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82 A History of Sweden
she involuntarily cried out, and her heart beat violent-
ly within her. Then the Crucified opened his lips and
in a sad voice answered softly: "All who forget me
and scorn my love."
Suddenly the light seemed to go out. She could
scarcely distinguish the crucifix from the altar. But
she could not go to sleep. She could hear the throbbing
of her heart in the stillness of the night, and it seemed
as if every beat drove nails into her soul. She could
not remain in bed. In her bare feet she sprang to the
cold floor and threw herself at the foot of the cross.
She was filled with a longing to spend her life in
the service of God in the quiet of a cloister cell. But
she had to wait for the fulfillment of her dreams. At
the early age of thirteen she was given in marriage
by her father to a young knight of eighteen, the son of
her father’s friend. Such betrothals between children
were often made by parents that two families might be
united for mutual help.
Her Revelations and Asceticism. At the age of forty
Birgitta lost her husband. A few days after his death,
while she was at prayer, she beheld a shining cloud,
and out of it she heard a voice, saying, "Woman, hear
me. I am your God, and I will speak to you. You are
my bride and the connection between me and the peo-
ple. You are to hear and see spiritual things, and my
Spirit shall abide with you to your last day."
She had received from her dying husband a gold
ring, which he asked her to wear as a memory of their
marriage. She now removed the ring from her finger.
And when people were astonished at such heartless-
ness, she said, "When I buried my husband, I buried
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