July 14th - Blessed Angelina of Marsciano

[Weedy]

July 14th - Blessed Angelina of Marsciano

Angelina was born in 1374 in the palace of her father, the duke of
Marsciano, near Orvieto in the Papal States. Her devout mother was
much pleased to note how the conduct of her child corresponded with
the name she bore, little angel. The first words she uttered were the
holy names of Jesus and Mary. She delighted in building little altars,
which she decorated tastily, and around which she would gather other
girls of her age to pray and sing.

Angelina lost her mother when she was but 12 years of age. Her
attachment to Jesus Christ then became more intimate and she vowed
perpetual chastity. But she had scarcely reached the age of 15 when
her more worldly-minded father told her that he wanted her to marry
the duke of Civitella. But Angelina declared that she wished no other
than her heavenly Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

The duke was filled with rage at her opposition. He gave her one week
to decide, threatening to dispatch her with his sword if she
persevered in her refusal. Angelina increased her prayers and
penitential austerities, pleading with her Lord Jesus Christ, with the
Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and the virgin disciple St. John to help
her preserve the virginity she had vowed.

Then an interior voice prompted her to yield to her father's wishes
and assured her that God would not forsake her. And God did help.
Angelina's husband turned out to be a devout Christian, and, heeding
her expostulations as well as her wishes, consented to live with her
in perfect continence.

Two years after their marriage her husband died, and the young widow
now devoted herself entirely to works of piety and charity. Together
with several young women of the vicinity she entered the Third Order
of St. Francis, and with them she undertook to care for the sick, the
poor, the widows and orphans, and endeavored to win sinners back to
the path of righteousness.

Angelina possessed the special gift of awakening in others a love for
virginity. Many young women from some of the most distinguished
families among the nobility, following her example, left their
families and entered various convents. This aroused the ill-will of
many people, and Angelina was severely criticized. Some even accused
her of being a heretic and a disturber of the peace, saying that she
condemned the married state and was disrupting the foremost families
of the land. For this reason she was accused before the king of
Naples.

The king invited the young duchess to appear before him. Angelina,
having received from God knowledge of the king's intentions, appeared
before him and his court carrying burning coals in the folds of her
cloak. She exposed the king's secret intention of having her burned as
a heretic, and disturber of the peace, showed how the coals she had
brought had not injured her in any way, and declared herself ready to
die upon the coals if it could be proved that she was guilty of the
crimes with which she was charged. She attested that she had never
condemned the married state, but that she had given due praise to the
state of virginity. Struck by the miracle as well as by the words she
uttered, the king dismissed Angelina with great respect.

A few days later she raised to life a young man, scion of one of the
most prominent families. As a result, she was showered with honors
from every quarter of the city. In order to elude them, she went into
seclusion in her palace. But several young women of prominent families
found their way to her there, and she was again accused before the
king, who now banished her and her companions from the kingdom.

The little congregation praised God for the persecution that the world
was heaping on it, and then repaired to Assisi. There Angelina was
instructed in an ecstasy to go to Foligno, where God would take care of
her. In this city she was cordially received by the inhabitants, who
evinced great willingness to help build a convent for her and her
companions.

There she established a community whose members took solemn vows and
lived according to the rule of the Third Order. The Apostolic See
sanctioned this sisterhood of the Third Order Regular, and confirmed
the election of Angelina as the first superioress although she was
then only 20 years old.

Later Angelina founded 15 other convents of the same type in various
towns of Italy, and Pope Martin V appointed her abbess general in the
year 1428. This office she administered until her death on July 14,
1435.

When she realized that her death was close at hand, she expressed the
wish to make a general confession. She received the last sacraments
with great devotion, and assembled her spiritual daughters about her
for the last time. She admonished them always to remain faithful in
observance of the rule and gave them her blessing. She was them rapt
in ecstasy, during which this faithful bride of Christ was admitted to
the eternal joys of Paradise. Pope Lei XII in 1825 confirmed the
devotion paid to her from time immemorial.


"John, last of all, seeing that the plain facts had been clearly set
forth in the Gospels, and being urged by his acquaintances, composed a
spiritual Gospel under the divine inspiration of the Spirit."
-St. Clement of Alexandria (b. circa AD150)


<><><><>
THE CROSS LEADS TO SUCCESS
1. The works of God are usually opposed by the world. The apostles
experienced that in propagating the Christian Church. Many saints
experienced it in their various undertakings. Angelina experienced it
in too in an exceptional measure. But it did not frighten her. It
assured her all the more that her undertaking was the work of God and
that He would assist her. How frequently also in our day do young
people experience this opposition when they desire to enter a certain
state of life. How often do souls who are urged to undertake a good
work for the cause of God experience the same opposition. Do not allow
yourself to become discouraged by such opposition and difficulty. It
is a sign that you are undertaking a work that is pleasing to God.
Call upon Him in your trial. He has promised to assist you: "I am with
him in his trouble; I will deliver him and I will glorify him" (Psalm
90:15).
2. Consider that even in the life of the ordinary Christian, the cross
is the only road on which he can arrive at salvation. "By the cross,"
says Thomas a Kempis, "you shall go into life everlasting. Dispose and
order all things according as you will, and you will still find
something to suffer, and so you shall always find the cross. If you
carry it unwillingly, you make it a burden to yourself, and
nevertheless you must bear it. If you fling away one cross, without
doubt you will find another, and perhaps a heavier. If you carry the
cross willingly, it will carry you, and bring you to your desired end,
where there will be an end to the suffering." -- Who, then, should not
be willing to walk the way of the cross courageously?
3. Consider that the souls who are guided by the Holy Spirit must
tread the way of the cross throughout life. In the case of Angelina,
when persecution from without ceased, she took upon herself the cross
of penance and self-abnegation, adopting a very strict rule of life in
a convent. Christ says to all: "If any man will come after Me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23).
You cannot be admitted to Christ in heaven if you are not willing to
renounce your will and carry the daily cross of fidelity to Christian
duty. May the virtues and the intercession of Blessed Angelina give us
the necessary strength!