14 Facts About Angela Merici

Angela Merici was canonized by Pope Pius VII in 1807.

Angela Merici was born in 1474 on a farm near Desenzano del Garda, a small town on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda in Lombardy, Italy.

Young Angela Merici was very distressed when her sister suddenly died without receiving the last rites of the church and prayed that her sister's soul rest in peace.

Angela Merici joined the Third Order of St Francis around that time.

Angela Merici's uncle died when she was twenty years old and she returned to her home in Desenzano, and lived with her brothers, on her own property, given to her in lieu of the dowry that would otherwise have been hers had she married.

Angela Merici later had another vision that revealed to her that she was to found an association of virgins who were to devote their lives to the religious training of young girls.

Angela Merici's goal was to elevate family life through the Christian education of future wives and mothers.

Angela Merici taught her companions to serve God, but to remain in the world, teaching the girls of their own neighborhood, and to practice a religious form of life in their own homes.

Angela Merici wrote a Rule of Life for the group, which specified the practice of celibacy, poverty and obedience in their own homes.

Angela Merici's body was clothed in the habit of a Franciscan tertiary and was interred in the Church of Sant'Afra.

The traditional view is that Angela Merici believed that better Christian education was needed for girls and young women, to which end she dedicated her life.

Angela Merici lived in small rooms attached to a priory of the Canons Regular of the Lateran.

Angela Merici was later canonized on 24 May 1807 by Pope Pius VII.

Angela Merici was not included in the 1570 Tridentine calendar of Pope Pius V because she was not canonized until 1807.