SAINT URSULA

Fourth Century

Feast Day: October 21

Patronage: British Virgin Islands, Cologne, Germany, University of Paris, Educators, Girls, Drapers, Orphans, Archers

Invoked for a Holy Death, the education of girls and women, against shipwrecks on rivers and for a happy marriage.

Symbol: Arrows, Cloak, Ship, Crown, Pilgrim’s Staff with white flag and red cross.

“For this most chaste and golden army

crossed the sea with maidenly, flowing hair.

O who has ever heard such great things?”  – From “Chants for the Feast of Saint Ursula” by     Hildegarde von Bingen, 12^th Century

             The story of Saint Ursula and her virgin army of 11,000 maidens was a major influence on the creative world of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  For hundreds of years, the tales of Ursula and her army of 11,000 Virgins made a fascinating subject for artists of all disciplines. The early Middle Ages are filled with accounts of mystics communicating with the souls of the young maidens. Images of thousands of girls sailing around in their own ships captured the popular imagination. Their tragic and daring tale of martyrdom inspired one of the finest pieces of liturgical music ever written, “Chants for the Feast of Saint Ursula” and the artists Caravaggio, Giovanni Bellini and Claude Lorrain have all celebrated her as a famous subject. Almost every country of Europe has a famous visual rendition of Ursula’s story created by some of the greatest painters in history. The Reliquary of Saint Ursula can be found in Bruges and is said to contain an arm of the saint. It is adorned with six miniatures by Hans Memling. The Scuola di San’ Orsola in Venice commissioned the artist Carpaccio to create his greatest work “The Dream of Saint Ursula” , a series of paintings based on the life of the saint that tell her story in an almost cinematic way.

            There are many different versions of this story, the first known one appearing in the eighth century when the local Cult of  Saint Ursula was strong. The authenticity of her legend is based on ten lines carved in the fifth century, now found in the church of Saint Ursula at Cologne, Germany. The words were written by a senator named Clematius who attests that due to a spiritual vision, he is dedicating a church on the grounds of an older basilica built to honor the virgins of Cologne martyred on that site on October 21.

            The first written accounts of her martyrdom come a century later and nearly five hundred years after her death. They depict Ursula  as the Christian daughter of a British king who in order to avoid a war, agrees to an arranged marriage to a pagan prince. On the advice of an angel received in a dream, Ursula requested that she travel three years visiting the holy shrines of the Christians along with ten noblewomen who would each be accompanied by one thousand virgin companions. So great was Ursula’s beauty, that the neighboring king and his son readily agreed to her request. They helped amass the 11,000 virgins from kingdoms all over the known world.  Men being unwelcome on such a voyage, Ursula and her virgins were trained in sailing their 11 massive ships which first sailed to Cologne, Germany and then on to Basle where the women proceeded on foot through the Alps down to Rome. Gradually, these accompanying maidens converted from their pagan faiths to Christianity, and they were given a joyous reception by the Pope and the Christian community. On their return voyage, they stopped again at Cologne which had been overrun by the Huns. The invaders hated the prospect of so many future Christian mothers taking over the continent, and the virgins were massacred. Ursula was spared for her beauty, and the leader of the Huns demanded that she marry him. When she refused, he shot her in the chest with an arrow.  After her death, an army of 11,000 angels chased the Huns from Cologne and the grateful population converted to Christianity and erected a basilica in honor of Ursula and her Virgins.

             It is thought the very early stories of the virgin martyrs actually only included eleven young women, Ursula, being one of them. As the tale was recorded in Latin, the number 11 was transposed into 11,000, making the original story more fantastic with each recounting of it. In mythology, Urschel is also the name of the Teutonic moon goddess who welcomed the souls of dead maidens. It is thought that the history of this early virgin martyr could have been confused and combined with the legend of this goddess who also sailed up the Rhine river with a boatload of virginal companions.

                        It is in Ursula’s influence on a woman who lived 1,000 years after her own death that we feel her impact in modern times. In the 16^th century, the Italian Saint Angela Merici was inspired by her own personal visions of Saint Ursula and her Virgins to found an order of nuns dedicated to educating young women. This was considered a revolutionary concept at a time where women were scarcely allowed to leave their homes. These were the first schools established for girls and young women in Europe, later coming to the Americas in the 17^th Century. Today, Ursuline Academies and Colleges seriously follow their mandate to educate young women throughout the world and this order of teaching nuns maintains Saint Ursula as their patron.

             Though her cult is most popular in Germany and Eastern Europe, Saint Ursula can be found on the flag of the British Virgin Islands where her Feast Day, October 21 is a national holiday. The islands were discovered by Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. He named a larger island Saint Ursula and the surrounding ones, Once Mil Virgines (The Eleven Thousand Virgins). Eventually, this name was shortened to the Virgin Islands which is what they are known as today. Since Ursula was a British princess, she is depicted with a crown and the flag she carries is the banner of Saint George, the Christian flag of England. She is frequently sheltering young girls under a cloak, for this reason she is the patron saint of drapers. Because her fiancee was so agreeable to granting her request, she is invoked for happy marriages. She was martyred by an arrow, so she is the patron saint of archers. Saint Ursula is most associated with the education and empowerment of young girls.

                                                             Prayer to Saint Ursula

             By the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, accept, O God,

            The prayers offered to you through the intercession of Saint Ursula,

            Faithful imitator of the virtues of the Heart of your Son,

            And grant us the favors we are confidently asking for. Amen.

             Saint Ursula, pray for us!

Excerpted from the book: “Saints: Ancient and Modern” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua.

Pastures / Wendelin, 554–617, Feast Day: October 21

The pious son of a Scottish king, Wendelin made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he was advised to follow his heart. He toured religious sites in Europe and settled in Germany, where he tended sheep, which enabled him to pray most of the day. Eventually he founded a community of religious hermits that became the Benedictine Abbey of Thole.

Other patronages: farmers, shepherds

Pregnancy / Gerard Majella, 1725–1755,
Feast Day: October 16

A simple-minded lay brother, Gerard was known for working wonders. Once, after he had been visiting friends, their daughter tried to return a handkerchief he had left behind. He refused it, telling her it might be useful to her one day. Years later, she had it brought to her when she was dying in childbirth. She lived to deliver a healthy baby, and the handkerchief is still a popular relic for expectant mothers.

Other patronages: lay brothers, mothers

Invoked: against infertility

Novena to Saint Gerard Majella

Headaches / Teresa of Ávila, 1515–1582,
Feast Day: October 15

An intellectual and a reformer, Teresa was one of the most popular religious figures of her time and is still widely read today. Because her searing mystical visions would leave her in intense mental anguish, she is invoked against headaches.

Other patronages: Spain; lace makers

Invoked: against fires of purgatory, heart ailments

More on Teresa of Avila

Separated Spouses / Edward the Confessor, 1003–1066, Feast Day: October 13

Called “the Confessor” because he was a witness to his faith, Edward came out of exile to become the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. During his reign, his country enjoyed twenty years of peace. Edward and his wife, Edith, had no children since they were said to be celibate. Edward was generous to the poor, distributing rings as gifts. He had the power to heal, and he built Westminster Abbey in lieu of going on a much-desired pilgrimage to Rome.

Other patronages: England; kings; difficult marriages

Austria / Colman of Stockerau, d. 1012,
Feast Day: October 13

A monk from the British Isles, Colman was making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land when he was stopped in Austria under suspicion of spying for their enemy, Moravia. Unable to speak German, he could not defend himself and was tortured and hanged. His body was left to dangle as a warning, and for eighteen months, it did not decompose and no animal touched it. The Austrians recognized this as a sign of his sanctity and made him their patron.

Other patronages: horned cattle, horses; hanged men

Invoked: against hanging, plague

Colombia / Louis Bertran, 1526–1581, Feast Day: October 9

Though he was only in Central America for six years, Louis Bertran baptized tens of thousands of people. A Spanish speaker, he had the gift of tongues, which helped the native population understand him. A warrior tribe made a failed attempt to poison him. On his return to Spain, he trained other preachers and campaigned against the cruelty of the Spanish soldiers in the New World.

Other patronages: Panama

Strife / Denis, d. 258, Feast Day: October 9

An early missionary, Denis was the first bishop of Paris. The Roman governor had him and two companions tortured by flogging and roasting. When Denis would not die, they chopped off his head on what is now called Montmartre (“Hill of Martyrs”). When he picked up his own head and carried it six miles to his present burial place, many were converted.

Other patronages: headaches, rabies; France, Paris; Royal House of France; possessed people

Invoked: against frenzy, syphilis

Actresses / Pelagia the Penitent, dates unknown, Feast Day: October 8

A glamorous and popular actress and dancer in Antioch, Pelagia was known for her pearl jewelry and had the nickname “Margaret,” which means “pearl.” When she overheard the bishop of Edessa cite her as a lesson because “she takes more trouble over her beauty and dancing than we do about our souls and flocks,” she converted. She moved to Jerusalem, disguised as a male monk, and lived for the rest of her life as a hermit in a cave on the Mount of Olives.