Homily: Feast of St. Bridget; “A Woman to Be Reckoned With”
Feast of St. Bridget; “A Woman to Be Reckoned with”
St. Bridget is one of the patron saints of all Europe along with Catherine of Sienna and Edith Stein. We might have heard of the other two women, but many of us have not heard of St. Bridget (1303-1373).
She founded an order of sisters called the Brigittines. The only time I have ever met any of these sisters was at a house of hospitality in Assisi, Italy. The hostel was a very nice place. The sisters wore a brown habit and a black veil, topped with a metal crown. On the crown was a cross that had a red dot in the middle and on each arm of the cross.
In talking with the sisters, I found out that their foundress was from Sweden. Sweden is not a very Catholic country. I also wondered how these sisters had ended up in the middle of Italy.
St. Bridget was a formidable force in the fourteenth century church. Her vocation story is not the one we might expect. She was the daughter of wealthy governor of Uppland. She married at the age of fourteen and bore eight children. When her husband died, Bridget entered a monastery, and eventually she founded her order. It was an unusual foundation in that it was a mixed community of men and women. Men lived in a building on one side of the grounds. Women lived in a building on the other side of the grounds. They came together for worship.
In 1349 Bridget went to Rome on pilgrimage. She stayed there the rest of her life. She lived in abject poverty, nursed the sick, and took care of the poor. She gained a reputation for holiness.
The Popes had deserted the city of Rome and moved to Avignon. The city was dirty and unsafe. St. Bridget urged Clement VI to return to Rome from Avignon and to negotiate peace between England and France. She was a learned woman and a holy woman. Her virtue caused many to hold on to the Catholic faith at a difficult point in history. When she died her remains were taken back to Sweden in triumphant procession.
Reflection Questions:
- St. Bridget was a church leader. How did she gain such prominence?
- Bridget led by example. Could I build up others faith by acts of charity? What might I do?
Dear Parishioners,
We had a staff meeting today. We had a lot of planning for the fall. After the difficulties of the last 18 months, there are a lot of issues that we discussed. One difficulty is that some of our children have had their religious formation delayed by about a year. Parents chose not to send their children to our Sunday classes. Now that things are safer, children will hopefully be returning.
If you are reading this note and have relatives or friends with school age children, please have them call our parish office so they can be registered in our public-school religion program. We don’t want our children to miss out on the grace of the sacraments.
May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark