Saint Ursula Ledóchowska

Julia Ledóchowska was born on April 17, 1865, in Loosdorf (Austria), the second of the seven children of Antoni Ledóchowski and Józefina Salis-Zizers. She received an education in the humanities. In 1886 she entered the Ursuline convent in Krakow. After her novitiate she professed her religious vows and received the name Sister Maria Ursula of Jesus. She was distinguished by her zeal in prayer and mortification. She worked as a teacher and educator in the school run by the Ursuline Sisters. She also took painting lessons and decorated the convent chapel with murals and paintings. In 1904 she was elected superior of the Krakow convent.

In 1907, with the blessing of Pope Pius X, she went with two sisters to Saint Petersburg to take charge of a boarding house for girls attached to the Polish secondary school of Saint Catherine’s parish. She quickly found her way into the hearts and minds of her pupils. Despite her many duties, she always found time for one-on-one conversations with the girls.

The outbreak of war in 1914 led to Mother Ursula’s expulsion from Russia as an Austrian citizen. She settled in Scandinavia. Together with the sisters who left Saint Petersburg one after another, she organized a language school for Scandinavian girls and later, among other things, a home for the orphans of Polish emigrants. At the same time she took an active part in the life of the Catholic diaspora in Scandinavia. She began working with the Committee for Aid to War Victims, founded in Switzerland by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Through lecture tours she made Scandinavian societies aware of the cause of Polish independence. She learned the Scandinavian languages in order to reach her audiences better.

In 1918 Poland regained its independence. Thanks to the generosity of the Norwegian consul B. A. Stolt-Nielsen, an estate was purchased in Pniewy. The Ursuline community from Saint Petersburg settled there. The first house of the Grey Ursulines, the motherhouse, came into being. Soon afterward the Holy See gave permission to transform the community of the Saint Petersburg convent into the apostolic Congregation of the Ursuline Sisters of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus, living the Ursuline spirituality rooted in Saint Angela Merici and the tradition of educational work as a privileged means of evangelization.

Ursula formed her sisters to love God above all things, wishing them to live in simplicity and to be humble, yet at the same time full of self-sacrifice and creative in serving others, especially children and young people. She regarded a smile, cheerfulness, and kindness as a particularly credible witness to one’s bond with Christ. She was consumed with love for Jesus Christ, and this love enabled her to love every person, regardless of creed, convictions, or social standing. She died in Rome on May 29, 1939, with a reputation for holiness.

John Paul II beatified Mother Ursula on June 20, 1983, and canonized her on May 18, 2003. On March 5, 2009, the Senate of the Republic of Poland passed a resolution commemorating the 70th anniversary of the death of Saint Ursula Ledóchowska and recognizing her as a model patriot.