Saint Brigid of Sweden and the Crucifix at Saint Paul Outside the Walls

The Crucifix comes to life and speaks to Saint Brigid

Rome became Saint Brigid's home, spending much time there involved in her ongoing search of knowledge, improving her prayer life, making visits to the catacombs and sanctuaries, especially the Basilicas of St. Peter and Saint Paul Outside the Walls. 

It was in St. Paul Outside the Walls, where Saint Brigid would spend hours upon hours praying before the Crucifix, adoring her Crucified Savior, that Our Lord spoke to her.  It was before this Crucifix that she received countless revelations.  Many were warnings to heads of state. 

She is best known for the twenty-one promises and fifteen prayers given to her by Our Lord, before this Crucifix. 

It was also before this Crucifix that Jesus shared with her His Passion, telling her how many Wounds He suffered, and of the Wounds that hurt Him the most. 

When St. Brigid begged the Lord to know the number of times He had been struck during His Passion, He came to life on the Cross and said:

"I received 5,480 blows on My Body.  If you wish to honor them in some way, say fifteen Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys with the following Prayers (which He taught her) for a whole year.  When the year is up, you will have honored each one of My Wounds."

When you stand so close to the Lord and His Passion, you find yourself desiring to share every phase of His Life, especially to soothe His Wounds and many hurts.  The Lord accommodated her, by allowing this little servant to undergo trials of every kind, especially those of humiliation and poverty.

In 1364, Saint Brigid went on Pilgrimage, with a small entourage of pilgrims to some Italian Shrines, which was to end up in Naples, where she remained until 1367.  On her journey of faith, some of the Shrines Saint  Brigid visited were the Holy House of Nazareth in Loreto, Italy, where she spent much time praying for the guidance and intercession of Mother Mary, and the Cave of St. Michael in the Gargano, near where Padre Pio's Shrine is today.

When you adore the Cross, get ready to endure the gifts of the Suffering Crucified Savior and His Most Precious Mother. 

How do you wound a mother most deeply?  Her children!  In 1372, she embarked with her children, among them Charles and St. Catherine, on a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 

Stopping at Naples before boarding the ship, Charles became enamored of and by Queen Joanna, who had a less than enviable reputation.  Now, Charles' wife was still alive in Sweden and Joanna's husband in Spain; but she desired to marry Charles and he was no less enthusiastic.  No amount of pleading and reasoning would dissuade Charles; and so a mother, Saint  Brigid began to pray unceasingly to God to handle the situation. 

And God did!  Charles was struck down by an unexplainable fever and after two weeks died in his mother's arms. 

Grief-stricken, after she laid her son to rest, two pilgrims left for the Holy Land; but the hearts of the mother and sister remained with the loved one they could no longer touch.  The account of this mother's heart with regard to the immortal soul of her child reminds us of the trials of St. Rita of Cascia, whose children vowed a vendetta against the people who had killed their father and her husband. 

They vowed death to the brigands to the last of the family, wife, sons and daughters, and grandchildren.  St. Rita prayed that if her sons were to lose their immortal souls in the commission of these horrendous acts, please let her take their bodies Home.  She even nursed her two boys during their last days on earth, as did Saint Brigid.

Saint Brigid returned to Rome. 

In addition to time spent there, adoring and listening to Our Lord, she remained involved in  important issues concerning the rulers of her homeland, Sweden, as well as Cyprus and Naples.  In addition, she relentlessly worked toward the day the Papacy would return to the Apostolic See of Rome.  In a Vision, the Lord revealed to her that the Pope would return to Rome. 

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