Last December 22nd, in the Church of the Holy Family located in the town of Tas-Sliema, Malta, a simple but significant ceremony took place in which the Congregation of the Ursuline Sisters of St. Angela Merici was presented with the decree of aggregation to the Order of St. Augustine
The decree, dated 28th August 2023, was handed over after a Mass of thanksgiving to the Superior General Mother Magdalena Cauchi USAM by Fr. Javier Pérez Barba, Assistant General for Southern Europe, on behalf of the Prior General.
During the ceremony, there were many sisters of the congregation, the Prior Provincial of the Augustinians in Malta - Fr. Leslie Gatt-, the Provincial Treasurer -Fr. Pierre Desira-, and the Postulator General of the Order, Fr. Josef Sciberras.
At present, the Congregation is of diocesan right, has more than 60 sisters and is present in 8 communities on the island of Malta. Previously, it had branches in Italy and England. The founding charism of the institute - based on the principles of the Augustinian Rule, the example of St. Angela Merici and the directives given by the founder, a great apostle of charity towards the most needy - is to spread and implant charity among children and adolescents who cannot live in their natural families for various reasons, and to support families who find it difficult to support and educate their children.
About the Ursuline Sisters of Malta
Founded by the Servant of God Isidoro dei Conti Formosa Montalto (Valletta, 1851 - Valletta, 1931) in 1887, during his lifetime, Fr. Isidoro maintained a close relationship with the Augustinian religious of the convent of St. Augustine in Valletta, as he was born and lived for many years within walking distance of that convent. Moreover, at the beginning of his priestly ministry, he was appointed chaplain and confessor to the Augustinian nuns of contemplative life in the monastery of St. Catherine of Alexandria in the same city of his birth. These were elements which, among other things, familiarized him with both the Augustinian Rule and the Order's way of life, based on the search for God in the common life and service to the Church. He wanted to include these elements in his religious foundation, desiring that the sisters profess the Hipponesian Rule.
A few months after the foundation, monsignor Formosa asked the Prior General of the Order, Fr. Sebastiano Martinelli, to grant the grace of affiliation to him personally and to the first nucleus of sisters, who had already professed the Rule of St. Augustine. Martinelli granted this grace in December 1889, extending the privileges and graces to future generations of sisters. In 1935 this affiliation was renewed by Prior General Eustasio Esteban.
Taking into account the post-conciliar reform of the Constitutions of the Order, which distinguishes between the affiliation of individuals and the aggregation of religious congregations wishing to unite spiritually with the Order, the Superior General of the Ursulines of St. Angela Merici, with the consent of her council, asked the Prior General of the Order for the decree of aggregation, thus renewing the spiritual bond that was born with the founder of the congregation himself back in 1889. This bond, over the decades, has been expressed in various ways and forms of collaboration with the Augustinian friars of Malta.
The cause for the beatification and canonisation of the Servant of God Isidoro dei Conti Formosa Montalto, diocesan priest and son of the Order, now is under the responsibility of the General Postulation of the Order.
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