The Angelics of St. Paul, to whom this jubilantly enthusiastic and tenderly loving letter is addressed, owed their origin to Countess Torelli. Some time in 1531, out of the many young ladies who frequented the Eternal Wisdom Oratory, Torelli, herself a member, decided to choose ten, accommodated them in her Milanese house, and thoroughly trained them, de facto if not de jure, as religious novices. Indeed her purpose was to establish a new congregation of Sisters. And this she did with her usual determination and alacrity, and with the active assistance of Anthony Mary, her sole spiritual guide since the death of Fra Battista on January 1, 1534. In the same year a petition for approval was presented to the Pope through the good offices of Basilio Ferrari. The approval was granted by Paul III in January 15, 1535. In August Torelli acquired a large tract of land and immediately began to build a convent and a church. On October 5 she and her young ladies moved in. The following year, on January 25, feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, church and convent were named after him. A month later, February 26, the first six young ladies received the habit from Anthony Mary and by the end of the year they grew to 24. On June 29 Anthony Mary was officially appointed confessor of the new religious community. On August 4 the Sisters adopted the name of Angelics to which Anthony Mary added of St. Paul.

In mid-May 1537 an unexpected and exciting request reached Anthony Mary from Vicenza, a diocese one hundred miles east of Milan. Its reform-minded bishop, Cardinal Nicola Ridolfi, wanted Anthony Mary to reform two convents there, the Reformed and the Sylvestrines (see Letter 6), and rechristianize his whole diocese. Because Ridolfi resided in Rome, the actual request came from his Vicar General, Roberto Monti.

Despite the ongoing second trial of Barnabites and Angelics by the Milanese Inquisition, Anthony Mary responded enthusiastically as attested by the tone and content of this letter. After all, for the first time the Sons of St. Paul and the Angelics of St. Paul were going to work outside the familiar boundaries of Milan. On July 2 three Angelics, Silvana da Vismara, Paola Antonia Negri, and Francesca "Marescalca" left Milan for Vicenza with Anthony Mary and reached Vicenza on July 7. It is unclear whether at this time Anthony Mary went all the way to Vicenza because on July 9 he was already back in Milan. Two of the Sisters soon returned to Milan as well. So, the Vicenza mission, so enthusiastically heralded by Anthony Mary, began on a very modest scale: one Angelic, Silvana da Vismara, who took charge of the Convent of the Reformed as Prioress, and no Sons of St. Paul.

The reason is not hard to find. The above-mentioned trial, begun in January 1536, was drawing to a close and presumably required the presence of all interested parties. On August 21, Barnabites and Angelics were fully acquitted. Now the road to Vicenza was wide open and on September 2, Anthony Mary and the matron Porzia Negri left Milan for Vicenza. Porzia joined Angelic Silvana in the Convent of the Reformed and Anthony Mary took up residence in a cottage nearby which was reserved for the Father Confessor. Anthony Mary was to stay to the end of October 1537. For his work there and that of his mission band, see Letter 6.

Obviously, when Anthony Mary wrote Letter 5, all details about the mission were yet to be worked out. Hence, this letter is a general clarion call epitomized in this ringing exhortation: "Unfurl your flags, my dear daughters, for Jesus Crucified is about to send you to proclaim everywhere the vital energy of the Spirit."

The text of this letter is based on a very early copy which is kept in the General Archives, Rome (N,b,II,8).

Cremona, May 26, 1537

To my Angelics and divine Daughters in Christ: Mother Prioress, Mother Vicar,
Madonna and Angelic Paola Antonia [Negri]
and all the others who are both my daughters,
and daughters of St. Paul the Apostle, in Christ,
at the convent of St. Paul the Apostle.

In Milan

My sweetest and beloved daughters, my only strength and consolation, I am overwhelmed with joy when I think that soon I will be among so noble and generous souls as you are, amiable daughters. You are my crown and my glory, so much so that some day I will make our holy Apostle Paul feel envious of me on account of you. In fact you are not inferior to his [spiritual] daughters in your great desire to suffer for Christ, in your total contempt of worldliness and self-denial, and in your striving to lead people to a spiritual renewal and to Jesus Crucified who is despised so much. Moreover, you, my daughters, all of you, not just one, by wholly renouncing any desire for recognition as well as the interior consolation which Paul's disciples in general used to cherish very much, are filled with apostolic zeal in removing from the hearts of people not only idolatry and other big, big defects, but also in routing out the most pernicious and greatest enemy of Christ Crucified, which is nowadays triumphing almost everywhere-I mean, Lady Tepidity.

Unfurl your flags, my dear daughters, for Jesus Crucified is about to send you to proclaim everywhere the vital energy of the Spirit. Infinite thanks to you, Lord, for giving me such generous daughters.

In the meantime, my beloved, please make every effort to gladden my spirit so that on my arrival I may find that you have made great spiritual progress as you compete with one another. May I find that some of you have acquired such stability and fervent perseverance in spiritual matters that you will never again be victim to a will that fluctuates between fervor and tepidity, but rather will enjoy a steady and holy fervor, nourished by life-giving water and enriched by new vigor. May I find that another one has received such great faith that even the hardest things seem quite easy to her, without being deceived in her confidence by either presumption or vainglory. May I find that someone else believes that she has reached perfection by doing her daily chores, no matter how insignificant they may be, with constancy and persistence, not allowing herself to become bored or feel humiliated. May I find that another one has utterly denied herself, putting aside her own interests to care for others, since she has convinced herself that it is a great gain for her not to worry about herself but about others, and mindful to be at all times prudent and mature in her activities. May I find that others have arrived respectively at overcoming their irrational sadness or their discouragement at having lost control in the war against self, or their hardness of spirit, voluntary distractions, or this or that shortcoming. And so from all this progress of yours may I conclude that you have received the teacher of justice, of holiness, and of perfection: the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. He, of course, will not let you go wrong; rather He will teach you everything. He will not let you lose heart, but will always remain with you. He will not leave you in need, but will provide you with everything. He will grant you, in particular, a continuous spirit of self-abandonment on the ignominious cross, and lead you to a life conformed to Christ's according to the pattern of the great saints. Consequently, you will be able to say with your Father, "be imitators of us as we are of Christ."

Be mindful only of this: both our Blessed Fathers, St. Paul and Fra Battista, have left us such a great example of noble and profound love for Jesus Crucified, love for their own sufferings and humiliations, and love for the thorough conquest of souls, that, if we had no such unbounded desire for the aforementioned things, we would not be considered their children, but bastards and mules. You, of course, do not want to be in such company. Your generous hearts want to belong above all to Christ and to please me, your beloved father. And I always think of you with loving care, anxiously awaiting the moment when I can return to you.

To Christ Crucified I recommend you through your worthy Superiors: that they may not fail in their usual care for you, both because of their love for you and because of my prayers, the prayers of this faithful servant who constantly offers you to Him.

I ask you to tell them to cheer up my heart by bringing about your progress and mine too.

May Christ make this a reality. May He bless you all with a special blessing of His, a blessing complete and perfect.

My mother, Cornelia, and our Battista send their greetings.
Special greetings from my dear Isabella and Giuditta.
May Jesus Christ bless you.

From Cremona, May 26, 1537.
Greetings to my Giuliina. I remind you to be generously responsive to the holy and zealous effort of our noble Paola [Torelli] and to give joy to our common Father, our saintly Father Superior.

Your Father in Christ and indeed your Spirit in Christ,
Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Priest.