Ursulina Venerii, Bl.
URSULINA VENERII, BL.
B. Parma, 1375; d. Verona, April 7, 1410. She was the youngest of several women who attempted to end the western schism. She claimed that a supernatural voice had urged her to intercede with clement vii, the anti-pope at Avignon, to renounce his claim to the papacy. Her efforts having proved fruitless, she similarly attempted to convince Pope boniface ix in Rome. Boniface in turn encouraged her to undertake a second trip to Avignon. This time she was accused of sorcery and narrowly escaped a trial. In despair she undertook a perilous journey to the Holy Land. On her return she settled in Verona where, though an exile from her native town, she died peacefully, having devoted her last years to the task of reforming an enclosed monastery of nuns.
Feast: April 7.
Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum April 1:719–735. a. b. c. dunbar, A Dictionary of Saintly Women, 2 v. (London 1904–05) 2:282–283. a. m. garofani, Vita e viaggi della B. Orsolina di Parma (Parma 1593; new ed. 1897).
[d. s. buczek]