BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 16th Week in Ordinary Time

ST. BIRGITTA (BRIDGET) OF SWEDEN (b Sweden 1303, d Rome 1373), Widow, Mystic, Franciscan Tertiary, Founder of the Bridgettines, Co-Patron of Europe
Born to descendants of the Swedish royal family, Birgitta's father was one of the wealthiest landowners in the country. The girl started having visions of the Lord, particularly
the Crucifixion, when she was 7. At age 13, she entered an arranged marriage to a local prince, with whom she had four sons and four daughters (the oldest, Catherine, would
become a saint herself). She was a friend and counselor to many priests and theologians of her day, as well as adviser to King Magnus II. Her husband died in 1344 shortly after
they came back from a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. She joined the Franciscan lay order and lived as a penitent. In 1346, she founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior
(Bridgettines) which was confirmed by Pope Urban V in 1370 and survives today with a few houses. In 1360, she left for Rome on pilgrimage and never returned to Sweden.
She counseled Popes Clement Vi, Gregory XI and Urban VI, urging them all to return to Rome from Avignon. Meanwhile, she wrote down the revelations given to her in her continuing
visions and her spiritual reflections; the books became hugely popular in the Middle Ages. She encouraged everyone to meditate on the Passion of Christ and on the Crucified
Christ. She died in Rome after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land which was marked by shipwreck and the death of a son. She was canonized in 1391, and in 1436, the Council of Basel
confirmed the orthodoxy of her writings. In 1999, she was named by John Paul II as a co-patron of Europe, along with Benedict of Norcia, Cyril and Methodius, Catherine of Siena,
and Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein). Benedict XVI dedicated a catechesis to her on Oct. 27, 2010
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20101027...
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072313.cfm


WITH THE POPE TODAY

It's a rest day for Pope Francis in the diocesan residence Somare in Rio de Janeiro, after his arrival in teh Brazilian capital yesterday to preside at the 28th World Youth Day(28th since John Paul II instituted it in 1984, and the 14th celebrated on an international level). WYD is celebrated on the diocesan level annually on Palm Sunday.

Tomorrow, the Pope flies to the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida where he will say Mass before returning to Rio in the afternoon.