St. Bridget of Sweden, Patron of Europe

SYON ABBEY: ST BIRGITTA'S LESSONS FOR THE FIRST WEEK

read daily at the Brigittine Syon Abbey in Devon

MONDAY

First Reading

It was love that led God to create.

There could be nothing lacking in God,

nothing wanting to his goodness or his joy.

It was out of love alone that he willed creation,

that there might be beings, apart from himself,

who would partake of his infinite goodness and joy.

So the Angels came to be,

created by God in countless numbers.

To them he gave free will,

freedom to act, in accordance with their nature,

as they willed.

As he himself is under no necessity

but has created out of love alone,

he wills that the Angels,

whom he designed for eternal happiness with him,

should likewise be under no necessity.

He looked for love in response to his love,

obedience to his offer of eternal joy.

Second Reading  

Yet in the first moment of their creation,
there were Angels who chose, freely and deliberately
against their Creator,
in spite of his infinite love, which called them to love in return.
Justly they fell, fixed in their evil will,
from an eternal joy into an eternal misery.
But not all fell.
To those Angels who chose love for love,
there was given the contemplation of God
in all his glory, power and holiness.
From this contemplation, they came to know the eternity of God,
that he has no beginning and no end;
they learnt what it meant to have him for their Creator;
and they saw most clearly
how everything they possessed had come to them from his love
and his power.
They learnt too that his wisdom had given them a wisdom of their own,
but which he allowed them to foresee the future.
And it was a joy and consolation to them
to know that God in his mercy and love
wished to replace, in his own way,
those Angels who had forfeited by pride and envy
their place in heaven.

Third Reading

In their contemplation of God,
the Angels saw with wonder
a throne placed next to that of God himself.
They knew that the one for whom this throne had been prepared
had not yet been created.
Yet already they loved this chosen one,
and rejoiced as they waited.
Their love for each other was born of their love for God.
But between these two loves they saw one who was more lovable
than themselves,
one whom God loves with great joy
more than all his creatures.

Virgin Mary, you were the chosen one,
destined for that throne near to the throne of God.
It was you whom the Angels loved, after God,
from the first moment of their creation,
seeing in the contemplation of God,
how beautiful he had made themselves,
but how much more beautiful he would make you.
They saw that in you there would be a love and a joy far greater
than their own.
They saw too the crown that awaited you,
a crown of glory and beauty surpassed only by the majesty of God.
They knew how God their Creator was glorified by themselves and they rejoiced.
They knew how much more he would be glorified by you,
and they rejoiced still more.
Before ever you were created, Mary,
God and Angels together rejoiced in you.