Manuscript sermon on Angela Merici preached to Ursulines.

[Angela Merici] / [Ursulines] / [Manuscript]. Panegyrique de la B. Angèle Merici de Bresse fondatrice des Religieuses Ursulines. S.l.: signed by “Coste,” dated 24 May 1777 and with later corrections and annotations. 4to [24.0 x 18.5 cm], [10] ff. (including outer wrapper) manuscript. Unbound, not sewn, with outer leaf serving as a wrapper. Wrapper separating at centerfold, dampstaining and losses to upper inner margin, wrappers dusty, minor toning, neatly written in a small script, which is quite legible throughout.
 
 
Unusual French manuscript—worthy of further study—which is the working copy of a ‘panegyric’ on the Blessed Angela Merici (1474-1540), founder of the Order of St. Ursula (Ursulines). The manuscript is signed by a certain “Coste,” who notes at the end that he wrote the draft on 24 May 1777 and preached it in “the church of St. Ursula” (certainly a convent church) on 31 May of that year (Merici’s feast day). Added to this are further notes indicating that he preached it again on 31 May 1783 and 31 May 1787. 
 
I have not been able to localize the manuscript or identify its writer. While the item is likely of French origin, it is not out of the question that it comes from Quebec, where the Ursulines had long been established.
 
The text treats the life Merici, her virtues (above all, love), and the example she provides to those entering the life of the convent. The manuscript is heavily corrected/annotated by its author.
 
Angela Merici was beatified in 1768 by Clement XIII and at last canonized in 1807 by Pius VII.
 
 
*Q. Mazzonis, Spirituality, Gender, and the Self in Renaissance Italy: Angela Merici and the Company of St. Ursula (1474-1540); P. Caraman, Saint Angela: The Life of Angela Merici, Foundress of the Ursulines (1474-1540).