Saint Birgitta of Sweden

Few Catholics have been canonised thrice. Living amidst a turbulent time in the life of the Church and leaving this world in continued turmoil, Birgitta Birgersdotter  (1303-1373) was canonised by Boniface IX in 1391. Yet, due to the schism between Rome and Avignon at the time, and following her association with the Roman claimants, she was canonised again in 1415 at the Council of Constance, and later in 1419 by Martin V, the compromise candidate resolving the Western schism. We know this saint as Birgitta of Sweden.

Often known as Bridget, while recently referred to in the original Swedish spelling to distinguish her from the Irish St Bridget of Kildare, she was born into a wealthy family and was the third cousin to the reigning king Martin Eriksson. She was of aristocratic heritage, which implies she held a strong position at the royal court, despite having been married at the age of thirteen and having mothered eight children. Born into a position of power and thrust into the world of politics at an early age, she would end up playing a role in the global politics of her age.

The 14^th century brought the schism between Rome and Avignon, known as the Western schism, which was not resolved until 1417. St Birgitta never lived to see the schism resolved but was active in the attempts to persuade the Pope to return to Rome after nearly four decades in Avignon. Moreover, Birgitta tried to convince the Pope to intervene in the ongoing Hundred Years War by negotiating peace between France and England. Her efforts were fruitless, as her reputation had not yet reached international status, but her work has been remembered, to a large extent due to her Revelations from where she got her inspiration to take an active role in politics.

The Revelations are a huge collection of private revelations usually taking the form of a conversation between a monk and Christ. This monk is usually identified with her confessor, Master Mathias who wrote theological treatises of his own. The visions range from inspiration to found her own order – known today as the Bridgettines – to commentaries on contemporary politics. The Revelations have been questioned and accused of heresy over the centuries, by amongst others the French mystic Gerson in 1415, and again in 1433 at a council in Basel. But Pope Paul VI once again confirmed her sainthood in the 1960s and Pope John Paul II elevated her to co-patron saint of Europe.

Although the Revelations have a private character and following traditional Catholic teaching cannot add to the deposit of the faith which was closed once and for all with the writings of John the Apostle, her Revelations have had a very practical influence. Historically, the Virgin Mary had been depicted as a tired woman with her child lying next to her. But within a generation after her visions of the painless childbirth of the Virgin, we start seeing depictions of a kneeling and fully dressed Virgin Mother, praying next to the infant Christ child.

Another practical influence is seen architecturally, based on the vision of her Abbey in Vadstena, Sweden. Not only is it an abbey, but it is also a double abbey which used to have both monks and nuns. She saw the church building in a vision as well, which was then built and still stands in its original place. It is a quadrangular building, with eight octangular pillars supporting a vault. This, as one Swedish historian has suggested, could be a unique example of how Swedish culture was not only a receiver of architectural influence but also an influence upon the rest of Europe. Many pilgrims came to visit the monastery over the years, and it has been suggested that some aspects of Renaissance architecture stem from her vision.

Birgitta died in Rome but is now buried in Sweden where her monastery stands, while her much later compatriot– Queen Christina – is one of few women buried in the Vatican. A saint in her own right, she was also the mother to another saint, Catherine of Sweden, and in 2016 Maria Elisabeth Hesselblad a member of her order was canonised by Pope Francis. The male branch of the order has all but died down, while the nuns still thrive in India and Rome but struggle in a secularised Sweden.

Hailing from a small country in the northern peripheries of Christendom, this noble lady came to have far-reaching influence mainly owing to her private revelations. No doubt her personality must have been forceful and winning, perhaps at times terrifying. She showed tremendous determination and was not fazed by disappointments, constant in her confidence in the Redeeming Christ, whose path to the redemptive cross she often kept readily in mind.