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Saint Bridget of Sweden
Image: Heliga_Birgitta_på_ett_altarskåp_i_Salems_kyrka.jpg: Hermann Rode (late 15th century) derivative work: Beao · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Saint Bridget of Sweden

A Swedish noble widow who founded the Order of the Most Holy Saviour and lived in Rome

Rank
Saint
Kind
Mystic, Founder, Religious
Life
1303 – 1373
Era
14th century
Feast
23 July
Countries
Sweden, Italy
SwedenItaly

Life story

Bridget was born around 1303 at Finsta near Uppsala, into a wealthy noble family in Sweden. She married Ulf Gudmarsson while still very young, and they had eight children, among them Catherine, who is also venerated as a saint. Bridget served as head of household at the court of King Magnus Eriksson, and according to contemporaries she spoke up to the king about his duties.

After Ulf died around 1344, Bridget left court life and lived in prayer and fasting. She reported receiving many visions, which were written down as her Revelations, rendered into Latin with the help of clerical advisers. She planned a new religious order, the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, in which communities of women and men lived side by side, and the first monastery was set up at Vadstena.

In 1349 Bridget went to Rome to seek papal approval for the order. The popes were then at Avignon, so she stayed in Rome for the rest of her life, leaving only for pilgrimages. She wrote letters urging the popes to return to Rome and to reform the curia. She also visited shrines across Italy and, in 1372-1373, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Bridget died in Rome on 23 July 1373 and her body was taken to Vadstena. Pope Boniface IX canonised her in 1391. In 1999 Pope John Paul II named her, with several other saints, a co-patron of Europe. The Bridgettine order still exists today.

Works and witness

  • Head of household at the court of King Magnus Eriksson
  • Recorded visions, gathered as the Revelations
  • Founded the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, first house at Vadstena
  • Lived in Rome from 1349 and made a Holy Land pilgrimage in 1372-1373
  • Canonised in 1391; named co-patron of Europe in 1999

Patron of

Sweden, Co-patron of Europe

Saints from the same country

Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Mark, Saint Luke

References

  • Revelationes Sanctae Birgittae
  • Martyrologium Romanum
  • Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.