Bridget of Sweden
Saint Bridget of Sweden is patroness of widows because she lived that vocation herself: married young to Ulf Gudmarsson and mother of eight, she was widowed after some twenty-eight years of marriage, and only then — freed from earthly ties — devoted herself wholly to prayer, her famous Revelations of Christ’s Passion, and the founding of the Bridgettine Order. Widows recognized in her a woman who turned bereavement into total consecration. She is honored as a patroness of Sweden, her homeland, and was named by Pope John Paul II one of the co-patronesses of Europe, alongside Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Saint Bridget of Sweden was a mystic, religious founder, and patron saint of Europe. Born into a noble Swedish family in 1303, she founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior (Bridgettines) after receiving mystical revelations. Her Revelations, describing visions of Christ’s Passion, had great influence on medieval devotion.
