Societas Sanctae Birgittae
Encyclopedia
Societas Sanctæ Birgittæ (SSB) is a High Church Lutheran religious society with character of third order
for priest
s and laity
, men and women in the Church of Sweden
.
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, sincere worship and scriptural preaching.
The initiative of the founding of SSB was made by archbishop Nathan Söderblom
, 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
- to Count and Countess Eric
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 and following her example, want to serve the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in Sweden (that is the Church of Sweden
). SSB has good relations to the Roman Catholic Bridgettine Order
.
SSB tries to renew the Church from within by revival of the practice of Holy Communion and Prayer
both by the individual members of the Church and in the parish
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
and
pastoral care
.
SSB holds its General Chapter
, at Vadstena
, every year during a week around the time of "the Heavenly Birthday" of Saint Birgitta
(23 July). It is observed in Pontifical High Mass
in the church of Vadstena Abbey
. The General Chapter is one of the biggest annual events of the High Church Movement
in Sweden. As a rule convention
s 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
and one of its Sisters as Mother Superior and it is under an episcopal Visitor
. The Society also has its own chaplain
and Novice
Masters for both men and women. Although most members are members of the Church of Sweden
, SSB also has members e.g. from Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
, Church of Denmark
, Church of England
and churches in the USA. Today SSB has about 200 members.
Third order
The term Third Order designates persons who live according to the Third Rule of a Roman Catholic religious order, an Anglican religious order, or a Lutheran religious order. Their members, known as Tertiaries, are generally lay members of religious orders, i.e...
for priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s and laity
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
, men and women in the Church of Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...
.
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, sincere worship and scriptural preaching.
The initiative of the founding of SSB was made by archbishop Nathan Söderblom
Nathan Söderblom
Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom was a Swedish clergyman, Archbishop of Uppsala in the Church of Sweden, and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize...
, 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
Sigfrid of Sweden
Saint Sigfrid was a Benedictine monk and bishop in Sweden; he converted king Olof Skötkonung in 1008...
, SSB) - a High Church confraternity of priests influenced by Anglo-Catholicism
Anglo-Catholicism
The terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism describe people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm the Catholic, rather than Protestant, heritage and identity of the Anglican churches....
- to Count and Countess Eric
Eric von Rosen
Count Carl Gustaf Bloomfield Eric von Rosen was a Swedish Honorary doctor, patron, explorer and ethnographer....
and Mary von Rosen
Mary von Rosen
Mary von Rosen was born in Sweden. She was the third of the five daughters of Baron Carl Fock and the elder sister of Carin Göring...
and others like them, who treasured the memory of St Birgitta of Sweden
Bridget of Sweden
Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (1303 – 23 July 1373; also Birgitta of Vadstena, Saint Birgitta , was a mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after the death of her husband of twenty years...
. Söderblom was not himself later involved.
Members of Societas Sanctæ Birgittæ, in reverence to Saint Birgitta of Sweden and following her example, want to serve the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in Sweden (that is the Church of Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...
). SSB has good relations to the Roman Catholic Bridgettine Order
Bridgettines
The Bridgettine or Birgittine Order is a monastic religious order of Augustinian nuns, Religious Sisters and monks founded by Saint Birgitta of Sweden in approximately 1350, and approved by Pope Urban V in 1370...
.
SSB tries to renew the Church from within by revival of the practice of Holy Communion and Prayer
Prayer in Christianity
Prayer has been an essential part of Christianity since its earliest days. Prayer is an integral element of the Christian faith and permeates all forms of Christian worship...
both by the individual members of the Church and in the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es, by the preaching and teaching to the Church faithful the Word of God and the Creed
Creed
A creed is a statement of belief—usually a statement of faith that describes the beliefs shared by a religious community—and is often recited as part of a religious service. When the statement of faith is longer and polemical, as well as didactic, it is not called a creed but a Confession of faith...
of the Church, and by the increased use of private confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
and
pastoral care
Pastoral care
Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided...
.
SSB holds its General Chapter
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
, at Vadstena
Vadstena
Vadstena is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,612 inhabitants in 2005. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality....
, every year during a week around the time of "the Heavenly Birthday" of Saint Birgitta
Bridget of Sweden
Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (1303 – 23 July 1373; also Birgitta of Vadstena, Saint Birgitta , was a mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after the death of her husband of twenty years...
(23 July). It is observed in Pontifical High Mass
Pontifical High Mass
In the context of the Tridentine Mass of the Roman Catholic Church, a Pontifical High Mass, also called Solemn Pontifical Mass, is a Solemn or High Mass celebrated by a bishop using certain prescribed ceremonies. The term is also used among Anglo-Catholic Anglicans.-Origins:In the early Church,...
in the church of Vadstena Abbey
Vadstena Abbey
Vadstena Abbey was the motherhouse of the Bridgettine Order, situated on Lake Vättern, in the Diocese of Linköping, Sweden. The abbey started as one of the farms donated by the king, but the town of Vadstena grew up around it...
. The General Chapter is one of the biggest annual events of the High Church Movement
High Church Lutheranism
"High Church Lutheranism" is the name given in Europe for the 20th century Lutheran movement that emphasizes worship practices and doctrines that are similar to those found within both Roman Catholicism and the Anglo-Catholic wing of Anglicanism...
in Sweden. As a rule convention
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
s 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
-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. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...
and one of its Sisters as Mother Superior and it is under an episcopal Visitor
Visitor
A Visitor, in United Kingdom law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution , who can intervene in the internal affairs of that institution...
. The Society also has its own chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
and Novice
Novice
A novice is a person or creature who is new to a field or activity. The term is most commonly applied in religion and sports.-Buddhism:In many Buddhist orders, a man or woman who intends to take ordination must first become a novice, adopting part of the monastic code indicated in the vinaya and...
Masters for both men and women. Although most members are members of the Church of Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...
, SSB also has members e.g. from Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is the national church of Finland. The church professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion....
, Church of Denmark
Church of Denmark
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, Church of Denmark or Danish National Church, is the state church and largest denomination in Denmark and Greenland...
, Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and churches in the USA. Today SSB has about 200 members.
Confessors of SSB
- Hugo Berggren 1920 - 1944
- Simon Lüders 1945 - 1964
- Alf Corell 1965 - 1983
- Karl-Olof Berglund 1983 - 2001
- Bo Brander 2001 -
Mothers Superior of SSB
- Mary von RosenMary von RosenMary von Rosen was born in Sweden. She was the third of the five daughters of Baron Carl Fock and the elder sister of Carin Göring...
1920 - 1964 - Ingrid af Ekenstam 1964 - 1983
- Anna-Greta Roos 1983 - 1990
- Anna Greta Norén 1990 -
Visitors of SSB
- The Right Reverend Gustaf AulénGustaf AulénGustaf Emanuel Hildebrand Aulén was the Bishop of Strängnäs in the Church of Sweden, a theologian, and the author of Christus Victor, a work which still exerts considerable influence on contemporary theological thinking on the Atonement.-Life:Aulén was born in 1879 in Ljungby parish, Kalmar...
1935 - 1959 (Bishop of Strängnäs) - The Right Reverend Olof HerrlinOlof HerrlinGunnar Olof Johan Herrlin, Bishop of Visby 1962 - 1980, born 1914 in Lund, Sweden , died 1992. Bishop Herrlin was one of the leaders of High Church movement in Church of Sweden.-Selected works:...
1962 - 1972 (Bishop of Visby) - The Right Reverend Bertil GärtnerBertil GärtnerBertil Edgar Gärtner was a Swedish Lutheran bishop of Gothenburg , and professor of New Testament's exegesis at Princeton Theological Seminary, United States....
1972 - 2009 (Bishop of Gothenburg)
Literature
- 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 [im Kloster Lilienfeld]. Bd 19:2. Salzburg : Inst. für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Univ. Salzburg, 1993 (Analecta cartusiana 35:19), ISBN 3-7052-0923-X