The saint we celebrate today, Bridget of Sweden, was named one of the Patron Saints of Europe in 1999 by Pope John Paul II, along with Edith Stein (a Carmelite nun who died in a concentration camp in World War II), St Benedict of Nursia, St Cyril and St Methodius, and St Catherine of Siena – a very esteemed and select group of saints who span many years of history and many different countries of Europe. I thought of Bridget’s journey to Santiago de Compostela in Spain that she made with her husband way back in the early 14th century as we celebrate the feast of St James in two days. Bridget didn’t get on a jet plane in her native country of Sweden to fly to Pamplona to start her journey – it was a arduous journey from Sweden all the way to Spain. After her husband’s death, she founded a group of nuns and monks that still has a presence today in our world. In fact, the only group of Bridgittine monks that exists today is in Oregon here in the United States.
I love this verse from the 71st psalm which we hear today: “For you are my hope, O Lord; my trust, O God, from my youth. On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength.” I think of St Bridget and the saints whose lives of faith as adults are the fruit of their lives as children and youth. May we unite our prayers today with the prayers of St Bridget of Sweden and with the entire community of saints.
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