I want to tell the story of Birgitta Birgersdotter, a medieval noblewoman who leaves the Swedish court to devote her life to God, then travels the Camino de Santiago across Europe to Spain as a pilgrim, finding both humanity and spirituality on the road.
Birgitta is the patron saint of Sweden, a medieval woman who both fascinates and inspires me. I first met her nine years ago when I was researching for a lecture on Scandinavian pilgrimage that I would be giving to participants on a tour of Sweden that we were leading. She is well known in Sweden, and well loved – but not a lot has been written about her in English. Interested, but unsure how to find out more, I jumped at the chance to go back to Sweden a few months later — and was thrilled by unexpected opportunities to meet Birgitta where she was born and raised. I felt like Birgitta herself was inviting me to become better acquainted. Did she want something from me? Was she offering something? I didn’t know, and I was willing to be patient. But years passed.
Eighteen months ago, a small gift of a silver scallop shell arrived in the mail and as I opened it, I heard the words: it started in Corticela. A mystery. Another invitation. A calling. An adventure. Somehow I knew it was Birgitta again.
I have spent those months researching and studying her life and works. Over time, I needed to put it all into my own words, in simple terms, to make sure that my thoughts made sense and that I could articulate what I was learning. I wrote her story as if I were telling my grandchildren about a dear friend – may you come to love her as much as I do!