LITANY OF URSULINE SAINTS

As we begin this New Year of 2012 it is good for us to recognize the gifts of our past as we plan for our future. With that in mind please take some time to pray this Ursuline Litany of Saints. This litany will not only give you a new understanding of those persons who have contributed to creating our Ursuline Heritage but it will give you time to pause in gratitude for God’s goodness.

Litany of Cleveland Ursuline Saints…

St. Francis of Assisi, your invitation to live a simple life of service called Angela into a new relationship with her God “in the world.”

Pray for us as we struggle to grasp the meaning of simplicity in the 21st century.

St. Ursula, Angela chose you to be the spiritual focal point of her Company.

Pray for us as we look to your sacrifice as a model for our lives of faithfulness to God.

St. Angela, our Mother, your words continually call us to renew our commitment and our union.

Pray for us as we act, move and bestir ourselves toward lives united in heart and will, caring for each other in Christ Jesus.

Antonio Romano, Augustino Gallo, Gabriel Cozzano, you were companions and dear friends of Angela; we share your love for her and are eager to follow her as faithfully as you did.

Pray for us today as we seek to immerse ourselves in her wisdom.

St. Charles Borromeo, you understood the gift of the Company to the world and spread it beyond Brescia.

Pray for us as we seek to spread our charism into the future despite the challenges that we face.

Francois de Bermond, you courageously founded the first Company of St. Angela in Avignon, France.

Pray for us as we seek ways to refound a new paradigm for religious life.

Mother Mary of the Incarnation, you and your companions brought the work of the Ursulines from France to Quebec as Ursuline missionaries willing to give all for your lover.

Pray for us as we continue to look for ways to involve others in our sacred ministries to the poor and disenfranchised.

Meres Saint-Augustin, Saint Josse, and Saint-Trinite, you founded the convent in Bologne Sur Mer, sacrificing security willingly to spread the Ursuline charism.

Pray for us as we seek to sacrifice the security of our middle class lives so that we can participate more fully in the mission of God.

Martyrs of Valencia, and L’Orange you refused to abandon your vows to your God, and so you suffered death at the guillotine.

Pray for us that we may each grow in confidence in God’s fidelity to us.

Bishop Amadeus Rapp, you called for your friends, the Ursulines, to come to Cleveland and provide education in your new diocese.

Pray for us as we seek new ways to answer the call of the needs in our world today.

Mother Mary of the Annunication Beaumont, Mother Saint Charles, Mother des Seraphines, Sister Benoit Picquet and Miss Arabelle Seymour, you are the Mothers of our Cleveland Foundation.

Pray for us as we seek to be mothers of a new millennium of Christians in our world.

Mother Mercedes Keegan, you recognized that the separation of choir sisters and lay sisters did not promoted unity in the congregation and abolished that practice.

Pray for us as we seek in our chapter to mend the divisions that separate us from each other.

Mother Mary Veronica, you led the Ursuline sisters of Cleveland through the difficulties of the great depression with your wisdom and compassion.

Pray for us as we seek to find ways to finance the new plans that for our future.

Mother Marie Sands, shortly after you were chosen Superior of the community, you immediately began planning for the future home of our sisters at Villa Angela and continued those plans for the future home in Pepper Pike.

Pray for us as we plan together for a future not our own.

Mother Annunciata, you ushered us into the post-Vatican Church and its many changes in the shape of Religious life for the world of the 20th century.

Pray for us as we usher in changes that will speak to our post modern world.

Sisters Kenan and Anna Margate, you opened the way for aggiornimento, calling for your novice to be women of the Vatican II Church.

Pray for us as we move into a new paradigm of being human, of being holy, of being one.

Sister Bartholomew, you opened hearts and called for a renewal of relationships within our congregation.

Pray for us as we try to open our hearts to each other.

Dorothy Kazel, our sister, you continue to call us to fidelity and sacrifice despite the cost.

Pray for us that we may respond out of love for the poor despite the cost and the sacrifice.

Joanne Marie Mascha, you were always the gentle soul, who reached out to the neediest among us.

Pray for us as we seek to be gentler with ourselves and each other.

Jean Iffarth, you were a faithful daughter to a Church that you studied carefully, and legally.

Pray for us that we too may remain faithful in the face of difficulties and work toward unity in our church as well as our community.

Anita, your life was one of justice for all, seeking peaceful solutions for all conflicts.

Pray for us as we strive for alternatives to violence in all aspects of our lives.

Jeannette, your prayer was always one that inspired us to contemplation.

Please pray for us that our prayer may lead us to the Universal Christ through our Mother Angela.

Angelita, your leadership still holds sway over us as you continue to be alive and present to us.

We beg your prayers and your love and your guidance.

Let us pray:

All holy Ursuline men and women, God has accomplished great things through you using you to bring others to holiness and to shape the world for God.

We pray in gratitude for all that God has accomplished through you and ask that our lives may also be signs of the Reign of God in our world.

May we be ministers of God’s mission as you have ministered in the past.

And may we model our lives on your lives of charity and compassion and justice.

Amen.

Mary Ellen Brinovec, OSU