Prayers of Saint Brigid

FRUIT: Repair.

Magnificent prayers, yes; magnificent promises, no.

A Monition from the Holy Office: In certain places a booklet has appeared entitled The Secret of Happiness: Fifteen Prayers Revealed by Our Lord to Saint Bridget in the Church of St. Paul in Rome, published in several languages at Nicaea (and elsewhere).

As this booklet states, God made certain promises to Santa Bridget, and since it is not certain that these promises were of supernatural origin, the Ordinaries [diocesan bishops] must avoid giving permission to publish or reprint works or writings that contain the aforementioned promises.

Given in Rome, by the Holy Office, on January 28, 1954.

(Acta Apostolicae Sedis 46-64, as found in Canon Law Digest, Vol. IV, p. 389, Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company, 1958).

Among the popular devotions of the Catholic faithful are the Magnificent Prayers of Saint Bridget, which must be prayed uninterruptedly for a whole year. These fifteen prayers focus on the sacred Passion of Our Divine Lord, and are believed to have been revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden (feast day: 8 October), a great devotee of the Passion. Unfortunately, these prayers sometimes appear in books with the promises that the Holy Office banned in 1954. The prayers themselves were not condemned, but it will become clear later why a restriction was placed on these so-called magnificent promises.

Born the daughter of a wealthy governor of Sweden around 1303, St. Bridget She was favored with visions of the Crucified Savior when she was seven years old.¹ Called to the state of marriage, she gave birth to eight children, among whom would be the future Saint Catherine of Sweden. She outlived her husband, and eventually went to live in Rome, where she continued to be favored with visions. The fifteen prayers were given under these circumstances:

Visitors to St. Paul's Church in Rome can see the huge crucifix sculpted by Pietro Cavallini, before which St. Bridget, and there you can read the following inscription: “Pendentis pendente Dei verba accepit aure accipit et verbum corde Brigitta Deum. Anno Jubilei MCCCL,” which recalls the miracle of the crucifix conversing with St. Bridget.² (Translation: "Bridget not only receives the words of God in the air, but takes the word of God into his heart. Jubilee Year 1350.”)

Now a little history of how these prayers were disseminated. They were copied from a book printed in Toulouse, France, in 1740, and published by Fr. Adrian Parvilliers, SJ, with the appropriate permissions.³ Among those who supposedly encouraged this devotion were Popes Urban VI and Pius IX. It is also said that the Congress of Malines (in the ecclesiastical province of Mechlin, Belgium) approved them on August 22, 1863.⁴

According to a brochure publishing the purported promises,⁵ Our Lord revealed to Santa Bridget that he received 5,480 blows to his Sacred Body during the Passion. Therefore, if one were to pray the 15 prayers daily for a year, along with 15 Our Fathers and Hail Marys, each of the wounds received would be honored. (Actually, 15 times 365 is 5,475, but if one takes into account the leap year, the calculation is closer: 15×365.25 = 5,478.75, which is 5,479 rounded up.)

This part of the revelation does not seem to go against Catholic doctrine, since when one considers the biblical accounts of the Passion, this number seems to be a reasonable estimate. It is quite possible that divine science, which knows the smallest details of the Passion, decided to communicate to St. Bridget the number of blows in total to edify the faithful and inspire them to a greater love for the suffering of the Redeemer.

However, it is the promises that are problematic; some of them are consistent with Church teaching, but others are definitely not. Here are some⁶ of those that don't, along with my comments:

“2. Fifteen souls of his lineage will be confirmed and preserved in grace.” How can anyone be “confirmed in grace”? No one can be sure of his salvation in this respect, much less can this assurance be freely given to his descendants.

“4. Whoever prays these prayers will obtain the first degree of perfection.” What is the first degree of perfection? This is vague and confusing. Saying these prayers daily for a whole year certainly implies some degree of perfection, but not necessarily the maximum. Also, neurotics and those who “throw off” many prayers may find it easy to say them daily, and yet they will be no closer to perfection at the end than when they started. Quality is necessary, even more than quantity.

“5. Fifteen days before his death, I will give him my precious Body so that he may escape eternal hunger; and I will give him my precious Blood to drink, so that he will not be thirsty forever.” It is true that when we receive the Sacred Host we receive at the same time the precious Blood of Jesus. Why then is the distinction necessary?

“11. Let it be known that whoever has been living in mortal sin for 30 years, but who devoutly prays, or has the intention of praying, these prayers, the Lord will forgive all his sins.” Wow! This is not consistent with any promise given in other private revelations, such as the Promise of the Nine First Fridays or the Five First Saturdays. Why is 30 important in this context? If one were tragically living in mortal sin for, say, 29 or 31 years, would prayer suddenly be ineffective? Also, how does praying for a full year constitute an act of perfect contrition? One might resolve to pray out of fear of divine punishment, and this would only be attrition. Sacramental confession would also be needed for true forgiveness.

“19. You will be assured of a union with the supreme choir of angels.” This sounds nice, but one would have to have the fervor and holiness of a Saint Francis to receive the reward of the Seraphim or Cherubim.

The reader can now see why the Holy Office objected to the Magnificent Promises and, with the apostolic authority it possessed, forbade publishers to publish them and the faithful to believe them. The prayers themselves are fine, and certainly conducive to holiness. I encourage you to pray them devoutly every day for a year, and blessings are sure to flow from them.

One might wonder how the revelations of Santa Bridget They might be defective, after all, she is canonized! It must be understood that the Holy Office did not definitively condemn the Promises. Instead, it judged that we cannot be sure of their origin: either they are an invention, or they were not accurately transmitted by the writers of the past, or the seer herself did not see clearly enough to transmit them (for no seer is an infallible oracle). This one, of the supreme departments of the Roman Curia, simply ordered, with wisdom and charity, that the Promises be withdrawn from circulation.

This particular point underscores the nature of private revelation: it is apart from the Deposit of Faith taught by Our Lord, transmitted to us by the Apostles, and safeguarded by the Church for our salvation. The Church neither receives nor transmits continuing truths or revelations that are necessary for salvation. All the Church can do is examine private revelation and determine whether or not it is contrary to faith and morals. If not, then it is presented to the faithful as something to be believed. And although charity, as St. Paul declares to the Corinthians, “believes all things” (I Cor. 13:7), it is still governed by faith in the Church’s guidance, in her infallible authority, and in obedience to her decrees. We do well to be aware of this as we make use of private revelations to help us on the path to holiness.

Rev. Fr. Casimir M. Puskorius, CMRI