The Revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden, Volume 3: Liber Caelestis, Books VI-VII

301 Pages·2012·2.697 MB·English

by  Bridget Morris (editor)

The Revelations of St. Birgitta
of Sweden
Volume 3
FIGURE 1. Birgitta receiving a revelation at Alvastra monastery, possibly depicting Book
VI 86. Reprinted by permission of the Royal Library Manuscripts Division, National
Library of Sweden, “Eriksberg MS”, A 70b.fol.5r.
The Revelations
of St. Birgitta
of Sweden
Volume 3
Liber Caelestis, Books VI–VII

TRANSLATED BY DENIS SEARBY

WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES

BY BRIDGET MORRIS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bridget, of Sweden, Saint, ca. 1303–1373.
[Revelationes. English]
The revelations of St. Birgitta of Sweden/translated by Denis Searby; introductions and notes
by Bridget Morris.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-516644-6 (v.1)
ISBN 978-0-19-516626-2 (v.2)
ISBN 978-0-19-516627-9 (v.3)
1. Private revelations. 2. Visions. I. Searby, Denis Michael. II. Title.
BX4700.B62E5 2005
248.2 0 9-dc 22 2005047277
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Acknowledgments
Once again, we would like to express our thanks to Stephan
Borgehammar for his help in bringing this volume to fruition and
not least with the translation of Book VII. We are grateful also to
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary
Foundation) for its continued fi nancial support, and to Kungl.
Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitetets Akademien, Stockholm, for its
administrative support.
Acknowledgment is due also to Lennart Karlsson, Annette
Landen, and Lars Berggren who have kindly supplied images and
given permission to reproduce them.
The present volume contains Books VI and VII only. Book VII is
the last of the books in the central canon of the R evelationes , and
consequently, after careful consideration, we have chosen to refl ect
the integrity of the original editorial arrangement and to assign Book
VIII to volume 4, which will now contain all the extraneous materials
that are attributed to St. Birgitta.
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Contents
Abbreviations, xiii
The Entire Birgittine Corpus, xv
BOOK VI
Introduction, 5
CHAPTER 1 On Christ’s Physical Beauty, 19
CHAPTER 2 A Sick Man who Repented on his Deathbed Suffers
in Purgatory, 19
CHAPTER 3 A Devil Tempts a Friar; In the Explanation a Witch
Tempts a Priest, 20
CHAPTER 4 A Wise Man must Preach Boldly, Suffer Patiently, and
Deal Justly, 21
CHAPTER 5 Christ Describes a Place Where the Wicked Torment
their Brethren, 22
C HAPTER 6 Birgitta Has Shown Impatience, 23
CHAPTER 7 On a Deacon Who Must Work For the Conversion Of
his Brethren, 24
CHAPTER 8 Some Monks Lived in a Worldly Fashion and Did Not
Heed Birgitta’s Reproaches, 25
CHAPTER 9 On an Unrepentant Impious Priest; And on His
Dreadful Death, 26
CHAPTER 10 On a Swedish Aristocrat in Purgatory; The Living May
Still Make Amends on His Behalf, 28
C HAPTER 11 Everything Fell into Agitation At the Crucifi xion, 32
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER 12 Mary is Like a Beehive, 33
CHAPTER 13 Three Resolutions, 34
CHAPTER 14 How Birgitta was Called to Follow Christ in Love, 34
CHAPTER 15 On the Greed and Ambition of Roman Priests, especially a
priest of St. Peter’s Church, 36
CHAPTER 16 A Worldly Woman Undergoes Severe Punishment, 38
CHAPTER 17 The Devil Wants to Tempt Birgitta; Mary Wants to Protect
Her, 39
CHAPTER 18 Consolation Disdained is Like a Drink Thrown in the Giver’s
Face, 40
CHAPTER 19 On a Sinful Monk who Follows the Desires of the Flesh, 42
CHAPTER 20 One of Birgitta’s Kinsmen Must Improve his Lifestyle and
Contemplate the Lord’s Passion; He is Converted and Dies, 44
CHAPTER 21 Punishment For a Man in Purgatory is Reduced, 46
CHAPTER 22 Advice For a Bishop Who Converts, 47
CHAPTER 23 The Virgin Mary Prays for a Nobleman Described as a
Robber, 49
CHAPTER 24 The Same Man Must Atone For his Earlier Offenses, 52
CHAPTER 25 A Threat To the Same Man, 53
CHAPTER 26 The King should Work to Rebuild the Church, 54
CHAPTER 27 The Proud do not Heed God’s Commandments, 55
CHAPTER 28 A Soul is Described as a Stillborn Child and Condemned, 57
CHAPTER 29 Birgitta Should Receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist More
Frequently, 59
CHAPTER 30 The Will is Like the Roots of a Tree that are Gnawed at By a
Mole; God is Like a Skillful Gardener; Application of This to a
Mendicant Prior, 60
CHAPTER 31 On the Fate of Two Souls: One a Worldly Knight Who Chooses
to be Condemned to Hell, and the Other a Dominican Prior
who Is Like a Shining Star, 63
CHAPTER 32 The Swedish People are Warned About the Young Viper and its
Mother, 68
CHAPTER 33 An Allegory About an Adulterous Bride who Kills her
Bridegroom, 71
CHAPTER 34 Two of Birgitta’s Friends are Given the Power of Exorcism;
A Message for the Kings of France and England, 72
CHAPTER 35 On the Different Fates of the Prior and Another Dominican
Friar, 74
CHAPTER 36 A Pentecost Vision About Three Vessels and A Man with Wine
for Sale; A Swedish Cistercian is Promised a Reward, 79
CHAPTER 37 On the Proper Ways of Serving the Virgin, 81
CHAPTER 38 On the Effects of the Good and Bad Spirit, 81
CHAPTER 39 The Devil and the Virgin Dispute Over the Soul of a Knight;
On his Fate in Purgatory, 82
CHAPTER 40 The Same Soul Enters Heaven After Purgation, 90
CONTENTS ix
C HAPTER 41 A King of Sweden is Inclined to Pursue his Crusade for Worldly
Reasons; On the Mentality of a Good Crusader, 91
CHAPTER 42 How Birgitta Can Learn to Love God More, 93
CHAPTER 43 How Birgitta Struggles to Obey her Spiritual Father, and On
the Spiritual Weapons of Combat, 94
CHAPTER 44 Christ is like a Glass-Maker and a Bee; Christians are
Undeserving of God’s Love; Heathens should Instead
be Favored, 96
CHAPTER 45 On People’s Blindness and Belief In Fate and Fortune, 97
CHAPTER 46 Birgitta is Reassured About her Straightened
Circumstances, 99
CHAPTER 47 Birgitta and God’s Friends must Proclaim God’s Word, 101
CHAPTER 48 People’s Different Ways of Responding to God’s Word, 102
CHAPTER 49 On the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, 102
CHAPTER 50 On a Good Pagan’s Desire for God and Her Conversion, 103
CHAPTER 51 A Man is Advised how to Resist Worldly Pride and
Success, 104
CHAPTER 52 The Punishments of Three Swedish Noblewomen,
Representing Three Generations, are Described, 105
CHAPTER 53 On the Need for Humility Among Those in Authority, 113
CHAPTER 54 On a Sevenfold Road that Reawakens the True Faith, 115
CHAPTER 55 Mary Speaks of her Immaculate Conception, 116
CHAPTER 56 Mary Speaks of her Birth and Childhood, 117
CHAPTER 57 Mary’s Six Sufferings, 118
CHAPTER 58 Mary Describes Jesus’ Childhood and Adolescence, 120
CHAPTER 59 Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth, her Pregnancy, and her Life with
Joseph, 122
CHAPTER 60 Mary Denies that St. Jerome Had Doubted her
Assumption, 123
CHAPTER 61 Mary’s Life after Christ’s Ascension, 124
CHAPTER 62 Mary’s Assumption into Heaven, 125
CHAPTER 63 A Letter Addressed to Pope Clement VI, 126
CHAPTER 64 A Reprimand to Worldly People, 127
CHAPTER 65 Martha and Mary Symbolize the Virtues of the Active and the
Contemplative Life, 128
CHAPTER 66 An Allegory about a Lord, his Wife, and their House and
Servants; the Allegory Applies to a Deceased Man Suffering
Punishment, 135
CHAPTER 67 On Three Ages of the World and the Coming of the
Antichrist, 139
CHAPTER 68 On an Excommunicated Monk, 140
CHAPTER 69 A Certain Friar’s Abstinence is Driven by Pride rather than
Humility, 141
CHAPTER 70 A Cardinal is Condemned to Eternal Torment for his Pride
and Worldly Pleasures, 142
CHAPTER 71 Master Petrus may Give Absolution to Pilgrims in Rome, 143