The Revelations of St Bridget and Church Reform ppt

The Revelations of St Bridget and Church Reform CONTENTS: Introduction 1. Early Mystical Experiences 2. The Voice of God 3. Reform in Scripture and Church History 4. Apostasy 5. Causes of Apostasy 6. Reform: Repentance and Confession 7. Atonement for Sins Committed 8. God’s Mercy and Justice 9. The Blessed Virgin Mary 10. Visions of Hell and Purgatory 11. Heresy and Dissent 12.Superstition and the Occult 13. The Yoke of the World vs. the Yoke of Christ 14. Eucharist: The Real Presence 15. The Passion of Christ 16. Perfect Charity 17. Teaching by Word and Example 18. Preaching 19. Chastity 20. Admonishing Sinners 21. Contempt for the World 22. Humility 23. St Bridget for Today Notes Introduction “God is disgusted by the fall and ruin of his holy Church….drops of burning and smoking sulfur are dripping from the roof; the walls are as revolting to look at as pus mingled with rotting blood.” 1 These are startling words, and they are from one of the many revelations received by St Bridget (or “Birgitta”) of Sweden (1303-1373): wife, mother of eight, widow, social and Church reformer, mystic, and foundress of the Order of the Most Holy Savior, also known as the Brigittine Order. 2 The world has witnessed in recent years a rapidly growing interest in St Bridget among Catholics as well as Protestants, and even non-Christians, scholars and the general population alike. Pope John Paul II declared St Bridget Co-Patroness of Europe (1 Oct 1999) and called her a Model for Today’s Woman (3 Oct 2002), seeing in her life and in her writings a powerful witness to the Gospel, a "icon" as it were, reflecting the beauty, goodness and loving mercy of God – as well as his justice – to our modern world in great need, like the Prodigal Son, of coming to its senses and returning to its Father. St Bridget is best known for the Revelations, the divinely inspired messages she received from God the Father, Jesus, the Virgin Mary and numerous saints over a period of almost 30 years. 3 Although the Revelations consist of nine books and hundreds of pages and treat of a wide variety of subjects, there can be found throughout the work messages which are of utmost pertinence for today, showing the “actuality” of St Bridget for the Church and for the world in our times. 1. Early Mystical Experiences Even as a young girl Bridget received extraordinary graces, including at least one apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary when she was six years old and one of Jesus Christ. The latter, when Bridget was ten years old, involved the vision of Christ with freshly received wounds over his whole body. Jesus said to her, “See how I have been wounded!” “Oh, my Lord!” Bridget cried out, terribly shaken by what she was seeing, “who has done this to you?” Christ answered her: “Those who despise me and forget My love.” 4 This profound mystical experience became indelibly marked in Bridget’s memory and in her heart, and in the years ahead she would never forget the love of Christ, especially in his redemptive sufferings. 2. The Voice of God Bridget later married and had eight children. Soon after the death of her husband Ulf, she heard the voice of God speaking to her from a bright cloud, inviting her to become Christ’s bride as well as a specially chosen instrument of divine revelation to the world. It was from this moment in 1344 that her life became one of unwavering service as a medium of God’s word and inspired messenger of his justice and mercy. These divine messages included calls to repentance and reform and prophetic admonitions, including warnings of temporal and eternal punishment for those who spurn God’s laws, especially those in positions of power and influence in the Church and in society. St Bridget also received revelations concerning the life, sufferings and glories of Jesus and Mary, and numerous other matters. But the revelations concerning God’s call to repentance and personal and ecclesial reform take on a special relevance today, when the Church is experiencing a crisis of widespread apostasy in many ways similar to that which the Revelations of St Bridget addressed. In fact, in reading some of the revelations which describe the sad moral state of the Church and society in her time, one is tempted to think they were written more for our time than any other. 3. Reform in Scripture and Church History Christ’s first recorded words in his public ministry were “Reform your lives! (or ‘Repent’)” (Mk 1:15; Mt 4:17). John the Baptist called the many who flocked to him to repentance and they confessed their sins (Mt 3:2, 6), but he also warned them to reform their conduct to escape God’s punishment (Lk 3:10-14; cf. Jn 5:14; 8:11). In Rom 12:2 St Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed (or ‘reformed’) by the renewal of your mind.” Throughout the whole of Sacred Scripture, in fact, the idea of reform is closely linked to repentance and conversion – that is, converting one’s life and thinking according to the mind and will of God – as well as to nonconformity to the ways, beliefs and values of the world. 5 G.K. Chesterton wrote in Orthodoxy that reform “means that we see a certain thing out of shape and we mean to put it into shape. And we know what shape” (Chapter 7). The Church is always reforming and always in need of reform—ecclesia semper reformans, semper reformanda—beginning with the individual believer. One of the important lessons we learn from history is that the Catholic Church, although indeed holy in Christ her head, in her sacraments, in her teachings and in her saints, is in continuous need of spiritual reform primarily because all of her members, from the Pope on down, have sins to repent of as well as virtues to acquire and develop. As Pope Benedict XVI states in his book, God and the World, one will "never reach the point of not needing to be forgiven" (p. 68). In fact, the prerequisite for any ecclesial reform is always personal reform and conversion of heart and mind. As Archbishop Chaput of Denver writes: It's always easier to talk about reform when the target of the reform is "out there," rather than in here. The Church does need reform. She always needs reform, which means she needs scholars and liturgists and committed laypeople to help guide her, and pastors who know how to lead with humility, courage and love. But what she needs more than anything else is holiness—holy priests and holy people who love Jesus Christ and love His Church more than they love their own ideas. Today, just like 800 years ago, the structures of the Church are so much easier to tinker with than a stubborn heart, or an empty hole where our faith should be. Reforming the Church, renewing the Church, begins with our own repentance and conversion, our own humility and willingness to serve—and that's the really hard work, which is why sometimes so little of it seems to get done. 5.5 Again, one remembers Chesterton’s response to the request that he submit an article on the subject “What’s wrong with the world?” His reply was two words: “I am.” In the history of the Catholic Church, however, there have been times when the need for reform has been especially acute. Before St Bridget’s Revelations there had been previous movements for Church reform, such as the Carolingian monastic reform (9 th century); the Gregorian reform (11 th century) directed at the entire Church, but with special focus on rectifying clerical abuses involving worldliness, greed and sexual immorality; the reform called for by Pope Innocent III and the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), extending beyond even that of Pope Gregory VII’s earlier Church reform to include all Christendom, that is, society in all its political, socio- economic, and cultural dimensions. The rise of the mendicant Orders, the Dominicans and the Franciscans in the early 13 th century was also a reform movement. They both emphasized an authentic return to gospel values, especially the imitation of Christ, manifested in a zeal for the salvation of souls and a love of poverty, thus leading the laity to reform their own lives and to strive for Christian perfection. The Brigittine Order itself was founded principally as a reform movement in the Church, as Christ declares to Bridget at the beginning of the “Rule of the Saviour” (see note 2). Then two centuries after St Bridget we see probably the greatest reform movement in the Church’s history with the Council of Trent (1545-63) and its sequelae, especially in regard to clerical reform and the inestimable influence of the Jesuits. Although some reform movements in Church history have involved Church structures and institutions, the fundamental character of Christian reform is that it is first of all individual and personal and only secondarily collective and institutional. Unless there is personal conversion, no amount of legislation, organization or institutional change will bear positive and lasting fruit. St Bridget in her Revelations emphasizes this point and further states that the reform of the clergy is required for the reform of the laity: when the Pope, bishops, and priests live lives of holiness, the laity will follow, as sheep follow their shepherds. This principle had already been expressed earlier in the fourteenth century in the formula tam in capite, quam in membris, “as in the head, so also in the members of the body.” There is also an ancient proverb: “When the head aches, all the body is the worse.” 4. Apostasy “The people…and the priests…have not separated themselves from the peoples of the land with their abominations…. Furthermore, the leaders and rulers have taken a leading part in this apostasy!” (Ezra 9:1-2) The words of the Old Testament prophet describe well the perennial tendency of God’s people throughout history, in both the old and new dispensations, to abandon God and his ways and to follow the sinful ways of the world. And as in the Old Testament, so also in fourteenth century Europe the religious leaders were in large part responsible for the widespread infidelity. The principle, corruptio optimi pessima, “the corruption of what is best becomes the worst,” in fact, can be seen to apply throughout Bridget’s revelations that pertain to apostasy and reform. Bridget writes that the Church in her time had among its members, both clerical and lay, a disproportionate number of apostates, primarily those who had succumbed to the temptations of pride, avarice, and carnal indulgence. She states that Christ’s bride, meaning Christians, had become an adulteress, preferring the devil to Christ (Revelations, Bk. 6, Ch. 33; hereafter 6.33). These apostate Christians are members of Christ’s Church merely outwardly, while their hearts belong to the world, the flesh and the devil. Hardly anyone believes that Christ is a just judge who will punish evildoers severely after death. And those who are within the Church but do not belong there on account of their evil lives, attack and oppress God’s elect who remain faithful (1.5). St John the Baptist tells Bridget: “Not in a thousand years has God’s anger at the world been so great” (4.134). In fact, Bridget saw her fourteenth century as the beginning of the age of widespread apostasy that would last until the end of the world and the Final Judgment, the first age having lasted from Adam to Christ and the second from Christ to her time. The Antichrist would be born at the end of the third age (6.67). In the Revelations Christians of all classes are accused of having fallen away and having rebelled against God, but especially the two leading classes of clergy and knights, who cause both themselves and their subjects to perish. The clergy are the worst of all on account of their exalted spiritual calling, since Christ chose them before all the angels, giving them alone the power to handle his Body in the Eucharist. But now they offend him more than all others, and for that reason the judgment of the world, Christ tells Bridget, will begin with them (3.5; 1.48). 6 5. Causes of Apostasy Bridget states that in the general apostasy of her time Christians are living primarily for the pleasures of the flesh and worldly gain, and in so doing manifest a contempt for Christ as well as for their neighbor, and provoke God’s judgment. Love of the world, rooted in pride and disordered self-will, along with avarice and unbridled sensuality are seen as the sources of man’s alienation from God (3.5). In Revelation 1.23 Christ passes this judgment on a bishop: “…all of his thought is directed toward things of the present rather than things eternal, toward how he may be well regarded by men and what serves the flesh, rather than how he is regarded by me and what is profitable to men’s souls.” One aspect of pride particularly affecting the clergy is vainglory, in which they seek to gain the praise of others by being considered learned (1.33). They outwardly praise Christ while their intention is to receive praise themselves and to advance themselves in the Church and in worldly holdings (6.37). They will often refuse to admonish sinners and will say what people want to hear in order to be liked and appreciated (1.55). Avarice or covetousness (cupiditas) in relation to the clergy and religious often refers not only to a disordered love of material wealth and possessions, but also to a desire for higher offices and honors (4.126). Especially serious, according to Bridget, is this sin when it pertains to religious since they have made a vow of poverty, although secular clergy can also sin grievously by their worldly ways and attachments. The third vice, sensuality or inordinate carnal pleasure (carnalis voluptas), is sometimes referred to in the Revelations as disordered delight or concupiscence, and denotes an excessive and disordered appetite for what is pleasurable to the body. Christ plaintively says to Bridget that “no one desires to have me as their delight” (Extravagantes 51.3).7 Instead of “Sister Abstinence,” most Christians embrace “Lady Delight in the Flesh” (4.45). Bridget accuses a great number of Christians, especially priests, of lacking true contrition for their sins, lacking a firm purpose of amendment and not detaching themselves from the causes and occasions of sin. One priest is accused by demons who say, “The liar! We can testify that his confession is like that of Judas, for he says one thing with his mouth but has another in his heart” (1.48). Bridget accuses many priests of hypocrisy, concealing their impurity and other sins under the outward appearance of piety. Such hypocrites are worse than Judas, who at least acknowledged his wicked deed and regretted it, although he did not turn to God’s mercy. These priests, however, continue to feign righteousness (4.132). Christians also lack a salutary fear of God’s justice, Bridget writes. Priests in particular are guilty of lacking fear when they celebrate Mass, not realizing their utter unworthiness to approach Christ’s altar, nor how pure they ought to be who actually handle Purity Incarnate (6.9). Christ also complains, through Bridget, that priests and religious offend him by not trusting in him to give them what they need, for he wants to support them in all their temporal and spiritual needs, but they lack the necessary confidence in God. This lack of trust and confidence in God also leads many religious to violate their vow of poverty (6.35). Bridget writes that many religious are negligent in their duties, for example monks rarely chant the Divine Office together in choir, and even the private recitation of the Office is considered a great burden by many priests and religious (1.47; 2.20), and spiritual reading is disdained (4.58). She reproaches many of the clergy for having abandoned their primary duty of helping to save the souls of those entrusted to them because of their inordinate concern for their own temporal aims (1.59; 4.43; 4.132-133). The bad example of many priests leads many people gradually into spiritual blindness and to become complacent in sin, and then to even boast about it, even if previously they had been ashamed of it (4.132). Priests and religious are accused by Christ of being deficient and often totally negligent in their preaching and instructing the people in the faith. Christ complains to Bridget: “They do not speak of my wonderful deeds nor do they teach my doctrine, but instead they teach love of the world” (4.132). Bridget writes that many priests succumb to the temptation to avoid preaching and teaching about the “hard sayings” of Christ in order not to offend people and to be well received by them, and also for monetary gain. They yield to the demands of the world because they fear and cannot endure being persecuted and hated by the world. By presenting what is agreeable to people, Christ’s justice remains hidden and the people blindly live in presumptuous confidence of their salvation. 8 One is reminded of Christ’s denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees of his time: “Woe to you…you hypocrites! You who shut up the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go in who want to” (Mt 23:13); Compare this with Jn 15:19: “If you were of the world, the world would love [you because you are] its own; but because you are not of the world, because I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you”; Mt 10:22: “and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.”* [Note at bottom of page] [*Priests today who have an immoderate aversion to being hated by the world will rarely if ever mention in their preaching and teaching such things as the evil of pornography, sodomy and the “gay” lifestyle, other sins of impurity, immodesty, contraception, divorce and remarriage, or hell. They should ponder the words of Our Lady of Fatima to Blessed Jacinta Marto: “More souls go to hell on account of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.” When the world has gone from slouching toward Gomorrah to sprinting there, as one Catholic commentator put it, a little boldness, not excluding admonitory rhetoric with some “shock value” in it (as in the Revelations), may sometimes be required of shepherds. Then indeed the world will hate them (including the more carnal and worldly-minded of their parishoners), but they will lead many more souls, including their own, to the joy that the world cannot give, plus eternal life.] Bridget hears the devil tempting a certain bishop: Of what concern is it to you how this or that person lives? Why should you offend and correct those by whom you could be honored and loved? If they don’t offend you and your loved ones, why should you care how they live or whether they offend God? If you are good yourself, why should you judge others? (3.2; cf. 4.126). Bridget states that many priests follow this advice, to their own damnation. They ignore sin that should be corrected. They choose to forget, on account of their worldly and carnal attachments, as well as inordinate concern for human respect, that reproving the sinner is a spiritual work of mercy the neglect of which they will be held accountable before God (3.15). She also accuses bishops of tolerating and ignoring the great scandal of priests living unchaste lives (1.23). The Revelations also condemn the widespread practice of simony, i.e., the buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices and benefits, even the sacraments. Many of the clergy will hardly do a thing, Bridget says, without the hope of material profit or temporal gain. She states that those guilty of simony, like the duplicitous priests referred to above, are worse than Judas, who at least returned the money after having betrayed Christ (4.132).* Absenteeism is another pervasive evil which Bridget speaks of, beginning with the French popes living in Avignon for worldly reasons, as well as bishops neglecting their flock and abbots living outside their monasteries, both oftentimes residing in great castles and living in luxury.** [Notes at bottom of page] [*Although the buying of ecclesiastical offices is not a widespread occurrence today, there is, however, a kind of rampant “selling” of ecclesiastical benefits to the laity in the form of preaching only “Catholicism Lite” in exchange for their continued membership (i.e. financial support). How many priests and bishops, especially since the 1960s have out of fear of losing church revenues failed to preach and teach about the great moral evil of contraception, which Pope Paul VI prophetically warned in Humanae Vitae would be the wedge breaking open the floodgates leading to widespread moral breakdown, and the weakening and destruction of marriage, the family and society—not to mention the loss of countless souls?] [**One sees a parallel between medieval absenteeism and the growing practice today of priests living away from their parishes for the sake of having more privacy, freedom and comfort, oftentimes being “unavailable” outside office hours.] Although we are focusing primarily on the apostasy of the clergy and religious mentioned in St Bridget’s Revelations, she also accuses Christians in general of having departed from the way of salvation by their many sins, and places a special blame on those in political authority and persons of higher social standing. 6. Reform: Repentance and Confession Some of the most important revelations received by St Bridget pertiain to apostasy and reform. In order to bring about both individual and ecclesial reform, Bridget exhorts all Christians who have turned away from God to first humbly repent. Recourse to the Sacrament of Confession as soon as possible after falling into sin is emphasized. Bishops are advised to confess weekly (4.126). The same is recommended for priests and even laity who desire to live a devout life (Extrav. 56.8). Bridget urges sinners to not be ashamed of confessing any sin. She compares the relatively insignificant shame experienced when confessing to a priest to the unimaginable disgrace one will experience before many at the Judgment if one refuses to confess (6.16). In one revelation, the Holy Spirit tells Bridget of the importance of confessing and seeking to overcome even venial sins: All who do not attend to what is smallest will fall into what is greater. For even a venial sin, by which conscience is disturbed, will become mortal if exercised and made habitual, and will be punished severely because of the negligence shown (6.114). 7. Atonement for Sins Committed The necessity of making satisfaction for sins forgiven in sacramental Confession is also emphasized. Christ tells Bridget: No sin of yours that is punished by penance in your lifetime will come before my judgment. Concerning those sins for which penance has not been made, they will either be purged in purgatory or by some other secret judgment of mine, unless they are amended here by satisfaction (1.36). Bridget states that compensation for sins committed should not be neglected and should be undertaken wholeheartedly, since the sufferings of purgatory will be much greater (4.4). Besides the traditional works of satisfaction of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, the Revelations emphasize the importance of exercising patience in infirmity in order to atone for past sins (4.109). Another way to avoid the pains of purgatory is the gaining of indulgences, which first requires the will to amend one’s life and sin no more (4.80; 4.114). 8. God’s Mercy and Justice Another part of Bridget’s program for Church reform is the need for both hope in God’s mercy as well as fear of his justice (2.17). The danger of succumbing to the sin of despair, or its opposite, presumption, is always present, however. Thus both fear of God and trust in his mercy must abide in the soul together. To those who belittle the importance of having fear of God's justice, Bridget states that anyone with such an attitude is like an unlocked door, through which a mortal enemy can enter and kill him (2.27). 9. The Blessed Virgin Mary Bridget writes that God’s justice is mitigated for sinners who humbly and confidently turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Being the loving Mother of all who have recourse to her intercession, she will defend them and draw down Christ’s mercy upon them (4.138; 6.34). 9 The Revelations give an example of a sinner who feared Christ’s judgment on account of his many grievous sins, who in fact had provoked Christ’s severe sentence of condemnation and did not even dare to ask him for mercy. But he turned to Mary praying, “I beg you, have mercy on me, for you will not refuse mercy to anyone who asks.” Mary interceded for him and obtained forgiveness, since it is God’s will that she be the Mother of Mercy to all who call upon her (6.39). 10. Visions of Hell and Purgatory Although Bridget writes of both God’s tender mercy for the repentant and his severe judgment on unrepentant sinners, a greater proportion of the revelations deal with the latter. In this she echoes the thought of St Augustine, who stated that “although the best kind of men are drawn by love, the majority need fear to move them.” 10 Indeed some very vivid and striking imagery relating to both hell and purgatory can be found in the Revelations. Bridget hears these words describing the lecherous Queen Giovanna of Naples, for example (nicknamed regina meretrix or “harlot queen” by her own people): “This woman is a monkey that sniffs at its own stinking posterior….” And the queen is seen in a vision by Bridget as “wearing a crown of twigs spattered with human excrement…and sitting naked on a tottering beam” perched over the fires of hell (7.11). Such strong and revolting imagery is used in order to inspire an aversion and disgust for sin, in this case sins of impurity. In fact, the punishments experienced by sinners after death are immeasurably worse than anything imaginable in this life (5.8; 6.52). Bridget experienced visions in which she sees the punishment meted out to souls in both purgatory and hell. The purpose of these visions is to inspire good Christians to persevere in grace and sinners to flee the great danger threatening them (6.35; 4.102). The Revelations emphasize both the eternity of hell and the extreme severity of the tortures experienced therein. The punishments in hell are of many different kinds, depending on the type of sins one is guilty of. Certain souls in purgatory suffer extremely, in a manner similar to the damned, and some even experience “despair of forgiveness,” not being permitted to know whether they will be saved or not (6.66). Bridget warns that the condemned soul will in great anguish realize too late that Christ’s promises were real and great and that his own name has been forever erased from the book of life in heaven (7.12). In a vision Christ speaks to Bridget of a certain bishop: “May rotting waste be put on the bishop’s head instead of a mitre.… Instead of honor, may he receive shame. Instead of many servants, may he be attended on by a wild mob of demons” (3.4). Bridget describes the most fearful punishments in great detail. One soul, not even in hell but the lower region of purgatory, is described as …flowing with blazing fire…. The mouth was open and the tongue, drawn out through the orifices of the nostrils, hung down to the lips…. Both hands seemed to hold and squeeze some putrid substance, sticky with blazing pitch…. And from it came forth something like the discharge from an ulcer with the blood rotting and a stench so evil that it could not be compared to the worst stench in the world (4.7). In case one might be tempted to dismiss such descriptions as either the product of an overactive imagination or, worse, “medieval superstition,” one should take into account the high degree of authenticity and authority attached to the Revelations by many high ranking theologians and ecclesiastics, including several popes and Church councils (see note 3 below). But Bridget does state that these visions are not to be taken literally. She sees them “by bodily likeness.” But this fact should only evoke an even greater horror in those who hear them – and an even greater sorrow for their sins – for the reality of hell and purgatory is even worse, immeasurably so, in fact, and if Bridget herself were to see the reality as it actually is she would die of fear (6.52). And she is referring to purgatory, not hell. The latter is seen as a kind of torture chamber where the damned “will be tortured without end and the torturers [the demons] will live without end” (1.56). Bridget also describes the terrors experienced by the damned on account of the never-ending companionship of the devil and the other demons. She says that if their horrible appearance were to be seen as it really is, one would lose one’s mind at the mere sight (5.8). One of the most severe punishments in purgatory is when the demons are allowed to touch the souls (4.8; 6.21). But in hell the demons can tear them to pieces and devour them, yet they will not be consumed (1.5). Since the fear of God’s justice is weak or nonexistent in most Christians of her time, St Bridget’s Revelations utilize these and other striking images in order to lead as many as possible to repentance. The “shock value” has no other end but the salvation of souls which are perilously headed for eternal torments that, like St Paul says of heaven, “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the mind of man to imagine” (1 Cor 2:9). 11. Heresy and Dissent Bridget writes that Christians must not only fear God’s judgment and hope in his mercy in order to attain eternal life, but must also firmly believe in the complete truth God has revealed, including the uncomfortable truth regarding sin and repentance, judgment and hell, and the entire moral law. She warns of the danger of departing in any way from the “true faith” as found in the “Church of St Peter” (1.3). Those embracing heresy are urged to return to the true faith and to friendship with God (4.23). 12. Superstition and the Occult During St Bridget’s day, as in our own and indeed in most ages and cultures, there was a widespread belief in fate, as well as in fortune, astrology, witchcraft and other superstitions. In her Revelations she speaks out against such practices which offend God, subject their adherents to the deceit and influence of demons, and manifest a disbelief in divine Providence. Bridget is told by Christ that the devil is able to know about certain events, which he reveals to people who are involved in superstitious practices, but only in order to deceive them and gain control over them. Such people, however, are cursed and hateful in the sight of God (7.28; 8.62). 13. The Yoke of the World vs. the Yoke of Christ Opposing the growing belief during her time in moral determinism and the inability of human nature to observe God’s commandments, Bridget writes that the yoke of slavery to the world and to the flesh are much heavier and more wearisome than the yoke of Christ. She states that the the yoke of Christ is full of delight and his law is very easy, although in the beginning it feels somewhat heavy on account of the transition from a life of sin to that of virtue. But after a brief exertion the law of Christ becomes a source of joy and one can truly say “God’s yoke is sweet” (1.58; 1.15; cf. Mt 11:28-30; 1 Jn 5:3). In Rev. 2.1 Christ speaks of the “two ways”: that which is narrow in the beginning, but ends in joy and that which is pleasing for a short time, but ends in great torment. The first begins with some modest and endurable labor and ends in the unimaginable joy of heaven; the second begins with worldly delights and pleasures of the flesh, but soon ends in great misery and finally damnation. One should then consider which is best: “to have a little sorrow and eternal joy or a little joy and eternal sorrow.” 14. Eucharist: The Real Presence Along with widespread immorality, there was in fourteenth century Europe a diminishing of belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Although probably less than is the case today (especially in the more economically developed countries), many people in Bridget’s time believed that Christ was in the Eucharist only symbolically rather than in a real and miraculous manner. Bridget uses several biblical examples to help people believe in the Real Presence, for example stating that when Moses’ staff transformed into a serpent, it did not merely have the appearance of a serpent but was in reality a serpent through the miraculous power of God, who can change one thing into another just as he can create the whole universe from nothing (Extrav. 4.2). She also uses several biblical examples to help people to believe that Christ is in every host that is consecrated. In one example, she says that all the leftover pieces of bread gathered after Christ’s multiplication of the loaves were pieces of real bread, not just having the likeness of bread (4.63). On one occasion, at the elevation of the host during Mass, Bridget had a vision of Christ in the hand of the priest, saying, “I bless all of you who believe; to those who do not believe I shall become a judge” (6.86). Bridget also affirms that while those who are in the state of sanctifying grace receive a greater sharing in Christ’s life and also greater spiritual strength in receiving the Eucharist, unrepentant sinners who approach the Lord’s table receive no grace but rather a more severe punishment for committing sacrilege (4.61-63). 15. The Passion of Christ The Swedish visionary also writes of the importance of meditating on the infinite love of God in his work of creation and especially in the redemption of mankind through the passion and death of Christ. Considering the sufferings of Christ helps to instill and nurture the virtue of charity, without which there is no salvation. It also helps to free one from attachments to the world and the flesh, as well as to endure sufferings and afflictions, and to acquire and grow in the virtues of purity, patience, and humility (1.11, 35; Extrav. 13.4). St Bridget experienced many visions relating to Christ’s passion and death, and these made a profound impression on her. In the Revelations she describes in great detail many of the sufferings Christ endured for our salvation and in order to turn men’s hearts back to God. She hears Christ speaking to her: “I shed my blood for you and suffered the most bitter torment for you” (1.28). Christ repeatedly stresses the words pro te and pro vobis in order to bring people to repentance and to make them grateful for the great love he has for them (1.10), not only freely suffering his passion, but even eagerly enduring the cruel torments because of his infinite desire for the salvation of souls (2.15). 16. Perfect Charity Frequent consideration of Christ’s passion leads souls to the attainment of perfect charity, which involves the “curbing of self-will because of God. For everyone who loves God perfectly and entirely keeps for himself nothing of his own will that may be contrary to God” (4.74). Perfect charity means the will to suffer any tribulation rather than transgress any of God’s commandments (4.14). Bridget reproves those who have no desire to attain spiritual and moral perfection, but are content with fulfilling the minimum requirements for saving their souls. “Oh, what insane thoughts!” she exclaims, for no one who has not sought and attained perfection can enter heaven where all are perfect. Those who lack perfect charity when they die must first endure the pains of purgatory which, as noted above, are much greater than any sufferings in this life (3.28). Perfect charity toward God and neighbor is essential, says Bridget, for Church reform. When speaking about love of neighbor she emphasizes the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, placing the greater emphasis on the latter. The greatest spiritual need of our neighbor is the salvation of his soul, and one should be willing to gladly die for this (4.74). 11 To work for the salvation of souls is the responsibility of all Christ’s friends, but especially priests and religious and those to whom the care of souls is entrusted (1.59). Bridget sees a great impediment to the salvation of souls and to Church reform in the indifference of many Christians to whether others are saved or not, or do not care enough to instruct or reprove others in order to help them on the road to salvation. She says such complacency and fear of offending others is inspired and encouraged by the devil, who does everything he can to prevent Christ’s followers from helping others in their spiritual needs, especially the need to convert (6.65). 17. Teaching by Word and Example [...]... rebellious and apostate Christian world Like our troubled world today, Bridget lived in an age of widespread moral corruption in which both Church and society were in great need of reform. 15 Her Revelations stress the importance of seeing and judging all things from the aspect of eternity (sub specie aeternitatis); of thinking often of the love, mercy and justice of God, the brevity of this life and of what... occupied much the same relation to the ecclesiastical system as the Prophets of Israel had done, under the older dispensation, to the Jewish Priesthood They came out of their hermitages or cloisters, and with lips touched by coal from the altar denounced iniquity wherever they found it, even in the highest places for them, as for other Christians, the organization of the Church was Divine; it was by the sacred... responsibilities of his office that they judged the unworthy pastor "An apt illustration of this attitude occurs in the life of the Blessed Colomba of Rieti Colomba, who was a simple peasant, was called to the unusual vocation of preaching The local representatives of the Holy Office, alarmed at the novelty, imprisoned her and took the opportunity of a visit of Alexander VI to the neighboring town of Perugia... punishment they deserve (2.23) 23 St Bridget for Today St Bridget, in many ways like the Old Testament prophets and early Christian apostles and evangelists, was a voice of prophecy and “channel of the Holy Spirit” (Extrav 47) chosen by God during a critical period of salvation history Acting as God’s mouthpiece, she announced the threat of divine judgment and the promise of mercy to a sinful, rebellious and. .. her Husband.24 Notes 1 St Bridget, Originaltexter, Book 2, lines 16-23 Cf Ingvar Fogelqvist, Apostasy and Reform in the Revelations of St Birgitta (Stockholm: Almquist and Wiksells International [P.O Box 638, S-101 28], 1993), 30 This work by Fogelqvist, which is one of the principal sources of information on the Revelations in this booklet, also contains further and more detailed treatment of the subject... except when they sin against their God But now their guilt has caught up with them by which they bring the wrath of their God upon them whenever they do evil…death will overtake them.” 23 The Revelations of St Bridget hold a prominent place among approved private revelations Although Catholics are not required to believe in private revelations, some, as in those of St Bridget and also of Fatima, for... the faithful – including clergy and religious – to take deeply to heart and apply to their lives An English translation of all eight books of the Revelations, plus other writings of St Bridget, is in the process of being published in the U.S., Volumes one and two (Books 1-5) having been published as of this writing (Feb 2009): The Revelations of St Birgitta of Sweden Volumes I and II, Liber Caelestis,... entrusted with the important task, after reforming themselves, of reforming the clergy and, through them, the laity: tam in capite, quam in membris Bridget writes that priests who are unchaste are cursed and separated from God and deserve to be deprived of their priestly office (7.10) In order to inspire repentance and disgust for sins of impurity, Bridget writes that when fornicating priests celebrate... and set her free with every mark of reverence." (St Catherine of Siena, Dialogue, tr Algor Thorold [Rockford: TAN, 1974; orig 1907] Intro., 5-7) 2 Sometimes spelled “Bridgettine” or “Birgittine.” The Order presently consists of five branches: monks, two branches of nuns and two branches of sisters, all of which are known for their loyalty and reverence for the person and office of the Holy Father and. .. crisis of faith and morality in the Church, especially from the mid-sixties to the present time, is the worst that the Church has faced in her history – and he didn’t even live to see the present scandals afflicting her.16 In what we may soon see to have been a prophetic statement, he asserted: “Catholicism is in the throes of the worst crisis in its entire history Unless true and loyal Catholics have the . for their loyalty and reverence for the person and office of the Holy Father and fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church; see www.brigittine.org and. Visions of Hell and Purgatory 11. Heresy and Dissent 12.Superstition and the Occult 13. The Yoke of the World vs. the Yoke of Christ 14. Eucharist: The Real