Order of the Redeemer

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The hl. Birgitta in the habit of the Order of the Redeemer

The Order of the Redeemer , complete Order of the Most Holy Redeemer ( lat. Ordo sanctissimi Salvatoris ), abbreviation OSsS , OSSalv or OSBirg , also called Birgit Order after its founder , was originally a double order for nuns and monks . It was founded in 1346 by St. Birgitta (1303-1373). Birgitta of Sweden was made a co-patroness of Europe in 1999 by Pope John Paul II, together with Katharina von Siena and Edith Stein . The Order of the Redeemer now has 570 sisters worldwide.

The convents live according to the rule of St. Augustine and usually consist of nuns headed by an abbess . During the time of the double monasteries, the no more than 60 nuns were cared for by a community of ideally 13 religious priests - who corresponded to the number of Jesus Christ and his apostles. Deacons and lay brothers could also live in the monastery. However, the religious lived outside the enclosure . In their own large consulting room, the so-called collocutorium , which was shared by a cloister with a shop, men and women religious could talk to each other without looking at each other. For a long time, however, there have been separate monasteries for women religious and men of the Order of the Redeemer.

Nun of the Order of the Redeemer

There are several branches of the Order of the Redeemer: From the old branch, which has existed since the Middle Ages, there are still three independent monasteries: the abbeys Pax Mariae in Vadstena , Maria Refugie in Uden and Maria Hart in Weert in the Netherlands. The convent of Syon Abbey in England was closed in 2012. In January 2017, the Altomünster monastery , in which at last only one professed and several female candidates lived, was closed.

In 1911, the Swedish convert Elisabeth Hesselblad founded a branch of the order in the tradition of the original order of the Savior, the motherhouse of which is located in Rome at the church of Santa Brigida . This is commonly called the “Swedish branch”. The Birgittenkloster Bremen is one of the more than 50 branches . The founder was beatified in April 2000 and canonized in 2016.

There is also a Spanish branch, the Birgitten von Valladolid (founded in 1630) and a fraternity in the United States (founded in 1976).

As a religious dress , the nuns wear a gray habit with a black veil, over which a linen crown made of three white linen strips with five red dots, which symbolize the five wounds of Christ, the brothers wear a gray or black habit with an emblem of the order on the scapular .

See also

Web links

Commons : Order of the Redeemer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Antje Dechert, Bayerischer Rundfunk: End of a tradition - Vatican closes Altomünster monastery. December 7, 2015, accessed August 21, 2019 .
  2. ^ [1] Own representation of the branch of the order. [2] Description on the homepage of the old branch. Accessed on December 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ [3] Own representation of the branch of the order. Retrieved December 8, 2015