By Sister Jean Marit, OSB

Spirit

Angela Merici believed in women. While still in her teens the Lord favored her with a dream of her life’s work. For nearly 40 years Angela prayerfully nourished this dream and waited upon the Lord to reveal to her in bits and pieces the specific work he had in mind for her. During this time she worked with young women responding to needs of the local church in Brescin, Italy.

Finally in 1535, she saw a dream come alive when she founded in Brescin the Company of St. Ursula, naming her group after the virgin martyr who was revered as the patroness of learning in the Middle Ages.

Angela hoped to strengthen the ailing society of her time through her concern for a Christ-centered family life. She envisioned an apostolate based primarily on the influence of women in reestablishing Christian values in the home, and stressed a spiritual motherhood that was attentive to the development of all aspects of each womanly personality.

The structural forms of the lives of her followers have changed through the centuries, but Ursulines continue to place great emphasis on the preservation of this apostolic spirit of Angela Merici. They aim to combine her deep personal prayer, devoted service to others, apostolic vision and Angela Merici’s unique quality of flexibility. It is this latter characteristic that allows the Ursulines to meet new situations head-on and to adapt comfortably to the challenges of changing times.

History

Three centuries after St. Angela Merici, a young English woman who had left home and family to enter a French convent was chosen to lead the Ursulines to Ohio. In July 1845, at the request of Archbishop John B. Purcell, Julia Chatfield and ten other Ursuline sisters came to Brown County. On a 400-acre tract of wilderness some 40 miles northeast of Cincinnati these visionary women established a pioneer center of education.

“Brown County,” as this motherhouse has been called throughout its history, continues to be the central meeting place for gatherings of Julia Chatfield's community of Ursuline sisters; but the complex of buildings that has arisen over the years is much more than that. Today it is known for miles around as Ursuline Center, contributing enormously to the educational and social development of this area on the fringe of underprivileged Appalachia.

Ministry

At Ursuline Center in Brown County the Ursuline sisters staff a secondary school for girls, where the enrollment includes day students from nearby towns and resident students from other states and foreign countries. There is also a fully accredited coeducational junior college. A recreation building that includes a large swimming pool provides a center for recreational activities for young people of the area. The sisters also conduct a large-scale program in religious education that serves a dozen rural parishes.

In Cincinnati the sisters operate Ursuline Academy, a college preparatory school for girls, and conduct an enrichment program in adult education. They staff suburban, inner city and rural schools. They participate in religious education programs on the parish and inter-parish level, serve in diocesan and campus ministries, and are involved in personnel and social work.

For several years the Brown County Ursulines have extended their membership to include associates. For anyone desiring to share the Ursuline community life and apostolate for a limited time, there is an associate program that includes prayer, study and work. Each program is tailor-made for the individual applicant’s circumstances and needs.

In 1971 the Ursulines began giving service to the church in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Three of them are here, one as religious education coordinator at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish and two on the faculty of Our Lady of the Assumption parochial school.