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| St. Birgitta (Bridget) of Sweden |
St. Birgitta of Sweden C. 1303–1373
(Also Bridget, Birgit, Brigid)
Swedish prophetic writer.
INTRODUCTION
The patron saint of Sweden, Birgitta was an
influential figure in the religious and political life of fourteenth-century
Europe. An outspoken proponent of reform within the Church, she is largely
remembered for her prophetic visions later collected in the eight books of her
Revelationes (c.1373; The Revelations of Saint Bridget). In this work, Birgitta
called for the contrition of Christian society, which she believed had fallen
away from the moral precepts of Christ as contained in the Bible. Many of her
prophecies and visions evoke images of an ira Dei, the angry God of the Old
Testament, as they denounce the sins of pride, avarice, and concupiscence to
which Birgitta felt many Europeans had succumbed. She believed that Christians
had strayed from the true path, and only through confession, purification, and
penitence could they again achieve God's grace. Many of her later writings
demonstrate her worldly goals, including the achievement of a reconciliation
between the Church and the secular powers in Europe, the return of the
Avignonese papacy to its traditional place in Rome, and an end to the
long-standing and bloody conflict between the rulers of France and England
known as the Hundred Years War. Among her other lasting accomplishments are the
creation of the monastic order that bears her name and her critique of the
Church in her Revelations, in which she foreshadowed many of the grievances
that Martin Luther enumerated in the ensuing era of the Reformation.
Story of her life
Birgitta
was born in Sweden in about 1303, the daughter of Birger Person, then governor
of the Uppland region. Her family was wealthy, politically influential, and
strongly religious. In 1316 she conceded to her father's wishes and married
prince Ulf Gudmarsson, with whom she had eight children, including a daughter who would become Saint Catherine of Sweden. In 1341 Birgitta, her husband, and a retinue
of followers undertook a holy pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. In 1344, a few years after their return,
Ulf's death prompted Birgitta to devote the remainder of her life to religious
pursuits. She retreated to the Cistercian monastery at Alvastra for a while,
immersing herself in prayer. Beginning in
this period, and
for the rest of her life, Birgitta reportedly experienced a series of visions,
mostly of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Many
of these revelations urged Birgitta to undertake future tasks. Some of God's
messages were of a political nature and were revealed before the court of King
Magnus and Queen Blanche of Sweden. Others guided her in various pursuits,
notably in the foundation of a devotional order in honor of the Virgin Mary. Another caused her to leave for Rome in late
1349 for the purpose of spreading God's word and to facilitate the return of
the Papacy—residing at that time in "Babylonian Captivity" in
Avignon, France—to the Italian capitol. While there, Birgitta formed an
apostolate embraced by many Italians. Her assistance of the poor and homeless
became legendary in the city and earned her the title of "The Angel of Rome." Yet another vision she experienced
late in life prompted Birgitta to travel to the Holy Land in 1372. She returned to Rome from her well-publicized
pilgrimage in 1373 and died on July 23 of that year. Her remains were transported to Sweden and
buried at the site of the future monastery at Vadstena. Following her death, Birgitta's movement
toward sainthood was relatively swift; Pope Boniface IX finished a process
begun by Urban VI and canonized her on
October 7, 1391. In 1396 she was named
patron saint of her native Sweden. As for Birgitta's visions, nearly all
were transcribed and eventually translated.
Major Works
Birgitta's
literary works consist entirely of the many editions and translations of her
Revelations. Comprising eight books in all—the last of which was added posthumously—the
Revelations contain transcriptions of approximately seven hundred religious
visions primarily featuring Christ and the Virgin Mary, as well as John the
Baptist, God the Father, Saint Agnes, and others. Overall Birgitta's writings
reflect a simplicity of style and rhetorical manner and evoke the author's
pious obedience to the received word of God. The structure of the work, despite
passing through countless editors and translators, has largely remained the
same since the early fifteenth century. Books One and Two contain early
revelations which Birgitta experienced in Sweden; their themes are mostly moral
in nature. The next two books of the Revelations largely comprise Birgitta's
visions of the Church in Rome. Book Five, generally known as the Liber
questionum, or "Book of Questions," returns to the Swedish period. It
features a monk on a ladder, who addresses questions to Jesus Christ on a
variety of theological subjects, including the reasons for evil and suffering
in this world. Book Six includes many biographical accounts from Birgitta's
life as well as visions pertaining to a range of subjects, both secular and
sacred. The topic of Book Seven is the years 1371 to 1373, including Birgitta's
vision of and pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Book Eight, called the Liber
celestis imperatoris ad reges, or "The Book of the Heavenly Emperor to the
Kings," meditates on political themes and affairs. It includes portions
drawn from the previous books of the Revelations. A final element of the work, made up of lost,
discarded, or forgotten revelations and entitled the Revelationes
extravagantes, was later added by editors. It contains revelations on a variety
of topics, notably Birgitta's vision in 1345 on the subject of the Birgittine
order, or the Ordo Sancti Salvatoris.
Textual History
Because Birgitta
was unable to speak or write Latin, she dictated her Revelationes in Swedish to
her confessors, who transcribed her words into the language of educated Europe.
These manuscripts were later translated into Old Swedish, as well as German,
English, and other European languages. Among
her Latin confessors, one influential figure involved in the early formation of
the Revelations stands out. Alphonse de
Jaén guided the editing process of Birgitta's writings near the end of her
life and following her death. His manuscripts of the Revelations include the
famous preface entitled Epistola solitarii ad reges—"The Letter of the
Hermit to the Kings"—in which he defends Birgitta's writings from
contemporary and future attacks on their authenticity, veracity, and divine
authority. Later editors carried on Alphonse's work but often took liberties
with the manuscript. One such editor, Nicolaus Orsini, greatly transformed the
style of the visions that Birgitta dictated to her Latin translators by
eliminating its unique form of address—that of Christ speaking directly to
Birgitta as his bride. Modern critics
see this act by Orsini as an attempt to deflect criticism of the Revelations
from biased medieval observers who would refuse to accept that the word of God
could be revealed through a woman. An
English translation of the Revelations was produced between 1400 and 1415,
while the first published edition of the Revelations appeared in Lübeck,
Germany, in 1492. Another early edition
of importance was sanctioned by the authority of Emperor Maximilian and
undertaken at his request in 1500. Contemporary scholars have begun work on a
modern Swedish critical edition of the Revelations, although the English
standard remains the 1929 partial translation by William Patterson Cumming.
Her feast day in the Church is celebrated on July 23.
Excerpts taken
from Source: Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, ©1998 Gale Cengage.
Website: http://www.enotes.com/st-birgitta-sweden-criticism/st-birgitta-sweden/introduction
Her feast day in
the Church is celebrated on July 23.
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