St Bridget of Sweden – 23 July
By Catherine Sheehan
St Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) is numbered among the extraordinary female saints and mystics of the Middle Ages, who despite having lived during a time when girls were largely uneducated, exhibited profound faith in God, intense spiritual lives, and a robust energy and giftedness for building up God’s Church.
Indeed, when reading the life of Bridget, one is reminded of St Catherine of Siena, St Teresa of Avila, and St Hildegard of Bingen, to name just a few.
Born in Finster, Sweden, in 1303, Bridget Birgersdotter received a vision of Christ on the cross when she was ten years of age. From that time on, she focussed her spiritual life on the Passion of Christ. She received many revelations throughout her life, including a vision of the Nativity of Jesus, which were later recorded in her book, Revelations.
In keeping with her times, Bridget was married when she was only 13. She and her husband Ulf Gudmarsson were happily married for 28 years and together they had eight children. Their second daughter also became a canonised saint, known as St Catherine of Sweden.
Bridget was known for her works of charity, and was particularly devoted to caring for single mothers, as well as the poor and sick.
Following the death of her husband in 1344, Bridget sold all her possessions and joined the Third Order of St Francis, living a life of prayer and service to the poor.
She prayed fervently and persistently that Christ would reveal to her how many wounds he sustained during his Passion. In response, Christ appeared to her and told her, “I received 5,480 blows upon My Body. If you wish to honour them in some way, recite fifteen Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys with the following prayers, which I Myself shall teach you, for an entire year. When the year is finished, you will have honoured each of My Wounds.”
This devotion later became known as ‘The Fifteen St Bridget Prayers’ and had 21 Promises attached for those who faithfully recite the prayers for a whole year.
Bridget founded the religious order of the Holy Saviour, also known as the Bridgettines, consisting of ‘double monasteries’ where separate cloistered communities of male and female religious would live side by side under the governance of an abbess. In 1370 Pope Urban V formally approved the Rule of her religious order.
Bridget left Sweden and travelled to Rome for the Jubilee Year in 1350, where she was to remain for the rest of her life. In Rome she continued to care for the poor and sick. Like St Catherine of Siena, Bridget urged the Pope to return the Papacy to Rome. From 1309 to 1376 the popes resided in Avignon, France, due to a dispute with the French monarchy. Sadly, Bridget didn’t live long enough to see the Papacy return to its rightful home. She died in Rome in 1373.
She was canonised in 1391, not two decades after her death, a testament to her reputation for holiness.
For the Jubilee Year 2000 Pope St John Paul II declared St Bridget Co-Patroness of Europe.