self gift.

Bridget married a man named Ulf and together, as a fruit of their love, they had eight children. In the hearth of the home she learned the way of selfless, kenotic love. Through the real nitty-gritty stuff of family life, including the tragic loss of a child, she became so configured to Jesus Christ that she became a prophetic voice to the world of the twelfth century, addressing its leaders in a manner which led them to the way of repentance.

After years learning the way of domestic holiness, domestic kenosis, she and her husband Ulf made a pilgrimage which changed the course of their lives. After his death, Bridget went on to found an order of consecrated religious women named the Order of the Most Holy Savior or the "Bridgettines."  Bridget had a deep interior life of prayer and lived in deep communion with the Lord. She wrote down many of her revelations and inspirations. She died in Rome 1373 while on another pilgrimage. She is the Patroness of Sweden.

On this Feast, Pope Benedict XVI invited all Christian married couples to become "the sweet and smiling face of the Church" in a message which he had delivered to the eleventh international meeting of the "Equipes Notre Dame" Movement which is meeting in Brazil. The theme of the gathering was "Daring with the Gospel". The movement promotes conjugal spirituality and was founded in 1939 by the French priest Fr. Henri Caffarel.

The Pope called married couples to be "the best and most convincing messengers of the beauty of a love supported and nourished by the faith, a gift of God which is given to everyone abundantly and generously, so that day after day they can discover the meaning of their lives".

He reminded them that, "In our world, which is so deeply marked by individualism, activism, haste and distraction, sincere and constant dialogue between spouses is essential to avoid the emergence, development and degeneration of misunderstandings which, unfortunately, often lead to irreparable breaks which no one can then mend".

St Bridget of Sweden and the Pope call Christian married couples to be the 'Sweet and Smiling Face of the Church' in this age so desperately in need of saints.