St Bridget of Sweden: Novena and Background

St Bridget

Feast July 23

Novena

St. Bridget, Bride of Christ

Your life was centered around honoring the wounds of Christ.

Intercede before our Wounded Lord and ask Him to forgive the times when we have forgotten Him or through our sins increased His pain.  

Beseech Jesus in His mercy to bestow upon on us a reverence and devotion to His Sacred Wounds.  

Let us learn to carry our crosses with love. 

Please tell Jesus that we love Him and thank Him for the pain and humiliation He indured for our sake.  

St. Bridget, we humbly ask you to lay our petitions at the foot of the Cross as we know you will be warmly received. Amen
(Say 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, and 1 Glory Be for nine days)

Background

St. Bridget was born on the 14th of June, 1303 in Sweden to a wealthy and noble family. At the moment Bridget was born, Benedict, the curate of Raso, prayed for the happy deliverance of Ingeborde.  Suddenly he found himself enveloped by a luminous cloud out of which Our Lady appeared and said: “A child has been born at Birger; her voice will be heard by the entire world” 

Imprimatur: April 24, 1902, Sagii

Brigitte or Bridget was born of pious parents but her mother died while she was still young and her care shifted to one of her virtuous aunts. At the age of 3 Bridget began to speak and she almost immediately began praising God.  When Bridget was only ten she had a dream of Jesus nailed to the cross and all covered with blood and wounds.  She heard a voice say: “Look upon Me, My daughter.” Bridget responded “O Dear Lord, who has treated You so cruelly?” Our Lord replied: “Those who despise Me and are insensible to My Love for them.”  That dream left a deep impression on her and Bridget continued to meditate on the sufferings of Jesus throughout her life.  At the age of 14 she married and had eight children.  One of her daughters is St. Catherine of Sweden. After a pilgrimage to Compostela she and her husband Ulf dedicated their lives to God and chose to live a monastic life.  After her husbands death she founded an order of nuns known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior, or the Bridgettines.  

Bridget had many visions during her life. For a long time Bridget wanted to know the number of blows Our Lord received during His Passion.  One day Jesus appeared to Bridget and said: “I reveived 5480 blows on My body.  If you wish to honor them in some way, say 15 Our Fathers and 15 Hail Marys with the following prayers(which He taught her) for a whole year. When the year is up, you will have honored each one of My wounds.”

St. Bridget is the patroness of Sweden.