Saint Bridget of Sweden, Religious, Patron of Europe

1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2“Go, and cry out to the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus says the Lord: I have remembered you, taking pity on your youth and on the charity of your betrothal, when you followed me into the desert, into a land which is not sown. 3Israel is holy to the Lord, the first of his fruits. All those who devour him commit an offense. Evils will overwhelm them, says the Lord.”

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7And I led you into the land of Carmel, so that you would eat from its fruit and from its excellence. And having entered it, you defiled my land, and you turned my inheritance into an abomination. 8The priests have not said: ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who held the law did not know me. And the pastors betrayed me. And the prophets prophesied in Baal and followed idols.

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12Be astonished at this, O heavens, and be utterly desolate, O gates of heaven, says the Lord. 13For my people have done two evils. They have forsaken me, the Fountain of living water, and they have dug for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that are unable to hold water.

6Lord, your mercy is in heaven, and your truth is even to the clouds.

7Your justice is like the mountains of God. Your judgments are a great abyss. Men and beasts, you will save, O Lord.

8How you have multiplied your mercy, O God! And so the sons of men will hope under the cover of your wings.

9They will be inebriated with the fruitfulness of your house, and you will give them to drink from the torrent of your enjoyment.

10For with you is the fountain of life; and within your light, we will see the light.

11Extend your mercy before those who know you, and your justice to these, who are upright in heart.

10And his disciples drew near to him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11Responding, he said to them: “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it has not been given to them. 12For whoever has, it shall be given to him, and he shall have in abundance. But whoever has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13For this reason, I speak to them in parables: because seeing, they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14And so, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who said, ‘Hearing, you shall hear, but not understand; and seeing, you shall see, but not perceive. 15For the heart of this people has grown fat, and with their ears they hear heavily, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and then I would heal them.’ 16But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. 17Amen I say to you, certainly, that many of the prophets and the just desired to see what you see, and yet they did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and yet they did not hear it.