Feast days are a novelty for me but there’s something about the idea that really appeals – celebrating my favourite saints provides a nice punctuation to my year. Usually, I choose to do it with prayer, flowers, and food – and an altar is always joy to assemble!

Those are the outer gestures I make, but there are other, inner, observances – particularly for Birgitta. I have lived with her, studied her life, for over a decade now, and I marvel at how she moves through my life, and what her presence has come to mean to me. Studying her life has brought medieval studies to life for me, and has brought me back to life as a writer, teaching me that my seventies can be a time of vitality, learning, and excitement.

My gratitude knows no bounds.

In some churches Birgitta is being held up today as a ‘formidable’ woman, and one who knew how to abide in God.  I would say that sums her up pretty well. But I also love the descriptions given by those who knew her, that she was high-spirited and possessed a cheerful nature. Being formidable is admirable, but it is good cheer that makes one approachable and allows love to flourish.

Happy Feast Day, St Birgitta!