Welcome

What is AMOR?

Angela Merici Online Resources [AMOR] is a collaborative initiative to make information and multi-media presentations on Saint Angela Merici and the Ursuline charism more accessible to diverse audiences and for differing applications.  Whether you are just becoming acquainted with Angela and the Company of Saint Ursula she founded, or are a long-time friend, the AMOR Project is here to welcome and assist you.  We invite you to explore the topics and utilize the tools this site offers, and the links and references to other materials which may support your spiritual reflection, classroom engagement, or academic research.

We have gathered here an initial collection of digital articles, reflections, and video presentations.  Since many other excellent resources are available online, we have provided links to those sites, as well.  As we discover or receive new online materials and references for Merician and Ursuline studies, we will update and expand our offerings, citations and links.  Our comprehensive bibliography surveys a range of materials available in English.

Who might benefit from AMOR?

Angela Merici Online Resources [AMOR] offers opportunities for personal and communal reflection.  It is also a resource base and tool for research.  Introductory and summary entries orient different themes which are outlined here.  Technical apparatus, such as glossary, name guides, timelines, charts, and maps, are provided to support your study or accompany your presentation. You will also find links to online images and music.  Under each subheading, we provide a selected bibliography and suggest other appropriate resources.  We willingly introduce you to other Ursuline and Angeline websites to animate our communal conversation.

Why do we need AMOR?

Let us count the ways…  Angela Merici Online Resources [AMOR] brings us together.  Our intention and approach is collaborative; we value the spectrum of reflection and study of Saint Angela Merici and the Ursuline heritage.  Only in the latter part of the 20^th century did we recover many of the historical documents which revealed Angela as an authentic Renaissance woman.  Over the past several decades this has inspired and stimulated conversation within the Ursuline family.  But Angela continues to reach across borders.  Students and scholars from different disciplines seek her out: Renaissance and religious history, secular women’s studies and histories of religious women.  Her compassionate wisdom continues to touch hearts and build community.  AMOR is a humble handmaid seeking to preserve and share Angela’s legacy, even as we continue the conversation.  Freely we have received… freely give.

How do I use AMOR?

Use Angela Merici Online Resources [AMOR] in whatever way is helpful.  The headings will help you navigate, whether you have refined your focus or are simply browsing.  You may pause to read a reflection or watch a short video in the spirituality section.  To deepen your understanding of the Christian faith and Ursuline charism, you might delve into a theological study.  Share an online essay to introduce a theme for communal reflection. A simple link will open the door to even more offerings on other websites.

For teachers and students of Angela and the Ursuline charism, AMOR can get you started, show you the ropes, help you avoid the pitfalls of misinformation, and give you a helping hand with creative media and technical apparatus.  Taken together, the summaries provide an overview of Angela’s life and spirituality and an introduction to Ursuline history and charism.  As background, animation or lesson content, the resources are at your service.

Scholars, writers and researchers can identify key primary sources and critical studies.  An ongoing update of the comprehensive bibliography allows a survey of books, chapters and articles on Merician and Ursuline topics, with links when available.  New abstracts, reviews, translations and summaries will be added to disseminate insights and perspectives in Angeline studies.  Scholarly writers and presenters can support AMOR by notifying us of their own studies and others they encounter (reviews are welcome).  Meanwhile, we will continue resurfacing and digitizing materials from past conferences and institutes.

Our core historical information represents the consensus of scholarship within the Ursuline community.  We would be glad to be notified of any inaccuracies or inconsistencies, as well as new data.  We are grateful for the critical studies (and their English translations), especially Teresa Ledochowska’s two volume study, Angela Merici and the Company of St. Ursula, and Towards a Biography [Luciana Mariani, et al., eds.], which have been foundational for an accurate historical account and an authentic vision of Angela. Current studies, outside specifically Ursuline circles, continue to shed new light on her life and times, thus furthering our understanding of her person and contribution.

Ursuline communities will be familiar with many of the titles.  Some of these resources are already used in schools and among associates.  We are becoming more aware, however, of the need to consolidate the literary legacy.  Archivists are attentive to preservation of dissertations, but often they have not been disseminated. Ursuline congregations, provinces, colleges may have writings on Angela and Ursuline history and charism; we will gladly include them in our catalogue. The present focus of AMOR is not on specific congregational histories or Ursuline personalities, although we do reference certain sources and provide links to the particular websites of contemporary communities.

You may support our effort by notifying us of corrections, suggestions and any technical issues you may experience.  Together, we can help each other by adverting one another of new articles, books and presentations on Ursuline topics.  Translations or summaries of non-English materials can also stimulate our global dialogue.  We welcome your contributions and hope our initiative will become increasingly collaborative.