Feast Day: October 8 (Traditional Calendar); July 23 (Modern Roman Calendar)
Title: Widow, Mystic, Foundress of the Order of the Most Holy Savior
✠ A Brief Life
Saint Bridget of Sweden (Latin: Sancta Birgitta), also known as Birgitta Birgersdotter, was born around the year 1303 in the Kingdom of Sweden, into a noble and devout family. From early childhood, she experienced divine visions in which Christ and various saints appeared to her. Her father, Birger Persson, a man of great piety, entrusted her education to learned men and spiritually sound teachers.
Around the age of thirteen or fourteen, Bridget married Ulf Gudmarsson, a nobleman known for his piety. Their marriage was fruitful, with eight children born to them — among them, Saint Catherine of Sweden, who would also attain sanctity.
Throughout their married life, Bridget and her husband lived with great virtue, often resembling the discipline of monastic life. After many years, Ulf died while on pilgrimage to Rome. Following his death, Bridget consecrated herself entirely to God, taking a vow of perpetual chastity and adopting a life of austerity, prayer, fasting, and charity.
✠ Mystical and Prophetic Vocation
After her husband’s death, Saint Bridget began receiving frequent and detailed divine revelations, later compiled in a collection known as the Revelationes Celestes (“Heavenly Revelations”). In these visions, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and various saints revealed to her deep spiritual truths and prophecies, particularly concerning the Church, its clergy, and Christian rulers.
Bridget believed that she had been divinely chosen for a great mission: to call the Church and the world to conversion, to admonish rulers and ecclesiastics for their moral laxity, and to urge reform in accordance with the Gospel and tradition.
These revelations were eventually examined and approved by Church authorities and came to be regarded as a source of spiritual insight, especially within the tradition of mystical theology.
✠ Foundress of the Order of the Most Holy Savior
Under divine inspiration, Saint Bridget founded a new religious order known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior (Ordo Sanctissimi Salvatoris), commonly called the Bridgettines. The primary monastery was established at Vadstena, Sweden.
This order was unique in its structure, incorporating both men and women under one religious community, governed by an abbess and in spiritual unity with priest-monks. The order followed the Rule of Saint Augustine, adapted according to Bridget’s visions and spiritual guidance.
✠ Final Years and Death
In 1349, Saint Bridget journeyed to Rome to speak directly with the Pope and to further the mission God had entrusted to her. She remained there until her death, offering her life in prayer, penance, and tireless advocacy for the Church’s reform.
She also undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, enduring hardships with joyful resignation and deep faith.
Saint Bridget died in Rome on July 23, 1373, and her body was later returned to Sweden and enshrined at Vadstena. She was canonized in 1391 by Pope Boniface IX.
✠ Virtues and Signs of Sanctity
- Spirit of Prayer: Her life was deeply contemplative, focused especially on the Passion of Christ.
- Penance: She practiced severe bodily mortifications, including fasting and self-discipline.
- Charity to the Poor: She gave generously to the needy and often shared her meals with the poor.
- Loyalty to the Church: Though prophetic in her critiques, she remained entirely obedient to the Roman Pontiff and faithful to Catholic doctrine.
- Revelations: Her mystical writings contain profound teachings on the Incarnation, the Passion of Christ, the state of souls after death, and the joys of heaven.
✠ Legacy and Spiritual Influence
Saint Bridget stands as a model of holy widowhood and of sanctity in the active life. Through her mystical vocation, religious foundation, and zeal for the Church’s purity and renewal, she bears witness to the prophetic charism in the Church — always under the obedience of the Apostolic See.
Her Heavenly Revelations have been read and loved by many throughout the centuries, especially within the tradition of traditional Catholic spirituality. She remains one of the most powerful and respected female mystics of the Middle Ages, a light in a dark time, and an exemplar of authentic Catholic piety.