St Mary of the Incarnation: Mother-Mystic - Missionary

Marie of the Incarnation

On 3rd April Pope Francis declared a seventeenth century French Ursuline, Mary of the Incarnation Guyart, a saint.
Mary was canonised along with Bishop Francois de Montmorency-Laval, the first bishop of Quebec and the Jesuit Jose de Anchieta, one of the first missionaries to Brazil.
These three new saints are considered the founders of the Church in the New World.

To read more about this remarkable Ursuline go to First Woman Missionary: Marie of the Incarnation 

The Sacred Heart in Ursuline Spirituality

 

Today we keep the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Before the apparitions of Jesus to St Margaret Mary this devotion can be found in the spirituality of a seventeenth century French Ursuline, Blessed Mary of the Incarnation. It features in her Apostolic Prayer found below. In it are to be found many echoes of St Angela's Prayer given in Chapter V of her Rule.

 

" By the Heart of my Jesus, who is the Way, .the Truth and the Life,

I approach Thee, O Eternal Father.

By this divine Heart, I adore Thee for all who love Thee not;

I love thee for all who love Thee not;

I acknowledge Thee to be my God for all who,

wilfully blind, out of contempt, refuse to acknowledge Thee.

By this divine Heart, I would render Thee the homage which all thy creatures owe Thee.

In spirit I go round the wide world in search of all the souls

redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus.

I embrace them all to present them to Thee by Him and by Him,

I ask for their conversion.

Oh! can it be , Eternal Father, that thou wilt allow them to remain in ignorance of my Jesus?

Wilt thou suffer that they should not live for Him who died for all?

Thou seest, O Heavenly Father that they live not as yet!

oh ! give them life by this divine Heart.

 

On this adorable Heart, I present to Thee all who labour for the extension of the Gospel,

in order that by its merits they may be replenished with Thy Holy Spirit.

 

On this Sacred Heart, as upon a divine altar I present to Thee especially..........

.....................................................

Thou knowest, Incarnate Word, my beloved Jesus, all that I would ask Thy divine Heart, by Thy holy Soul. I ask it of Thee, when I ask it of Him, because Thou art in Thy Father, and Thy Father is in Thee.

Deign to do all this together with Him.

I present Thee all these souls; make them one with Thee. Amen

 



Roman Union of the Order of St Ursula

On 28th November 1900, a group of Ursulines, meeting in Rome, established an international union of sisters  known as the Roman Union of the Order of St Ursula. 28 November - is the 112th Anniversary of the Roman Union, To see more click here.  This was in response to an invitation of Pope Leo XIII..At that time religious, who looked to St Angela as their foundress, lived mainly in autonomous convents.The Pope felt it would be to their mutual benefit to be linked together and it was, indeed, in keeping with Angela's dearest wish.In her Last Counsel she wrote:-

"Live in harmony, united together,all of one heart and one will."

Ursuline communities were free to join or not the Roman union.The first English house to join was Greenwich in 1905; it was attached to the Province of the West of France till the English Province was established in 1923. Next year we will be celebrating our 90th birthday! 

The head quarters of the Union is in Rome where our Mother General resides. The current General is Chinese, our first from the far east.Below is a picture of her.

Mother Cecilia

Feast of St Ursula

Memling: St Ursula and Companions

Last  Sunday, 21st October, was the feast of St Ursula and her Companions- a special day for Ursulines throughout  the world. St Angela chose Ursula as the patron of the Company she founded in 1535 in Brescia. Ursula was a suitable patron as she embodied the qualities of virginity consecrated to Christ and virginity lived and died for in companionship with others.Ursula was a popular saint in the Middle Ages and venerated as a patroness of youth. She is often depicted in art sheltering a group of young women under her cloak.  

Visit to Bideford

 

I was recently in  Bideford, north Devon, a town with an Ursuline link. At the beginning of the last century anti-religious laws in France drove many  to England seeking refuge; among them were Ursuline sisters from Avallon. They established a school and were soon receiving local vocations.When the situation in France improved some returned to Avallon but others joined our community in Westgate-on-Sea. I visited their one time convent, now converted into sheltered accommodation.Several of the sisters are buried in Bideford cemetry so I was able to visit their graves, pray for them and ask their support in the vocations ministry.