St. Angela Merici
Died: 1540
When she was 56, Angela Merici said "No" to the Pope. She was aware that Clement VII was offering her a great honor and a great opportunity to serve when he asked her to take charge of a religious order of nursing sisters. But Angela knew that nursing was not what God had called her to do with her life.
She had just returned from a trip to the Holy Land. On the way there she had fallen ill and become blind. Nevertheless, she insisted on continuing her pilgrimage and toured the holy sites with the devotion of her heart rather than her eyes. On the way back she had recovered her sight. But this must have been a reminder to her not to shut her eyes to the needs she saw around her, not to shut her heart to God's call.
All around her hometown she saw poor girls with no education and no hope. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century that Angela lived in, education for women was for the rich or for nuns. Angela herself had learned everything on her own. Her parents had died when she was ten and she had gone to live with an uncle. She was deeply disturbed when her sister died without receiving the sacraments. A vision reassured her that her sister was safe in God's care -- and also prompted her to dedicate her life to God.
When her uncle died, she returned to her hometown and began to notice how little education the girls had. But who would teach them? Times were much different then. Women weren't allowed to be teachers and unmarried women were not supposed to go out by themselves -- even to serve others. Nuns were the best educated women but they weren't allowed to leave their cloisters. There were no teaching orders of sisters like we have today.
But in the meantime, these girls grew up without education in religion or anything at all.
These girls weren't being helped by the old ways, so Angela invented a new way. She brought together a group of unmarried women, fellow Franciscan tertiaries and other friends, who went out into the streets to gather up the girls they saw and teach them. These women had little money and no power, but were bound together by their dedication to education and commitment to Christ. Living in their own homes, they met for prayer and classes where Angela reminded them, " Reflect that in reality you have a greater need to serve [the poor] than they have of your service." They were so successful in their service that Angela was asked to bring her innovative approach to education to other cities, and impressed many people, including the pope.
Though she turned him down, perhaps the pope's request gave her the inspiration or the push to make her little group more formal. Although it was never a religious order in her lifetime, Angela's Company of Saint Ursula, or the Ursulines, was the first group of women religious to work outside the cloister and the first teaching order of women.
It took many years of frustration before Angela's radical ideas of education for all and unmarried women in service were accepted. They are commonplace to us now because people like Angela wanted to help others no matter what the cost. Angela reminds us of her approach to change: "Beware of trying to accomplish anything by force, for God has given every single person free will and desires to constrain none; he merely shows them the way, invites them and counsels them."
Saint Angela Merici reassured her Sisters who were afraid to lose her in death: "I shall continue to be more alive than I was in this life, and I shall see you better and shall love more the good deeds which I shall see you doing continually, and I shall be able to help you more." She died in 1540, at about seventy years old.
In Her Footsteps:Take a look around you. Instead of just driving or walking without paying attention today, open your eyes to the needs you see along the way. What people do you notice who need help but who are not being helped? What are their true needs? Make a commitment to help them in some way.
Prayer:Saint Angela, you were not afraid of change. You did not let stereotypes keep you from serving. Help us to overcome our fear of change in order to follow God's call and allow others to follow theirs. Amen
Copyright (c) 1996-2000 by Terry Matz. All Rights Reserved.
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St. Angela Pray For Us..
Saint Angela, you were not afraid of change. You did not let stereotypes keep you from serving. Help us to overcome our fear of change in order to follow God's call and allow others to follow theirs. Amen
St. Angela Merici, please pray for me.
pray for me to abiding in christ all the days of my life for wisdom and favour
Please pray for Jacob that he finds peace and the right path, for his mother that the doctors can slow the progression of her disease and for all cancer patients that we deal with our disease with grace and dignity. Thank you.
St.Angela Merici great saint god bless you and all of us may we all help people that have lost there way please help me and my family
Amen
pray for me to abiding in christ all the days of my life for wisdom and favour
Dear St. Angela Merici, I am so inspired by your deeds and mission in this world for the service of the needy. Please pray for me that I may be inspired too in helping the poor and the needy especially those who did not believed and does not know God. Please pray for my colleagues' mother Solema, who have gone to rest last night due to accident that she may in God's Kingdom. Strengthen also my colleague and his father, brothers and sister in this sadden moment of their life. Likeswise pray to my departed parents, bros, relatives and friends and all who died whose faith in God only Him knows.
Thank you very much,
Leo and Family
Steeltown Subd., Santa Elena, Iligan City
27th jan 2013:st angela merici pray for us.
Dear Saint,
Help us to be faithful and dedicated to our Lord's mission. Teach us ti imbibe the christian virtues and practise them with dedication and love. Amen
special concerns about her are?
Dear St. Angela Merci, Please pray for me.
i enjoyed the story of st. Angela Merici. she would not let anything stop her. we all must try to live our lives that way.
The stories about the life of the saints are truly inspirational.
The account of the life of St Angela has inspired me even more for it reaffirmed my desire to
help counsel and console young women who are in need of spiritual and moral guidance.I am trying to educate myself to work in this area .
Saint Angela Merici ,please pray for me to remain focus without wavering,and like you respond to the call of God to serve in this area.
Dear St. Angela Merici, thank you for choosing to be a teacher to young girls who would not otherwise have received an education. You were ahead of your times and in that sense you proved to be a courageous lady who brought changes to young women's lifes through the most valuable avenue of education. I commend to our loving God my mother who, like you would not leave a stone unturned to have her daughters properly educated in faith and learning. To this end she toiled ceaslessly to motivate us with a desire to excell and persevere in our studies and achieve professional qualifications. She taught us how to be independent, hardworking and singleminded. Now as she lies on her deathbed, St. Anglea Merici, come to her aid, stay at her side, comfort and console her. Amen.
I really liked this article on this saint it really touched my heart. :) I think that I may choose her as my saint when I get confirmed. :D
GOOD IT HELP ME WITH MY REPORT
We have to do a religion project about the saint with our names, and this helped me alot, except I'd like to know her feast day. I didn't even really know there was a saint for my name. I didn't decide on my confirmation name yet, so they just put my first name, but I'm glad that I'll still be confirmed in the name of a saint, especially this one. :) (:
Was happy to learn more about her she started her begining of her nuns on November 25th .which is my birthday .I also have been teaching catechism for over 20 years.my daughter Maria chose Angela for her confirmation name.
this is a preaty good website
i have to do a school model project to do but this did not help me at all