February 18–Blessed Fra Angelico, Religious

San Marco Altarpiece by Fra Angelico in the public domain.

The Italian Renaissance produced some amazing artists, including Raphael, da Vinci, and Michelangelo. The Italian Renaissance also produced some amazing saints, including St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Benedict the African, and St. Angela Merici. However, there is only one figure of the Italian Renaissance who is both an amazing artist and a saint, Blessed Fra Angelico. Born Guido di Pietro about 1395 near Florence, Italy, Brother John of Fiesole, also known as Fra Angelico, which means Angelic Brother, joined the Dominican order in 1423 and received training as an illuminator. He became famous for his art and painted frescoes, altarpieces, and other sacred artwork in Florence and Rome.

Pope St. John Paul II beatified him in 1982, and later declared him patron of Catholic artists: “Angelico was reported to say ‘He who does Christ's work must stay with Christ always’. This motto earned him the epithet ‘Blessed Angelico’, because of the perfect integrity of his life and the almost divine beauty of the images he painted, to a superlative extent those of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

“The English writer and critic William Michael Rossetti wrote…: ‘From various accounts of Fra Angelico's life, it is possible to gain some sense of why he was deserving of canonization. He led the devout and ascetic life of a Dominican friar, and never rose above that rank; he followed the dictates of the order in caring for the poor; he was always good-humored. All of his many paintings were of divine subjects, and it seems that he never altered or retouched them, perhaps from a religious conviction that, because his paintings were divinely inspired, they should retain their original form. He was wont to say that he who illustrates the acts of Christ should be with Christ.’” Praise God for beauty, art, and holiness!

January 27--St. Angela Merici, Religious

St. Angela Merici by GFreihalter licensed under CC by-3.0.

For those who grew up in the second half of the 20th century, women religious in the Catholic schools were a common sight.  They seemed to be everywhere!  They were dedicated to their faith and to sharing and living their faith in the Catholic schools as teachers and administrators, as well as sponsors of extra-curricular activities.  The first woman to begin this kind of vocation was today's saint, St. Angela Merici.  Born in 1474 in northern Italy, she was a third-order lay Franciscan and devoted herself to good works throughout her life, organizing unmarried women in various cities to live at home, but serve their neighbors.  In 1535 she organized these groups into the Company of St. Ursula, a popular medieval saint.  She structured the society in a military manner by dividing the towns they served into separate areas run by more mature members.  The Ursulines served in prisons, hospitals, and the poorest neighborhoods.  Eventually, they became the first female teaching order and the first Catholic sisters in the United States.  There are 15 Ursuline schools in the U.S. today.

St. Angela wrote the rule for the community, which included this advice:  "'Do not lose heart, . . . even if you should discover that you lack qualities necessary for the work to which you are called.  He who called you will not desert you, but the moment you are in need he will stretch out his saving hand.'"  This is truly wise for we are beset by our own sins and failings, as well as adversities God allows to challenge us.  We are called to persevere despite our weaknesses.  She also wrote:  "I ask you, Lord, to receive all my self-will that by the infection of sin is unable to distinguish good from evil.  St. Angela, pray for us!

October 21—St. Ursula, Virgin and Martyr

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Wasn’t she removed from the Roman calendar along with St. Christopher and St. Barbara back in the late 60’s? There are some saints whose feast days are no longer promoted in the General Roman Calendar, including St. Ursula, because there is not enough historical information to corroborate their lives. However, she and her companions are still listed in the Roman Martyrology, which is the official list of saints recognized by the Catholic Church. It says: “At Cologne in Germany, commemoration of virgin saints who ended their life in martyrdom for Christ in the place where afterwards the city’s basilica was built, dedicated in honour of the innocent young girl Ursula who is looked on as their leader.” 

Therefore, let us honor the legend. According to legend, St. Ursula was from Britain who was sent to marry a pagan governor in Brittany, France. Before she would wed him, she declared she would take a pilgrimage throughout Europe. She set off for Cologne and she and her handmaidens were martyred by the Huns. St. Ursula was shot and killed with an arrow by the Huns’ leader on October 21, 383. 

So why is she recognized and honored? St. Angela Merici founded the Order of Ursulines in 1535 to teach young girls and thus St. Ursula became the patron saint of schoolgirls, spreading her name throughout the world. The Virgin Islands were named in her honor by Christopher Columbus. Even though she and her companions are legendary, what they stand for is not. They are portrayed as martyrs of the faith, who exist in every age and in every land. Martyrdom is the supreme sacrifice one can offer in witness to the love one has for God. St. Ursula and her companions, legendary or not, are symbols of faith. That works for me!

*https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Grandes_Heures_Anne_de_Bretagne_-_Ursule_f199v.jpg/440px-Grandes_Heures_Anne_de_Bretagne_-_Ursule_f199v.jpg

January 27--St. Angela Merici, Virgin

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There are many ways to follow God’s baptismal call to holiness: single life, married life, consecrated life, and the ordained life. Of these, consecrated life has the most variations, including religious orders as well as hermits, consecrated virgins and widows, secular institutes, and societies of apostolic life. Today’s saint was one of the women who pioneered a new form of consecrated life, akin to modern-day secular institutes.

St. Angela Merici founded the Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, Italy. They were meant to be in the world, but not of it. Their members consecrated themselves to God and promised celibacy, but they lived at home with their own families and served in their communities, primarily as teachers of girls in order to re-Christianize family life through being holy wives and mothers. Later they gathered in communities with one another and served throughout the world.

St. Angela started early in life as a Third Order Franciscan, maintaining a life in the secular world with a holy intent. She converted her home into a school where she taught the girls of the town in the basics of Christianity. Later, she started a school in Brescia, where, with her companions, they established the first women’s teaching order. She died in 1540 and was canonized in 1807.

Most of us are called to be in the world, not of it. That means we are called to transform the world, to help bring about the Kingdom of Heaven. We are all called to holiness through single life or married life or consecrated life or ordained life. We are called to listen to how God wants us to respond. Are we called to teach, serve, love, pray, and live as disciples? Absolutely! We are freed by our calling! St. Angela Merici, pray for us.

*Image: Benedetto Pietrogrande, “Angèle Merici”; Peter Kostner, sculptor, 1990. Church of St. Angela, Desenzano https://www.osucentral.org/who-we-are/