Brigittine

Scope note: Refers to a religious order following the Rule of St. Augustine that was founded by the medieval mystic St. Bridget of Sweden (died 1373). After the death of her husband, Bridget dedicated her life to prayer and experienced visions, one of which was to found the Order of the Most Holy Savior. Shortly after Bridget's death, her daughter, St. Catherine of Sweden, became the first abbess of the original monastery in Vadstena, Sweden. Other monasteries followed, each with no more than 60 nuns. Attached to each was a parallel community of monks who shared the same liturgical life under the governing of the abbess. Brigittine contributions to Scandinavian culture include one of the first printing presses, located at Vadstena Abbey. The order, emphasizing humility, simplicity and contemplation, flourished until the Reformation and was banished from Sweden in 1595. After this time there were no more Brigittine monks but four autonomous houses of nuns survived: one in England, another in Bavaria, and two in Holland. Elisabeth Hesselblad founded a new branch of the old order in 1911 and went on to revive the order by founding houses in Sweden, Italy, England, India, Switzerland, and the United States. Although the order has an ancient history, it is modern in its efforts regarding monastic revival and ecumenical concerns.

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