Saint of the day - July 23 

Brijid of Sweden was a mystic and saint and founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after the death of her husband of twenty years. The most celebrated saint of Sweden, she was daughter of the knight Birger Persson governor and law-speaker of Uppland and his wife Ingeborg Bengtsdotter. She was born in 1304 and at the age of 14, was married to Ulf Gudmarsson to whom she bore eight children, four daughters and four sons.

At the age of ten, Brigid had a vision of Jesus hanging upon the cross. When she asked who had treated him like this, he answered: “They who despise me, and spurn my love for them.”

She was so impressed that from that moment the Passion of Christ became the centre of her spiritual life. The revelations she had received since childhood became more frequent in the following years.

When she was in her early thirties, Brigid was summoned to be principal lady-in-waiting to the new Queen of Sweden, Blanche of Namur. In 1341, she and her husband went on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. In 1344, shortly after their return, Ulf died at the Cistercian Alvastra Abbey in Östergötland. After this loss, Brigid became a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis and devoted herself to a life of prayer and caring for the poor and the sick.

It was about this time that she established a religious community which later become known as the Order of the Most Holy Saviour. The members of the order were to live in poor convents and to give all surplus income to the poor.

In 1350, a Jubilee Year, Bridget braved a plague-stricken Europe to make a pilgrimage to Rome accompanied by her daughter, Catherine and a small party of priests and disciples. This was done partly to obtain from the Pope the authorization of the new Order and partly in pursuance of her self-imposed mission to elevate the moral tone of the age. However she had to wait for years for the return of the papacy to Rome from the French city of Avignon, a move for which she agitated for many years.

It was in 1370 that Pope Urban V, during his brief attempt to re-establish the papacy in Rome, confirmed the Rule of the Order. Meanwhile, Brigid had made herself well known in Rome by her kindness and good works.

She went to confession every day and had a constant smiling, glowing face. Although she never returned to Sweden, her years in Rome were far from happy.

Brijid had visions of the Nativity of Jesus and shortly before her death. She described a vision which included the infant Jesus as lying clean on swaddling clothes on the ground, emitting light himself, and described the Virgin as blond-haired and kneeling in prayer exactly as she was, moments before the spontaneous birth.

Her visions of Purgatory were also well known. In addition, "she even predicted an eventual Vatican State, foretelling almost the exact boundaries delineated by Mussolini for Vatican City in 1921.

Brijid remained in Rome until her death on 23 July 1373, which she had predicted as well. She was originally buried at San Lorenzo in Panisperna, before her remains were returned to Sweden. She was canonized in the year 1391 by Pope Boniface IX, which was confirmed by the Council of Constance in 1415.

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Rasyphus and Ravennus
2. Saint Trophimus and Theophilus
3. Saint John Cassian
4. Saint Liborius of Le Mans
5. Martyrs of Bulgaria

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