their modesty outside of it. 
 
 13. It is also to be impressed on them that it is quite op- 
 posed to the decencies of their calling to go forth frequently 
 into the streets without any necessity. Wherefore, let them 
 not be seen passing through the city, unless there be a neces- 
 sity for doing so, or unless they are called by their respective 
 counselors to the general or particular congregations, or to the 
 solemn processions. To such all are to go when not kept at 
 home by necessity. For such necessary absence a respectful 
 and humble excuse is to be given. 
 
 14. Although the fasts prescribed by the Eule do not 
 oblige under pain of sin, nevertheless the sisters are to be 
 exhorted to keep them so far as their strength will permit 
 and with the advice of the confessor. 
 
 15. They are also to be told that every one must have a 
 fixed confessor, whom they may not change without permi^^ 
 sion from the spiritual father of the Company, 
 
 16. On the last Sunday of each month all are to go to the 
 church of the Company, where the Rules shall be publicly 
 
324 8T, ANGELA MERICl 
 
 read. The sisters are to lay these Kules to heart in order to 
 observe them faithfully. In the same Church they are all to 
 receive Holy Coiiimunion on the first Friday of the month, 
 unless prevented by some lawful reason, in which case they 
 are to excuse themselves with all humility. 
 
 17. They must not go outside of the city without the per- 
 mission of their lady-directress. 
 
 18. The mistresses, besides all this, must take a great care 
 of the novices, and see to it that these are instructed on 
 all the various matters herein mentioned. They are to see 
 the novices frequently for the purpose of becoming thor- 
 oughly acquainted with them and with their way of living. 
 Thus, when the time comes for admitting these beginners to 
 the chapter or into the body of the company, the mistresses 
 will be able to give to the ladies charg-ed with the govern- 
 ment the full information required. 
 
 CHAPTEK XX. — OF THE COUNSELORS. 
 
 As the mistresses may be prevented by their occupations 
 and sometimes even by their age from visiting as frequently as it 
 would be needful the sister-maidens of their charge, it is nec- 
 essary that there should be other ladies intrusted with this 
 care. These shall have it as their duty to visit the sisters on 
 the proper occasions, and to observe the proceedings of the 
 latter, informing thereof the respective directresses and mis- 
 tresses, so that these may the better govern and direct their 
 subjects, or bring them back to the rule whenever they devi- 
 ate from it. ■ 
 
 These ladies shall be called Counselors, It will be also 
 their duty to call the sisters of their district whenever their 
 respective mistresses want to see them, or when the lady- 
 directresses want to have them meet together, or, again. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 325 
 
 when the Mother Superior desires them to assemble in gen- 
 eral or particular congregation pursuant to the ordinances. 
 
 Their number is to be equal to that of the directresses and 
 mistresses^ so that every district shall have its own counsel- 
 or as it has directress and its mistress. To these the coun- 
 selors must be subordinated as their ministers, helping them 
 in the matters above-mentioned as well as in others, as occa- 
 sion shall demand or obedience prescribe. They must be no 
 less ripe in virtue than in years, well known for their blame- 
 less conduct, and of about fifty years of age. They may be 
 chosen from among the maiden -sisters or the matrons, from 
 the former in preference, for this and all such offices, because 
 of the higher dignity of the virginal state. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. — OF THE GElsTERAL COiq'GREGATIOI^ OP THE 
 COMPANY OF ST. URSULA. 
 
 The first thing which may be prudently stated regarding 
 the general congregation, is that to it should be called all 
 persons holding offices in the government thereof, together 
 with all the maiden-sisters who have been admitted into the 
 body of the Company, whether these have bound themselves 
 by the vow of virginity or not. 
 
 The general congregation must be convened when it is 
 necessary to elect the Mother of the whole Company, or one 
 of the assistants or one of the lady-directresses. 
 
 To the Mother Superior or to the person holding her place, 
 it shall belong to call this congregation and to compel the 
 assistance of the electors. [The place of assembly shall be 
 the Church of the Pieta bestowed on the Company ; but this 
 is left to the judgment of the Mother and of the spiritual 
 father of the Company.] 
 
 Every one of the electors on entering the place appointed 
 
326 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 should make a brief prayer, recommending to God our Lord 
 the business about to be transacted. This done she will take 
 the place assigned to her either on account of the office she 
 holds, or on that of her date of admission to the Company. 
 And this same order is to be observed by all in giving their 
 votes. 
 
 The person whose oflBce it shall be to call the congrega- 
 tion together shall also take care that, while those already 
 assembled are waiting for the others, some pious book be 
 read ; as well to shut out idleness and to fill up profitably the 
 time of waiting, as to preclude all opportunity for talking, 
 and other such inconveniences. 
 
 Let all the electors be fully warned that they must not en- 
 deavor directly or indirectly, by their own exertions or by 
 others, to secure the election of this or that person, or the 
 rejection of this or that person. But let them after recom- 
 mending the matter to God, allow the Spirit of God to sug- 
 gest His choice as it please th Him, and thus to cause that 
 person to be elected who may best promote the Divine honor 
 and the welfare of the Company. It is not thereby forbid- 
 den to the electors that when they are questioned about the 
 qualifications of certain persons, they may not answer truly ; 
 but they are to guard against the danger of allowing their 
 own affections to exaggerate unduly the virtues of one per- 
 son or the imperfections of another. 
 
 Let the person whose office it is to preside over the con- 
 gregation see to it that the place of assembly be suitably pre- 
 pared and furnished, so that all the electors may be seated 
 according to their rank ; and let there be a table with a box 
 or urn in which each elector can deposit her written vote. 
 
 Let the spiritual father in the absence of the bishop, as 
 soon as the congregation is opened, recite the prayer ap- 
 pointed for such occasions. The same is to be done in clos- 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 327 
 
 ing the meeting. Only, when some matter of extraordinary 
 importance has to be decided by the congregation, it will 
 be proper to recite the hymn " Yeni, Creator/' and at the 
 end of the assembly in which the Mother is elected, the 
 ^' Te Deum laudamus'' with an appropriate prayer should 
 be said. If the mother be not chosen, some other prayer will 
 do. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. — OF THE GENERAL. COKGREGATIOK OF THE 
 OFFICERS OF THE COMPANY. 
 
 It is most seemly that the governing body should be well 
 ordered, since on its being so depends good order throughout 
 the entire Company. Now, to secure a well ordered and reg- 
 ulated government, five things are to be considered here : 
 the persons to be called to this congregation, the motives 
 which have led to its being convened, the time and the place 
 of meeting, and the forms to be observed in its sessions. 
 
 1. The persons whom it is proper to call to this congrega- 
 tion are : the Father and his substitute ; the Mother Su- 
 perior and her four assistants, and the eight lady-direct- 
 resses with their mistresses and counselors. Moreover, 
 when temporal affairs are to be discussed, the protectors of 
 the Company should also be admitted. The Father substi- 
 tute can fill the functions of chancellor. 
 
 2. The motives for calling this congregation shall be : to 
 decide whether a general congregation should be convened ; 
 the choice of some oflBcer whose election regards this con- 
 gregation — as, for instance, the election of a counselor, or 
 of a protector of the Company ; the admission of some of 
 the maiden-sisters to the chapter or the body of the Com- 
 pany, or the dismission of those guilty of misconduct or dis- 
 obedience ; the decision of some matter advantageous to the 
 Company ; and, finally, the necessity of meeting some local 
 
328 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 need pointed out by the lady-directresses, and which cannot 
 be met in the district meetings. 
 
 3. The proper time for assembling shall be : a few days 
 before the time apj)ointed for admitting the maiden-sisters ; 
 a few days before the time appointed for making the volun- 
 tary Yow of yirginity ; the ninth week after the eight suc- 
 cessive weekly district meetings held by the lady-directresses. 
 
 4. [The place of assembly shall be the house of St. Ursala, 
 which is] the house of the Company, and which the Mother 
 will have prepared for the comfortable accommodation of the 
 members. 
 
 5. The form to be observed shall be : When -any one of the 
 above motives presents itself for assembling the congregation, 
 the Mother will consult with the spiritual father, fix with 
 him the time and place of meeting, and give notice thereof 
 to all the members of the Congregation. On entering the 
 place of meeting, let each one pray for the success of the 
 matter under deliberation, and then take her appointed 
 place. The lady-directresses shall present a written state- 
 ment of the needs of their respective districts to the Mother, 
 who will hand them all over to the Spiritual Father. In 
 order that no time be lost, the spiritual father will ask one 
 of the members present to read out of some pious book, the 
 others listening in silence. When one half of the officers 
 called have arrived, the reading is stopped, and the congre- 
 gation is opened in the following manner : 
 
 The spiritual father or his substitute kneels down with all 
 the members present and says the prayer appointed, which is 
 also to be done at the close. The prayer ended, the spiritual 
 father or the substitute, having determined the matters to 
 treat of, and the order in which they are to be proposed, 
 states them successively, each member being allowed to ex- 
 press her opinion freely. The judgment of the majority is 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 329 
 
 to be held as decisive on every matter so proposed. Daring 
 these deliberations each member should remember two 
 things : firsts to give her opinion standing, unless prevented 
 by age or infirmity, and that she may not without permission 
 speak twice on the same subject ; the second is, that when 
 the majority have adopted a contrary decision, she must show 
 neither temper nor displeasure, but acquiesce in the judgment 
 of the majority. 
 
 Let every decision arrived at by the congregation be en- 
 tered on the book of records by the chancellor, in order to 
 secure a better execution of the measures adopted. In the 
 next meeting of the congregation the records will show 
 whether the decisions have or not been carried out faithfully. 
 Wherefore, at the beginning of each congregation, as soon as 
 the opening prayer has been said, the minutes of the former 
 assembly shall be read to ascertain how far the orders of the 
 congregation have been executed, and what other remedy 
 may be judged necessary in the premises. 
 
 Each session is to be closed with prayer, and with the 
 spiritual father's blessing. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. — OF THE DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES OR C02q"GRE- 
 
 GATIOIfS, 
 
 What has been said about the general assemblies of the 
 governing body, applies in a great measure to the order and 
 proceeding to be observed in the district assemblies. The 
 members composing each district congregation are the three 
 superintendents of each, namely, the lady-directress, the mis- 
 tress, and the counselor, together with all the maiden-sisters 
 already admitted to the chapter or to membership, or pre- 
 sented to the lady-directress for inscription in the district 
 book, or in the list of the counselor. No other person is to 
 
330 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 be admitted except the Mother Superior and the spiritual 
 father, who have a right to be present at all assemblies. 
 
 The motives for calling these district assemblies may be 
 manifold, as are the necessities which may arise. There are, 
 however, three causes of more general occurrence : The first 
 is to ascertain, how the rules of the Company are observed by 
 all the members, as well as the ordinances of the particular 
 congregations. The second, to draw attention to the ordi- - 
 nances of the governing body, and to publish them officially. 
 The third is to provide a remedy for the pressing bodily and 
 spiritual needs of each district. 
 
 The ordinary time of meeting shall be fixed by the Mother 
 Superior and the spiritual father, and notified to each lady- 
 directress. The extraordinary occasions shall be whenever 
 the lady-directress finds it expedient to call a meeting in 
 order to provide for some important need, or when some ur- 
 gent necessity compels her to take such action ; in this case, 
 the meeting must not be held without the previous consent 
 of the Mother Superior and the Spiritual Father. 
 
 As to the place of meeting, let it be chosen with a regard 
 to the convenience of the sisters who live farthest off, to the 
 quickness of the deliberations, and to remoteness from the 
 busy haunts of men. The counselor must prepare every- 
 thing in the place of meeting, seats for all, but special raised 
 seats for the directress and mistress, and one a little lower for 
 herself. The sisters will occupy three rows of benches in 
 front of the directress : on the first row shall be seated the 
 maiden-sisters admitted to membership; on the second, all 
 those who have entrance into the chapter ; and on the third, 
 the postulants. Some holy image shall also be conveniently 
 placed, before which the sisters on entering can make a short 
 prayer for the success of the deliberation. 
 
 As to the manner of proceeding, this is to be observed : 
 
^JVD THE URSULmES. 331 
 
 When the meeting has been resolved upon, the directress, 
 mistress, and counselor should confer together, at least three 
 days before the opening of the district congregation, about 
 the needs of their district and the matters to be discussed at 
 the session ; and this, in order that everything should be 
 brought forward, and understood to better purpose, and that 
 the needful measures should be decreed more understand- 
 ingly. They must next determine the hour of meeting, con- 
 sulting therefor the convenience of all the members, and ap- 
 point as well the most favorable place. The counselor shall 
 be instructed to inform the sisters of all this, bidding them 
 all, in the name of the directress, to be present at the congre- 
 gation. Each one, on coming into the hall, shall kneel to 
 pray before the sacred image, and then, saluting the others in 
 our Lord, take her appointed place. While they are coming 
 in the mistress shall have a pious book read. When all are 
 assembled, or, at least, one half of them, the list of names is 
 read out, and the absences noted. This done, the opening 
 prayer is recited, and the session begins in this way. First, 
 the lady-governess explains why the congregation has been 
 called ; next, she will ask of each sister how she has been 
 since the last congregation, and how to her knowledge the 
 rules and ordinances have been observed. Then she will beg 
 the mistress to give an account of each of her subjects ; as 
 to how the sisters have read and understood the rules and 
 prescriptions given them, and all that pertains to the dis- 
 charge of the mistress's office. The counselor shall be re- 
 quired to state how far each one of the sisters has faithfully 
 observed the rules and ordinances of the Company ; for the 
 counselors are the guardians to whom the Company commits 
 the keeping of the maiden- sisters of St. Ursula. Their duty 
 is to punish by proportionate penances all carelessness and 
 culpable neglect in keeping the rules, and all acts of disobe- 
 
332 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 dience toward the superiors, consulting in their corrections 
 what is due to the edification of the other members. 
 
 When any new decision of the congregation of goyern- 
 ment is to be published in the district assembly, the lady- 
 directress must have it so read and explained that all can 
 understand it. She will ask of all present if they find any 
 difficulty in executing this decision ; and should any one of 
 them express unwillingness, the directress must take pains to 
 remove it, advising the dissatisfied person to be satisfied, and 
 leave all in the hands of the superiors. But should she remain 
 obstinate in her opposition, a note is to be taken of her 
 persistency, and the matter is to be referred to the congrega- 
 tion of government for final action. 
 
 Whenever it is necessary to make provision in the district 
 assembly for the corporal or spiritual necessities of the maid- 
 ens, this must be done with all the tact and charity possible. 
 Especially is this indispensable when we have to meet the 
 spiritual needs of any sister ; we must have regard to the 
 natural disposition and social rank, and be careful not to 
 embitter her by sharp reproofs, which only drive the guilty 
 to despair and to the commission of more grievous faults. 
 On the other hand, it would not do to correct gently those 
 who bear themselves insolently and contemn the ordinances 
 and rules of the Company. It must also be remembered, 
 that certain faults committed publicly should be visited with 
 public reprehension, as well for the good example due to 
 others, as for the benefit of the offenders themselves. Others, 
 on the contrary, demand to be secretly corrected, for this 
 will benefit them most. In one word, some are improved by 
 public reprehension, while others are greatly helped by se- 
 cret reproof. The superiors must derive from the light of 
 the Holy Spirit and from true and heartfelt charity the wis- 
 dom necesaryto procure in these difficulties the advancement 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 333 
 
 of the divine honor and the salvation of the maidens com- 
 mitted to them. 
 
 After this, the lady-directress shall recommend to all the 
 faithful execution of the rules and ordinances, and shall en- 
 deavor to make them all apply themselves to teaching the 
 Christian doctrine, in which pious occupation all should have 
 greatly at heart to reap abundant fruits. Then, after offering 
 prayer once more, the directress bids them separate in God's 
 name. 
 
 On the day after, the tliree superintendents shall go to re- 
 port the proceedings to the spiritual father and the Mother 
 Superior. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIY. — OF THE PROTECTORS OF. THE COMPACT IK 
 THINGS TEMPORAL. 
 
 ExPERiEi^CE has proyed that many pressing straits may arise 
 in the Company relating to temporal matters, to which 
 women are powerless to find an issue. This makes it neces- 
 sary to choose three men, who shall be ever ready to assist 
 us in our needs, when their aid is required either by the 
 whole Company or by some of its members. 
 
 The Mother and the ladies who are charged with the goy- 
 ernment of the Company can propose to the bishop the 
 names of such as they deem most able and willing to bestow 
 the needed help. The choice must be approyed and con- 
 firmed by him. He may also change these protectors when 
 he knows this to be conduciye to the greater good of the 
 Company. 
 
 CHAPTER XXy. — OF THE URSULII^ES THROUGHOUT THE DIO- 
 CESE OF BRESCIA. 
 
 '' God is not a respecter of persons," ^ but bestows His 
 grace on all with open-handed liberality, illuminating their 
 
 1 Acts X. : 34. 
 
334: ST. ANGELA MERICI 
 
 minds with the light of His Holy Spirit, in order that they 
 may see and use the means necessary to the salvation and 
 conduciye to the perfection of their souls. There are many 
 persons who are illustrious in the sight of their fellow-men, 
 who are poor and mean in His eyes ; others, on the contrary, 
 who are of little or no account in the eyes of men, are great 
 and glorious in the sight of the Divine Groodness. It is not 
 to be wondered at, if He hath inspired with the desire of 
 serving Him in this holy Company of ours many devout per- 
 sons beyond the walls of Brescia, and living in the hamlets 
 and domains belonging to this diocese. Surely, such persons 
 must not be frustrated in their pious purpose. They shall 
 have admittance among the members of this CoTupany, and 
 shall be made sharers in the good works and merits proper 
 to it. 
 
 These sisters shall be as much under the fatherly and pas- 
 toral care of the bishop as those within the city ; and they 
 shall acknowledge and reverence as their father and su- 
 perior the priest looked up to by the entire Company as its 
 Father, and given to it by the bishop as his own vicar. 
 
 Although it is necessary that the sisterhood throughout 
 the country places should have officers and superiors like the 
 city sisters, nevertheless it seems best for the welfare and 
 unity of the whole body that the officers of the country sister- 
 hood should be subordinated to those of the city, and that 
 no decree or ordinance shall be made by the former, confin- 
 ing themselves to execute and enforce only such ordinances 
 as shall proceed from the persons forming the government 
 within the city. 
 
 They shall acknowledge the Mother of the whole Company 
 as theirs also, and her assistants and the lady-directresses as 
 their superiors, endeavoring in all things to show them rev- 
 
AND THE VBSULINES, 
 
 335 
 
 erence and obedience by executing their ordinances, admoni- 
 tions, and commands. 
 
 As they are to be occasionally yisited every year by the 
 Father in the discharge of his office, or by the Father sub- 
 stitute, when the former is lawfully prevented from visiting 
 them, they must pay him all due respect and obedience, as 
 to their acknowledged superior and the vicar placed by the 
 bishop over the entire Company. 
 
 [They may not choose at will their own confessor ; but 
 must confess themselves to him alone who has been selected 
 for them by the Father or his substitute, and that in order 
 to secure among us all greater uniformity and oneness of 
 spirit in the service of the Divine Majesty.] 
 
 All the superiors, namely, the substitute, lady-directresses, 
 mistresses, and counselors, or at least some one of their num- 
 ber, shall be obliged once a year, on the feast of Pentecost, 
 to come to Brescia, and present themselves to the spiritual 
 father and the Mother Superior ; and that, both because by 
 so coming they strengthen the union which should exist be- 
 tween the city sisters and their own subjects, and because this 
 visit enables them to give an account to their superiors of the 
 sisters committed to their care, to expose the wants of the 
 latter, and to return strengthened by the advice and the need- 
 ful aid of the former. It is not hereby intended to make this 
 journey obligatory to such as live at a great distance or who 
 could not come to the city without great inconvenience to 
 themselves. The circumstances are left to the judgment of 
 their spiritual father, who may dispense them from the obli- 
 gation of this annual visit, while providing in some other 
 way to make them fulfill the object of this injunction. 
 
 Let every one of these substitute superiors use all the op- 
 portunities in her power to have recourse to the city superiors 
 when the needs of her subjects require it. For the city 
 
336 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 superiors, having more experience and practice in such mat- 
 ters, will be better able to extend to them the required aid. 
 
 Let them know that all the rules, customs and ceremonies 
 in use among the superiors and members of the city sister- 
 hood should be, as far as possible, observed by the sisterhood 
 outside of Brescia. 
 
 The substitute directresses and the spiritual fathers duly 
 appointed for the sisterhood outside the walls, must know 
 that they cannot, without permission, accept or admit into 
 the Company any postulant. 
 
 In electing their officers the sisterhood outside of Brescia 
 must observe the form prescribed above for the Company in- 
 side the city ; such officers are not to be elected without the 
 knowledge and permission of the Father of the Company.'^ 
 
 From beside the shrine of St. Angela and this monumental 
 work in which her spirit still lives, we can now glance rap- 
 idly at the wonderful spectacle presented by the history of 
 the Order which she founded. It can only be a rapid sur- 
 vey, however, enabling the reader to grasp, in the marvel- 
 ous destini^ of the Ursulines, the purpose of the obscure, 
 penitential, and laborious life we have been sketching so far. 
 
PART II, 
 
 THE UESULII^ES. 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THEIR VARIED FORTUNES IN ITALY — PRIMITIVE CONGREGA- 
 TION OF BRESCIA — HOW THEY FARED IN MILAN — URSU- 
 LINES OF VENICE, PARMA, PIACENZA, FOLIGNO, AND ROME. 
 
 As we have already seen, the Institute of St. Angela was 
 not approved by the Holy See till 1545, whereas she died in 
 January, 1540. Meanwhile, the Company she had founded 
 was, and that almost immediately after Angela's death, as- 
 sailed by more than one fierce storm. True, the Company 
 grew and spread in spite of the fury of the blast ; but it is 
 none the less true that its violence was such as to threaten 
 the Ursulines with total destruction. 
 
 One formidable, objection, which prevailed at a later pe- 
 riod, was urged against the uncloistered condition of the sis- 
 terhood. But this was discussed and pressed by outsiders, 
 principally by canonists and members of the existing re- 
 ligious Orders ; within the Company itself it found no favor, 
 and was, therefore, comparatively harmless, for the moment 
 at least. The other objection, though based on a matter of 
 mere secondary importance, was well-nigh fatal to the young 
 sisterhood, because it found many advocates and abettors 
 
 337 
 
338 ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 among themselyes. This objection regarded the question as 
 to whether or not the Ursiilines should all wear one form of 
 religious habit. The holy foundress had merely prescribed 
 the wearing of a sober and modest dress which should suffi- 
 ciently distinguish the members of the Company and render 
 them easily recognizable to each other and to the people in 
 whose behalf they labored. As they were destined to live in 
 the bosom of their own families, she did not care to attract 
 to their persons or their attire more attention than was need- 
 ful for the great purpose they had in yiew. 
 
 At any rate, scarcely had her remains been laid to rest in 
 the crypt of St. Afra's, when some fault-finding lay friends, 
 abetted by some clergymen, began to press on the Countess 
 Lodrone and her assistants the propriety of wearing a uni- 
 form — a dress of black with a white kerchief, and a chord 
 similar to that worn by the Tertiaries of St. Francis. The 
 Augustinian Fathers, in particular, urged the use of a chord or 
 cincture. From the Countess and four of her assistants this 
 proposition or suggestion met with favor. But the other 
 four assistants, together with the Countess Luzzago, opposed 
 a most determined resistance to this innovation, and were 
 ably supported by Gabriel Cozzano, who drew up an eloquent 
 memoir against the proposed change. 
 
 Nevertheless, on December 11th, 1545, a decree was issued 
 by the Superior- General enjoining on all the members to wear 
 a cincture, as a badge of their unworldly vocation. The 
 Countess Luzzago and her followers were excluded from the 
 Company ; but the Vicar-Ganeral, Ferretti, to whom they 
 appealed, decided in their favor and against the innovation. 
 
 Meanwhile, the bull of approbation of Paul III. was pub- 
 lished in Brescia ; and soon afterward, in answer to a petition 
 from the Countess Lodrone, the Pope sent a brief granting 
 an indulgence to all religious women who dressed in black 
 
AND THE URSV LINES, 339 
 
 and wore the Augustinian leathern girdle. This contained 
 no injunction to the Countess Lodrone and the other oppo- 
 nents ; and the question was only settled in 1546 by a papal 
 commission. It decreed the wearing of a black flowing robe, 
 with the black cincture of leather as worn by the Augus- 
 tinian nuns. 
 
 These bickerings were most unfortunate, and were the very 
 thing against which the dying foundress had warned her 
 family in her pathetic adjurations in favor of charity and har- 
 mony of thought and feeling, 
 
 No sooner had the bull of approbation been published, 
 than Desenzano and Salo petitioned the Mother-General for 
 colonies of Ursulines. It was but natural that Angela Me- 
 rici's birthplace, as well as the dear home of her mother, 
 should be first among the localities privileged to possess houses 
 of the Order. That of Salo has long ago ceased to exist 
 — probably since the first French invasion. The community 
 of Desenzano seems to have shared the fate of the Ursulines 
 of Brescia, remaining faithful to the primitive rule and bless- 
 ing the thrifty little town by its manifold holy influences 
 and pious labors, till suppressed by Bonaparte. 
 
 We shall listen to what their successors write from " De- 
 senzano-on-the-Lake,^^ February 8th, 1877 : 
 
 " Dearest mothers and sisters, ^^ they write to all the 
 houses of the Order, " we invite you to rest a few moments 
 by our side beneath the lovely sky of Italy — of that Italy so 
 dear to every Ursuline. You will find here but a poor and 
 lowly offshoot of the great family founded by St. Angela. 
 Our monastery dates from 1841. It began very modestly, 
 three choir sisters and one lay sister forming the new com- 
 munity under the guidance of a venerable Ursuline, who had 
 been one of the victims of the revolutionary suppression. At the 
 present date we reckon twenty- two members in our house. . . . 
 
340 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 We all work hard from morning till night ; and this is our 
 sole happiness, together with the charity which binds us to 
 each other. The house itself is anything but spacious. Still, 
 we are proud and happy to live in it. Is not the soil around 
 us impregnated with the sweat of our first Mother ? Is not 
 the air we breathe all fragrant with the perfume of her vir- 
 tues ? "We have a well-kept orchard, divided by a large alley, 
 and in this we take our accustomed exercise. We regret that 
 our boarding-school cannot be separated from the dwelling 
 of the community. We are also without spring-water, bath- 
 ing-place, or infirmary. At this very moment one of our 
 boarders is sick, and we have to give up to her the school- 
 room of our youngest pupils, while they have to be taught 
 in one of our own cells. And of these the number is so lim- 
 ited, that four nuns have to occupy the same room. Never- 
 theless, albeit we may glory in our poverty, we are still the 
 spoiled children of Providence. For, although we have no 
 infirmary, as we were just saying, we should also add that 
 during the last six years we have not known sickness. Our 
 last death was in 1870.'' 
 
 The yearly pension paid this poor community while under 
 the Austrian Government ceased as soon as they passed be- 
 neath the rule of the Piedmontese. They were allowed, how- 
 ever, to retain possession of their little monastery ; but were 
 compelled to send their sisters all the way to Turin to be ex- 
 amined and certificated as teachers ! 
 
 We now return to Brescia. 
 
 It was well that the Company of St. Ursula was severely 
 tried in its native spot, and cordially approved by all who 
 beheld its members at their divine work in the schools they 
 had founded, in the hospitals where their helpful charity and 
 angelic modesty shone like sunbeams, and in the families 
 which boasted the presence and possession of maidens so de- 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 341 
 
 voted, so heroic, so powerful for good. The peculiar features 
 of their religious life, and their devotion to training the 
 young especially, challenged attentive observation and elicited 
 not a little unjust criticism during the first twenty-fi^e years 
 after the death of the foundress. But the closer, the more 
 thorough, and the more conscientious the observation of men, 
 even the most prejudiced, the more enthusiastic and unani- 
 mous was the praise called forth by virtues and services be- 
 yond all praise. 
 
 Angela had not been anxious to see her sisterhood extend 
 itself beyond the walls of Brescia, and particularly beyond 
 the limits of the diocese bearing that name, during her own 
 lifetime. Her chief solicitude aimed at so moulding her 
 daughters to an exalted esteem for their own calling, to a 
 generous devotion to its duties, and the fervent practice of 
 the great fundamental virtues of the virginal life, that they 
 should remain immovably faithful in the divine service, 
 whether in the noise and bustle of the most public place and 
 occupation, or in the privacy and seclusion of their homes. 
 
 Meanwhile the neighboring cities and dioceses were de- 
 sirous to share in the precious fruits produced in Brescia and 
 its territory by the new sisterhood. 
 
 One of St. Jerome Emiliani's early disciples, a Brescian 
 called John Scotti, was the first to obtain a colony of Ursu- 
 lines. He, encouraged by the Bishop of Cremona, Nicolas 
 Sfondrati, aftelrward Pope Gregory XIV., brought with him 
 in triumph to the city so dear to Angela a few of her 
 daughters ; and Cremona soon rejoiced in seeing this first 
 offshoot of the goodly tree take root in its soil and grow up 
 and bear most sweet and salutary fruit. This happened in 
 the year 1565.^ 
 
 But Milan, where St. Angela's name was scarcely less pop- 
 
 1 Salvatori, pp. 59, 60. 
 
342 JST. ANGELA MEKICl, 
 
 ular than in Cremona, liad also been impatiently waiting for 
 a colony of Ursulines. The capital of Lombardy was at that 
 time blessed in the possession of a prelate held by all Chris- 
 tendom to be, in modern ages, the model of all those who 
 have charge of souls— St. Charles Borromeo. Man of God 
 as he was before and above all things, he had a keen in- 
 stinctiye sense of the spiritual needs of the popular masses ; 
 and no sooner had he heard of the new sisterhood established 
 in Brescia, than he felt that they were destined of God to 
 preserve the rising generation from vice and error, to instruct 
 the children in all religious knowledge and saintly deeds, 
 while winning the souls of the parents to God and the love 
 of all good, by the silent persuasion of their own pure and 
 devoted lives. 
 
 Twelve Brescian Ursulines came to Milan in 1566, and in 
 pursuance of the plan formed by the archbishop, they were 
 lodged in a spacious dwelling, where they might open schools 
 for their pupils, and attend to their usual avocations. The 
 sisters began immediately to visit the different wards of the 
 great city, seeking out the children and taking every means 
 to teach them all that was suited to their age and condition. 
 Besides, a no less zeal was displayed in drawing to themselves 
 young girls, whom they instructed and formed to all the 
 duties of Christian life as well as to the higher virtues of 
 evangelical perfection. To older women, to wives and 
 mothers, indeed to all the adult persons of their own sex, they 
 held out an invitation to meet weekly in the community 
 house and hear lectures on religious and spiritual topics most 
 interesting and useful to all. Thus while the little colony 
 continued to live together in the dwelling bestowed on them 
 by the generous archbishop, they permitted the new mem- 
 bers recruited from all classes of the Milanese population, to 
 live in the bosom of their own families, precisely as did their 
 
AND THE UESULINES, 343 
 
 Brescian sisters. On certain days all met together in the 
 '^ House of St. Ursula/' where they were instructed and 
 comforted by their local superior, and where the saintly 
 archbishop himself would often come to address them and 
 to pour into their souls the spirit of heroic generosity and 
 self-sacrifice which filled his own to overflowing. 
 
 How could the daughters of St. Angela, living so near 
 him, hearing every day and hour the praise of his saintly 
 deeds and Christ-like goodness, and blessed, moreover, with 
 the special care bestowed on themselves, not look up to such 
 a man and such a bishop, as to the living oracle of the Di- 
 vine Master ? So when, in his addresses to them about re- 
 ligious perfection and the beauty of holiness, he came to ex- 
 press his wish to see them live together in homes which, 
 would give them the joys and helps of family and community 
 life, their hearts were won to yield a ready assent. When, 
 next, he exhorted them not to be satisfied with a simple de- 
 termination, though never so firm, of living a life of poverty, 
 chastity, and obedience, but to bind themselves irrevocably to 
 their Lord and Love by religious vows of the same intent, 
 and uttered publicly in the chapel attached to their resi- 
 dence — they were carried away by the eloquence of one whose 
 tongue seemed touched with a seraph's fire, and whose whole 
 life was the most admirable embodiment of voluntary pov- 
 erty and self -crucifixion, of angelic purity, and strict obe- 
 dience to the law of God and the Church. Who that looked 
 upon that face which ever glowed with unearthly light could 
 refuse to follow such a guide up the steepest paths of self- 
 denial and immolation ? St. Charles, at the very moment he 
 proposed this change, had much to suffer from more than 
 one community of nuns in his episcopal city who would not 
 be led by him to return to the pristine fervor of their Order ; 
 he was therefore all the more anxious to make of the daughters 
 
344 ST, ANGELA MEUIGL 
 
 of Angela Merici, apostles of education as they were, models 
 of strict religions observance, to whom all might look np for 
 edifying example. So, in 1572, at the solicitation of the Arch- 
 bishop of Milan, Pope Gregory XIII. issued a bull, which, 
 after approving and confirming anew the Institute of Angela 
 Merici, authorized the Ursulines to form congregations, to 
 live in communities, and to adopt this modified form every- 
 where. They are thus known in history as the ^' Congregated 
 Ursulines, ^^ very difEerent from the Cloistered Ursulines. 
 Until then the Ursulines of Milan had taught school outside 
 of their own house in various parts of the city. It now be- 
 came an object of the archbishop's care to have them teach 
 only within their residence ; and, to secure the benefit of 
 their teaching to the different wards of his city, he resolved 
 to establish therein separate Ursuline communities. 
 
 Thus this first change — so momentous for the Company — 
 was brouglit about gently, silently, irresistibly, like the growth 
 and maturing of the harvest through the summer months and 
 by the gentle but mighty agencies of nature. The Cardinal- 
 Archbishop gave a great degree of solemnity to the inaugura- 
 tion of this new form of community life, as well as to the 
 emission of the substantial monastic vows by the sisterhood, 
 St. Angela, from her place of glory near God's throne, could 
 not but contemplate with pleasure this phase in the life of 
 her Company, which foreboded so wonderful an extension to 
 its members, and so incalculable an amount of good to the 
 Christian world. 
 
 St. Charles fervently recommended, in 1576, the establish- 
 ment of these ^^congregated" Ursuline communities to the 
 bishops of Lombardy assembled in provincial council. The 
 splendid heroism displayed by the sisters during the great 
 plague of that year served as a powerful confirmation to the 
 eulogy bestowed on their fervor and efficiency. It contributed 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 345 
 
 also to increase their reputation tlirougliout Upper Italy, 
 particularly through the Venetian territory, which claimed 
 their glory as its own. So we are prepared to find that 
 Venice, which had retained so precious a recollection of 
 Angela Merici's* merit, was among the first cities of Italy to 
 solicit a colony of Ursulines. It is uncertain in what year 
 they were inyited to Venice. In 1557, however, the name of 
 the noble patrician widow lady, Donata Falier, is mentioned 
 in connection with the establishment there. She was a woman 
 of extraordinary merit, and may have been the foundress of 
 the Venetian Ursulines. Nor are we informed whether these 
 began, or not like those of Milan. Probably the example of 
 St. Charles had some influence in giying to their manner of 
 life the form in which w-e find it at a later period. Certain 
 it is that the Ursuline monastery in the city of St. Lawrence 
 Justiniani assumed at an early date the exclusive restrictions 
 implied by their title of Noble Nuns — a title which they also 
 bore in the cities of Parma and Foligno. They were also 
 titled canonesses, and wore a white dress with a black veil. 
 They expressly claimed to belong to the religious family of 
 Brescia. Their school, from its very foundation, held and 
 maintained a foremost rank in Venice. Indeed, it would 
 appear that the purpose of its founders was so to bring up the 
 daughters of the nobility in all goodly knowledge and solid 
 virtue, that from them and through them the benefits of 
 Christian education and example might extend downward to 
 the laboring population. The Ursulines always endeavored, 
 by every means within their power, to make their noble and 
 wealthy pupils the apostles of the poor. 
 
 Genoa, on the opposite shore of the peninsula, was not 
 behindhand with its ancient rival, Venice. 
 
 The spirit of St. Catherine of Genoa seems to have long 
 survived in her native city, producing women remarkable 
 
346 ST. ANGELA MEllICL 
 
 alike for their holy life and intellectual superiority. One of 
 these^ Mother Venarcia, who established and governed the 
 first society of Ursulines in Genoa, was so distinguished for 
 heroic virtue, that the senate and magistrates petitioned the 
 Holy See, after her death, to have her cause introduced for 
 beatification. She^ like St. Angela, had not been brought 
 up in the schools ; still she taught herself so well, that she left 
 behind her four volumes on spiritual life. It is most likely 
 that the example of St. Charles in Milan encouraged the 
 friends of popular and religious education in Genoa to 
 introduce and favor the Institute of St. Angela. The first 
 Ursuline establishment there dates from 1573. Mother 
 Venarcia governed it during sixty years. 
 
 From Milan, Cremona,, and Genoa the sweet odor of the 
 Company of St. Ursula, which St. Charles Borromeo called 
 *'the Tree of Life,'' in recommending the love of it to its 
 members, spread southward to Central Italy. In 1595 
 Eanuccio Farnese I., Duke of Parma, called the Ursulines to 
 educate the daughters of the nobility in his states. 
 
 It was, however, but a onesided view of the education 
 needed by his country and age. The Ursulines might have 
 done for Parma what they were even then doing for Milan 
 and Brescia, and what they were preparing to do so effectually 
 in France — they might have educated and elevated the chil- 
 dren of the people, while bestowing especial care on the 
 daughters of the highest families. 
 
 So Eanuccio I. was content to create a house of Ursulines 
 in Parma, in which forty, and only forty, noble maidens could 
 embrace the Institute of St. Angela, and devote themselves 
 to education. The duke took it on himself to legislate for 
 this establishment, modifying according to his caprice the 
 rule of the holy foundress, forbidding the Ursulines to 
 acknowledge any other protectors than himself and his sue- 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 347 
 
 cessors, removing them in things spiritual from the jurisdic- 
 tion of the bishop and placing them under the direction of the 
 Jesuits, prescribing to them the very form and color of their 
 religious costume — a white tunic and veil with a long flowing 
 mantle of blue. It was as if one should take a shoot from 
 the sacred fig-tree of India, and plant it in a hothouse, 
 carefully lopping off every one of the air-roots by which this 
 glory of Indian vegetation ever seeks to extend itself over the 
 adjacent soil and bless the earth around with its grateful 
 shade and wholesome fruit ! 
 
 The good nuns were so edifying and so useful, nevertheless, 
 that Piacenza wished to have a monastery of the same kind, 
 and two members of the sisterhood were sent to be the 
 directresses of this new establishment. The benefits result- 
 ing to both Parma and Piacenza from institutions aiming 
 principally at female education, were so great, in spite of the 
 unwise restrictions of their founders, that the fame of the 
 Ursulines extended into Umbria. A maiden lady, known as 
 Paula of Foligno, from her native city, became with Cardinal 
 Baronius instrumental in creating a most flourishing establish- 
 ment at Foligno in 1599. The same fundamental limitations 
 unfortunately prevailed there too. A few of the sisters — all 
 of whom were noble — lived with Paula in community ; the 
 others continued to make their homes with their parents. 
 
 The Ursulines of Eome itself date from the same period. 
 There were two distinct congregations of them, the first of which 
 was composed of uncloistered sisters, like those of Brescia. 
 Strange to say, the foundresses were both noble young French 
 women, who had, like Angela Merici in 1525, been brought 
 separately and providentially to Eome, the one on her way to 
 Jerusalem, the other for the Jubilee of 1600. One, Frances 
 de Montjoux, arrived there in March, 1598, and was induced 
 by Clement VIIL to fix her abode there, instead of going to 
 
348 • ST. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 Palestine. The other, Frances de Gourcy, was a kindred 
 spirit ; and both were drawn to each other by that mighty 
 spiritual attraction begotten of sanctity. They liad both 
 heard of the immense good done by the Ursulines in Upper 
 Italy, and resolved to become themselves daughters of St. 
 Angela. They purchased a house, and, with the approbation 
 of the reigning Pope, opened classes. Other generous souls 
 like their own were not slow to unite with them, and their 
 community, as well as the numbers of their pupils, grew 
 apace. 
 
 They had begun to teach in 1600, calling themselves 
 Ursulines, and following the Kule of St. Angela. A few years 
 later the Church of St. Kufina and St. Secunda was given to 
 them by Paul V. (1605-21), and this first Congregation of 
 Eoman Ursulines, called, after their church, ^' the Congrega- 
 tion of St. Eufina and St. Secunda," has subsisted down to 
 our own times. 
 
 The other congregation, of cloistered Ursulines, dates 
 from 1684, and Was an offshoot of the Belgian congregation, 
 itself a prolific branch of that of Bordeaux. The Duchess of 
 Modena, Laura Martinozzi, a niece of Cardinal Mazarin, and 
 her daughter, Mary of Modena, Queen to James II. of 
 England, were the instruments by which this second establish- 
 ment was brought about. The Duchess of Modena during 
 her stay in the Low Countries had many opportunities of 
 admiring the saintly fervor and practical wisdom of the 
 Ursulines of Mons and Brussels. Indeed, the Ursuline 
 monastery of that capital was a creation of the mother house 
 of Mons. She studied the sisters in their home life, their 
 schools, their constitutions ; she gathered the most reliable 
 information about their labors in the other cities of Flanders, 
 and resolved, on her return to Eome, to found in the capital 
 of the Christian world a monastery governed by the same 
 
AND THE URSULUSfES, 349 
 
 rules and directed by some of the admirable women who were 
 such a blessing to the Flemish populations. 
 
 Her petition to Innocent XI. was sustained by Cardinal 
 Howard, the English ambassador in Eome. The Pope took 
 a warm personal interest in the matter^ convinced himself 
 that the proposed constitutions were those approved for 
 Bordeaux in 1618 by Paul V., and on March 24th, 1684, he 
 issued the bull instituting the Eoman establishment. 
 
 ^o sooner was this communicated to the Duchess of Modena 
 at Brussels, than she set out for Eome with six professed nuns, 
 during the month of September, arriving in Eome on the 
 12th of November. On their arrival they were all hospitably 
 received in the convent of St. Catherine of Sienna at Monte- 
 Magnanapoli, where they remained perforce till the 13th of 
 May following, when they moved to hired lodgings, and 
 opened a school. The delay was inevitable. The journey 
 from Brussels had cost the Duchess of Modena her life, and 
 the Ursulines were solely dependent on her bounty for their 
 present subsistence and future prospects. Her sudden death 
 left them unprovided for in the midst of the great city ; 
 and, like all people who come to do in any place what others 
 should or could have done, the little colony of Flemish nuns 
 met with but scanty synipathy and little or no support from 
 the Eomans on their first arrival. Their generous bene- 
 factress had put in their hands a sum of 7000 Eoman crowns 
 ($7000), but this would barely suffice to procure them suitable 
 accommodation for the present, leaving them totally un- 
 provided for in the future. Such was one of the chief 
 grounds of opposition that their establishment met with at 
 the beginning. They began courageously, nevertheless, 
 drawing from their poverty and the efforts made to prevent 
 their obtaining a foothold in Eome the assurance that their 
 work was God's work, and that He would not forsake them. 
 
350 ST. ANGELA MERICl, 
 
 They were not disappointed. After considerable delays, 
 the testamentary dispositjons of the Duchess of Modena be- 
 came known ; and one of them was a legacy of 15,000 crowns 
 to her dear Ursulines. Besides this, the dying princess had so 
 warmly recommended them to the Queen of England, that 
 the latter added a considerable sum to her mother's provision. 
 Timely as was this liberality, it had come too late for a portion 
 of the little Ursuline colony. Three of them had. returned to 
 Brussels. 
 
 The three remaining nuns, however, lost no time in securing 
 a more commodious habitation in the Via Vittoria, beneath 
 the shadow of the Pincian Hill ; and in this house, annexed 
 to, which was a little chapel, they settled down to hard w^ork 
 on April 27th, 1688. The ceremony of the canonical 
 inauguration of this first monastery of cloistered Ursulines in 
 Eome took place four days afterward, on the 1st of May, the 
 great Innocent XI. conGrming by a new brief the bull issued 
 for their establishment in 1684, and permitting the Ursulines 
 of Brussels and Mons to send auxiliaries to their Roman sis- 
 ters. This they did without delay. 
 
 But during the long four years of trial, opposition, and 
 painful suspense which the three Ursulines who remained in 
 Rome had to endure after the death of the Duchess of 
 Modena, they did not allow any discouragement to interrupt 
 for a moment their labor of teaching, or to damp the ardor 
 with which they gave themselves up to their pupils. They 
 had their boarding-school for the daughters of the nobility, 
 as well as their free day-schools for the children of the people. 
 To both of these they gave great developments after their 
 installation in the Via Vittoria, They needed now no other 
 recommendation to families of all classes ; for all had learned 
 to revere and bless and love them. " They may be held up 
 as a model to all the monasteries of Rome !'' exclaimed 
 
AND THE UR8ULINE8, 351 
 
 Clement XI. (1700-21). ISTor did their light grow dim as the 
 eighteenth century held on its course, destroying faith in 
 men's souls, making of scepticism implanted in the minds of 
 each rising generation the fatal germ of the intellectual, 
 moral, and social convulsions which are now running their 
 course as fatally as the avalanche let loose from Alpine 
 summits upon the doomed hamlets of the adjacent valleys. 
 
 The revolutionary armies of Kapoleon Bonaparte found the 
 Ursulines of Eome in 1796 so dear to the Eoman people, that 
 they dared not molest them in their holy avocations. Xor 
 in 1809, when Napoleon's unholy policy suppressed all the 
 monasteries of the capital of Christendom, did the sacrilegious 
 invader drive the Ursulines from their schools and their home. 
 He was satisfied with abolishing the cloister, behind which the 
 educators of Roman womanhood concealed the austerity and 
 simplicity of their private life. The despot had hoped that 
 these devoted women would at once return to the enjoyment 
 of the worldly honors a ad pleasures which they had freely 
 renounced. The world, however, only saw with admiration 
 that the uncloistered daughters of St. Angela clung more 
 lovingly than ever to their desecrated home, their class-rooms, 
 and their over-rich poverty. Not one Ursuline forsook her 
 post. 
 
 The fatal seeds of error and systematic moral corruption 
 which the First Napoleon, his armeis, and nis officials 
 scattered broadcast over Eome and all Italy, from 1796 to 
 1815, were cultivated with too intelligent and persevering a 
 husbandry not to cast deep roots in the soil after the ex- 
 pulsion of the French. Italian revolutionists had learned too 
 many good lessons from French Jacobinism, and had too 
 much intellect of their own not to improve on their master's 
 methods. When God's inscrutable providence permitted 
 another Bonaparte to exercise over Eome his baneful pro- 
 
352 ST, ANGELA MERIGl 
 
 tectorate, and over Italy the influence of his reyolutionary 
 sympathies, the Italian mind was ready to discard all teach- 
 ing that spoke of religion, and to destroy all teachers who 
 would make the youth of Italy look with love or reverence on 
 the religious glories of their fatherland. 
 
 One of the first acts of the Piedmontese masters of Rome 
 was, on January 1st, 1871, to abolish the yearly rent of one 
 thousand crowns granted to the devoted Ursulines in favor of 
 their schools by Benedict XIA^ On the 5th of April follow- 
 ing the good nuns were compelled to yield to the new Roman 
 municipality all the classes of their day-scholars, which were 
 thus handed over to the teaching of the Garibaldian evan- 
 gelists. It was in vain that the nuns tried, by opening classes 
 for their day-scholars in a portion of the boarding-school, to 
 afford a portion of their attached pupils an opportunity of 
 continuing their education. Within a few weeks these classes 
 were forcibly given up to the municipal officers. Even the 
 portion of the monastery occupied as a novitiate had to be 
 surrendered to men who would be satisfied by nothing less 
 than by starving and crowding out the poor defenceless nuns 
 into the street. 
 
 Then they were informed that, in order to be authorized to 
 teach, they must adopt in every point the programme and 
 method prescribed by the government, and pass an examina- 
 tion before receiving a diploma of capacity. To all this, in 
 the hope of being allowed to break never so little of the 
 bread of life to the children of Rome, the Ursulines submitted 
 with heroic fortitude. The government, however, merely 
 wished to weary their patience and force them to leave the 
 monastery altogether. In K"ovember the monastery itself 
 was declared government property, and a miserable pension 
 or pittance was assigned to each member of the community. 
 . . . And to fill their cup of bitterness to overflowing, they 
 
AN'D THE URSULmES, 353 
 
 were commanded to hold themselves in readiness to leave the 
 monastery at any moment. The courageous superior mean- 
 while appealed to the civil courts, and, wonderful to relate, 
 the courts decided in favor of the Ursulines ! This judg- 
 ment was given on September 29th, 1874. 
 
 The Italian Government, nevertheless, only half obeyed 
 the decision of the law courts. The nuns were peremptorily 
 commanded to give up one half of their monastery and 
 garden to an Orpheonic society favored by the authorities. 
 On the 31st day of May, 1876, the commissioners and work- 
 men came to make the necessary changes, or rather to create 
 as much disorder as possible in the house — for they knew, as 
 all Romans know, that the 31st of Miiy was, in Italy, the 
 solemn Feast of St. Angela ! They were shamed into a little 
 delay, however, and consented to wait till the next day. 
 
 Do we wonder that the venerable sujDerior, Mary-Margaret 
 Eutizi, sank beneath this last cruel act of antichristian 
 and cowardly oppression, after having battled heroically, 
 though an octogenarian, with the unfeeling spoiler for more 
 than five years. 
 
 And so the poor Ursulines of Eome, compelled to teach 
 school in the narrow cells allotted to their sadly diminished 
 number, still continue the work of God. The tale they 
 could unfold is only one — and that far from being the most 
 heart-rending — among thousands upon thousands through- 
 out the length and breadth of the once Catholic Italy. 
 
 There are a few other Ursuline schools scattered through 
 the Peninsula which endeavor to maintain a precarious 
 existence in spite of the determined hostility of the govern- 
 ment : at Calvi and Stroncone, in the diocese of Terni ; at 
 Sesto-Calende, Cannobio, Galliate, Omegna, Miasino, and 
 Saluzzo in Piedmont and Lombardy; at Benevento in Southern 
 Italy, and in other places, where the Catholic populations 
 
354: ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 still foster and protect, as best they may, the loved teachers 
 of their children, till it please an overruling Providence to 
 give resfc to the land from the earthquake and the storm. 
 
 The reader naturally will ask, What was the fate of the 
 Congregation of Brescia amid these extraordinary vicissi- 
 tudes ? The changes introduced into the Eule and manner of 
 living of the Ursulines throughout Italy were powerless to 
 induce the Congregation of Brescia to modify the Constitu- 
 tions received from their holy foundress, approved by the 
 Holy See, and slightly modified by St. Charles Borromeo as 
 Commissary Apostolic. The early associates of St. Angela 
 had been so thoroughly trained by that great mistress of 
 Christian perfection, their souls had been moulded by her 
 gentle, firm, and skillful hand into a form of such persistent 
 goodness, that both priests and people found no symptom 
 of degeneracy when the first generation of Ursulines died 
 out and were succeeded by a second and a third of equal vir- 
 tue and even more skilled usefulness. Thus this admirable 
 sisterhood, in the land which was its birthplace as well as 
 that of Angela Merici, continued to be consistent with them- 
 selves amid the religious struggles and political convulsions 
 of the age, as constant in their edifying purity, as deep and 
 inexhaustible in the resources of their manifold devotedness, 
 as the waters of the Lake of Garda around Desenzano and 
 Salo ; their firmness in resisting and repelling all innovation 
 was as calm and unmoved as the mountains which encircle 
 the beauteous lake itself ; and the fruits of their apostleship 
 in training youth and guarding the ancestral faith of their 
 people were as plentiful and as perennial as the golden har- 
 vests of Lombardy and Venetia. 
 
 In 1581, during the ofiicial visitation made by Sfc. Charles 
 Borromeo, the Brescian Congregation numbered four hun- 
 dred sisters. Down to the invasion of Upper Italy by the 
 
AND THE URSULINE8. 355 
 
 French revolutionary armies under Bonaparte in 1796, the 
 Congregation of Brescia continned to exist in the conditions 
 in which St. Angela had left it, and which St. Charles Bor- 
 romeo had approved. The conqueror supj)ressed an Order 
 which taught the female youth of Italy to live according to 
 the Gospel of Christ ; for the Jacobinism of the revolution 
 would have no Gospel but its own godless creed, and no 
 charity exercised toward the poor, the sick of body, and the 
 infirm of spirit, but that of an equality, a liberty, a frater- 
 nity, as hollow, bitter, and deadly to the taste as the fruits 
 
 ''which grew 
 Near the biturainous lake where Sodom flamed.** 
 
 The property of the Ursulines — the sacred patrimony of the 
 poor, and the sweet nursery of the little ones of Christ's 
 flock — was ruthlessly seized by the Corsican, and never again 
 restored to its former uses. In 1827, when Italy and Europe 
 began to recover from the chronic disasters of the jSTapoleonic 
 wars and the long intoxication of revolutionary doctrines, 
 the Bishop of Brescia, who had found the few surviving Ur- 
 sulines busy at work amid the social ruin, like a few sickly 
 bees clustering around the fragments of their once swarming 
 hive, induced the devoted women to give up living in the 
 bosom of their families and to adopt the seclusion of the 
 cloister. With the self-sacrificing docility which had ever 
 characterized the daughters of St. Angela in their dealings 
 with episcopal authority, the greater number of the Brescian 
 Ursulines yielded to the counsels of the good Bishop Gabriele- 
 Maria Nava ; but there were many to whom the restraints of 
 the cloister were impossible or unacceptable, and who yearned 
 only for the liberty of following out their vocation in the 
 footsteps of their holy foundress. These continued to live 
 unmolested, and respected by all, in the bosom of their own 
 
356 ST, ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 families^ devoting themselyes unobtrusively, unmurmuringly, 
 and hopefully to such duties and labors as they were permitted 
 to fulfill. The aged, who remembered how numerous and 
 blessedly active the uncloistered bands of XJrsulines had been 
 in city and country, before the Jacobin soldiery had poured 
 across the Alps to blight and to destroy, beheld ^ith regret 
 the disappearance from the streets of Brescia of the well- 
 known habit. And the men and women whom the long 
 cycle of revolutionary storms had bound more firmly to the 
 faith and customs of Catholic Italy were frequent and loud 
 in their wishes to see the habit of St. Angela once more worn 
 by the daughters of the noblest and the wealthiest, and grac- 
 ing their homes with the virtues it was ever sure to bring. 
 The poor and the laboring classes especially needed the fa- 
 miliar and ever-welcome presence of the modest veiled figures 
 of the Umiliate — " the little sisters" whose heart understood 
 so well the wants of the poorest and the pangs of the suffer- 
 ing, and whose hand had been to their fathers before them 
 the hand of God ever extended to succor — gentle, merciful, 
 and patient. And so Brescia, while surrounding with its 
 sympathy and reverence the cloistered community founded by 
 Bishop Nava, could not help cherishing with a grateful pity 
 and a hopeful expectancy the scattered and drooping rem- 
 nants of their own once numerous and worshiped Company 
 of St. Ursula. 
 
 Nor were all these hopes doomed to disappointment. 
 "When, following up the work began by French Jacobinism, 
 the Piedmontese Government leb loose on Upper Italy — in- 
 deed, on the entire peninsula — the well-organized and disci- 
 plined armies of antichristian radicals and revolutionists, who 
 are fast obliterating the glorious civilization of the Catholic 
 ages, it became an imperative necessity to preserve the homes 
 and the children of all classes, of the laboring poor in partic- 
 
AND THE URSULINE8, 357 
 
 iilar^, against fhe active and most intelligent propagandism of 
 the secret societies. Cloistered communities of Ursnlines and 
 other religious women could, where by some miracle they 
 were tolerated, receiyeand educate the daughters of the high- 
 born and the rich. But it needed the presence in the home 
 and in the school-room of such women as were Angela Merici 
 and her companions, to show by a God-like life, by the di- 
 yinest charity and deyotedness, that there was still a God 
 upon earth, and that He had care of the poor and the suffer- 
 ing ; to demonstrate to the victims of unbelief and rampant 
 Socialism, that Christian virtue was still a living farce in the 
 world, and that heroic self-sacrifice was ready to save society 
 by the cross. 
 
 Pius IX., with that Heaven-sent instinct which attaches to 
 the office of the Supreme Shepherd of souls, encouraged or 
 created everywhere he could associations aiming to train the 
 young to Christian life. Hence the promptness with which, 
 in July, 1861, when the greater part of Upper and Central 
 Italy was overrun by the fanatical apostles of Mazzini, fol- 
 lowed and abetted everywhere by the colporteurs of the Evan- 
 gelical Alliance and the Bible Societies, he issued a decree 
 authorizing the Church in every land to celebrate the feast of 
 St. Angela Merici as it was in Italy, and bestowing on this 
 great apostle of female education and on her daughters, 
 throughout the world, the generous meed of praise so well 
 merited by centuries of fruitful toil. The terms in which 
 the Holy Father spoke of Angela and her Institute — of their 
 priceless services in the past, of their adaptation to the sore 
 need of the present age, and of the divine promise that they 
 should last through all future time — thrilled the souls of the 
 Ursulines everywhere, but more especially those of the un- 
 cloistered remnant of the venerable Congregation of Brescia. 
 This decree signed by Cardinal Patrizi, but speaking in the 
 
358 ST, ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 name of the Vicar of Christ, solemnly stated a fact nnmen- 
 tioned by any historian of St. Angela — that it was dn Rome, 
 •while yisiting in 1525 the tombs of the holy Apostles, " she 
 felt herself moved to promote the education of young girls, 
 well knowing that these, surrounded as they were by the 
 spreading heresies of Luther and Calyin, were, like the open- 
 ing flower among thorns, in imminent peril of losing their 
 virginal blossom/^ 
 
 But now that errors far more deadly than those of the six- 
 teenth century were poisoning the homes, the minds, and the 
 hearts of all Italy — of all Christendom indeed — this voice 
 from Rome was like the breath of inspiration for all who, 
 like Angela and her early associates, thirsted to be to the 
 modern world the apostles of education, and to shed the 
 light of their teaching and example around the hearthstone of 
 every Christian home. In Brescia, desolated by the invasion of 
 triumphant radicalism, the few remaining uncloistered Ursu- 
 lines were recalled to a new life, as by the tones of the resur- 
 rection trump. The Countess Girelli and her sister imme- 
 diately set to work, with the countenance of the local su- 
 periors, to reorganize the primitive sisterhood as Angela con- 
 ceived it, and as required by the social needs of our day. The 
 two ladies soon saw themselves surrounded by a numerous 
 body of young women animated by the spirit of St. Ursula. 
 Steadily and rapidly these numbers went on increasing, to the 
 intense delight of the Brescian Catholics. Donna Girelli be- 
 gan with twelve, just as St. Angela began in 1535, On the 
 4th of April, 1864, the first regular assembly was held. In 
 1866, Girolamo de' Verzeri, Bishop of Brescia, gave these new 
 and welcome auxiliaries canonical institution, enjoining 
 them to keep the primitive Rule inviolate. On the 29th of 
 July that same year, he received the religious profession of 
 the members of the restored Company — the very day en 
 
AND THE UBSULINES, 3o9 
 
 •which. Pius IX. beheld the statue of St. Angela Merici sol- 
 emnly placed in St. Peter^s among those of the other founders 
 of religious Orders. 
 
 There was thus great joy in Brescia, both in the cloistered 
 community of St. Ursula, who saw their own hands strength- 
 e]ied by this proyidential accession of numbers, and among 
 the fervent followers of the Countess Girelli, who soon 
 counted five hundred sisters within the single diocese of 
 Bishop Verzeri ! From Eome came again in 1867, through 
 the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation of the Council 
 other eloquent words of commendation and encouragement 
 warm from the fatherly heart of Pius IX. '^ Your fervent 
 Company of maidens,'' such were some of the words, " having 
 for its object to secure in the midst of secular life the sancti- 
 fication of both mistresses and pupils, is to us a great com- 
 fort. May it please our Lord, through the intercession of 
 St. Angela Merici, who has deserved so well of your city and 
 who is the protectress of your Company, to make the latter 
 become like the mustard-seed of the Gospel, growing to the 
 stature of a great tree, in which the birds of the air shall build 
 their nests !" 
 
 We may well trust, now that he is near St. Angela in 
 Heaven, that Pius the Beloved will obtain by his prayers that 
 the '' mustard-seed " shall live and grow and increase might- 
 ily through the long wintry years of Italy's sore trial. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 THE UKSULINES IK FRANCE — CONGREGATIONS OF AIX, BOR- 
 DEAUX, PARIS, LYONS, AND TOULOUSE. 
 
 In 1572, the year in which the bull of Gregory XIII. ap- 
 proved and confirmed anew the Institute of St. Angela, and 
 sanctioned the changes made in it at Milan by St. Charles 
 Borromeo, was born at Avignon, in France, a child destined 
 to exercise immense influence on the destiny of the Company 
 of St. Ursula. This was Frances de Bermond. She was a 
 child of extraordinary promise, given for a brief space in her 
 early girlhood to the enjoyment of the admiration and homage 
 which her birth and precocious talents inspired, and then sud- 
 denly and wholly devoting her life to God and the good of 
 souls. Urged on by the advice and examples of a saintly 
 aunt, Frances made a vow of virginity and gave up her whole 
 time to the instruction of po&r children, winning to the cause 
 of Christian education her former playmates, with whom she 
 formed a society wholly consecrated to the God-like work of 
 caring for the children of the poor. They were all of noble 
 birth, these French maidens. Without, perhaps, having 
 heard of Angela Merici and her Brescian companions, 
 Frances de Bermond and her mates followed precisely the 
 same road as Angela. As, however, the French maiden was 
 born a century later than the Maid of Desenzano, she found 
 the printing-press in full operation everywhere, furnishing 
 
 360 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 361 
 
 books^ at an incomparably lower price, to all classes of the 
 community, and thus stimulating the children of all classes 
 to acquire the elements of secular knowledge. These high- 
 born ladies of Avignon had all, like Frances herself, shared 
 in the enormously increased facilities of learning, and they 
 were inspired to open schools in their native city, in which 
 the children of the poor and the laboring classes were taught 
 not only the elements of the Christian doctrine, but the ele- 
 ments as well of human letters. 
 
 The entire city, astonished at first, and amused by the reso- 
 lution taken so suddenly by young ladies so gifted and so 
 petted, did not hesitate to admire and applaud when it be- 
 came evident that this devotion to a great and sorely needed 
 work w^as not a passing caprice, but a serious purpose con- 
 scientiously formed and carried out with quiet but constant 
 earnestness. It so happened, too, that a saintly French 
 priest, the venerable Csesar de Bus, had just founded a soci- 
 ety of priests on the model of the Institute of St. Angela 
 {'' Fathers of the Christian Doctrine'^), and having for its 
 aim to bestow on the children of the lower classes the inesti- 
 mable boon of a truly Christian education. Father de Bus 
 was neither slow nor lukewarm in encouraging the labors of 
 Frances de Bermond and her little band of apostles. The 
 Archbishop of Avignon also, who was delighted with the zeal 
 of these new teachers and with the blessed fruits it produced, 
 obtained from Pope Clement VIII. (1592-1605) a formal ap- 
 probation of the nascent society. 
 
 So far, Frances de Bermond and her associates had no con- 
 nection with the Company of St. Ursula, and probably no 
 certain knowledge of its existence or purpose. By a provi- 
 dential train of circumstances, the life and work of St. An- 
 gela was soon made known to the devoted girl. A young 
 lady of Avignon of about the same age as Frances, and self- 
 
362 ST, ANGELA MEBI€l 
 
 consecrated like her to the yirginal life, receiv.ed from her 
 spiritual director, the Bishop of Oarpentras, a copy of the 
 Eule of St. Angela, as approved and modified by St. Charles 
 Borromeo for the TJrsulines of Milan. This was no sooner 
 communicated to Frances de Bermond and her fellow-laborers, 
 together with an account of St. Angela and the Society 
 founded by her, than the fervent Avignon ese maidens unani- 
 mously resolved to become the spiritual daughters of so great 
 a parent. 
 
 Miss de Masan de Yaucluse, who had been instrumental in 
 making the work of St. Angela known to Frances de Ber- 
 mond, was now enabled to complete what she had so happily 
 begun, and bestowed on her new friend a house of lier own 
 in the little town of L'Isle, some twenty miles to the south- 
 east of Avignon, and noted for its industrv as well as its pic- 
 turesque situation. 
 
 This first house of the TJrsaline Order in France was the 
 hive from which swarms of holy women were to go forth to 
 almost every part of France — indeed, to every Catholic coun- 
 try of Europe, except Italy. To be sure, these swarms, as 
 they settled and housed themselves and began to ply their 
 indefatigable industries in this or that province, had, by the 
 imperious necessity of circumstances, to modify the condi- 
 tions of their existence — just as bees in the gigantic forests 
 of Brazil build their homes and lay up their sweet stores of 
 honey in a manner that differs much from the hives they 
 construct in our gardens ; and just as the European sparrow, 
 lately introduced into America, when forced or induced to 
 nestle in our woods, will cease to confine himself to the eaves 
 of our dwellings, but build in the tree-tops like the singing 
 birds which he persecutes and puts to flight. Still, under 
 these altered conditions of climate, country, and habitation, 
 bees are bees and sparrows are sparrows the whole world over. 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 363 
 
 St. Charles Borromeo, in inducing liis Ursulines to live 
 together in community and to bind themselves by the simple 
 vows of religious life, did not purpose to establish what can- 
 onists call a strict inclosure, or a cloister attended with the 
 rigorous and inviolable seclusion known among the old mo- 
 nastic orders of women. The Ursulines were primarily in- 
 tended as an active Order — as one to occupy itself principally 
 with teaching. So, while living within their own houses, 
 the Milanese Ursulines were wont to busy themselves contin- 
 ually both in teaching little girls and in giving religious in- 
 struction to adult persons of their own sex. The new house 
 at L'Isle copied faithfully those of Milan. 
 
 Soon, as the limited field of activity afforded in that town 
 became like the garden of God under the cunning husbandry 
 of Mother de Bermond and her sisterhood, other places along 
 the Khone and its affluents began to covet the happiness of 
 the people around Vaucluse.^ Aix was the first city of 
 Southern France to solicit a colony of sisters from Mother de 
 Bermond. This was in 1600. Another colony was sent to 
 Marseilles in 1603. Indeed, all Provence seemed anxious to 
 have its daughters trained by such exemplary and accom- 
 plished mistresses. The centre of government of the French 
 Congregation, as established by Frances de Bermond, was at 
 Aix, the capital of Provence. Avignon itself, '' the City of 
 the Popes," and at that time still belonging to the Holy See, 
 seems to have followed the example of Aix and Marseilles, 
 instead of honoring itself and the noble maidens who were 
 born in it, by being the first to claim their services. At any 
 rate, in 1605, after the death of Clement VIII., the Cardinal- 
 Archbishop of Bordeaux, Francis de Sourdis, happening to 
 pass through it on his way to the Conclave, made the ac- 
 
 1 The Valley and Fountain of Yauclue, immortalized by Petrarch are in themselves 
 most wonderful and beautiful. The whole country abounds in sublime scenery. 
 
364 ST, ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 quaintance of Mother de Bermond and her daughters. He 
 wished to see them at work in their schools, and was so 
 charmed by what he saw, that he resolved to introduce them 
 into his diocese as soon as he had come back from Eome. 
 The conclave ended, the archbishop, who was a most worthy 
 prelate, stopped at Milan on his homeward journey, in order 
 to visit the tomb of St. Charles Borromeo, to study the in- 
 stitutions of every kind which the Apostle of Lombardy had 
 created for the benefit of religion, and to fire his own soul 
 near the grave of this model priest and pastor with the sacred 
 flame which had enlightened and purified Milan. 
 
 It was remarked that the noble pilgrim remained in prayer 
 by the side of the holy archbishop's remains during seven 
 consecutive hours, beseeching God through the intercession 
 of His great servant to grant himself the f allness of the apos- 
 tolic spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice. De Sourdis, in 
 one of his letters, tells us that his soul received great favors 
 there — among them the determination to copy faithfully the 
 virtues of St. Charles, and the design of establishing in Bor- 
 deaux a virginal company of teachers like those in Milan and 
 Brescia.^ He purposed combining both forms — the life in 
 community and the freedom of remaining with one's family. 
 In 1618, however, he carried out a further resolution of hav- 
 ing, together with Ursulines of these two classes, a monastery 
 of cloistered Ursulines subject to all the forms of rigorous 
 monastic life, such as that just established in Paris by the 
 joint action of Mother de Bermond, Madame Acarie, and 
 Madame de Sainte-Beuve. 
 
 Cardinal de Sourdis found ready to his hand three of those 
 
 1 Salvatori, p. 63. Abbraccio subito il piissimo cardinale la santa ispirazione ; e 
 giunto a Bordeaux mise mano air opera. Fu questo circa il 16C6, qiiando vi stabili buon 
 numero di Vergini sotta la Regola di nostra eanta, coUe aggiunte fattevi da S. Carlo ; ed 
 alcuna di lore ne uni a vivere congregate in una specie di conservatorio, lasciandone 
 altre sparse per le famlglle. 
 
AND THE UR8ULINES, 365 
 
 Christian women so numerous in the France of the sixteenth 
 and seventeenth centuries — women in whose souls ever burned 
 the spirit of St. Louis, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Jane 
 Frances de Chantal. These were Fraiices and Mary de Ca- 
 zeres and Jeanne de la Mercerie. The cardinal gave them 
 the Milanese Rule, and sent them to reside in a kind of half- 
 cloistered seclusion at Libourne, some twenty-five miles from 
 Bordeaux, where they prepared themselves with uncommon 
 fervor to receive the religious habit, and to make, at the 
 proper time, the simple vows required by the Eule. They 
 received the habit solemnly on June 24th, 1606, returned to 
 Bordeaux six months later, and on November 30th the Ur- 
 suline community was inaugurated with great solemnity, 
 Frances de Cazeres being declared superior. 
 
 It was, as is well known to students of history, a brief in- 
 terval of repose for storm-tossed France, torn and desolated 
 by the civil and religious wars of more than half a century. 
 The bitter and protracted strife between Protestants and 
 Catholics, aided and abetted by the evil passions of foreign 
 powers, had roused the tepid into fervor, and disposed the 
 fervent to enthusiasm in all good works that aimed at ele- 
 vating the intellectual and moral condition of the people. 
 There was among most Catholics in France something akin 
 to aversion toward new monastic orders on the old plan ; 
 and, besides, the need of the age and country was instruc- 
 tion for the ignorant, thorough religious education for the 
 young, bodily and spiritual help for the countless hosts of 
 the suffering, and the edifying example of a holy life brought 
 homo to every fireside. 
 
 It was a Godsend, therefore, the good people of Bordeaux 
 thought, this creation of the Holy Maid of Desenzano, which 
 enabled young women either to live the virginal life of use- 
 ful devotedness in common, or to bring its bright examples 
 
366 ST, ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 to the family hearth ; to make for a sufficient period a thor- 
 ough trial of their strength to bear the yoke of religious 
 vows, and then either to return to purely secular avocations, 
 or to bind themselves permanently to follow " the more per- 
 fect way.'^ 
 
 Frances de Cazeres was in Bordeaux what Frances de Ber- 
 mond was at Aix and L'Isle and Marseilles — the living image 
 of Angela Merici. Between 1606 and 1618 — an epoch ever 
 memorable to the great family of monasteries which claim to 
 be the offspring of the Congregation of Bordeaux — Mother 
 de Cazeres was called on to found no less than six houses of 
 the Order. Nothing but the lack of well-trained and experi- 
 enced subjects prevented a further extension in the South and 
 West of France. 
 
 The saintly superior, however, must have seen great dan- 
 gers for the souls of her sisters in their mixing so freely with 
 the joyous and pleasure-loving French society of the epoch. 
 One must naturally conclude this much from the bull of 
 Paul v., of which we shall have to speak presently. The 
 conviction must have forced itself on her practical mind and 
 scrupulous conscience, that the daughters of the upper classes 
 could be more safely and successfully trained to all the ac- 
 complishments and virtues necessary to their future career 
 in the world by being secluded with their mistresses during 
 their school years ; that the children of the poorer classes could 
 also be admitted daily to the Ursaline schools without com- 
 pelling their teachers to leave the seclusion of their religious 
 home ; and that the occupations of the school-room could be 
 made to conform iu every essential respect with the strictest 
 requirements of claustral life. 
 
 It is affirmed, and on the very best authority, that Mother 
 de Cazeres had, in 1608, an ecstatic vision not a little like 
 that of St. Angela at Brudazzo, in which she was shown the 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 367 
 
 wonderful extension of the Congregation of Bordeaux in 
 France and outside of it, the bitter opposition she must ex- 
 peect in her labors, the transformation of her present estab- 
 lishments into monasteries of cloistered nuns, and the co- 
 operation of the Holy See toward this much-desired end. 
 Her associates, her trusted assistants in the gigantic labors of 
 their first foundation, heard her say and repeat that the di- 
 yine voice expressly declared : " Thou shalt be the parent of 
 a monastic society, and shalt have to bear more than one 
 cross." Cardinal de Sourdis, himself a man of God, in- 
 quired into the truth of this vision ; and having listened 
 attentively to the modest and ingenuous answers of the 
 superior, entertained no doubt of the fact. From that 
 moment both he and Mother de Cazeres labored together to 
 draw up such rules as would meet all the requirements of the 
 monastic society which they both contemplated, and which 
 might satisfy the Eoman canonists, the committee of cardi- 
 nals appointed to examine into such weighty matters, and the 
 Holy Father himself. 
 
 The cardinal undertook to go himself to Rome. Before set- 
 ting out, however, he deemed it both wise and just to submit his 
 project and all the proposed changes to the Ursulines them- 
 selves. They had not been unprepared for his design, and 
 looking up to him as to another St. Charles, and to their 
 mother superior as to a second St. Angela, they saw, in what 
 both had matured so long and so conscientiously, a provi- 
 dential plan for the exaltation of their own Order and the 
 increase of its usefulness. 
 
 The changes proposed by Cardinal de Sourdis and subse- 
 quently approved by the Holy See are thus resumed briefly 
 by Father Salvatori : 
 
 *' They believed it a timely measure to create a third class 
 of cloistered nuns with (solemn) religious vows, as had been 
 
368 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 done in Paris a few years before (1612). For that purpose, 
 retaining the substance of the Eule of the holy foundress en- 
 joining on the members to consecrate themselves not only to the 
 work of their own sanctification, but also to the sanctification 
 of others^ they drew up a new code of rules, embodying what- 
 ever was most fitted to their design from the primitive Eule, 
 from those of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Augustine ; they 
 bestowed on the new Constitutions the name of the latter as 
 the greatest, and called the new monastic Order Ursulines 
 under the Rule of St, Augustine.^' ^ 
 
 Paul v., after weighing the consideratioi^s presented to him 
 by the Archbishop of Bordeaux, and receiving a cordial 
 commendation from the cardinals appointed to examine into 
 the proposed change, issued, on February 5th, 1618, the bull 
 In Supremo onilitantis ecclesice solio, fixing for all time the 
 form of the new Ursuline Congregation of Bordeaux, and 
 regulating with the most minute detail the manner in which 
 the nuns themselves are to live thenceforward, and that in 
 which they are to keep their schools of boarders and day- 
 scholars in conformity with the requirements of a cloistered 
 life. 
 
 '' "We bestow the most earnest care,'^ the Sovereign PontiflE 
 says, ^^ on everything pertaining to the monasteries and other 
 regular establishments, in which devoted women labor to 
 increase the glory of religion and zeal for the service of God ; 
 in which wise virgins, impelled by a charitable zeal, apply 
 themselves to secure not only their own salvation but that of 
 others, by taking on themselves the task of educating young 
 girls. Their successful and most fruitful labors therein are a 
 matter of notoriety; while others, drawn by their ex- 
 ample to imitate them, and contemning the attractions of a 
 worldly life, desire only to bestow their whole lives on serving 
 
 1 Book i. c. 10, p. 63. 
 
AND THE UBSULmES, 369 
 
 God within the seclusion of the cloister, and the discipline of 
 regular observance, and thus be more free beneath the guid- 
 ance of so holy an institute [manner of life] to gather ' flowers 
 of honor ' and ' fruit of riches/ ^ as well as to secure their own 
 eyerlasting happiness/^ 
 
 This, the pontiff goes on to say, is what has been and is 
 still done by the Ursulines of Bordeaux. '' They have 
 founded a society under the banner of St. Ursula, resolved, 
 in imitation of this saint, to preserve their virginity as a 
 thing pleasing to God, taking on themselves, as their proper 
 and peculiar mode of life {Instituto) to educate young girls, 
 and to teach them the Christian doctrine. Not long after 
 these beginnings, considering — the Holy Ghost inspiring 
 them the while — how great an obstacle they must find, both 
 toward the preservation of their maidenly purity and the 
 leading a blamelessly religious life, in the familiar intercourse 
 with men, and the private banquetings which French customs 
 countenance in the houses of both women and men, they 
 sought the seclusion of a dwelling of their own, where, in 
 order to shut themselves off from intercourse with men and 
 the better to guard their virginal treasure, they resolved to 
 live a cloistered life under a regular rule. Thither they all 
 betook themselves, and, after two years of probation, they 
 bound themselves by the simple vows of chastity, obedience, 
 poverty, and stability in their calling, according to the will 
 of the Apostolic See. From that time, wearing a habit which 
 is equally becoming to maidenly modesty and the religious 
 profession, they have not ceased till now to devote themselves 
 to the education of young children of their own sex. In 
 their house, as is the wont in colleges, they have established 
 distinct classes, in which their pupils are taught, first of all, 
 the Christian doctrine, enforced by salutary examples and 
 
 ^ Ecclesiasticus zxiv. 23. 
 
370 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 illustrations, thereby preserving these tender minds from their 
 worst bane — the poisonous fruit of heresy. They also train 
 them to abstain from extravagance in dress, to which their sex is 
 so much addicted, teaching them all the arts and industries 
 becoming women of the world ; and, in order to induce the 
 children of the poor and of needy strangers to come to these 
 schools and learn the Christian doctrine, the daughters of St. 
 Ursula teach them the useful accomplishments, which may 
 enable them afterward to earn a livelihood. Nor have they 
 less care and devotion on feast days to assemble servant- 
 maids and poor women whose Christian training had been 
 neglected, and to impart to them all the knowledge so sadly 
 needed. The motherly tenderness displayed by them toward 
 the young girls who, with the permission of the cardinal- 
 archbishop, live in a separate part of their religious abode and 
 are educated by them, is most admirable." 
 
 Such, then, is the institution, admirable indeed in every 
 way, new to France, suited to the sore needs of its people, 
 called for by the spirit of the age, which PaulV. proceeds 
 to erect into a regular monastic establishment, so constituted 
 and disciplined that it shall fulfill the loftiest aims of Angela 
 Merici and her early associates, take its place in the Church 
 of God by the side of the most venerable creations of the 
 Holy See, and be, by the blessing of Christ^s Vicar, endowed 
 with the power to multiply itself and cover all France and all 
 Christendom with its offshoots. 
 
 While the Congregation of Bordeaux was thus rapidly 
 advancing through the successive stages which brought it to 
 its final form of completeness, the Ursulines of Paris were 
 passing, but more rapidly, through a similar process of 
 development. The reader will not be sorry to know 
 who were the saintly women who planted in the capital of 
 * France an establishment vieing in efficiency and f ruitfulness 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 371 
 
 with that of Bordeaux. The bull of Paul V., erecting the 
 Parisian establishment into a monastery of cloistered nuns, 
 was issued June 13th, 1612, while the bull obtained by 
 Cardinal de Sourdis was dated some six years later. 
 
 As we are, however, occupied with the only true superiority 
 of which the daughters of Angela Merici are envious — that of 
 zeal in the cause of education and fervor in the pursuit o£ 
 holiness — we may well pass by whatever relates to chronologi- 
 cal questions, and attend solely to one of the most surprising 
 moral phenomena recorded in the history of the Church. 
 
 Mother de Bermond, as we have seen, was called upon in 
 1608 to send some of her sisters to Paris, where an establish- 
 ment of Ursulines had already been begun. Two of the most 
 illustrious women of that age were the founders of this great 
 nursery of apostolic educators of youth : Barbara Avrillot, 
 widow of Pierre Acarie de Villemor, who foanded in France 
 the Reformed Carmelite Order of St. Teresa, became herself a 
 Carmelite nun, and was beatified under the name of Mary of 
 the Incarnation ; ^ and a cousin of Madame Acarie's, also a 
 noble widow lady called Madeleine Lhuillier de Sainte-Beuve. 
 While the former^shasbandwas still living and his worshiped 
 wife was busied in educating her three sons and three 
 daughters, she found time, among the many good works which 
 she and Monsieur Acarie originated and promoted, to intro- 
 duce and to found the Eeformed Carmelites. So great was 
 the number of postulants for admission into the new Order 
 who presented themselves to Madame Acarie, that no place 
 could be found for them in the first house opeiied, and many 
 who were admitted were unable to endure the privations and 
 austerity of the Carmelite Rule, Nevertheless Madame 
 
 1 It was doubtless in her honor that Marie Gayard-Martin, foundress of the Ursulines 
 of Quebec, took the name of -'Mary of the Incarnation," under which she is known 
 and has already won th§ title of *' Venerable," 
 
372 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 Acarie^s motherly solicitude provided for both classes a house 
 in which they could lead a life of religious seclusion while 
 looking forward to a realization of their cherished hopes. 
 She induced them^ while thus waiting, to devote their 
 energies to the instruction of children of their sex. The 
 Hotel Saint- Andre, a spacious mansion in a Parisian suburb, 
 was selected for the common residence and the central 
 school,and placed under the direction of Nicoletta Le Pelletier, 
 who had founded a like establishment at Pontoise in 1599. 
 The Bishop of Paris, charmed with the great good effected by 
 these young teachers, heartily approved the establishment, 
 and graduated classes of pupils were at once opened, attract- 
 ing more children than could be accommodated. 
 
 At first, and while the school was in its infancy and the num- 
 ber of the teachers inconsiderable, Madame Acarie found in 
 her own resources and the generosity of her friends wherewith 
 to meet all the necessary expenses. But as the work grew on 
 her hands, and its fruits increased beyond her most sanguine 
 expectations, she cast about anxiously for some one of those 
 noble souls, so easily met with on French soil, whose great 
 wealth is far beneath their liberality. She suddenly bethought 
 her of her young and widowed relative, Madeleine de Sainte- 
 Beuve. The latter had been herself divinely moved to 
 undertake some such work. " I cannot refuse to put my 
 hand to this good work,'^ she said in answer to her relative. 
 ^' We shall together found a community of Ursulines, on one 
 condition, however— that the members shall, as soon as it may 
 be done conveniently, adopt the rules of monastic life.^^ 
 
 Madame de Sainte-Beuve lost not a momeiit. She took 
 lodgings in the neighborhood of the Hotel Saint- Andre, and 
 made her design known to her friends 9,nd acquaintance. 
 The quick religious instincts of French women of the upper 
 classes enabled them to perceive at a glance what a vast and 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 373 
 
 fruitful field was thus about to be opened to the zeal of the 
 young and the generous-hearted. As if the voice of Madame 
 Acarie and her relative were a trumpet-call summoning the elite 
 of French maidenhood to a new apostleship, the daughters of 
 the best Parisian families immediately came forward to join the 
 community of the Hotel Saint- Andre ! Among them were 
 noble maidens bearing the names of DeMarillac, D'Urfe, De 
 Vieuxpont, and D'Esigny. It was then, when the future of 
 this first great school seemed so promising, that Mother de 
 Bermond was summoned from Marseilles. She was forth- 
 with appointed to govern the new establishment with the title 
 of prioress, and both Madame Acarie and Madame de Sainte- 
 Beuve besought her to enforce among the sisterhood the 
 TJrsuline Eule as borrowed from the Congregation of Milan. 
 Madame de Sainte-Beuve, meanwhile, had sold a portion 
 of her patrimonial estates, and purchased near the Hotel 
 Saint- Andre the grounds needful to her design, on which she 
 constructed two additional buildings — one for a boarding- 
 school, and the other for the sisters^ dwelling-house. A 
 spacious chapel also arose under the energetic supervision of 
 the foundress ; and everything was urged forward with such 
 indefatigable activity, that the chapel was opened for divine 
 service on September 29th, 1610. 
 
 Until that day, however, no word had been spoken to 
 Mother de Bermond about the proposed transformation of 
 her Parisian community into a monastery of cloistered nuns. 
 But Madame de Sainte-Beuve had only been waiting for this 
 occasion to lay her design before the prioress and the entire 
 sisterhood. So, after mass, they were all assembled in 
 chapter, and their benefactress exposed her views of monastic 
 life in connection with the mighty work to which they had 
 all put their hands, giving her motives with such eloquence 
 and persuasiveness, that her hearers, the prioress herself 
 
374 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 setting tlie example, assented at once to the proposal. 
 Mother de Bermond, as well as her sisters, stipulated expressly 
 that the purpose and spirit of St. Angela's Institute should 
 be preserved in the new Eule, and that, whatever changes 
 should be decreed by the Holy See, the cloistered community 
 should remain a part of the Company of St. Ursula. 
 
 In spite of the energy with which Madame de Sainte-Beuve 
 pushed matters forward in Paris and at Rome, the bull Inter 
 Universa, converting the Ursuline community of the Hotel 
 Saint-Andre into a monastery of cloistered nuns with the 
 Eeformed Rule of St. Augustine, was only issued on June 
 13th, 1612. 
 
 The chief point from which the monastery of Paris is made 
 to differ from that of Bordeaux, canonically erected in 1618, 
 is that together with the ordinary religious vows of poverty, 
 chastity, and obedience, there is enjoined an additional 
 obligation of ^^ devoting themselves to the instruction of 
 young girls, making of this occupation their chief end and 
 purpose, ever keeping this before their minds, ordering to this 
 end all and each of their functions and offices, giving to its 
 attainment their whole strength and care, convinced that in 
 so doing they are fulfilling the purpose of their divine 
 calling."^ 
 
 The Ursulines of Aix and its dependencies were not willing 
 to lose the services of Mother de Bermond, and unprepared, 
 as yet, to accept for themselves the great change about to be 
 effected in the Parisian sisterhood. So they hastened to 
 recall one whom they still reverenced as their parent and 
 guide. 
 
 1 Elapso probationis tempore professionem emittere, paupertatis, castitatis et obedi- 
 entise votis se adstringere, necnon dictae puellarnm instnictioni, eum sibi praecipuum 
 flnem et scopum proponentes, id perpetuo cogitantes, ad id omnia et singula munla et 
 officia disponentes, totis viribus et eedulitate animi in id incumbentes, ea demum ra- 
 tione se divinse vocationi satisfacere posse credentes. . . . 
 
AND THE URSULINES. 375 
 
 Madame de Sainte-Beu ve was thus left free to accomplish her 
 purpose. On the 11th November^ Henri de Gondy, Bishop 
 of Paris — which, by the way, only became an archbishop's 
 see in 1622 — the first Ursuline monastery in the capital of 
 France was inaugurated with all the solemn formalities 
 required by the canon law, and in obedience to the bull of 
 Pope Paul V. 
 
 The holy woman, who had found in Madame Sainte-Beuye 
 a providential instrument ready to her hand and docile to all 
 the promptings of Christian generosity, never for one moment 
 ceased to watch over the growth of their joint work. It was 
 only about a year after the canonical institution of the 
 TJrsulines in their monastery of the Hotel Saint- Andre that 
 Barbara Acarie lost her noble husband, and some further 
 time elapsed before the widow entered the Carmelite monastery 
 in which one of her own daughters was superior, and assumed 
 the name, now dear to the Christian world, of Mary of the 
 Incarnation. What she did for her cherished TJrsulines, and 
 which should be mentioned in this place, may be best stated 
 in the words of her Italian biographer. 
 
 ^' Fully aware of the great good effected by the religious 
 TJrsulines in giving a Christian education to young girls, 
 according to the method of their pious Institute, and how 
 advantageous to the city of Paris it would be to possess at 
 least one monastery of their order, she lost not a moment in 
 laying before a rich and devoted relative her desire, and 
 persuaded her to undertake the foundation of the proposed 
 establishment. Having obtained the promise of her cousin, 
 Blessed Mary forthwith took all the steps necessary toward the 
 execution of their joint enterprise. The requisite authoriza- 
 tion was obtained, and the first TJrsuline monastery soon 
 arose in Paris. 
 
 ^' The zeal of Blessed Mary did not, however, stop there ; 
 
376 • 8T, ANGELA MEEICl 
 
 as soon as the sisterhood was established in their home, she 
 would frequently visit them to see that they had everything 
 comfortable and orderly, to make sure that the pupils lacked 
 nothing that was needful, to animate every person within the 
 house to fervor, to the exact observance of the Eule, and 
 inducing the most saintly men of that age to visit and instruct 
 the rising community. Nor did she cease from her care and 
 labor till the monastery was in perfect working order. '^ ^ 
 
 We are thus minute in describing the efforts of the noble 
 women who were chiefly instrumental in founding each one of 
 the first great Ursuline nurseries or congregations. The subse- 
 quent history of each of these, and of their numerous fruitful 
 offshoots, does not come within our limited scope. That can 
 only be attempted in a history of the Order itself — a task 
 long ago most successfully achieved by others. 
 
 This first Parisian monastery, patronized by royalty, and 
 sustained by the nobility, whose daughters it educated and 
 from among whose daughters the sisterhood never ceased to be 
 recruited — blessed too by the popular classes, and fostered 
 by the grateful solicitude of the clergy, had in course of time 
 to multiply itself far and wide. Madame de Sainte-Beuve, 
 privileged to reside within the institution she had founded, 
 died the death of the saints, August 29th, 1630 ; but not be- 
 fore she had seen the eleventh Ursuline monastery established 
 by her own princely liberality. 
 
 In 1640 the monastery of Paris sent two of its noblest and 
 most devoted women to join, in Quebec, the little band of 
 three Ursulines from Tours who had landed there a twelve- 
 month before, led by another heroic widow-lady, who was to 
 give to the religious name of " Mary of the Incarnation" the 
 added consecration of missionary labors and God-like virtues. 
 
 1 Page 128 of the Italian Life of B. Mary of the Incarnation, published in Rome in 
 1791, the year of her solemn beatification, and quoted by Salvatori. 
 
AND THE URSTILINES, 377 
 
 Thus the two congregations of Bordeaux and Paris were to 
 blend in the great monastic school of Quehec their distinctive 
 differences and common spirit of unbounded self-sacrifice. 
 The saintly foundress of the Canadian Ursulines adopted in 
 the Eule which she drew up the fourth vow of the Parisian 
 sisterhood, binding the members to make education their 
 principal aim and chief labor, while imposing on her com- 
 panions the religious habit of Bordeaux somewhat modified. 
 
 Mother de Bermond obeyed without a moment's hesitation 
 the order of her superiors at Aix, recalling her to the field of 
 her own early labors. She made a great sacrifice in obeying ; 
 for she heartily desired to live a strictly secluded life, and had 
 been overjoyed by the prospect of seeing the Parisian house 
 elevated to the dignity of a regular monastery. But as she 
 had been only lent, not given, to the sisterhood of Paris, as a 
 mistress and a guide, she deemed herself, very properly, 
 bound to yield prompt and unqualified submission to those 
 who had sent her thither, and who now recalled her. 
 
 It was soon seen that they were in this seconding God's 
 merciful designs for the Ursuline Order in Southern and 
 Eastern France. The high-souled woman took the road to 
 Aix, stopping, in those days of bad roads and slow stage- 
 coaches, for a day or two of rest at Lyons. But the truth 
 is, that, servant of God as she was and wholly led by His 
 Spirit, she could not tarry anywhere for a single day v/ithout 
 seeing the germ of some holy enterprise suddenly burst forth 
 from the soil beneath her feet, and become, like the tree 
 which shaded the prophet of old, a thing of mature growth 
 within the space of a night's slumber. 
 
 It so happened that a wealthy citizen of Lyons, John de 
 Eanquet, charmed with all that he had heard of the Ursu- 
 lines of Aix and Milan, and alive to the great want of Chris- 
 tian education in his native city, had prepared an establish- 
 
378 ST. ANGELA MERICl 
 
 ment for the reception of Ursulines, and had laid aside a 
 fand for their maintenance. More than that/ he had encour- 
 aged in his two daughters Clemence and Catherine the de- 
 termination to join the sisterhood the moment they took pos- 
 session of their abode in Lyons. He no sooner learned that 
 Mother de Bermond was in the city than he called on her, 
 laid his offer at her feet, and obtained her acquiescence. The 
 superiors at Aix sanctioned this acceptance, and Mother de 
 Bermond and her traveling companion took instant posses- 
 sion of ihe proffered residence, and opened it to their Lyon- 
 nese pupils. This was in 1612. During the next six years 
 the good work so grew beneath the hands of these two 
 women, and the number of postulants from among the noblest 
 and best in the community became so great, that the best 
 minds among the Ursulines and the holiest men in Church 
 and State wished to see in Lyons the same transformation 
 effected which had taken place in Paris and Bordeaux. From 
 the infant establishment of Lyons several offshoots were 
 planted in various parts of Eastern France between 1612 and 
 1620 ; among others, that of Moulins in 1616, under Perretta 
 de Bermond, a younger sister of Mother de Bermond ; that 
 of St. Chamond in 1613, itself the fruitful stem of future 
 monasteries ; that of Macon in 1615 ; the great monastery 
 of Clermont-Ferrand in 1616, which in 1621, under the gov- 
 ernment of Clemence de Eanquet, adopted the changes just 
 introduced among the Ursulines of Lyons. 
 
 We omit the long list of others. A bull of Paul V., dated 
 April, 1619, conferred on the monastery of Lyons, and on 
 the establishments to be affiliated to it, the rank and privileges 
 granted in the preceding year to Bordeaux. 
 
 Thus Eome was not allowed toi be unacquainted with the 
 marvelous strides which the Order of St. Angela was making 
 in France, nor to remain inoperative in seconding the zeal of 
 
AND THE UBSULINES, 379 
 
 these apostolic women. In very truths their appearance in 
 the cities of France, the sudden rise of their schools, and the 
 intellectual and moral revival which was either caused by 
 their influence or invariably seen to attend it, reminds one 
 forcibly of the first spread and growth of Christianity in 
 Syria and Asia Minor. 
 
 The Lyonnese sisterhood were neither so prompt nor so 
 unanimous as those of Paris and Bordeaux in consenting to 
 accept the changes proposed by the Archbishop of Lyons and 
 desired by Mother de Bermond. Her example and her per- 
 suasive arguments, however, finally won them all over to her 
 wishes. On March 25th, 1620, the monastery was canonically 
 established, and Mother de Bermond, with her three senior 
 sisters, received from the archbishop's hands the religious 
 habit, and pronounced by special dispensation the three 
 solemn vows of their profession. 
 
 The saintly foundress, who has been justly called the Angela 
 Merici of France, continued to labor with the same indefati- 
 gable zeal and the same humility of heart to the end of her 
 life. She had completed in 1622 an establishment in the little 
 town of Saint-Bonnet, near Lyons. As it so often happens in 
 little towns, the progress of her community was opposed by 
 passions and pretensions out of all proportion with the size 
 of the place itself. Her sweetness, humility, and firmness 
 overcame everything. But the privations endured by the 
 sisterhood and their hard struggle for existence induced the 
 great-souled woman to take up her abode with them. And 
 thus she died in 1628, in her fifty-sixth year, like the night- 
 blooming cereus, as the sun of her life went down, embalm- 
 ing the whole country with the sweet perfume of her sanctity. 
 
 It now remains that we should briefly describe the origin of 
 the Congregation of Toulouse, so closely connected with that 
 of Lyons. 
 
380 ST. ANGELA MERIGl, 
 
 As we have seen, the Blessed Cassar de Bus contributed 
 greatly toward the increase and prosperity of the first French 
 Ursulines under Mother de Bermond. The Congregation of 
 Fathers of the Christian Doctrine, of which this holy priest 
 was the founder, everywhere took an active part in promoting 
 the spread and growth of the Ursuline communities, whose 
 scope was almost identical with their own. Now the right- 
 hand man of Caesar de Bus, both in founding and in govern- 
 ing his congregation, was Father de Vigier, a native of L'Isle, 
 the very first town of France in which the Ursulines had a 
 regular establishment. One of his sisters. Marguerite de 
 Vigier, was encouraged by him to join the Ursulines, and be- 
 came a foremost member of the Order in the South of 
 France. After having distinguished herself by her virtue and 
 capacity at Avignon, she was sent to Chabeuil, in Dauphine, 
 where the success of her school and the influence of her 
 saintly examples were such, that all the Protestant popula- 
 tion, with the exception of five families, was won over to 
 the Catholic faith. 
 
 Thereupon the Cardinal de Joyeuse, Archbishop of Tou- 
 louse, besought Caesar de Bus to obtain for his episcopal city, 
 which was overrun by Protestants, a colony of Fathers of the 
 Christian Doctrine and an establishment of Ursulines. This 
 was in 1604 ; and Father de Vigier and his sister Margue- 
 rite were forthwith sent to Toulouse to found houses of their 
 respective Orders. Year by year the number of Mother Mar- 
 guerite's pupils increased, and with them increased in pro- 
 portion the numbers of postulants for admission into her 
 community. In 1G09 Cardinal de Joyeuse's successor in the 
 archiepiscopal see bestowed on the Ursulines the chapel near 
 their convent. In 1610 Mother de Vigier and her compan- 
 ions adopted the resolution to live exclusively within their 
 own residence, although no steps were immediately taken to 
 
AND TSS URSULmES. 381 
 
 erect the latter into a monastery. This, however, was merely 
 a question of time. Meanwhile, the many works of charity 
 which the Ursalines had either originated in Toulouse or pro- 
 moted most zealously seemed doomed to die out after the 
 withdrawal of the sisters into the seclusion of their new life. 
 But many of the ladies who had labored under their guid- 
 ance among the sick and poor and ignorant, in the hospi- 
 tals, prisons, and the chapels where female sodalities were 
 wont to be instructed by the Ursulines, now, at the bidding 
 of Mother de Vigier, resolved to continue their wonted mer- 
 ciful labors. 
 
 Thus was formed the society of the " Ladies of Mercy of 
 St. Ursula.'' They were the zealous and invaluable auxili- 
 aries of the Ursulines/ and conferred by their pious and en- 
 lightened zeal the greatest services on Toulouse and its neigh- 
 borhood. The members never ceased to look up to Mother 
 de Vigier and her successors as to their mothers and religious 
 superiors. The Holy See looked upon this aflfiliated society 
 with favor, and Pope Clement X. (1670-76) granted to the 
 members many spiritual privileges. 
 
 But the change which had led to the formation of this so- 
 ciety was followed in 1615 by the transformation of the con- 
 vent into a monastery of cloistered nuns. Mother de Vigier 
 herself was prompt to see the necessity or the opportuneness 
 of this change. She had carefully trained her daughters in 
 preparation for it. Her excellent brother was sent to Rome to 
 obtain the bull of erection. On September 8th, 1615, they 
 solemnly received at the hands of the archbishop the conse- 
 crated habit of religion, and on the 27th December follow- 
 ing they pronounced the solemn vows of their profession. 
 
 Something of the southern enthusiasm marked thencefor- 
 ward the fervent piety of Mother de Vigier and her Ursulines. 
 Their austerities were such that the ecclesiastical superiors 
 
382 ST. ANGELA MEBICl 
 
 were obliged to interfere to moderate them. But they neg- 
 lected no duty of their calling while thus indulging in a 
 rigor which makes our sensuality or our tepidity shudder. 
 Besides the increased labor imposed on them by their nu- 
 merous boarders, the good nuns opened five new -classes for 
 poor children, and on Sundays and holy days gathered into 
 their halls poor servant- girls and married women sadly in 
 need of instruction, and explained to them the saving truths 
 of the Gospel and the practical duties and yirtues of their 
 condition. Theirs was an apostleship which extended its 
 blessings and — we had almost said — its miracles, to all. For 
 the change of life wrought in the women of all classes, and 
 by these in the men, was little short of a miracle. 
 
 Of course, other cities were not slow to hear of all this or 
 to seek to share in these blessings ; and so, as it happened in 
 Paris, and Bordeaux, and Lyons, here also the Ursuline 
 monasteries had to multiply themselves in order to satisfy 
 the wishes of the surrounding populations. 
 
 The Congregation of Toulouse soon covered the whole of 
 the province with its flourishing establishments, none of 
 which — and the same may be said in all truth of the other 
 Ursuline congregations throughout France — knew any de- 
 cline in their fervor or decrease in their usefulness, till the 
 French Eevolution came to involve them all in one common 
 ruin. From that ruin the Congregation of Toulouse was 
 fated never to rise again, as well as those of Tulle, Aries, 
 Dijon, and Dole. The few struggling establishments belong- 
 ing to the latter cannot obtain further mention in our limited 
 space. 
 
 One branch of the stock planted by Mother de Bermond 
 merits, however, a special mention, though never so brief. 
 This was the religious body known as the Ursulines of the 
 Presentation of Avignon, founded in 1623 by Lucretia de Gas- 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 383 
 
 tineau, and approved as a cloistered monastic establishment 
 by Urban VIII. in 1637. The Presentation Ilrsulines estab- 
 lished monasteries and schools in several cities, and in 1785 
 sent from Pont-Saint-Esprit a reinforcement of zealous nuns 
 to the long-suffering Parisian community of New Orleans. 
 A second band of sisters under the guidance of Mother Gen- 
 soul came out from Marseilles in 1810 ; and in January, 1816, 
 the establishment assumed, as we shall see presently, the title 
 of Ursulines of the Presentation of Our Lady. 
 
CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 OFFSHOOTS OF THE FRENCH UESULIl^ES THROUGHOUT THE 
 GERMAN AKD AUSTRIAN EMPIRES, CANADA, THE UNITED 
 STATES, IRELAND, AND ENGLAND 
 
 The Congregation of Bordeaux, like its great rival in excels 
 lence and apostolic zeal, the Congregation of Paris, was blessed 
 with a truly marvelous fecundity. Many of the monasteries 
 which owed their birth to Frances de Cazeres and her associates 
 did indeed, as we saw in the preceding chapter, join the Pa- 
 risian Congregation ; nevertheless, at the time of the French 
 Revolution, over one hundred establishments of education 
 claimed to belong to the Congregation of Bordeaux. Its 
 branches extended to the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, 
 Austria, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, and Canada. Indeed, 
 in the year 1650 we find sixty-eight monasteries belonging to 
 this flourishing congregation. 
 
 With the exception of a few houses, the Ursulines of Ger- 
 many, Austria, Hungary, and Poland derived their origin from 
 the Congregation of Bordeaux. They rendered everywhere 
 priceless services to religion and society. Of course, wher- 
 ever the Kevolutionary French armies penetrated and main- 
 tained a brief sway the Ursuline communities were either 
 dispersed or subjected to many annoyances. Still they man- 
 aged to remain on the spot, protected by the gratitude and 
 veneration of Christian families. When Napoleon I, feU, 
 
 384 
 
ST, AJSTGELA MERICL 385 
 
 and the French domination ceased^ they resumed their peace- 
 ful avocations. In more recent times the cruel and unwise 
 enactments known as ^^ the May Laws" once more threatened 
 the Ursulines of the new German Empire with total destruc- 
 tion. Even in Catholic Bavaria nothing but the powerful 
 protection of public opinion stood between them and sup- 
 pression. 
 
 To one of these Bavarian houses, that of Landshut, midway 
 between Eatisbon and Munich, conjointly with the Hungarian 
 Ursulines of Oedenburg, the United States are indebted for 
 some of the most promising Ursuline schools — those, namely, 
 of St. Louis and New York. 
 
 The Ursuline monastery of Breslau, thanks to that Provi- 
 dence who so kindly proportions spiritual help to the needs of 
 a population, educated daily some fifteen hundred pupils ! 
 And their sisters throughout Prussia and Austria-Hungary 
 vied with them in holy zeal and the fervent practise of re- 
 ligious perfection. At Vienna, Prague, Salzburg, Presburg, 
 Gratz, Klagenfurt, Innsbruck, and elsewhere, the Ursuline 
 monasteries were peopled from the beginning by the noblest in 
 worldly rank and in goodness ; and, as like ever attracts like, 
 they have continued down to the present day to have for edu- 
 cators of the female youth of all classes the very flower of 
 native womanhood. It is on the Christian women who go 
 forth from the twenty-four great Ursuline schools of Austria- 
 Hungary that good men build their hopes for the society of 
 the future. 
 
 So may the Ursulines of the Austrian Empire long con^ 
 tinue to be — a blessing to the land which shelters and fosters 
 them ! Far otherwise is it with their sisters in Prussia and" 
 other parts of the new German Empire. Of course, an anti- 
 Oatholic policy which seizes the most shadowy pretexts foi^ 
 wholesale persecution could not long tolerate the existence of 
 
386 8T. ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 such admirable schools as those of Breslau. So, the Ursu- 
 lines, guilty solely of deyoting their lives to the children of 
 rich and poor alike, were informed by the Prussian authorities 
 that they might no longer either teach the poor or live in holy 
 poverty themselves on the land of their birth ! They had 
 foreseen their doom and prepared for it, having taken meas- 
 ures to open an academy for Grcrman children at Marseilles. 
 They had been commanded to disappear before October 1st, 
 1878. '* The venerable lady superior,^^ writes the Abbe 
 Eichaudeau, '' passed through Blois on September the 15th, 
 taking with her one of her nuns, who had obtained from the 
 French Government a teacher's diploma after a whole year's 
 preparation. Fifteen XJrsulines of Schweidnitz (some sixteen 
 miles to the south-west of Breslau) have betaken themselves 
 to Skalitz, in Bohemia. Their companions remained with 
 the determination to yield only to force. The XJrsulines of 
 Diiren have been also expelled. The superior, with most of 
 her nuns, has gone to reside at Meersen, near Maestricht, in 
 Holland. Besides, she has sent a little colony to America, 
 where the XJrsulines of Toledo, Ohio, offer them hospitality, 
 till such time as the Bishop of Peoria can establish them 
 among the German population of his diocese. They must 
 have sailed from Havre on the 19th of October." 
 
 Turn we now to the XJrsulines of America. 
 
 Quebec, ^* the walled city of the North," has the honor to 
 possess the most ancient XJrsuline establishment in the New 
 World, and with it a school which, for efficiency and the 
 numbers of its pupils, stands second to no female seminary 
 on the Continent. It was founded in 1639 by the venerable 
 Mary of the Incarnation (Marie Guyard- Martin), seconded by 
 a noble widow lady, Marie Magdaleine de la Peltrie. The 
 foundress and« her first companions belonged to the monas- 
 teries of Tours and Dieppe, and being joined soon afterward 
 
AND THE UBSULINES. 387 
 
 by several sisters from Paris, they adopted a Kule combiniDg 
 the excellences both of the Congregation of Bordeaux and of 
 that of Paris, ending, however, by becoming affiliated to the 
 latter. 
 
 The history of the great monastery-school of Quebec forms 
 one of the most heroic records in American history/ It has 
 fulfilled a most important part in educating the female youth 
 of Canada ; and, being admirable in every way, as the writer 
 from his boyhood has known it to be*, he could wish with his 
 whole heart that it would send colonies of its accomplished 
 educators to every part of our vast continent. From Quebec 
 issued in 1697 the Ursuline establishment of Three Kivers, 
 which, with the brightening prospects of the Province itself, 
 is rapidly increasing its labors and numbers. 
 
 Almost a century after the arrival in Quebec of Mary of 
 the Incarnation and her companions. Mother Marie Tranche- 
 pain, another heroic Frenchwoman, with ten Ursuline com- 
 panions, sailed from L' Orient for the mouth of the Missis- 
 sippi, arriving at New Orleans on the 6th of August, 1727. 
 The history of this little band of devoted women is scarcely 
 less romantic than that of their Canadian sisters. They were 
 at the mercy of the ^^ Company of the Mississippi" till its 
 downfall in 1732, and left to face the most exhausting and 
 varied labors without adequate means of sustenance or even 
 decent accommodation. But their uncomplaining heroism 
 only served to endear them to the colonists. Nor was their 
 condition ;much bettered by the royal administrators during 
 the next thirty years. In a sickly climate, they had to dis- 
 
 1 See "Les TJrsulines de Quebec," 3 vols., Quebec, 1863-64 ; a most interesting work, 
 compiled from the most authentic sources, under the direction, if not by the hand, of 
 Rev. George Lemoine, the resident chaplain. Also ''Glimpses of the Monastery: A 
 Brief Sketch of the TJrsulines of Quebec," 3 vols., ISmo. Quebec, 1872-75 ; a charming 
 Bummary of the more voluminous French work. 
 
388 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 charge the duties of hospitalers, to take charge of the numer- 
 ous orphans left by the Natchez massacres and by the exiled 
 Acadians, as well as by successive epidemics, and to keep 
 school for the girls of the colony. In 1762 they passed 
 with Louisiana under Spanish rule ; their numbers 
 decreasing so much, that in 1786 they had to re- 
 ceive assistance from the Ursuline Convent of the Presenta- 
 tion in Pont-Saint-Esprit. The retrocession of the colony to 
 France in 1802 alarmed the good nuns, and most of them, to 
 avoid falling under the yoke of the French Kepublic, took 
 refuge in Havana. This gave rise to the two Ursuline estab- 
 lishments in Cuba. Meanwhile the Presentation Ursulines, 
 who formed the majority in the New Orleans monastery, con- 
 tinued their apostolic labors, caring for the orphans, teach- 
 ing their large school, and devoting Sundays and holy days 
 to the instruction of colored women. 
 
 When Louisiana became, in 1803, a portion of the United 
 States, the apprehensions entertained by the Ursulines about 
 their religious liberty were soon quieted, and a new rein- 
 forcement of nuns arriving from France in 1810, the com- 
 munity were able to increase their field of labor. In 1815, 
 during the siege of the city by the English, their school- 
 rooms became a military hospital, in which the sick and 
 wounded defenders of New Orleans received the most lavish 
 care during three whole months. In 1818 the State Legis- 
 lature secured by a special act their rights and privileges as 
 a religious body, and about the same time they received from 
 France a most opportune accession of nine postulants. In 
 1824 they removed their residence to a more remote posi- 
 tion. 
 
 In December, 1823, three Ursulines from Quebec had 
 come, at the appeal of Bishop Dubourg, to aid their New 
 Orleans sisters in their increase of labor and lack of laborers. 
 
AND THE URSULINES, 389 
 
 And, as if the yenerable Mary of the Incarnation had sent a 
 special blessing with her daughters, from their arrival dates the 
 uninterrupted prosperity enjoyed till 1861. The calamities 
 of the gr^at civil war weighed heavily on the Ursulines of 
 New Orleans, as it did on the city itself and on the entire 
 State. Let us hope that the revival of commercial industry 
 and general prosperity which is slowly dawning on the South- 
 ern States will bring to the two Ursuline schools of New 
 Orleans their merited share of well-being and fruitful increase. 
 They deserve it in every way. Despite their own need of la- 
 borers, they did not hesitate in 1847 to send a colony to Gal- 
 veston under the protection of the devoted Bishop Odin ; 
 and in 1852 a second colony settled in San Antonio. 
 
 Meanwhile, in 1812, Father Anthony Kohlmann, who was 
 governing as Vicar-General the infant Church of New 
 York, wished to provide for the education of Catholic girls 
 an establishment as like as possible to the college which he 
 had opened for the education of boys. Three Ursulines from 
 the Monastery of Black Eock, near Cork, Christina Fagan, 
 Sara Walsh, and Mary Baldwin, hesitated not to embark for 
 New York, crossing the Atlantic in the most stormy season 
 of the year, and arriving at their destination early in April, 
 1812. Father Kohlmann procured a residence for them on a 
 spot which is now the corner of Fiftieth Street and Third 
 Avenue. They forthwith opened a school, were incorporated 
 by a special act of the Legislature, and were soon surrounded 
 by a large flock of pupils. No postulants, however, offered 
 themselves to the good ladies, and as this was the only con- 
 dition on which they would continue their labors, they re- 
 turned to Ireland in 1815. 
 
 Not before 1855 did New York again possess an establish- 
 ment of Ursulines. This time, at the call of Archbishop 
 Hughes, the Ursulines of St. Louis sent their superior. 
 
390 ST. ANGELA MEBICI, 
 
 Mother Magdalen Stehlin, who h^d in 1847 headed the lit- 
 tle colony of Hungarian nuns from Oedenburg to St. Louis, 
 with ten companions, to found a monastery in the suburb of 
 East Morrisania. They took possession of their neW^home on 
 the 15th of May, haye prospered under God's blessing, and 
 count at the present moment some fifty professed religious, 
 with a proportionate number of novices and postulants, and 
 a flourishing school. Besides, they have established a mon- 
 astery within the heart of the city, with some eighteen nuns, 
 and a large school. 
 
 The return to Ireland in 1815 of the Ursuline colony of 
 New York reminds American readers of the efforts which 
 were made at the same epoch to found an Ursuline monas- 
 tery in Boston. This project originated with the Kev. John 
 Thayer, himself a native of New England and a convert to 
 the Catholic faith, who had in 1811 taken up his abode in 
 Limerick, and inspired two of his penitents, the Misses Mary 
 and Catherine Eyan, with a fervent wish to be the first apos- 
 tles of the female youth of Massachusetts. The undertaking 
 was warmly supported by Bishop Cheverus ; but Mr. Thayer 
 died in Limerick in February, 1815, and not before the 4th 
 of May, 1817, could the two noble sisters embark for their 
 transatlantic mission. After a year's novitiate in the Ursu- 
 line Convent of Three Eivers, they returned to Boston and 
 took up their residence near the cathedral, being joined in 
 September, 1818, by their youngest sister and Catherine 
 Molineux, a young cousin. Not long afterward two native 
 American ladies, Elizabeth Harrison and Catherine Wiseman, 
 gave the little community firm hopes of increase by their 
 timely accession. 
 
 These hopes were, however, attended with serious appre- 
 hensions and discouragements. The New England Puritans 
 bore a deep aversion to everything which had the semblance 
 
AND THE UESUZmES, 391 
 
 of monastic] sm, and public opinion in Boston was greatly ex- 
 cited by the presence of the Ursuline sisterhood. Then the 
 two foundresses sickened and died, having been preceded in 
 the grave by their cousin. This was in 1823-25. The su- 
 perior, Mother Mary Joseph, who was the last to be stricken 
 down, appealed from her death-bed for help to the Ursulines 
 of Quebec, who sent them Mother Mary Edmond St. George 
 (Ursula MofEat). 
 
 It was evident that the narrow residence of Boston was also 
 unhealthy, and so in 1826 the Ursulines removed to a new 
 monastery in Charlestown, which they called Mount Benedict, 
 in honor of the Eight Eev. Benedict Fen wick, who had suc- 
 ceeded Bishop Cheverus in the see of Boston. In this place, 
 doomed to so sad a celebrity, the academy opened by the sis- 
 ters acquired a great reputation. Unfortunately, in 1831 
 the evil tongue of a silly girl whom the nuns had refused to 
 retain in the convent, began to spread false reports among the 
 already prejudiced public of Boston. Simultaneously with 
 this, one of the sisters, in a temporary fit of insanity, escaped 
 from the establishment, and her. extravagant and incoherent 
 utterances served as a pretext for the most abominable accu- 
 sations in some of the daily papers. A clergyman of noted 
 ability and great influence inflamed the public mind by his 
 fierce and frequent denunciations ; and the ferment grew so 
 rapidly, that on the night of August 11th, 1834, a mob at- 
 tacked Mount Benedict, broke into the house, barely permit- 
 ting the nuns and their frightened pupils to dress and escape 
 with their lives. The magistrates and police kept out of the way, 
 while the convent was sacked and burned to the ground. 
 Every attempt to obtain adequate reparation for this out- 
 rage, so disgraceful to the manhood of New England, has 
 hitherto failed. The members of the community took refuge 
 in Quebec, and after vain efforts to restore their ruined home, 
 
392 8T. AN9ELA MERICl 
 
 devoted themselves to the labors of their calling in various 
 Ursuline establishments of Canada and the United States. 
 A niece of the foundresses^ Catherine Quirk, known in the 
 sisterhood as Sister St. Henry, died in Koxbury on the 18tli 
 October following the catastrophe, in consequence of her ex- 
 posure on the fatal night, and with her eyes fondly turned to 
 the ruins of Mount Benedict, her chosen American home. 
 Of the Ursulines of Charleston, S. C, we shall, speak after 
 giving the history of Black Kock Convent. 
 
 The more permanent Ursuline establishment of St. Mar- 
 tin's, near Fayetteville, Ohio, was founded in 1845 under the 
 auspices of the present venerable Archbishop Purcell. The 
 Ursuline colony sent to him were from the fruitful monas- 
 tery of Boulogne-sur-Mer, jointly with that of Beaulieu 
 (Correze). When Bishop Purcell first visited Boulogne in 
 1839, the Ursulines had for chaplain the Eev. Amedee Kappe, 
 for whom he conceived a warm friendship, and who subse- 
 quently became Bishop of Cleveland. Bishop Rappe, in his 
 turn, obtained a colony of Ursulines from Boulogne in 1849, 
 and his diocese now possesses four houses of the Order. So 
 blessed indeed have the daughters of St. Angela been in the 
 United States, despite the drawback which a strictly clois- 
 tered sisterhood must meet with in the active duties of educa- 
 tion, that they count twenty-nine houses within the limits of 
 the Eepublic. 
 
 We have just mentioned the monastery of Boulogne- 
 sur-Mer ; and this will remind the reader that we have yet to 
 sketch the rise of the Ursuline schools in Ireland and Eng- 
 land, tracing them to their origin in France — the great nursery 
 of apostolic devotion. Just as it had happened for the 
 establishment of the first Ursuline monastery in Paris, where 
 the Blessed Mary of the Incarnation was mainly instrumental 
 in founding both Ursulines and Carmelites, so was it in 
 
AND THE VRSUL1NE8, 393 
 
 Ireland^ where Miss Nano Nagle introduced the first Xlrsulines, 
 and founded the Order of the Presentation, becoming herself 
 a member of the latter. 
 
 This excellent lady had been educated in the monastery 
 of St. Ursula in Paris — the cherished creation of Blessed 
 Mother Mary and her cousin, Madame de Sainte-Beuve. In 
 that fervent community she imbibed, together with the best 
 education France could afford, that zeal for the interests of 
 Christ's aflBicted Church which was the motive-power of all 
 her conduct after her return to her native land. She left 
 France in 1750, being then in her twenty-second year, 
 impressed with the conviction that God called her to labor for 
 the elevation of the poor classes in her own country. In the 
 pursuit of her purpose she was encouraged by her own family ; 
 and, after having kept for some time a school in Dublin, she 
 went to Cork and soon had under her care two schools for 
 boys and five for girls, with good teachers, and a constantly 
 growing crowd of pupils. She thereupon solicited aid from 
 the Ursulines of Paris, but these did not dare to accede to 
 her request. Four Irish ladies, however, animated by Miss 
 Nagle's own spirit, at once entered the Paris novitiate with 
 the determination of becoming in due time the promoters of 
 what they considered to be God's own work in Ireland. 
 Their probationary term ended, after appealing in vain to 
 the Parisiaiv sisterhood for auxiliaries in their enterprise, 
 they set out for Cork, were joined at Dieppe by Mother 
 Margaret Kelly of the Ursuline convent in that city, and 
 entered their own Irish monastery-home on the 18th Sep- 
 tember, 1771. 
 
 Pope Clement XIV. gave this establishment canonical ap- 
 probation in 1773, and the sisterhood, increasing in numbers, 
 took charge of the schools hitherto directed by Miss Nagle. 
 A few years later the Ursulines removed to the village of 
 
394 8T, ANGELA MERICI, 
 
 Black Eock, in the immediate neighborhood of the city, where 
 they opened an academy which soon obtained a world-wide 
 reputation. From this monastery swarms have gone forth 
 not only to Waterford, Thurles, and Sligo, but to North and 
 South America. One South American house only, deriving 
 its existence from Black Eock, subsists in Georgetown, 
 Demarara — a lonely outpost on the confines of that great 
 Brazilian world, which Christian zeal and American enter- 
 prise have yet to conquer for God and true civilization. 
 
 The other establishment claiming its descent from Black 
 Eock is the Ursuline monastery of Valle Orucis,near Columbia, 
 South Carolina. The story its inmates might tell is full of 
 pathetic interest and vicissitude. Just while Sister Catherine 
 Quirk was on her death-bed at Eoxbury, in October, 1834, 
 three professed Ursulines and one postulant from Black Eock 
 were crossing the ocean to Charleston. Under the fatherly 
 direction of Bishop England, himself a native of Cork, the 
 little band of missionaries labored strenuously, and not without 
 plentiful fruit among every class of the Carolinian population 
 — among the wives and daughters of the colored portion in 
 particular. Small as was, comparatively, the number of their 
 pupil-boarders, still, belonging as they did to the best families 
 in the Carolinas and Georgia, their influence on returning to 
 their families was necessarily very great ; and, besides, many 
 of the best families in the country became through them 
 converts to the Catholic faith. 
 
 In 1844 Bishop Eeynolds succeeded to Dr. England in the 
 see of Charleston, and soon afterward ^Hhe older members 
 of the community returned to the parent house, and the 
 others withdrew to the diocese of Cincinnati, where they 
 sojourned until the appointment of Bishop Lynch (1858), at 
 whose solicitation they returned and resumed their former 
 position of usefulness in the diocese.'^ ^ 
 
 1 The words of Dr. J. J. O'Connell. 
 
AND THE URSULIKES. 395 
 
 '^ In 1859/' says a circular of the sisters, '^ Bishop 
 Lynch bought a large hotel in Columbia. . . . There was 
 great excitement among the citizens. . . . But the bishop's 
 influence overcame them all. ... So great was our success, 
 that our academy soon outstripped those belonging to other 
 denominations, and drew to our school the yery elite of their 
 pupils. '^ And so the good sisters continued to prosper till 
 the gloomy days of 1861. The conyent then became a sort 
 of sacred asylum for children and young ladies who were 
 alarmed by the progress of the ciyil war or driyen from their 
 own homes. Although by far the greater number were 
 Protestants, they found in the Ursulines nothing but motherly 
 kindness, generous hospitality, solid instruction, and edifying 
 example. All this — we blush to record it — did not saye the 
 inmates from the cruel fate of war. 
 
 The establishment was pitilessly pillaged and destroyed by 
 the Federal troops on February 17th, 1865, in spite of the 
 positiye promises of protection given by the commanding 
 general, and almost beneath his eyes.^ Thanks to the self- 
 sacrificing efforts of the devoted bishop, the Ursuline monastery 
 of Columbia, like the other ruined establishments of his 
 diocese, are now recovering from the effects of the civil war. 
 
 In England there exist only three Ursuline houses — at 
 Upton, near London ; at Croom's Hill, Greenwich ; and at 
 Swansea. Those of Upton came from Sittard, in Limburg, 
 in 1851, at the instance of Cardinal Wiseman. Unhappily 
 for the new-comers, the anti-Catholic spirit aroused by the 
 restoration of the hierarchy in England was then at its height 
 in the capital. As the sisters had shown themselves clad in 
 their religious habit while passing through the streets of 
 London, their appearance excited against them the animosity 
 
 1 See circular letter of the Ursulines of Valle Crucis, of October lOth, 18T8 ; also Very 
 Hev. Dr. O'Coimeirs " Catholicity in the Carolinas and Georgia," pp. 211, 260-80. 
 
396 ST, ANGELA MERIGl, 
 
 of the rabble. After opening school in two localities, they 
 found that their prospects did not brighten and that their 
 health began to fail. The cardinal then found a house for 
 them in Oxford ; but as after the expiration of the lease of 
 their residence the Ursulines could not obtain a renewal, and 
 no other house would receive them, they had to return to 
 Belgium in 1861. The next year, howeyer, they gladly re- 
 turned, and took possession of their present abode at Upton, 
 six miles from London, and on the border of Epping Forest. 
 This time they found themselves at home in their own house, 
 the property having been purchased by the cardinal. On 
 July 9th, 1877, their community numbered twenty members, 
 with a wide and rich missionary field to cultivate. 
 
 The Ursulines of Upton, as well as the parent establishment 
 of Sittard, belong to a numerous and flourishing branch of 
 the Ursuline Order, planted in 1818 at Thildonck, near 
 Louvain — a community of independent Ursulines, who since 
 adopted the Rule of Bordeaux, and who made themselves so 
 useful in educating the popular classes, that they soon spread 
 all over the Low Countries, and numbered forty houses at the 
 beginning of 1868. This fruitful congregation was originated 
 by Eev. Mr. Lambertz, rector of Thildonck ; and most touch- 
 ing and instructive is the history of these forty Ursuline 
 monasteries, who are the living providence of God among the 
 hard-working people of Belgium and Holland. 
 
 This keen and practical sense of what is most needed by 
 the popular classes in every Christian land must be the dis- 
 tinctive character of every man or woman, of every body of 
 men or of women, who would be living and eflBcient helps 
 to religion, to education, to the family home, and to public 
 society in our day and for many a day to come. 
 
 This keen sense was characteristic of St. Angela and her 
 daughters in the sixteenth century. They could not have 
 
AISTD THE URSULINES, 397 
 
 obtained the confidence of all Christian families in France, 
 Italy, Germany, and elsewhere, as the seventeenth century 
 dawned and ran its disturbing course, had their teaching and 
 their lives not supplied a great social need. 
 
 The wonderful propagation of Father Lambertz^s Ursulines 
 throughout Belgium and Holland shows as well that the spirit 
 and rule of St. Angela, when embodied in women who under- 
 stand the wants of the people, are as sure to prosper and call 
 down the blessings of God and men, as the fire is sure to 
 spread in July through the dry grasses of our Western prairies 
 beneath a cloudless sky and propelled by a high wind. 
 
 To every house of Ursulines into which this book will go, 
 and to every daughter of Angela Merici who happens to read 
 it, the author sends the fervent wish and prayer to God, that 
 every Ursuline community may sanctify the world around it 
 by cherishing the unworldly and self-sacrificing spirit of the 
 Holy Maid of Desenzano, and that every child of hers may lift 
 heavenward the young souls committed to her, by the fervent 
 and constant practice of her Mother's angelic virtues. 
 
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THE TEMPLEOGUE LEVER! 
 
 THE WORKS OP 
 
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 The following is a list of prices and styles of binding : 
 
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 Price, per volume, in cloth extra, ornamental designs on cover, in 
 
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