Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373
23 July -- Commemoration
If celebrated as a Lesser Festival,
Common of Religious, page 494
Bridget's father was governor of Uppland when she was born
in about the year 1303. She married at the age of fourteen,
had eight children and often attended the royal court, where
she continued to experience the mystical revelations she had
known since childhood. These increased in intensity after
her husband's death and, three years later, she responded by
founding a monastery for nuns and monks at Vadstena in 1346.
Bridget's daughter Catherine was the first abbess of the
so-called Brigettine Order, which became very influential in
northern Europe. After travelling to Rome to obtain the
pope's approval for her plans, Bridget never returned to
Sweden but spent the rest of her life as a pilgrim, an
adviser to rulers and church leaders, and a minister to all
in need. Her Revelations were recorded by her confessors
before her death, which occurred on this day in 1373.