Invoked against MiscarriagesSt. Catherine was the daughter of Ulfo Gudmarsson, Prince of Nericia, Sweden, and of St. Bridget. She was educated at the direction of the Abbess of the convent. When she had reached the age of thirteen, her father gave her in marriage to Egard, a young German nobleman of great virtue. However, by her prayers and discourses the holy virgin persuaded her husband to join with her in making a mutual vow of perpetual chastity, thereby forgoing their lawful marital rights for the love of God. Thus they encouraged each other to mortification, prayer, and works of charity.
After the death of her father, St. Catherine joined her mother, St. Bridget, in a pilgrimage to Rome in 1349, out of devotion to the Passion of Christ and to the relics of the Roman Martyrs. In 1373, St. Bridget died at Rome and St. Catherine returned to Sweden with her mother’s body.
In 1375, the Saint returned to Rome to promote her mother’s canonization and obtain the confirmation of the Brigittines or Order of St. Savior. She died as the Abbess of Vadzstena, Sweden, on March 24, 1381.
During the last twenty-five years of her life, St. Catherine lived in mortification and penance. Each day she purified her soul from sin by the Sacrament of Penance. She was canonized in 1484 by Pope Pius II.
The Order of St. Savior or the Brigittines, founded by St. Catherine of Sweden, was approved by Urban V and affiliated to the Augustinians. This Order has for its purpose literary work, especially the translation of religious writings.
PRAYER: Lord God, You showered heavenly gifts on St. Catherine the Virgin. Help us to imitate her virtues during our earthly life and enjoy eternal happiness with her in heaven. Amen.