Today, July 23, as our Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Bridget, Religious, we are first invited to reflect on a passage from the first letter of Peter (3:1-6, 8-17), entitled "Praise Christ in your hearts". Our treasure, which follows, is from the prayers attributed to Saint Bridget.
The most celebrated saint of Sweden, Saint Bridget was the daughter of the knight Birger Persson of the family of Finsta, governor and law speaker, and his wife Ingeborg Bengtsdotter, a member of the so-called law speaker branch of the Folkunga family. Through her mother, Bridget was related to the Swedish kings of her era.
From age 7 on, Saint Bridget had visions of Christ crucified. Her visions formed the basis for her activity—always with the emphasis on charity rather than spiritual favors.
She lived her married life in the court of the Swedish king Magnus II. Mother of eight children—the second eldest was Saint Catherine of Sweden—Bridget lived the strict life of a penitent after her husband's death.
Saint Bridget constantly strove to exert her good influence over Magnus; while never fully reforming, he did give her land and buildings to found a monastery for men and women. This group eventually expanded into an Order known as the Bridgettines.
In 1350, a year of jubilee, Saint Bridget braved a plague-stricken Europe to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Although she never returned to Sweden, her years in Rome were far from happy, being hounded by debts and by opposition to her work against Church abuses.
A final pilgrimage to the Holy Land, marred by shipwreck and the death of her son, Charles, eventually led to her death in 1373. In 1999, Saint Bridget, Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, were named co-patronesses of Europe.
The first letter of Saint Peter begins with an address by to Christian communities located in five provinces of Asia Minor, including areas evangelized by Paul. Christians there are encouraged to remain faithful to their standards of belief and conduct despite threats of persecution. Numerous allusions in the letter suggest that the churches addressed were largely of Gentile composition, though considerable use is made of the Old Testament.
The contents following the address both inspire and admonish these "chosen sojourners" who, in seeking to live as God's people, feel an alienation from their previous religious roots and the society around them. Appeal is made to Christ's resurrection and the future hope it provides and to the experience of baptism as new birth. The suffering and death of Christ serve as both source of salvation and example. What Christians are in Christ, as a people who have received mercy and are to proclaim and live according to God's call, is repeatedly spelled out for all sorts of situations in society, work (even as slaves, the home, and general conduct. But overall hangs the possibility of suffering as a Christian. Persecution is later described as already occurring, so that some have supposed the letter was addressed both to places where such a "trial by fire" was already present and to places where it might break out.
