Compiled here is information about, and references to, the 15 Prayers of St. Birgitta:
---------------
[from http://www.marypages.com/BrigittaEnglish.htm]
These prayers are approved by Pope Pius IX.
. . .
St. Bridget (Birgitta) is known for the revelations she received on the wounds and passion of Jesus, known as the "15 Prayers of St. Bridget".
. . .
Saint Bridget prayed for a long time to know how many blows Our Lord suffered during His terrible Passion. Rewarding her patience, one day He appeared to her and said: "I received 5475 blows upon My Body. If you wish to honor each of them in some way pray the following prayers each day for a whole year. When the year is over, you will have honored each one of My Wounds." Our Lord gave many promises to those who recite these prayers. Many people have done this and benefited greatly.
. . .
Our Lord grants these promises to all who devoutly recite the 15 Saint Brigit Prayers every day for a year: I will deliver 15 souls of his lineage from purgatory; 15 souls of his lineage will be confirmed and preserved in grace; 15 sinners of his lineage will be converted; Whoever recites these Prayers will attain the first degree of perfection; 15 days before his death, I will give him My Precious Body in order that he may escape eternal starvation, I will give him my Precious Blood to drink lest he thirst eternally; 15 days before his death he will feel a deep contrition for all his sins and will have a perfect knowledge of them; I will place before him the sign of My Victorious Cross for his help and defense against the attacks of his enemies; Before his death I shall come with My Dearest Beloved Mother; I shall graciously receive his soul, and will lead him into eternal joys; And having led it there I shall give him a special draught from the fountain of My Deity, something I will not do for those who have not recited My Prayers; Let it be known that whoever may have been living in a state of mortal sin for 30 years, but who will recite devoutly, or have the intention to recite these Prayers, I the Lord will forgive him all his sins; I shall protect him from strong temptations; I shall preserve and guard his five senses; I shall preserve him from a sudden death; His soul will be delivered from eternal death; He will obtain all he asks for from God and the Blessed Virgin; If he has lived all his life doing his own will and he is to die the next day, his life will be prolonged; Every time one recites these Prayers he gains 100 days indulgence; He is assured of being joined to the supreme Choir of Angels; Whoever teaches these prayers to another will have continual joy and merit which will last throughout eternity; There where these Prayers are being said or will be said in the future, God is present with His Grace.
---------------
[from http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Marble/8229/english.htm ]
The Fifteen Prayers revealed by Our Lord to Saint Bridget of Sweden: "I received 5480 blows on My Body. If you wish to honor them in some way, say 15 Our Fathers and 15 Hail Marys with the following Prayers (which He taught her) for a whole year. When the year is up, you will have honored each one of My Wounds." . . .
These prayers are published under sanction of the Decree of November 18, 1986, published in the Acts Apostolicae Sedis, Vol. 58, No. 16 of December 29, 1966.
PRAYERS approved by Pope Pius IX Magnificent Prormses to Saint Bridget of Sweden
Pope Benedict XV expressed himself as follows on the Revelations of St. Bridget: "The approbation of such revelations implies nothing more than, after mature examination, it is permissible to publish them for the unit of the faithful. Though they don't merit the same credence as the truths of religion, one can, however, believe them out of human faith, conforming to the rules of prudence by which they are probable, and supported by sufficient motives that one might believe in them piously."
(Les Petits Bollandistes, tome XII)
The 14th of June 1303, at the moment Bridget was born, Benedict, the curate of Rasbo, prayed for the happy deliverance of Ingeborde. Suddenly he found himself enveloped by a luminous cloud out of which Our Lady appeared: "A child has been born at Birger; her voice will be heard by the entire world." Sagii, die XXIV Aprilis 1903
Imprimatur F. J. GIRARD, V.G. These Prayers and these Promises have been copied from a book printed in Toulouse in 1740 and published by the P. Adrien Parvilliers of the Company of Jesus, Apostolic Missionary of the Holy Land, with approbation, permission and recommendation to disbribute them.
Parents and teachers who will read them to young infants for at least one year will assure their being preserved for life from any grave accident which would involve the loss of one of their five senses.
Pope Pius IX took cognizance of these Prayers with the prologue; he approved them May 31, 1862, recognizing them as true and for the good of souls.
This sentence of Pope Pius IX has been confirmed by the realization of the promises by all persons who have recited the prayers and by numerous supernatural facts by which God wanted to make known their exact truth. A collection of small books, these prayers among them, was approved by the Great Congress of Malines on August 22, 1863.
Question - Must one recite the Prayers everyday without interruption to obtain the privileges?
Answer - One should miss saying them as few times as possible; but if for a serious reason one is obliged to miss them, one doesn't lose the privileges attached to them, as long as one recites 5480 Prayers during the year. One must say them with devotion and concentrate on the words one pronounces.
These prayers can serve as the Way of the Cross.
Visitors to the Church of St. Paul at Rome can see the crucifix, above the Tabernacle in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, scupltured by Pierre Cavallini, before which St. Bridget knelt when she received these 15 Prayers from Our Lord. The following inscription is placed in the church to commemorate the event: "Pendentis, Pendente Dei verba accepit aure accipit et verbum corde Brigitta Deum. Anno Jubilei MCCCL."
---------------
[from The Catholic Encyclopedia: Primer : Early Printed Primers. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12425a.htm ]
Early Printed Primers
A very large number of editions of the Primer came from the press before Henry VIII threw off his allegiance to the pope. Such books containing the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin and the Vigiliae Mortuorum with miscellaneous private devotions were common enough everywhere throughout Europe and were generally known as "Horae". But the English name, the name commonly used when these books were spoken of in English, was "Primer". Though Caxton himself is known to have printed four editions, and there are probably more of his that have perished, while his successors multiplied editions rapidly, the English printers were unequal to supply the demand. A vast number were produced "secundum usum Sarum" by the presses of Paris, Rouen, and elsewhere, many of them exceedingly beautiful in their typography and ornamentation, and a considerable number printed on vellum. Besides the constant elements already specified, these books commonly contain some other minor offices, e.g., that of the Passion, that of the Angels, etc., and a vast number of commemorations of individual saints. The beginnings of the four Gospels are also often found with the Athanasian and other creeds, and prayers for Confession and Communion. An almost invariable adjunct, either in Latin or English, was the fifteen prayers attributed to St. Bridget and known as "the fifteen O's",
---------------
[from the book The Amazing Secrets of the Souls in Purgatory: an interview with Maria Simma by Sr. Emmanuel of Medjugorje, c1997 Queenship Publishing Company.]
[p.23] (Regarding the need to pray for souls in Purgatory . . . )
I recommend strongly as well the prayers of St. Bridget which are most recommended for the poor souls.
Let me add something important: the souls in Purgatory can no longer do anything for themselves; they are totally helpless. If the living do not pray for them, they are totally abandoned. Therefore, it is very important to realize the immense power, the incredible power that each one of us has in his hands to relieve these souls who suffer.
---------------
