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   BRIDGET OF SWEDEN, CO-PATRONESS OF EUROPE   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 27 OCT 2010 (VIS) - St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), whom John   
   Paul II proclaimed as co-patroness of Europe, was the subject of Benedict XVI's   
   catechesis during his general audience held this morning in St. Peter's Square.   
      
   The life of the saint, born in at Finister in Sweden, may be divided into two   
   periods. During the first period she lived as a happily married woman and   
   mother of eight children. She also began to study Sacred Scripture and,   
   together with her husband, adopted the lifestyle of the Third Order of St.   
   Francis. She also gave generously to the poor and founded a hospital.   
      
   This first period of Bridget's life, said the Pope, "helps us to appreciate   
   what we could define today as authentic 'conjugal spirituality'. Christian   
   couples can follow the path of sanctity together, upheld by the grace of the   
   Sacrament of Marriage. ... May the Holy Spirit arouse the sanctity of Christian   
   couples, so as to show the world the beauty of marriage lived according to the   
   Gospel values of love, tenderness, mutual support, fruitfulness in the   
   generation and education of children, openness and solidarity towards the   
   world, and participation in the life of the Church".   
      
   With Bridget's widowhood began the second period of her life. She rejected a   
   second marriage in order to concentrate on "union with the Lord through prayer,   
   penitence and works of charity. ... Having distributed all her goods to the   
   poor, and although she never underwent religious consecration, she moved to the   
   Cistercian convent of Alvastra". There she began to receive the divine   
   revelations which, differing greatly in content and style, would accompany her   
   for the rest of her life.   
      
   "The value of St. Bridget's 'Revelations', which have been the subject of some   
   doubt, was defined by the Venerable John Paul II in his Letter 'Spes   
   aedificandi' where he wrote that the Church 'recognised Bridget's holiness   
   without ever pronouncing on her individual revelations, [and] has accepted the   
   overall authenticity of her interior experience'".   
      
   Pope Benedict went on: "Reading these Revelations we are challenged by many   
   important questions. For example, she frequently describes ... the Passion of   
   Christ, ... seeing therein the infinite love of God for mankind. ... Mary's   
   painful maternity, which made her Mediator and Mother of Mercy, is another oft   
   recurring theme of the Revelations".   
      
   St. Bridget was firmly convinced that "all charisms are destined to build the   
   Church. It was for this reason that many of her revelations were addressed, in   
   the form of sometimes severe admonitions, to the believers of her time   
   including the political and religious authorities, to live their Christian   
   lives coherently. But she always did this with an attitude of respect and   
   complete faithfulness towards Church Magisterium, and especially towards the   
   Successor of the Apostle Peter".   
      
   In 1349 Bridget left Sweden never to return, travelling to Rome to participate   
   in the Jubilee Year 1350 and to ask the Pope to approve the rule of her   
   religious order, which she intended should be made up of monks and nuns under   
   the authority of an abbess, and dedicated to the Blessed Saviour.   
      
   "This must not surprise us", said the Holy Father. "During the Middle Ages   
   there were religious orders in which a female branch and a male branch   
   practiced the same monastic rule under the direction of an abbess. In the great   
   Christian tradition the woman is recognised as having her own dignity and -   
   following the example of Mary, Queen of the Apostles - her own place in the   
   Church which, though not coinciding with the ordained priesthood, is equally   
   important for the spiritual growth of the community".   
      
   Bridget also made pilgrimages to Assisi and the Holy Land. She died in 1373 and   
   was canonised by Boniface IX in 1391. Her sanctity, characterised by the   
   multiplicity of her gifts and experiences, "makes her an outstanding figure in   
   the history of Europe", because she "bore witness to how deeply Christianity   
   has permeated the life of all the peoples of this continent.   
      
   "By proclaiming her as co-patroness of Europe", Pope Benedict added in   
   conclusion, "Pope John Paul II expressed the hope that St. Bridget - who lived   
   in the fourteenth century when Western Christianity had still not been wounded   
   by division - may intercede effectively with God to obtain the longed-for grace   
   of full unity among all Christians, ... and to ensure that Europe may always   
   nourish itself from its Christian roots".   
      
   At the end of today's audience the Holy Father received a delegation from the   
   European Court of Auditors.   
   AG/VIS 20101027 (760)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)