Constructing Saint Birgitta. Birgittine Preaching and the Cult of Saint Birgitta in Vadstena Abbey, 1397–c. 1510

The aim of this study is to examine the construction of Birgitta Birgersdotter (1303–1373) as a saint in sermons from Vadstena Abbey 1397–c. 1510 and the role of sermons in her cult. Even though the cult of Saint Birgitta in Vadstena Abbey has been studied, the sermons on her feast days have received comparatively little attention, even though Saint Birgitta was the founder and patron saint of Vadstena Abbey. Sermons are particularly interesting as a vehicle of Saint Birgitta’s cult.

Paying much attention to the construction of sainthood and the rhetorical strategies used by the preachers, I question the understanding of sainthood as something constant. Rather, I argue that the construction of sainthood is fluid between classical ideals of sainthood and a selection of the unique characteristics of a saint. Thus, I examine the origin, transmission, and change of older ideals in the construction of the sainthood of Birgitta in sermons. This entails examining the composition, structure, and content of the sermons.

I study the sermons against the backdrop of hagiographical and liturgical sources of Saint Birgitta’s cult, and model sermons used for composing sermons. In the usage of model sermons, I argue that preachers are affected by them and at the same time introduce new aspects of Saint Birgitta. Consequently, preachers reinterpret classical ideals of sainthood through the lens of Saint Birgitta’s life. I argue that preachers interpret exemplary stories from hagiography and the revelations by Saint Birgitta to teach about Saint Birgitta as a model of holiness to be followed and imitated. By investigating the sermons about Saint Birgitta, this study not only illuminates a previous unstudied aspect of her cult, but also seeks to explore how sainthood functioned in late medieval sermons.

Birgitta Birgersdotter (1303-1373), alias Saint Birgitta of Sweden, is internationally well-known and one of the patron saints of Europe. Her cult started immediately after her death, and over one hundred manuscript sermons for her three feast days have been preserved from the abbey she founded in Vadstena, Sweden. Sermons are important vehicles of a cult, yet so far there have been few studies of the preserved medieval sermons on Saint Birgitta.

Preachers had multiple sources to choose from when portraying the life of Saint Birgitta. Paying much attention to the construction of sainthood and the rhetorical strategies used by the preachers, I question the understanding of sainthood as something constant. Rather, I argue that sainthood is a fluid construction based on classical ideals of sainthood and a selection among the characteristics of a new saint. By uncovering the origins, transmission, and modifications of the construction of Saint Birgitta in sermons, this study contributes to a deepened understanding of the reception of Birgitta as a saint by the generations following her, demonstrating how she was constructed anew on each preaching occasion as an imitable model of holiness.

By examining the sermons on Saint Birgitta from Vadstena Abbey, this study not only illuminates the importance of the genre of sermons for understanding a saint’s cult, but also offers in-depth exploration of medieval constructions of sainthood, and of the procedures of sermon composition on feast days.