#st ursula

[illustratus]

Seaport with the Embarkation of Saint Ursula by Claude Lorrain

[heaveninawildflower]

'St Ursula' (1868) by Edward Burne-Jones (d.1898).

Cartoon for stained glass at St John the Baptist Church, Tuebrook, Liverpool.

Birmingham Museums Trust, licensed under CC0.

[portraitsofsaints]

Happy Feast Day

Saint Ursula

Died: 3rd or 4th c.

Feast Day: October 21

Patronage: Order of St. Ursula (Ursulines), Catholic education, students, teachers, University of Paris, Cologne, England, British Virgin Islands, archers, orphans, a holy death

Saint Ursula was the daughter of a Christian, British king, who arranged her marriage to a pagan prince. Legend says Ursula's two requests were, that he become a Christian and she was allowed to go on a pilgrimage to Rome with 11,000 virgin attendants. On the way back, in Cologne, Germany they were all martyred by a pagan Hun Chieftain. A Basilica was restored in Cologne to honor the martyred women where their gilded bones are enshrined to this day.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (Italian, 1609-1662) Sainte Ursule martyre, ca. 1650 Musée de Picardie, Amiens

[medievalcowboy]

reliquary busts of female saints, believed to be some of the virgin companions of St. Ursula. ca 1520-1530

[maypoleman1]

21st October

St Ursula’s Day

Source: companyofstursula.org

Today is St Ursula’s Day. Ursula was allegedly a fourth century Roman Christian lady, who took the cult of militant chastity to somewhat absurd lengths. Pursued by pagan king, Ursula naturally turned her unwanted suitor down. Sensing he was not reacting well to rejection, Ursula hinted to the lovestruck monarch that she might be tempted if he could give her three years to decide. When the King agreed, Ursula hightailed it to Gaul, along with ten virginal companions. These young women set about recruiting other ladies to the chastity cause and soon Ursula had an entourage of 11,000 virgins. The all female crew soon found their vessel(s) blown off course and they ended up sailing up the Rhine only to run into a group of fearsome Huns. The barbarian leader of the Huns sought to seduce Ursula, but once again the Christian maiden remained steadfast. This time it ended unhappily: the pagan chieftain had Ursula put to death along with her 11,000 followers. Although a troop of Angels were sent from Heaven to rescue the virgins, they arrived too late, putting the Huns to flight but only able to bury the unfortunate saint and her disciples.

The whole sad story has a feel of the fable about it. Researchers have since found that the always unlikely 11,000 women were in fact probably only eleven, due to a misreading of a Latin inscription about the saint. The Catholic Church gave up on the legend in 1969 when Ursula was removed from its official calendar of saints. She can however still be seen in a stained glass window at Trinity Church in York.

[rossodimarte]

Jacopo Bassano, Saint Ursula with Saint Valentine and Saint Joseph, 1542

[electronicgallery]

St. Ursula by Hans Holbein the Younger