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History
“I will plant a new vineyard:
you will bring to it new vines, I will fertilize them with
my grace and they will put forth new shoots.”
With these words Christ called
Bridget of Sweden to found a new Religious Order of double
monasteries. This happened at Alvastra in Sweden, in the
shadow of the renowned Cistercian Monastery where Bridget
had settled in 1346 after the death of her husband Ulf
Gudmarsson.
Christ’s command gave the life
of Bridget a new direction and a new mission, and she used
the following years, while she continued to live in Sweden,
to ensure for the future Order a location and the
possibility of existence.
In 1349, she set off for Rome,
for the Holy Year of 1350 and to ask the Pope’s approval of
the Rule of her Order, but this desire was fulfilled only
twenty years later, on 5th August, 1370 by Pope Urban V, who
gave an official recognition to the Order.
The years, which followed the
death of Bridget in Rome on 23rd July 1373, saw the
realization of her vision in regard to her Order. It was
granted to Catherine, her daughter to see the vine grow; to
which vine was entrusted the task of bringing new strength
and new life to the then hard-pressed Church.
The tree of this new vineyard of
Christ became a massive trunk from which grew many new
shoots: the foundation of the monastery of Vadstena in
Sweden (the cradle of the Bridgettine Order and now a
Swedish National Monument), was soon followed by 27 other
foundations which in their turn with passing of time, were
to give origin to a series of affiliated foundations which
reached the number of 70. The Lutheran Reformation of the
16th century caused grave damages to the Bridgettine Order.
In 1911, God in His great mercy
sent Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad, a Swedish convert to Roman
Catholicism, to revive the Order. It was approved as a
Pontifical Institute by the Holy See on 7th July 1940. It
passed into a direct dependence on the Congregation “de
Propaganda Fide”, the Congregation for the Evangelization of
the Peoples on 2nd December 1942.
As a result of the historical
connection and spiritual affinity between the new Religious
Institute and the original Order founded by St. Bridget of
Sweden following the “Regula Sancti Salvatoris”, the
foundation established by Blessed Mother Elizabeth was
recognized as an Order with simple vows under the name of
the “Order of the Most Holy Savior”. Members of the Order
are also called “Sisters of Saint Bridget” or “Bridgettine
Sisters. The foundation has as its center the house in Rome
in Piazza Farnese, where our Mother Foundresses, St. Bridget
and Blessed Mother Elizabeth lived and died.
Charism
The charism of the Sisters of St. Bridget or the Bridgettine
Sisters, is in their generous offering to give glory to God
and the service to humanity through prayer, adoration,
reparation and ecumenical activities.
Monastic
Adoration of the Holy Eucharist
is a privilege to a Bridgettine Sister not only during the
celebration of the Holy Mass each day, but also every moment
of the day. The Blessed Eucharist is the heart of their
life.
Apostolic
Bridgettine Sisters gave witness
to their solidarity to the Universal Church of God through
its communal singing of the “Liturgy of the Hours” – an
adoration together with the choir of angels in Heaven.
Missionary
With Mary, our Blessed Mother,
the true model of womanhood, the Bridgettine Sister is a
servant of love for others dedicating their time for the
economic welfare and benefit of the poor.
Prayer is the nucleus of all our
activities. Our lifestyle is centered round it. We sanctify
the hours of the day by praying and adoring the Eucharistic
Lord. This is the source and strength of all the
Bridgettines.
Spirituality
The basic elements of our
spirituality, which correspond to the original inspiration
of the Bridgettine Order and to the special charisma of
Blessed Mother Elizabeth are, in the first place, the
contemplation of God and the celebration, especially through
prayer and the liturgy, of the marvels worked by Christ our
Savior and also the ecclesial commitment.
The spirituality of our Order
has its roots in the Cistercian spirituality from which St.
Bridget draw inspiration in founding her Order which, like a
tree sprung up from deep and solid roots, was able to grow
in the Church and give expression to the particular charisma
given by Christ himself to St. Bridget. It is clear that her
love for the Liturgy springs from these sources. In fact,
she desired the special aim of her Order to be the giving of
praise to God through the Holy Mass, the Divine Office and
the study of the Sacred Scripture, which she called her
“most precious treasure”. St. Bridget also cherished a most
tender devotion to the Humanity of the Word and an
affectionate attachment to the Blessed Virgin. From this
devotion (to the Humanity of the Word), centered in a
particular way on the Crucifixion, comes the reparative
character, which she impressed on her Order. Both these
devotions were centralized in a particular manner in the
scene on Calvary, in Jesus Christ Himself Crucified and His
sorrowful Mother beneath the Cross. In this way, we retain
our family motto: “Amor Meus Crucifixus Est” as the most
concentrated and most authentic spirituality of our Order;
also as the ground and root of the reparative character
which St. Bridget impressed on her religious foundation. A
unique sign and daily reminder of this our spiritual
character and corresponding commitment is the crown with the
symbol of the five wounds which we wear on the veil; this
too, together with the traditional habit, is a sign of our
inviolable consecration to Love Crucified.
Blessed Mother Elizabeth raised
up by God to continue, develop and express in our times the
particular charism of St. Bridget, grafts her new Branch on
to the old trunk, giving new life and a new aim to its
reparative character, namely: the unity of the Church.
Like, St. Bridget, Blessed
Mother Elizabeth too, stresses on love for the Holy Mass,
the Divine Office and the study of the Sacred Scripture. She
adopts for her branch the same devotion to the Humanity of
the Word and gives it a special expression in the Adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament and the devotion to the Blessed
Virgin Mary. Moreover, like St. Bridget, she puts as the
basis for her Order the spirit of humility and simplicity
expressed in a particular manner in humble service of
neighbor through hospitality.
The new branch of the
Bridgettine Order founded by Blessed Mother Elizabeth has
kept the spirit of a reparative and monastic character of
the ancient Order, but with the deep insight into the needs
of our times.
History: Philippines
10th August 1998, zealous
Bridgettine Sisters left from Rome and India to start their
mission in the Philippines. They are destined to start a new
Bridgettine branch in this country so that the spirit and
sanctity of St. Bridget and Blessed Mother Elizabeth may
spread and the Apostolic and ecclesial activity of the Holy
Order contributes to the corresponding expansion and
division among Christians in this place. God in His Most
loving heart sent four fervent souls from India so that the
good news of His Glorious Kingdom will reach to every part
of this country. They are Sr. Maria, Sr. Vincentia, Sr
Jessie and Mo. Lucy as the superior. For the meantime, the
sisters stayed at Laverna, Tagaytay City and they chose to
build their first foundation in Mag-asawang Ilat, Tagaytay .
God sent good and fervent vocations to the new community,
called to spread the good news of love and service to all
mankind.
After almost three years of
great sacrifices on the new foundation, this new Bridgettine
convent was officially inaugurated on 13th February 2001
celebrated by Msgr. Manuel Sobrevinas D.D., Bishop of Imus
with the presence of Mother M. Tekla, Abbess General of the
Order with her companions from Rome.
Tagaytay community renders a
retreat house and a social welfare center. It is a novitiate
formation house and a house of Prayer. There are already
many Filipina sisters who have generously responded to the
call of spiritual life. For this, another beautiful house of
St. Bridget and Blessed Mother Elizabeth has recently been
built in Montevista , Davao. The new shoot was started last
March 25, 2003. It is a pre-novitiate house rendering a
pre-school and a clinic for the poor and the needy.
So it was by another God given
intuition that this Holy Order came in the Philippines. it
has yielded fruit, hundredfold and there are already many
happy souls from the different corners of the country came
to dedicate their lives wholeheartedly and to serve our Dear
Lord joyfully. |