Societas Sanctæ Birgittæ (SSB) is a High Church Lutheran devotional society with character of third order for priests and laity, men and women in the Church of Sweden who, in reverence to Saint Birgitta of Sweden and following her example, want to serve the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Sweden. SSB was founded in 1920 as a refuge for those who in a time of liturgical and theological decline longed for a richer divine service, sincere worship and scriptural preaching in the Church of Sweden.
SSB tries to realise these aims by means of a revival of the practice of Holy Communion and Prayer both by the individual members of the Church and in the parishes, 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 cure of souls. SSB holds its General Chapter, at Vadstena, every year at the time of "the Heavenly Birthday" of Saint Birgitta (23rd July). It is one of the biggest annual High Church events in Sweden. As a rule conventions 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 clergymen 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.
Contents |
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 Rosen 1920 - 1964
- Ingrid af Ekenstam 1964 - 1983
- Anna-Greta Roos 1983 - 1990
- Anna Greta Norén 1990 -
Visitors of SSB
- The Right Reverend Gustaf Aulén 1935 - 1959 (Bishop of Strängnäs)
- The Right Reverend Olof Herrlin 1962 - 1972 (Bishop of Visby)
- The Right Reverend Bertil Gärtner 1972 - (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
