St. Bridgett of Sweden
Prophesies & Revelations
The words of the Queen
of Heaven to her beloved daughter about the wonderful love the Son had for His
Virgin Mother, about how the Mother of Christ was conceived within the most chaste
marriage and sanctified in the womb, and the birth of Our Lord.
She
tells how she was assumed, body and
soul, into Heaven, and about the power of her name, and about the good and evil angels
assigned to men for their protection or trial.
Chapter 9
"He united my father and mother in a marriage
so chaste that
there
could not be found
a more chaste marriage
at that time.
They never wanted
to come together
except in accordance
with the Law, and
only then with the
intention to bring forth off-spring.
 |
| St. Anne, St. Joachim and Child Maryy |
When an angel revealed to them that they would give birth to
the Virgin from whom the salvation of the world would come, they would
rather have died than to come together in carnal love; lust was dead in them.
I assure you that when they did come together, it was because of divine love and because of
the angel’s message, not out of carnal desire, but against their will and out of a
holy love for God.
In this way, my flesh was put together by their seed and through divine
love. Then, when my body had been made and formed, God infused the created soul
into it from his divinity, and the soul was immediately sanctified along with
the body, and the angels guarded and served it day and night.
 |
| St. Anne with child -- Mary conceived with out sin |
When my soul was sanctified and joined to its body, my mother felt such great joy that it would
have been impossible to describe it!
Afterwards, when my lifetime had been accomplished, my Son
first raised up my soul - for it was the mistress of the body - to a more
excellent place than others in heaven, right next to his Divinity.
 |
| The Assumption of the Virgin c. 1656 |
Later, he also raised up my body in such a manner that no other creature’s body is so close to God as
mine.
See how much my
Son loved my soul and body! Yet, there are some people with a malevolent
spirit who deny that I was assumed into Heaven, body and soul, and
also others who simply do not know any better.
But this is a most certain truth:
I, with
body and soul, was assumed to the Divinity!
Hear now how much my Son honored my name!
My name is
as it is said in the Gospel.
When
the angels
hear this name,
they rejoice in their mind
and thank God
for the great mercy
that he worked through me
and with
me
and because they see
my Son’s Humanity
glorified in his Divinity.
Those within
the fire of purgatory rejoice exceedingly, just like a sick
and bedridden man does
if he receives
a word of comfort
that pleases his soul:
he is suddenly
overjoyed!
When the good angels hear my name, they immediately move closer to the righteous for
whom they are guardians, and rejoice over their progress in good deeds and
virtues.
All humans have been given both good angels for their
protection, and bad angels to test them. The good angels are not separated from
God; they serve the soul without leaving God. They are constantly in his sight. Yet they
work to inflame and incite the soul to do good.
All the demons, however,
shudder
with fear at the name of
Mary!
When they hear
the name, “Mary”, they immediately release a soul out of the claws with which they had held her. Just as a bird or hawk, with its claws and
beak embedded into its prey, releases it immediately if it hears
a sound, but soon returns
when it sees that no action follows, so do the demons -
frightened when they hear my name – release the soul. But they return and fly back as fast as an
arrow if no improvement follows.
No one is so cold in his love of God (unless he is damned)
that he will not experience the devil releasing him from his habitual sins if
only he invokes my name with the true intention of never returning to his evil
deeds.
The devil will never return to him unless he resumes the will to commit mortal
sins.
Sometimes, though, the devil is allowed to trouble him for the sake of his
greater reward.
However, the devil shall never own him.
Chapter 10
“I am the Queen of Heaven,
the Mother of God.
I told you to wear a brooch on your chest. I will now show you more fully how, from the beginning, when I first heard and understood that God existed, I always, and with fear, was concerned about my salvation and my observance of his commandments. But when I learned more about God - that he was my Creator and the judge of all my actions - I loved him more dearly, and I was constantly fearful and watchful so as to not offend him by word or deed.
Later, when I heard that he had given the Law and the commandments to the people and worked such great miracles through them, I made a firm decision in my soul to never love anything but him, and all worldly things became most bitter to
me.
When still later I heard that God himself would redeem the world and be born of a Virgin, I was seized by such great love for him that I thought of nothing but God and desired nothing but him. I withdrew myself, as much as I was able, from the conversation and presence of parents and friends, and I gave away all my possessions to the poor, and kept nothing for myself but meager food and clothing.
Nothing was pleasing to me but God! I always wished in my heart to live until the time of his birth, and perhaps, deserve to become the unworthy handmaid of the Mother of God. I also promised in my heart to keep my virginity, if this was acceptable to him, and to have no possessions in the world. However, if God wanted otherwise, my will was that his will, not mine, be done; for I believed that he could do all things and wanted nothing but what was beneficial and best for me.
Therefore, I entrusted all my will to him. When the time approached for the virgins to be presented in the temple of the Lord, I was also among them due to the devout compliance of my parents to the Law. I thought to myself that nothing was impossible for God, and since he knew that I wanted and desired nothing but him, I knew that he could protect my virginity, if it pleased him.
 |
| Presentation of the Virgin Mary to the Temple |
However, if not,
I wanted his will
to be done.
After I had heard all the commandments in the temple,
I returned home, burning even more now than ever before with the love of God, being inflamed daily with new fires and desires of love.
For this reason, I withdrew myself even more from everyone, and was alone day and night, fearing greatly, and most of all, that my mouth should say anything, or my ears hear anything against the will of my God, or that my eyes see anything alluring or harmful. I was also afraid in the silence, and very worried that I might be silent about things of which I should, instead, have spoken.
While I was worried in my heart like this, alone by myself and placing all my hope in God, an inspiration about God’s great power came over me, and I recalled how the angels and everything created serve him, and how his glory is indescribable and unlimited.
While I was thus fascinated by this thought, I saw three wonderful things: I saw a star, but not the kind that shines in the sky; I saw a light, but not the kind that shines in this world; I smelled a fragrance, but not of herbs or anything else of this world. It was most delightful and truly indescribable, and it filled me up so completely that I jubilated with joy!
After this, I immediately heard a voice - but not from a human mouth - and when I heard it, I shuddered with the great fear that it might be an illusion, or a mockery by an evil spirit. But shortly after this, an angel of God appeared before me; he was like the most handsome of men, but not in the
flesh as is the body of a created man, and he said to me:
‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!’
When I heard this, I wondered what he meant and why he had come to me with such a greeting, for I knew and believed that I was unworthy of any such thing - or any good thing! However, I also knew that nothing is impossible for God, if he desires it.
Then the angel spoke again:
‘The child to be born in you is holy
and will be called the Son of God.
May his will be done as it pleases him.’
But, not even then did I consider myself worthy, and I did not ask the angel why, or when, this would happen. Instead I asked him how it could be that I, an unworthy maiden, who did not know any man, should become the Mother of God.
The angel answered me (as I have just said):
‘Nothing is impossible for God,
for whatever he wants to do will be done.’
When I had heard these words of the angel, I felt the most fervent desire to become the Mother of God, and my soul spoke out of love and desire, saying:
‘See, here I am;
your will be done in me!’
With these words, my Son was conceived in my womb to the indescribable joy of my soul and my every limb! While I had Him in my womb, I bore Him without any pain, without any heaviness or discomfort. I humbled myself in all things,knowing that He whom I bore was the Almighty!
When I gave birth to him, it was also without any pain or sin, just as I had conceived him, but with such exaltation and joy of soul and body that my feet did not feel the ground where they had been standing because of this indescribable joy!
Just as he had entered my limbs to the joy of all my soul, he left my body, leaving my virginity intact, and my soul and whole body in a state of indescribable joy and jubilation.
When I gazed upon and contemplated his beauty, joy seeped through my soul like dewdrops and I knew myself to be unworthy of such a son.
But when I considered the places where (as I had learned from the predictions of the prophets) nails would be pierced through his hands and feet at the crucifixion, my eyes filled
with tears and my heart was almost torn apart by sorrow.
When my Son saw my weeping eyes, he became almost deathly saddened.
However, when I considered his divine power, I was consoled again in knowing that this was what he wanted and that it should happen in this way, and I joined all my will to his.
So my joy was always
mixed with sorrow"
