Saint Ursula Ledóchowska was a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus.
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Background
Born as Julia Maria Ledóchowska on 17 April 1865 in Loosdorf, Lower Austria, to a Polish nobleman and an Austrian mother as one of five children. The siblings were born on the estate of their father, Count Antoni Halka-Ledóchowski. Mieczysław Cardinal Ledóchowski was a paternal uncle. Due to financial reverses, the family moved to Saint Poelten and later to Lipnica in their father's native Poland in 1873. Count Antoni Halka-Ledóchowski died of smallpox in February 1885. The siblings' uncle, Mieczysław Cardinal Ledóchowski, assumed responsibility for them. Saint Ursula Ledóchowska died on 29 May 1939 in Rome, aged 74.
Canonization
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 20 June 1983 and canonized in 2005. Her natural sister, Theresa, was also canonized for her services to the Catholic Church as Saint Theresa Ledóchowska.
