priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...
.
Societas Sanctæ Birgittæ was founded in 1920 as a refuge for those who in a time of liturgical and theological decline of the Church of Sweden in early 20th century longed for more ceremonial celebration of the
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
, sincere worship and scriptural preaching.
The initiative of the founding of SSB was made by archbishop
Nathan Söderblom
Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom (; 15 January 1866 – 12 July 1931) was a Swedish clergyman. He was the Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala between 1914 and 1931, and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize. He is commemorated in the Cale ...
, for there was need to a religious society for both men and women. Söderblom introduced members of ''S:t Sigfrids Brödraskap'' (Brotherhood of St Sigfrid, SSB) – a High Church confraternity of priests influenced by
Anglo-Catholicism
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches.
The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...
– to Count and Countess
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
and Mary von Rosen and others like them, who treasured the memory of St Birgitta of Sweden. Söderblom was not himself later involved.
Members of Societas Sanctæ Birgittæ, in reverence to
Saint Birgitta of Sweden
Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23 July 1373) born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, also Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta ( sv, heliga Birgitta), was a Mysticism, mystic and a saint, and she was also the founder of the Bridgettines nuns and mon ...
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...
). SSB has good relations to the Roman Catholic
Bridgettine Order
The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior (; abbreviated OSsS), is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta or Bridget of Sweden in 1344, and approved by Pope Urban ...
.
SSB tries to renew the Church from within by revival of the practice of Holy Communion and
Prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...
both by the individual members of the Church and in the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
es, by the preaching and teaching to the Church faithful the Word of God and the Creed of the Church, and by the increased use of private
confession
A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
General Chapter
A chapter ( la, capitulum or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings.
Name
The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the re ...
, at
Vadstena
Vadstena () is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality.
Despite its small population, Vadstena ...
, every year during a week around the time of "the Heavenly Birthday" of
Saint Birgitta
Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23 July 1373) born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, also Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta ( sv, heliga Birgitta), was a mystic and a saint, and she was also the founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after ...
(23 July). It is observed in
Pontifical High Mass
A Pontifical High Mass, also called Solemn Pontifical Mass, is a Solemn or High Mass celebrated by a bishop using certain prescribed ceremonies. Although in modern English the word "pontifical" is almost exclusively associated with the pope, an ...
in the church of
Vadstena Abbey
The Abbey Pax Mariae ( la, Monasterium sanctarum Mariæ Virgìnis et Brigidæ in Vatzstena), more commonly referred to as Vadstena Abbey, situated on Lake Vättern in the Diocese of Linköping, Sweden, was the motherhouse of the Bridgettine Ord ...
. The General Chapter is one of the biggest annual events of the High Church Movement in Sweden. As a rule conventions are organized three times a year at different places in the country and sometimes abroad. SSB is also a prayer fellowship, in which Brothers and Sisters are remembered in the daily worship.
SSB is headed by one of its priests as Father
Confessor
Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways.
Confessor of the Faith
Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Visitor. The Society also has its own chaplain and
Novice
A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience.
Religion Buddhism
...
Masters for both men and women. Although most members are members of the
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...
, SSB also has members e.g. from
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; sv, Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal positio ...
,
Church of Denmark
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...
,
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
and churches in the USA. Today SSB has about 200 members.
* Mary von Rosen 1920 - 1964
*Ingrid af Ekenstam 1964 - 1983
*Anna-Greta Roos 1983 - 1990
*Anna Greta Norén 1990 - 2014
*Anna Greek 2014 -
Visitors of SSB
*The Right Reverend
Gustaf Aulén
Gustaf Emanuel Hildebrand Aulén (15 May 1879 – 16 December 1977) was the Bishop of Strängnäs in the Church of Sweden, a Lutheran theologian, and the author of '' Christus Victor'', a work which still exerts considerable influence on conte ...
1935 - 1959 (Bishop of Strängnäs)
*The Right Reverend
Olof Herrlin
Gunnar Olof Johan Herrlin, Bishop of Visby 1962 - 1980, born 1914 in Lund, Swede died 1992. Bishop Herrlin was one of the leaders of High Church Lutheranism, High Church movement in Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) i ...
1962 - 1972 (Bishop of Visby)
*The Right Reverend
Bertil Gärtner
Bertil Edgar Gärtner (13 December 1924 – 20 September 2009) was a Swedish Lutheran bishop of Gothenburg (1970–1991) and professor of New Testament exegesis at Princeton Theological Seminary, United States.
In 1969 Gärtner became provost ...
1972 - 2009 (Bishop of Gothenburg)
Literature
*''"Gör också våra kalla hjärtan brinnande." Societas Sanctæ Birgittæ 1920-2020.'' Ed. by
Oloph Bexell
Oloph Eric Fingal Bexell (born 6 June 1947) is a Swedish priest (Church of Sweden) and professor emeritus in church history at Uppsala University.
Biography
Oloph Bexell received his bachelor of theology in 1974 and was ordained in the Diocese ...
, Gunilla Gren-Eklund, Fredrik Santell and Andreas Wejderstam. Skelleftea: Artos 2020, 550 pages. ISBN 978-91-7777-152-4.
* B.I. Kilstroem: "Societas Sanctae Birgittae and the renaissance of the remembrance of St Birgitta." Publ. in ''Spiritualität heute und gestern / Internationaler Kongress vom 4. bis 7. August 1982 m Kloster Lilienfeld'' Bd 19:2. Salzburg : Inst. für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Univ. Salzburg, 1993 (Analecta cartusiana 35:19),