Today's Ornament of Grace for Friday of the first week of Advent is St. Angela Merici.
from Matthew 9:27-31
As Jesus moved on from there, two blind men came after him crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!”. When he got to the house, the blind men caught up with him. Jesus said to them, “Are you confident I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they told him. At that he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith it shall be done to you”; and they recovered their sight.
Born around 1474 on a farm in the Lombardy region of Italy, Angela Merici was only about ten years old when she and her older sister Giana Maria were left orphans, along with their brothers. The brothers were allowed to remain at the family home, but the girls were sent to live with an uncle in a small Italian town. There, her sister became sick and died suddenly. Angela worried that her sister had not been anointed before her death, and she prayed that Giana would be in heaven. Apparently, she prayed with great faith because she was granted a vision of Giana in heaven surrounded by the saints.
Angela joined the Third Order of St. Francis, dedicating herself to God in prayer and sacrifice. When she was twenty or so, her uncle died, and she returned to her family home which she had inherited. She knew that young girls needed a Christian education, so she opened her home to help them learn about the Lord. During this period, she had another vision. In it, she was told to gather an association of virgins to work with her to teach religious education to young women. She began this work with enthusiasm.
Tradition holds that on one of her pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Angela was struck blind on the Island of Crete. Trusting God’s power, she continued her journey. On the return trip, her sight was restored as she prayed before a crucifix at the same place where she had lost her sight.
While this period of the Renaissance in Italy helped rational thought to develop more fully, it sometimes caused people to embrace humanism to the extent that they forgot about God and morality. So, in 1535, Angela gathered twelve faithful virgins she knew, and together they began the Company of St. Ursula in a small house in the town of Brescia. These virgins committed themselves to teaching young women who would become wives and mothers.
Angela and her companions did this holy work while remaining in the world, wearing no particular habit, and taking no religious vows. Angela chose as their patron St. Ursula who suffered martyrdom rather than give up her right to virtue when attacked. Angela also wrote a rule for her companions to follow.
The Company grew quickly and, by the time of Angela’s death, had 150 members. Later, a Bishop would change the rule and establish the Company of St. Ursula into an Order that still performs the work of education.
More importantly than having her physical sight restored by faith, St. Angela Merici saw with her heart the love Jesus had for all. She heard His call to educate the young women of her day, and she followed that call faithfully until her death.
OBSERVING THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENTS
What kind of vision has God restored for you, perhaps in your heart or mind, to let you better see how you can bring His word to others?
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