Saint Bridget of Sweden

Biography

Saint Bridget of Sweden, born in 1303, was the daughter of Birger Persson, governor and provincial judge of Uppland, and Ingeborg Bengtsdotter, both of royal Swedish descent. She began receiving visions of the Crucifixion at the age of seven. After her mother died around 1315, Bridget was raised by a pious aunt. At thirteen she married Prince Ulfo of Nercia in an arranged union, and together they had eight children, including Saint Catherine of Sweden. Bridget served as chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Blanche of Namur, counseling both the Queen and King Magnus II. Following Ulfo's death in 1344 after a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, she renounced her title and embraced religious life as a Franciscan tertiary and Cistercian. A mystic and visionary, she recorded her revelations, which became widely influential throughout the Middle Ages. In 1346 she founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior, known as the Bridgettines, at Vadstena, Sweden, receiving papal confirmation from Blessed Urban V in 1370. She made pilgrimages to Rome, various Italian holy sites, and the Holy Land, and fearlessly counseled Popes Clement VI, Gregory XI, and Urban VI, urging the return of the papacy from Avignon to Rome. She devoted her life to encouraging meditation on the Passion of Christ. She was canonized in 1391 and is one of the six patron saints of Europe.