“Of the intrepid women who made noble efforts to end the scandals of the “Babylonish Captivity” of Avignon and of the Great Schism which ensued, not the least courageous, though certainly the youngest, was Blessed Ursulina of Parma. From her tenth year she had enjoyed heavenly visions and mystical experiences, and when she was fifteen a supernatural voice several times bade her go to Avignon to urge upon Clement VII the renunciation of his claim to the papacy. A vision which was vouchsafed to her on Easter day decided her purpose. With two companions, besides her mother who accompanied her on all her subsequent travels, the girl made the toilsome journey over the Alps and succeeded in obtaining an audience with Clement more than once. Her efforts to persuade him proving fruitless, she went back to Parma, but almost immediately proceeded to Rome where she delivered a similar message to the true pope, Boniface IX. He received her graciously and appears to have encouraged her to make another attempt to win over his rival. Thereupon she undertook a second expedition to Avignon, with no better success than before. Indeed this time she was separated from her mother, was accused of sorcery and narrowly escaped a trial. Another journey to Rome was followed by a somewhat perilous pilgrimage to the Holy Land. If she and her mother had hoped to settle down in Parma on their return they were doomed to disappointment, for civil war broke out in the city and they were expelled. They made their way to Bologna and then to Verona, which Bd Ursulina seems to have made her home until her death at the age of thirty-five.’

May we ask our Blessed Mother to accompany us on our life’s journey and imitate her obedience to God’s will regardless of the outcome.