Maria Ursula Ledóchowska
Maria Ursula (Julia) Ledóchowska (born April 17, 1865 in Loosdorf , Lower Austria , † May 29, 1939 in Rome ) was an Austro-Polish nun and founder of the order. She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church .
Life
Her parents, Count Anton Ledóchowski and Countess Josephine Ledóchowski, née Countess Salis Zizers , had her baptized in the name of Julia. Her sister was the Blessed Maria Teresia Ledóchowska , her brother was the Jesuit Order General Vladimir Ledóchowski , her second uncle Mieczysław Halka Ledóchowski was Archbishop of Gniezno and Poznan and later Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in Rome. At the age of 18, Julia Ledóchowska moved with her family to Lipnica in Poland ( Tarnów Diocese ).
In 1887 she entered the monastery of the Ursulines in Cracow and took the religious name Ursula for clothing . In 1904 she was elected superior of the monastery. In 1907 she was sent to St. Petersburg with two sisters to maintain the Katharinenpensionat there and to support the Polish youth against Russian oppression. In 1914 she had to leave the country due to the First World War. Her way led her to Stockholm.
In Scandinavia she continued her work as a teacher. She founded a girls' school and an orphanage for the children of Polish emigrants. She also worked for the Committee to Help Victims of War, founded by Nobel Prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz in Switzerland, and tried to raise awareness of the issue of Polish independence in Scandinavia.
In 1920 she returned to Poland with 40 St. Petersburg Ursulines and settled in Pniewy near Posen . A little later, Pope Benedict XV allowed them . the establishment of a separate religious community , the Ursulines of the Heart of Jesus in agony . Because of their gray habit , they are also called Gray Ursulines. The Gray Ursulines dedicate themselves above all to Christian education and poor relief. Today their number is over 1,100, and they operate on almost every continent.
Her body was transferred from Rome to Pniewy in 1989. In 1983, Sr. Ursula by Pope John Paul II. Beatified and on May 18, 2003 canonized .
literature
- Ledóchowska Maria Ursula (Julia) Gfn .. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1972, p. 87.
- Manfred Weitlauff : Ledóchowska, Ursula Countess. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-428-00195-8 , p. 47 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
- Biography on www.stjosef.at
- Biography on the website of the Department for Public Relations of the Diocese of St. Pölten ( Memento from November 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- Entry on Maria Ursula Ledóchowska in the database of the state's memory of the history of Lower Austria ( Museum Niederösterreich )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Geneanet / Robert Baranowski: pedigree Ledóchowski
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ledóchowska, Maria Ursula |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ledóchowska, Urszula; Ledóchowska, Julia (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austro-Polish nun and saint |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 17, 1865 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Loosdorf |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 29, 1939 |
| Place of death | Rome |