Blessed Ursula:
Woman of Wisdom and Love
Blessed Ursula Ledochowska, foundress of the Ursuline Sisters of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus, is God’s gift to us - a woman open to the prodding of the Holy Spirit, who fulfilled God’s Will and served Him in His Plan of Salvation, from her birth on April 17, 1865, until her saintly death in Rome on May 29, 1939. Her strict family environment, consisted of aristocratic parents, who lived out their marital commitment, as a covenant of love, and expected their five children to practice self-discipline and to have an intimate relationship with God. From childhood, Blessed Ursula possessed a magnetic personality, and was loved by all. Her mother nicknamed her, "my ray of sunshine" and her siblings share how she put this into a life’s plan of action - Francis, her younger sister remembers "for the youngest children she was like a second mother; she helped us with our lessons, surprised us, thought of new games to play, read the Passion of Jesus during Lent , prayed the Litany of the Saints, on All Saints Day." Her brother Wlodzimierz recalls, "she was sensitive and especially loved the poor and sick. She visited their homes, brought them medicine, and evoked laughter, creating an atmosphere of peace and joy."
Her dynamic apostolic spirit, coupled with deep faith and courage, revealed a tremendous love of God and neighbor in the Mystical Body of Christ; once it was suggested that the person who had come to visit her, wait, but Blessed Ursula replied, "You must never ask Jesus to wait." How should one love his/her neighbor? Blessed Ursula showed us that we should create an atmosphere where a person feels good, protected, and at home! One of her former students Maria Tucholczyna writes, "every word spoken by Mother Ursula was saturated with a deep love of God and inspired one to take immediate action. She simply explained to us that through our daily responsibilities, we can draw closer to God, become saints and attain heaven. Her great trust in Divine Providence was truly childlike. She saw God’s guiding hand in everything that occurred." The Sisters, too, felt that she loved them maternally, not only as a group in community, but also individually; she remembered their problems and worries "carrying them in her heart." In her Spiritual Testament, she requests, "be good my children, that is, kind to everyone. Always meet others with a smile of love and a kind word on your lips. Rejoice if you can be of service to others, even if this creates work and discomfort for you. Always live in harmony with everyone. Harbor no grudges. Regard your neighbor as better than yourself…live as Jesus did for the happiness of others, and become energized by the words "whatsoever you do the least of my brothers you do unto Me."
Blessed Ursula’s vision of love embraced not only Poles, but Danes, Swedes and Finns. Here she displayed dial atmosphere. She noticed that the Finnish Protestant community of believers were neglected spiritually, and states, "what a poor nation, one can apply the scripture passage from Mt 9:36 to their situation, ‘at the sight of the crowds, His heart was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a Shepherd.’" Bl. Ursula became the shepherd! She translated and made available a Finnish Catechism; published a prayerbook and hymnal and opened the convent chapel for ecumenical services as well as bible study groups.
Even though Blessed Ursula was born in Loosdorf, Austria and her mother was Austrian, she still possessed a patriotic love for Poland. A diplomat once asked her about her political stance and she replied, "my political view is love of God and country." She played a crucial role in the political arena and delivered 50 powerful speeches to Kings, ambassadors, and politicians about Poland’s basic right to exist as an independent country; and revealed the plight and injustice suffered by the enslaved Polish nation, erased from the map of Europe. As a result the conscience of these foreign diplomats was moved to reach out and come to Poland’s aid both morally and politically…
Bl. Ursula taught her Sisters and all who came in contact with her "that is is not enough to pray, Thy kingdom come, but to work, so that the Kingdom of God will exist among us today." She sent her Sisters to both the spiritually and materially impoverished, as teachers, catechists, social workers, missionaries, and even factory workers in France! She was throroughly convinced that the Kingdom of God had to be built and nurtured in the family along with the "civilization of love". She stated at one of her conferences, "The responsibility of the mother and teacher is to give God to her child. If you give God, then you have given everything; if you don’t give God, you have given nothing!" She felt that a child’s personal relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist is essential. Consequently, with great fervor, she founded and promoted the Eucharistic League and Marian Sodality in Poland. Via these organizations, she wanted to the children and youth to become involved in the life of the Church and serve society. Because of her inclusive approach the laity was not overlooked! She invited young women to give one or two years of their life to serve the poorest of the poor in Eastern Poland.
"Holiness," she repeated, "does not demand anything great, beyond the ability of the person. It depends on God’s Love; every daily act can be transformed into an act of love." Bl. Ursula’s love for the Agonizing Heart of Jesus was reciprocated by her entire life and can be summarized in her own words, "I am to love my neighbor as Jesus loved me. Take and utilize my time, efforts, skills and talents, because they are at your disposition. Take my heart, so that it may enlighten your life. I am yours, just as Christ is mine."
On June 20, 1983, Pope John Paul II beatified Blessed Ursula in Poznan, Poland. Her incorruptible body was transferred from the Generalate in Rome, and brought to rest in the Motherhouse in Pniewy, Poland on May 29, 1989.
We invite you to please pray with us for the canonization of our beloved Mother Foundress and intercede to her with your personal petitions.
Thank you to Sr. Monica Soltysiak, UAHJ, for this article!
Read our feature on the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus, Bl. Ursula's order.
Prayer to Blessed Ursula: By the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ, accept, O God, the prayers we offer you through the intercession of Blessed Ursula who faithfully imitated the virtues of your Most Sacred Heart and grant us the graces _______we ask for with childlike trust.
Amen.
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