Saint Úrsula Ledóchowska was an Austrian nun, founder of various evangelizing initiatives, such as the Congregation of the Ursuline Religious of the Sacred Heart of Agonizing Jesus – the most important – as well as training and teaching centers.
One of the peculiarities of this saint’s apostolate was her link with the Society of Jesus and other institutions of the Church. As the postulator of her cause for canonization, Father Paolo Molinari, explained, “she was the sister of Vladimiro Ledóchowski, who was general prefect of the Company until 1942, and sister of María Teresa Ledóchowska (beatified in 1975), founder of the Sodalitium of Saint Peter Claver to support the missions in Africa. He also had an uncle who had been a Cardinal.”
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Saint Ursula was born on April 17, 1865 in Loosdorf (Austria). She moved to Krakow (Poland) in 1886 and entered the convent of the Ursuline mothers. Upon taking her vows in 1889, she took the name María Úrsula de Jesús.
His service was characterized by his dedication to education and his sensitivity to the needs of the less fortunate. Five years after she took her vows, she would be elected superior of her convent.
With the blessing of Pope Pius Despite the difficulties, both carried out intense educational and Catholic formation work. Thanks to this pastoral effort, the Saint Petersburg novitiate would be created, in which Úrsula would be named superior.
After the outbreak of the First World War, he had to move his community – now with more members – first to Sweden and then to Denmark. In the interim, the Holy See granted her permission for the group of nuns under her charge to cease being part of the Order of Saint Ursula and become the “Ursuline Sisters of the Sacred Heart of the Agonizing Jesus.”
The Congregation grew rapidly. Religious communities were born in Poland, Austria, Sweden and Germany. In 1928 he inaugurated the general house and a boarding house for poor girls in Rome. The “Ursulines of the Sacred Heart” also began to work among the poor in the suburbs of the Eternal City. In 1930 they settled for the first time in France.
Saint Úrsula Ledóchowska died in Rome on May 29, 1939. She was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II on June 20, 1983 and canonized by him on May 18, 2003. Currently the Congregation has around 900 sisters spread across more than 100 communities, present in 12 countries. The sisters wish to follow the radical path of the Gospel and fraternal service, above all to those most in need.
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