Buona sera a tutti!
Oggi celebriamo la festa di Santa Maria Maddalena. Domani celebreremo la memoria di Santa Brigida di Svezia, fondatrice delle Suore Brigidine.
Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. Tomorrow we will celebrate the Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, founder of the Bridgettine Sisters.
St. Bridget of Sweden was a 14th-century mystic, mother of eight, and founder of the Bridgettine religious order. After her husband died, she relocated to Rome, where she spent her life advocating for the poor, writing spiritual revelations, and urging the Pope to return from Avignon to reform the Church.
Born into Swedish nobility, she married at 13 and raised a large family. One of her daughters, St. Catherine of Sweden, is also recognized as a saint.
Beginning at age 10, she experienced vivid visions of Christ’s Passion, which profoundly shaped her spirituality.
She founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior, the Bridgettines, a religious community of both nuns and priests.
Pope Boniface IX canonized her in 1391, and Pope John Paul II named her a Co-Patroness of Europe in 1999.
St. Bridget of Sweden is one of my patrons because she embraced the Passion of Christ.
According to the Holy Gospel, St. Bridget saw and felt Christ suffer. She embraced the Holy Passion of Christ to strengthen her faith as a religious nun and to choose the spirituality of Christ.
Suffering is not an achievement or anything. It is an offering and a sacrifice to follow Christ’s footsteps. She didn’t follow Christ in an easy way. She followed Christ in a hard and difficult way. She chose to follow Him to Calvary.
I have a question.
How did you see Christ within yourself, and how can you live Christ in your life?
Like St. Francis of Assisi, he also embraced the suffering Christ. He chose the life of simplicity. St. Bridget of Sweden was from the Third Order of St. Francis, and when she founded the order, they were already under the Third Order of the Discalced Carmelites.
What you see on the head of St. Bridget of Sweden is not a helmet or something. It is very important too because it represents the Five Wounds of Jesus.
That also symbolizes their spirituality. I thank the Lord for having one of my friends, Sister Catherine, who is now the local superior of the Bridgettine Sisters near Tagaytay.
I didn’t know that she was already a superior. Every time we see each other, we always talk about what is happening in our spiritual vocation. I feel comfortable when I talk to her.
You know, my brothers and fathers, the people we encounter sometimes represent Jesus. Every one of us was created by God, and we are all called to represent God’s grace.
Let us see God within our brothers and sisters. Let us embrace Christ’s suffering. I believe no one can be successful if they haven’t experienced suffering in life. There is no easy life. It calls us to always be ready to sacrifice, for it is only then that we can fulfill the grace of God.
Reflection by: Sem. Cedric Diolazo