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Also known as: Catherine
Vastanensis; Catherine of Vadstena
Profile
Fourth of the eight children of Saint Bridget of Sweden and Ulf Gudmarsson.
Educated at the convent of Riseberg. Married by arrangement at age 13 to
the pious German noble Eggart von Kürnen. Soon after their marriage, both
she and her husband took vows of chastity and continence. Traveled to Rome
in c.1350 to be with her mother. Widowed soon after.
For the next 25 years the two women used Rome as a base for a series of
pilgrimages, including one to Jerusalem. When home, they spent their days
in prayer and meditation, working with the poor, and teaching them
religion. They each had to fend off the unwanted advances of local men,
including young lords; during one of these, a wild hind came to
Catherine's defense, chasing off the troublesome, would-be suitor.
When Bridget died, Catherine took her body back to Sweden, burying it at
the convent of the Order of the Holy Savior (Bridgettines) at Vadstena
Catherine became superior of the order, and served as abbess. Wrote a
devotional work entitled Sielinna Troëst (Consolation of the Soul), but no
copies have survived. Attained papal approval of the Bridgettine Order in
1375. Worked for the canonization of her mother.
Born: 1331 at Sweden
Died: 24 March 1381 of natural causes
Canonized: 1484 (cult confirmed) by Pope Innocent VIII
Patronage: against abortion, miscarriages
Representation: Bridgittine abbess with a hind at her side;
Bridgittine holding a lily; Bridgittine dressing a poor man's wounds;
Bridgittine being brought Communion on her death bed
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