St. Brigid of Sweden was a wife, foundress, and princess! She was also called Bridget, Birgitta, or Brigitta. She was born in 1303, the daughter of Birger Persson, the governor of Uppland, Sweden, and his second wife, Ingelbard Bengsdotter. Her mother died when Brigid was twelve, and the child was raised by an aunt at Aspenas.

She was married at the age of fourteen to Ulf Gudmarsson, a Swedish Prince. They had eight children, one of whom was St. Catherine of Sweden, and they lived happily together for twenty-eight years.

In 1335, Brigid became a lady-in-waiting to Blanche of Namur, queen of France, the bride of King Magnus II (r. Norway 1319-1355 and Sweden 1319-1365). In 1340, after the death of her youngest son, Brigid made a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Olaf in Norway and then went to Compostela in Spain with her husband. He became ill on the journey but recovered, as St. Denis had assured her in a vision. Ulf died in 1344 at the Cistercian monastery at Alvostra, and Brigid remained there for four years and devoted her life to prayer and caring for the sick.

During this time she received many spiritual graces in visions and revelations and developed the idea of establishing a religious community. In founding the monastery of Wadstena, Sweden, and the Order of the Most Holy Trinity, the Brigittines, Brigid established the intellectual center of the nation in that era.

In 1349, Brigid left Sweden, having refused to support King Magnus’ crusade against Latvia and Estonia. She went to Rome, where she became well-known for her prophecies and revelations. Blessed Pope Urban V approved the constitutions of the Brigittines in 1370. Brigid was unsuccessful, however, in persuading Urban or his successor, Gregory XI, to leave Avignon, France.

On a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, her son Charles became ill with a fever and died. Brigid continued the pilgrimage and returned to Rome in 1372, where she died on July 23. Her remains were later brought back to Wadstena by her daughter, St. Catherine of Sweden.

Brigid was a mystic who received vivid revelations, particularly about the Passion of Christ and the Nativity. These visions were compiled in the Revelationes coelestes ("Celestial Revelations"), translated into Latin by Matthias, canon of Linköping, and her confessor.

St. John Paul II, in his apostolic letter Spes Aedificandi, affirmed Brigid’s spiritual legacy: “Yet there is no doubt that the Church, which recognized Brigid’s holiness without ever pronouncing on her individual revelations, has accepted the overall authenticity of her interior experience.”

St. Brigid of Sweden is honored as one of the six patron saints of Europe, along with St. Benedict of Nursia, St. Cyril, St. Methodius, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Edith Stein.