Summary
Birgitta
Suecica, or Birgitta of Sweden, (1302-1373) was born to Birgerus and his wife Ingeborg,
who were both nobility. Just before Birgitta was born, her mother nearly lost
her life in a shipwreck, but instead saw a vision in which an angel told her
she was saved to have a daughter who would be a mouthpiece for God. From a very
early age Birgitta began seeing visions of Mary and Christ, as well as the
trinity and heaven. She desired to become a nun as a child, but her parents
forced her to marry at age 13. She was married for 29 years in which she had
eight children and practiced heavy asceticism (often depriving herself of food,
burning herself with a candle, and living in continence except for purposes of reproduction).
After the death of her husband, Birgitta's piety earned her much respect. She founded a convent opened a few hospitals in
which she herself served as a nurse to the sick and poor. She was canonized in 1391.
Birgitta
also viewed herself as a “prophet” speaking political direction from
God to the monarchs, as well as pointing out corruption within the church and
monarchies. She also tried to reconcile the Pope and the Germanic Kings; she was
successful in convincing Charles IV and Pope Urbanus V to reconcile in 1368,
though few of her other attempts were successful.
In
addition to her confident activism in the political sphere, Brigitta is most
know for her visions. Through Brigitta’s visions it is clear that she has a
thorough understanding of scripture. Her Revelationes,
Sermo Angelicus, and The Orationes, (which serve as prayers, devotionals and lectures) are her most know works in which she
conveys her doctrine on Mary, her concept of God, her Doctrine of the Trinity,
her concept of human nature, and her political thought as given to her from
God. She holds somewhat unique views claiming that God created man for no
reason other than to make people who could share in His eternal joy, not
because he needed man. She also wrote of the complete unity of the trinity as
one and three with one eternity, one power and one glory. In her thoughts on
human nature, she writes that the body was created to serve the soul and that
through work, man can receive the honor of the angels. She also believed in
predestination. Finally, her views on political thought revolve around the
notion that Kings were put in place because man would not obey God alone, and
that Kings must be just and charitable in all governing and decision-making.
Her
most notable views include her extensive Mariology, in which she writes of visions
of Mary as a counselor and advisor to all within the Catholic Church (widowed,
virgin, happily married, etc.), and worshiped as the perfect and beloved-by-God
virgin Queen of Heaven, second only to God himself. She also writes of Mary’s
life on earth. Birgitta’s visions differ from the masculine dominated views of
the time in that she portrays Mary as an intelligent, confident and active
figure among the scriptures, teaching the apostles and serving and ministering
to people alongside Jesus. While Aquinas held a view of Mary as passive and
unintelligent, Birgitta’s Mary is a much stronger and more influential figure.
Personal Response
What
I found most interesting about Birgitta was her passion and confidence. While
she often denied herself, she gave everything she had (monetarily and
physically) to serve others and to share the message of God. Also, it was noted
in the introduction to this book that many women were seen as prodigies and marveled
at for their knowledge while they were young and before having a family, but
Birgitta accomplished much and earned the respect, or at least the ear of many powerful figures, even after raising a
family of her own. While her heavy concentration on the study and worship of
Mary outweighs much of the other literary work she produced, I found it interesting
and refreshing that she was able to put forward her ideas despite the
male-dominated sphere. She presented Mary as an encouragement and role-model to
all women within Catholicism. Not only was Birgitta’s Mary perfectly pious and pure,
she was intelligent and confident in serving God alongside men, even Christ. It seems Birgitta aimed to reflect Mary in her own life.
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