Pilgrimage to St Angela from the Polish Province

13/06/2025

From April 26 to May 4, 2025, the prioress of the Ursuline communities of the Polish Province, along with Provincial Sr. Iwona Skorupa and members of the Provincial Council, embarked on a pilgrimage to sites connected with the life of St. Angela Merici, our Foundress.

This pilgrimage took place during the Church's Jubilee Year, marking the 500th anniversary of St. Angela's pilgrimage to Rome and the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Roman Union. It provided an opportunity to rediscover and deepen our understanding of Mother Angela's love for the Church. As she writes in Council 7: "Hold fast to the ancient way and customs of the Church established and confirmed by so many saints under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And live a new life, too."

In Mantua, she prepared a surprise for us: at the Basilica of St. Andrew, we prayed before the relics of the Precious Blood, which are typically displayed for public veneration only once a year on Good Friday. We also visited the home of Blessed Osanna Andreassi and the cathedral where her body is enshrined. St. Angela herself made a pilgrimage to Blessed Osanna's tomb... It was a discovery for us to find the second probable (after Brudazzo) site commemorating Angela's vision of the founding of the Society (the abbey of Maguzzano). 
In Brescia, at the Queriniana Library, we were thrilled to see one of the three existing first printed copies of the Rule.

Many events and encounters will remain in our hearts: the hospitality of our Slovenian sisters in Sveti Duh and Ljubljana, the warmth of Sisters Patricia and Armida from Grezze, the Ursulines of Charles Borromeo from Mericianum in Desenzano, the staff of the Queriniana Bible in Brescia and so many others we met during these days...

We thank God, St Angela and the provincial government for the grace of our pilgrimage. Soli Deo Gloria! 

Sr Blandyna Boch OSU