Angela Merici

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Saint Angela Merici
Born	21 March 1474 at Desenzano, Lake Garda, Italy
Died	24 January 1540 at Brescia, Italy
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	1768 by Pope Clement XIII
Canonized	1807 by Pope Pius VII
Major shrine	church of Saint Afra, Brescia, Italy
Feast	January 27
Attributes	cloak, ladder
Patronage	sickness, handicapped people, loss of parents

Saint Angela Merici (1474? - 1540) was an Italian religious leader and saint born in Desenzano del Garda, Brescia, Lombardy. She founded the Order of Ursulines in 1535 in Brescia. Merici was beatified in 1768 by Clement XIII and canonized in 1807 by Pius VII. She is buried in the Church of St. Afra at Brescia and her Catholic feast day is January 27. Before the revision of the calendar of saints following the Second Vatican Council, her feast day was May 31, but moved to June 1 in 1954 when Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen.

[edit] Early life

Merici was born in Desenzano del Garda in Brescia, near the Lago di Garda. Her parents died while she was young, and she moved to Salo, Italy to live with her uncle.

Angela was concerned about the life of girls, as they were generally uneducated at that time, as well as the lives of people in slums. After trips to many places, including the Holy Land and Rome, in 1535, she and some of her friends founded the Order of Ursulines in Italy, named for its patron saint, Saint Ursula, a martyr. Merici created the regula, a list of rules for those who join the order, which includes three oaths: an oath of poverty, an oath of obedience, and an oath of holiness. She created the Catholic Church's first schools, for reformed prostitutes.