Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint: Saint Bridget of Sweden, a patron saint of Europe (1303-1373)

Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 43:13-19 Tardiness at the Work of God or at Table

Mass: Jer 7:1-11; Resp Ps 84; Mt 13:24-30

Continually they praise you.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.

(Gospel acclamation, Mass)

Welcome to Saturday, a day dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and this one also commemorates one of my favorites, Saint Bridget of Sweden, devoted wife to a nobleman, mother of eight, lady-in-waiting to the queen. After Bridget and her husband Ulf went on pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James at Compostela in Spain, they decided to spend the rest of their lives in monasteries. After Ulf's death in 1344, Bridget founded a double monastery (one for men and women both), which grew into the Bridgettines, officially the Order of the Most Holy Savior. Their generalate is in Rome and I would join the nuns for Vespers now and then. It was in Rome that Bridget spent the rest of life, cared for the poor and sick, and with a voice of authority, told the Pope to return from Avignon to Rome, the eternal city where he belonged. 

Another reason Saint Bridget of Sweden is a favorite of mine is because she was a favorite of a dear friend of happy memory, Father Paschal, OSB. When I studied in Rome, Father Paschal was always after me to visit the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls where, in a side chapel, is a crucifix that St. Bridget used to pray in front of. It is there that she received a revelation of 15 prayers, often called the devotion to the Holy Wounds of Jesus. Thankfully, I lived across the street from the basilica one year and went to Mass in that side chapel several times a week. Many years ago, Father Paschal gave me a little piece of paper that I still have. On it are typed the Prayers of St. Bridget. And fitting are they for a day dedicated to the Mother of Our Lord, with the last prayer invoking her as Mother of Peace, Light, and Love. The prayers follow. 

Lord, show me your way

and make me willing to follow it.

Lord God, for whom nothing is impossible,

who can do everything,

give me the power to do good

and to persevere.

Mary, Mother of Peace, Light, and Love

who gave birth to the Savior of the earth,

ask Jesus to show me the way

on my pilgrimage to eternal life.

Amen.

United in faith and prayer, we are good seeds sown by the Sower; may we grow and bear fruit (see today's Gospel).

SAINT BRIDGET OF SWEDEN,

FATHER PASCHAL CHELINE, OSB,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: I took this photo at the end of the day yesterday, not the best time for photos. On the other hand, this pink beauty calls us to continual praise of Our God. 

© Gertrude Feick 2022