URSULINES  , a religious

order founded at Brescia by Angela Merici (1470-1540) in November 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy . It was approved in 1544 by Paul III., and in 1572 Gregory XIII., at the instance of Charles Borromeo, declared it a religious order under the rule of St Augustine . In the following century it was powerfully encouraged and supported by St Francis of Sales . In most cases, especially in France, the sisters adopted enclosure and took solemn vows; they were called the " religious " Ursulines as distinct from the " congregated " Ursulines,. who preferred to follow the original plan . There were Ursulines in Canada in 1639, who taught the catechism to Indian children, and subsequently helped to preserve a religious spirit among the French population and to humanize the Indians and half-breeds . Towards the beginning of the 18th century, the period of its greatest prosperity, the order embraced some 20 congregations, with 350 convents and from 15,000 to 20,000 nuns . The members wear a black dress bound by a leathern girdle, a black sleeveless cloak, and a close-fitting head-dress with a white veil and a longer black veil . Their patron is the St Ursula mentioned above . The founder was beatified by Clement VIII. in 1768 and canonized as St Agnes of Brescia by Pius VII. in 1807 . The Irish Ursulines were established at Cork in 1771 by Miss Nano Nagle . The Ursulines do not increase now as rapidly as they did, congregations taking simple vows like the Sisters of Mercy being apparently more adapted to modern needs .