For some time, the only way I knew Saint Bridget of Sweden was through her set of prayers found in the little blue Pieta Prayer Book.
Bridget’s fifteen prayers in the beginning of this little booklet are prayers revealed by Christ to Bridget.
He told her that if she said each prayer followed by an Our Father and a Hail Mary for a year, she would honor the five thousand, four hundred eighty blows he received during his Passion.
There are some pretty spectacular spiritual promises attached to this devotion for any of us who say these prayers every day for year.
Just who was the saint connected to this devotion?
It turns out that her life was actually quite relevant for anyone who is searching for their vocation late in life, and for anyone who might feel like they’re failing at pretty much everything!
The beginning of Bridget’s spiritual journey
Bridget was born in 1303. Her parents were pious relatives of Sweden’s royalty. She was one of three children.
Bridget’s mother died when Bridget was ten years old. Bridget and her siblings then went to live with their maternal aunt.
When she was very young, Bridget had a dream about the Crucified Christ. In it, he told her that those who despise his love are the cause of his sufferings. Young Bridget was very moved by this and never forgot it.
As was custom in the middle ages, Bridget married when she was still in her early teen years. A young man named Ulf became her husband.
Bridget and Ulf had a happy married life, and they had eight children. We can surmise that their family life was one of deep holiness. Their daughter Catherine was eventually canonized as Saint Catherine of Sweden.
Bridget also spent many years serving at court as a lady in waiting because of her relation to the royal family. While there, she devoted time and energy to works of charity. She was particularly charitable toward unwed mothers who needed assistance.
Bridget’s later vocational journey
When Bridget was in her early forties, her beloved husband Ulf became ill. He died soon after, and she deeply mourned her loss.
But even though Bridget loved her husband dearly, she was ready to accept God’s will for the remainder of her life.
God soon called Bridget to establish a new religious order for women, the Order of the Most Holy Savior (now called the Bridgettines).
God actually called Bridget to this task in a more direct way than most of us receive missions from God.
Throughout much of Bridget’s life, she received visions from God. This new calling was also communicated to her in such a direct way.
Christ told her he wanted her to be “My bride and My canal.” He told her that the new order she was to found would help restore the Church, as many of the other orders had become decayed.
Christ also appeared to her and specifically asked her to help bring about the return of the papacy to Rome, since the Pope had been residing in France for some time.
Bridget obediently set off from Sweden on this mission.
But she never saw it completed.
One failure after another
Though it’s not her official patronage, Bridget of Sweden could very well be considered the patron saint of failures.
She never lived to see the final establishment of the religious order Christ told her to found. She longed to become a bride of Christ, but she never even set eyes on the monastery she was told to establish.
Bridget died in 1373, never to see the Pope return permanently to Rome either. Nothing she had ever set out to accomplish was realized before her death.
This can be sobering for us to hear, especially when we ourselves are in a season of life that feels as if we’re failing at our goals.
But ultimately, Bridget’s life was no failure at all. God called her to two separate vocations in her life. Even though the second one seemed a failure to all outward appearances, she really was successful in both states.
As a wife and mother, she carried out her state in life faithfully and brought holy children into the world.
As a would-be religious, she followed all God told her to do. It just so happened that Christ didn’t will her to see the fruits of her labor in this world.
Though she didn’t see those fruits, we can see now that they were great. The Bridgettine religious order still flourishes today.
For any of us who are struggling to find God’s will late in life, or who feel as if their efforts aren’t producing any fruit, Bridget is a wonderful saint to turn to.
Saint Bridget of Sweden, pray for us!
