Saint Bridget of Sweden is one of the most famous saints in history. The events of her life boggle the mind. If it were fiction, we would dismiss it as too far-fetched.

The first half of her life was ordinary enough. She married a Swedish man named Ulf and bore eight children. However, in 1344, when her husband died after a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Bridget felt God calling her to an extraordinary life. 

There is not enough space here to record everything she did and all the amazing visions she received. But here’s just a few: Bridget founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior; she traveled through Europe during the “Black Death” plague to reach Rome and beg the Pope to return there from France; she made a dangerous pilgrimage to Jerusalem when she was 70 years old; and she prophesied the formation of a Vatican State with the boundary lines nearly exactly what they are today.

How did Saint Bridget of Sweden get the strength to do all this? It turns out she had one habit that made it all possible. That habit? She went to confession every day.

Bridget relentlessly pursued a closer relationship with God. An integral part of this was identifying her weaknesses so that she could become stronger in her faith.

In the Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality, confession comes first. People often ask why. It is because spirituality begins with turning back to God. 

Every journey toward something is a journey away from something. And if we need to turn back to God at this moment in our lives, we also need to turn away from whatever led us away from God and keeps us away. It may be that certain people have led you to stray from God—perhaps possessions have distracted you from your true and authentic self, or maybe pleasure has seduced you into walking a wayward path. 

Whatever has distracted you, it is important to realize that you cannot journey to a new place and at the same time stay where you are. This is why confession is first. Walking with God demands that we bring order to our lives and put first things first. Sometimes it is just as important to know what you are journeying away from as it is to know what you are journeying toward.

The journey toward the-best-version-of-yourself is a journey away from the defects of the-present-version-of-yourself. The question that really presents itself to you, me, and this modern age collectively is: Are we willing to turn back to God? Are you willing to be more attentive to what God is calling you to be?



Feast Day: July 23

Feast Day Shared By: Blessed Margarita de Maturana, Blessed Basil Hopko

Patron Saint of: Europe, Sweden, Widows, and A Holy Death

Symbols: Pilgrim's Staff

Canonized: October 7, 1391

Canonized By: Pope Boniface IX