2023-05-29 08:04:00
May 29, 2023 / 1:04 a.m.
Saint Úrsula Ledóchowska was an Austrian nun, founder of various evangelizing initiatives, such as the Congregation of the Ursuline Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Agonizing -the most important-, as well as training and teaching centers.
One of the peculiarities of the apostolate of this saint was her link with the Society of Jesus and other institutions of the Church. As the postulator of her cause for canonization, Fr. Paolo Molinari, explained: “she was the sister of Vladimiro Ledóchowski, who was Superior General of the Society until 1942, and the sister of Maria Teresa Ledóchowska (beatified in 1975), founder of the Sodalicio de San Pedro Claver to support the missions in Africa. She also had an uncle who had been a cardinal ”.
Saint Ursula was born on April 17, 1865 in Loosdorf (Austria); she moved to Cracow (Poland) in 1886 and entered the convent of the Ursuline mothers. Upon making her vows in 1889, she took the name María Úrsula de Jesús.
His service was characterized by dedication to education and by his sensitivity to the needs of the less favored. Five years after she made her vows, she would be elected superior of her convent.
With the blessing of Pope Pius X, in 1907, she left accompanied by another nun to carry out an apostolic mission to Russia, a country where hostilities against the Catholic Church were increasing. Despite the difficulties, both carried out intense educational work and Catholic formation. Thanks to that pastoral effort, the St. Petersburg novitiate would be created, in which Úrsula would be named superior.
After the outbreak of the First World War, Úrsula had to move her community -now with more members- first to Sweden and then to Denmark. In the interim, the Holy See granted her permission for the group of nuns under her charge to cease to be part of the Order of Saint Ursula and become the “Ursulin Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Agonizing”.
The congregation grew rapidly. Religious communities were born in Poland, Austria, Sweden and Germany. In 1928 he inaugurated in Rome the general house and a pension for poor girls. The “Ursulines of the Sacred Heart” also began to work among the poor in the suburbs of the Eternal City. In 1930 they settled for the first time in France.
Saint Úrsula Ledóchowska died in Rome on May 29, 1939. She was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II on June 20, 1983 and canonized by himself on May 18, 2003. Currently the Congregation has around 900 sisters distributed in more than 100 communities, present in 12 countries. The sisters want to follow the radical path of the Gospel and fraternal service, above all to those most in need.
More information in the next link.
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