Ursulinen

In Aarle-Rixtel, at the corner of the Dorpsstraat and the Schoolstraat, is 'Huize Angela'. The building was built around 1894 as a presbytery, commissioned by pastor De Beer. In 1970, the building came into the hands of the Ursuline Sisters. It was to become a convent for sisters returning from a mission abroad. Indonesia was a country where many Dutch Ursuline Sisters were active. They founded a number of schools there. Because of the political unrest at the end of the 60s, the sisters were forced to leave this country and return to the Netherlands. As the Order itself did not have enough living space available to accommodate all these returnees, it looked for new accommodation. The Order of the Ursulines was the first female order within the Catholic Church to focus specifically on the education of girls. Its founder was the Italian Angela Merici, who lived from 1470 to 1540.) This explains why the convent was named 'Huize Angela'. The statue hangs against the facade on the side of the Schoolstraat. It was made by Roermond artist Frans Cox (1917-1997), who mainly made sculptures for churches. It is an effigy of the canonised Angela de Merici. In 2014, the last nuns left the convent and since 2018 it has been home to the residential care centre De Pastorie.