The magnificent figure of Saint Bridget, so outstanding and so profound from a human and spiritual perspective, is known above all as a mystic: indeed, for everyone, she is the saint of the famous “Fifteen Prayers.” Yet not everyone knows that the first part of her life was that of a happily married woman and mother of eight children. This also makes her close to those who are called to the lofty and demanding vocation of forming a Christian family.
Let us therefore retrace a few brief moments from the period when she was a happy wife and mother.
Marital love, prayer, and charity
Bridget was born into an aristocratic family in 1303 at Finsta Castle, in the Swedish region of Uppland. At around the age of 13, according to the customs of the time, her father gave her in marriage to the young nobleman Ulf Gudmarsson, governor of an important district of the Kingdom of Sweden. Ulf was a good-natured young man who loved the good life and horses; his wife would teach him to read and write, and together they would also undertake an important journey of faith. At his wife's side, Ulf learned to improve his character and progress in the Christian life.
Without allowing themselves to be misled by the prosperous circumstances of their social class, together with her husband she adopted the Rule of the Franciscan Third Order, living as a couple in an experience where marital love was combined with intense prayer, meditation on Sacred Scripture and contemplation of Christ's Passion, along with fasting and charity toward the poor and sick.
Together they founded a small hospital, where they frequently cared for the sick. Bridget would personally serve the poor, tending wounds of both body and spirit by offering words of hope and comfort. She did not seek the honors of the court, but to live the Gospel according to the following of Christ, taking “poverty” as her model.
An exemplary mother
The marriage was blessed with the birth of eight children: four boys and four girls. Together with her devoted husband, she raised them in Christian perfection and, following the religious traditions of the time, accompanied them on pilgrimages to the shrines of Compostela and Alvastra and to many other sacred sites important to the popular devotion of the era. Bridget exerted a very positive influence on her family which, thanks to her presence, became a true “domestic church.” The family's day was marked by prayer, reading the Bible and the biographies of the saints, and intense charitable activity toward the poor and sick. Her second-born daughter, Catherine, venerated as a saint, was deeply impressed as she accompanied her mother and saw how she herself tended the wounds of the sick and washed their feet. Moreover, her educational wisdom was so highly appreciated that her services were requested at the court of Stockholm. King Magnus of Sweden summoned her to court for a period, with the aim of introducing his young wife, Bianca of Namur, to Swedish culture.
From this experience would come the advice she would give on various occasions to princes and sovereigns for the proper management of their duties. But the first to benefit were obviously her children, and not by chance, as mentioned, one of her daughters, Catherine, is venerated as a Saint.
Silver wedding anniversary
In 1341 the couple celebrated their silver wedding anniversary: Bridget and Ulf decided to go on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. This was the event that marked a decisive turning point in their lives, as they had already been living a fraternal and chaste life for some time. On the return journey, Ulf escaped death through a miracle, and so the couple jointly decided to embrace religious life. Ulf was welcomed into the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra, while Bridget moved into a building attached to the same monastery, where she remained for almost three years, until 1346, caring for the sick and helping the poor. Ulf died on February 12, 1344, assisted by his wife. The marriage lasted twenty-eight years.
A few days after Ulf's funeral, Bridget divided the property among her children and the poor, keeping only enough for herself to live modestly. Once her children were settled, Bridget began a life consecrated entirely to God, received many mystical revelations, and founded a new religious order according to what Jesus himself had indicated to her. In this second phase of her life, her favorite companion on the journey was her daughter Catherine, who shared with her the consecration to God in virginity.
Authentic “marital spirituality”
This first period of Bridget's life helps us appreciate «what today we might define as an authentic “marital spirituality”: together, Christian spouses can follow a path of holiness, supported by the grace of the sacrament of Matrimony. Not infrequently, just as happened in the lives of Saint Bridget and Ulf, it is the woman who, through her religious sensitivity, gentleness, and sweetness, succeeds in leading her husband along a path of faith» (Benedict XVI).
The expression “marital spirituality” refers to the life of a couple in the newness of the Holy Spirit received through the rite of Christian marriage. Pope Francis reminds us of this: «Starting from Christ's gift in the sacrament, (the spouses) should be patiently led further, arriving at a richer knowledge and a fuller integration of this mystery into their lives» (Amoris laetitia, 76). These words help us understand that spouses have a specific spirituality grounded in their being the sacrament of marriage. The gift of the Holy Spirit they received in the sacrament of marriage must first of all foster their interior life, which will then extend all its benefits to their children as well. At the center of marital spirituality is Christ the Lord in his mystery of love.
Let us ask the Lord that the Holy Spirit may also today inspire «the holiness of Christian spouses, in order to show the world the beauty of marriage lived according to the values of the Gospel: love, tenderness, mutual assistance, fruitfulness in bringing forth and educating children, openness and solidarity toward the world, participation in the life of the Church» (Benedict XVI).
