It's taken prayer and decades of discernment, but Karen Siciliano of St. Joseph Parish in Springfield finally feels she's found her calling as a member of the Company of St. Ursula.

The Company of St. Ursula — which was founded in 1535 by St. Angela Merici in Italy and eventually led to the Ursuline order of sisters in the early 1600s — is a way for Siciliano to live as a consecrated woman in the world.

Siciliano, who is 59, explains that in the 1530s St. Angela developed a new way of life for single women who were at that time thought to need "a man or a wall": either a husband or a monastery. St. Angela ascertained that women members drawn to Christ could embrace a celibate life for love of God and others.

St. Angela chose St. Ursula as the Company's patron because the early Christian martyr was known for leadership among women and her courageous fidelity to Christ. The Company has spread to 20 countries in all continents and is considered the prototype for secular institutes. When it received ecclesiastical approval in the 16th century, it stood alone.

More groups emerged in Western Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Pope Pius XII formalized this form of consecrated life in the Catholic Church in 1947. Now more than 30 secular institutes exist in the United States — for men, women, priests, and some that were recently developed for married couples. The U.S. Conference of Secular Institutes is their formal network.

Company members commit themselves to evangelical counsels as single persons in the world. The word "company" indicates their spiritual companionship, Siciliano says.

When Siciliano was very young, she wondered if she had a vocation as a religious sister. "However that was just after Vatican II and so many of the women (religious) I knew and cared about were actually leaving the convent," she says. "So, years ago, I made my own private promises to God in my own house."

Siciliano has always recognized that her calling is in the secular world — her parish work and her career as a human resources manager for the State of Illinois are her fields of mission. However, several years ago Sister Christine Bramlet, OSU, gave Siciliano a gift that would change her life.

"She handed me a little brown book called Also in Your Midst: Reflections on the Spirituality of St. Angela Merici," Siciliano says. "That book affirmed my struggle." Later, Siciliano says she "stumbled on" information about the Company of St. Ursula and contacted its leader Mary Cabrini Durkin.

After more prayers and discernment, Siciliano spent two years preparing for her consecration as a secular Ursuline. She traveled to Cincinnati for her consecration, which took place on Oct. 21 — the feast day of St. Ursula — at St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel. "I am still in formation. I will make my final vows in a couple of years and I want to do it in my own parish," she says.

Siciliano says she is continually in contact with Durkin and other members of the Company of St. Ursula. She also daily prays the rosary as well as morning and evening prayer and goes to Mass as often as possible. She has always been active in her parish on a variety of levels.

"As my life went on, God's call continued to unfold," Siciliano says. "I've been searching my whole life and God in his infinite wisdom and mercy had a plan for me. The Company of St. Ursula is a real gift for me. I can finally proclaim in a public way the religious life that I was trying to live privately."

For more information on the Company of St. Ursula, go to www.companyofstursula.org.

To read more about the U.S. Conference of Secular Institutes, see www.secularinstitutes.org.