Saint Bridget or Birgitta was born in 1303, the daughter of Birger Petersson, governor of Uppland and his wife Ingeborg Bengtsdotter. She was married to Ulf Gudmarsson, who became governor of the province of Nericia. They had eight children, all of whom survived past infancy which was rare for the 12th century. One of their daughters would become St. Catherine of Sweden.

Saint Bridget was hailed as a mystic and her visions, which began in her early childhood when she had visions of Christ Crucified, made her somewhat of a Middle Ages celebrity. Her vision of the Nativity of Jesus even influenced the art of the Nativity through the Baroque era! She is said to have predicted the Vatican State. Saint Bridget’s Revelations, which she dictated to Peter Olafsson, the prior at the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra near which she retired after her husband’s death in 1344, were published in 1492. They have since been published in many languages and can still be purchased today. 

Some of her most profound visions regarded the founding of a new religious order which would be primarily for women, ruled by an abbess, but with a separate house for monks who would serve as order chaplains. Her visions detailed everything from the abbey church to the clothing that would be adopted as the nun’s habit, and how the order would be ruled. King Magnus II of Sweden granted Bridget land and buildings. The order, called the Bridgettines or the Order of the Most Holy Savior was approved by Pope Urban V in 1370.

Saint Bridget was canonized in 1391 by Pope Boniface IX and in 1999 Pope John Paul II named her one of the Patron Saints of Europe.