Welcome from Mother Cecilia Wang, OSU
Dear Sisters and Friends,
Welcome to the renewed website of the Ursulines of the Roman Union. Our website is a means of communication among us, a resource for the members of the Institute and an inspirational site for visitors. On our website you can meet our foundress, Saint Angela Merici, and learn about our history, our spirituality, our concerns and our world wide ministry today, as well as activities for this 475th anniversary of our foundation. Many aspects of our mission are included on the site: evangelization; spiritual direction; care for families; work with young people; work for human dignity; education in all its forms; justice, peace and the integrity of creation; fostering of vocations to the religious life and to other Christian ministries, and formation for religious life. There are links too to our Provinces in thirty-six different countries. You can join us in prayer and in support for our ministry.
The Liturgical Season
The six weeks of Lent prepare us to celebrate the Paschal Mystery, which is the heart of the whole liturgical year and the synthesis of all the mysteries of salvation. These forty days are marked, above all, by the remembrance of Jesus in the desert, of his struggle with Satan, and of his victory over the temptations to power, dominion and control. In the desert Jesus was fed by the Word of God, and through it he was able to choose and set out decisively on the journey shown to him by God: redemption through the humility of the cross. During this time, if we listen attentively and willingly, we too will encounter the Word of God that will enable us to draw from it the strength to follow Jesus on his journey. In particular, this living Word will nourish us through the Eucharist. May the readings and commentary on this site aid you on your lenten journey. Click here to open "Via Crucis" with Saint Angela.
475th Jubilee Celebration
Why is this Jubilee Celebration so Important?
To understand why we are celebrating the 475th anniversary of the foundation of the Ursulines (as the Company of Saint Ursula), it is necessary to return to 1535, the foundation year, to see the context out of which Saint Angela was coming...more...
Today with Saint Angela
Consider that we live in the midst of snares and dangers.
Prologue to the Rule/19
Saint Angela. Ursulines, Sommières
Scripture of the week
Joshua 5:9, 10-12
Psalms 34
Second Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
The younger son in Jesus’ parable “came to his senses.” This is the crux of the entire story – the moment of conversion and repentance, not always for the purest of motives. And he returns to his father prepared to be a servant, but secure in his relationship as son. And the father? Through this father’s actions, Jesus shows us how his Father operates: in a framework radically different from ours, that makes no appeal to coercive power. Perhaps our image of God says more about us than about God?
Our visual meditation is REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn “The Return of the Prodigal Son (detail)”, c. 1669; Oil on canvas; The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
