Saint Angela of Foligno (4 January): Butler's Lives of the Saints

About this sermon

St Angela of Foligno (†1309), one of the greatest mystics and contemplatives of the Middle Ages, stands alongside St Catherine of Siena and St Catherine of Genoa as a towering figure of Christian spirituality. Her life, recorded by her Franciscan confessor Brother Arnold, reveals a profound journey of conversion, penance, suffering, and divine union. Born around 1248 in Foligno, Italy, Angela lived a worldly life before experiencing a sudden and overwhelming conversion in 1285, known as the Vision of the True Light. From that moment, she embraced radical poverty, penance, and the Franciscan Third Order, following the spirit of St Francis of Assisi—though her path was almost entirely contemplative rather than active. Angela described 18 stages of spiritual transformation, beginning with awareness of sin and culminating in an ineffable union with God. Her mystical life included visions of Christ’s Passion, ecstatic prayer, severe temptations, spiritual darkness, false humility, and ultimate purification through divine love. She sold all her possessions—including a beloved castle—served the sick and lepers, washed the feet of the poor on Holy Thursday, and lived in constant trust in God. Her writings, known as The Book of Visions, contain some of the most vivid and theologically rich descriptions of the Passion of Christ ever recorded. St Angela teaches us that: The Cross is the true way of salvation Divine love purifies through suffering Joy and suffering can coexist in God Total abandonment to God leads to peace She died peacefully on January 4, 1309, blessing her spiritual children and exhorting them to place total trust in God. 0:00 – Introduction: St Angela of Foligno 0:24 – A Great Mystic of the Middle Ages 0:44 – Angela and St Francis: Two Paths, One Love 1:09 – Her Early Life and Worldly Years 1:30 – The Vision of the True Light (Conversion) 1:51 – Embrace of Penance and Franciscan Poverty 2:16 – Death of Her Family & Total Detachment 2:53 – Brother Arnold and The Book of Visions 3:03 – Selling Her Possessions and the Castle 3:26 – Humility, Ecstasies, and Mystical Language 4:00 – Angela’s Companions and Public Ecstasies 4:58 – Holy Thursday: Serving Christ in the Poor 5:46 – Final Exhortation and Holy Death (1309) 6:05 – Conversion of Ubertino of Casale 6:51 – The 18 Stages of Penance Explained 7:23 – Visions of Christ’s Passion 8:18 – The Two Abysses: Temptation & False Humility 9:25 – Deliverance from Spiritual Pride 9:38 – Mystical Union and Divine Love 10:17 – Joy in the Passion of Christ 11:16 – Visions During Mass & Communion 11:41 – The Way of Salvation: Abyss of Light 12:11 – “Follow My Footsteps from the Cross” https://sensusfidelium.com/the-lives-of-the-fathers-martyrs-and-other-principal-saints/january/ Get Butler's Lives of the Saints here: https://loretopublications.idevaffiliate.com/idevaffiliate.php?id=102&url=1 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🙏🏻PLEASE HELP OUR CHANNEL GROW 🙏🏻 ▶ 1. Become a Channel Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SensusFidelium ▶ 2. Visit the website https://www.sensusfidelium.com for Gueranger, Saint of the Day, Apologetics, Meditation by the Saints, Scripture Study and more. ▶ 3. Subscribe to Other Video Platforms 🔴 SpiritusTV - https://spiritustv.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 BitChute --- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium/ 🔴 Rumble --- https://rumble.com/c/c-298311 🔴 My Catholic Tube - https://mycatholictube.com/videos/sensus-fidelium-channel/ 🔴 LBRY.tv --- https://lbry.tv/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 ODYSEE - https://odysee.com/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 UGETube - https://videos.utahgunexchange.com/@Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 BrandNewTube - https://brandnewtube.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 GabTV - https://tv.gab.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 GloriaTV - https://gloria.tv/Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 Brighteon - https://www.brighteon.com/channels/sensusfidelium ▶ 4. Paypal, Bitcoin, Anedot, Stripe, Square & PO Box donations - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ ▶ 5. YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 Please "Like" our videos so that Youtube shares it to others by clicking the "Like" thumbs-up under the video = 👍🏻 ▶ 6. Please share this video 📲, and help others find Christ inside the Catholic Church! Please share this video on Facebook and Twitter using the share button. #StAngelaOfFoligno #CatholicSaints #FranciscanSpirituality #CatholicMysticism #LivesOfTheSaints #January4Saint #CatholicTradition #SaintBiography #TheCrossOfChrist #BookOfVisions #ChristianMysticism #SaintsOfItaly