Today in the Christian Calendar we Celebrate
the life of Brigid Celtic Saint, Bishop, Healer and Abbess of Kildare
Died: Feb
1st 451
Brigid of Ireland said, “I would like the angels of Heaven to be among
us. I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I
would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over
all. I would like Jesus to be present.” [1]
Brigid was probably born at
Faughart near Dundalk, Louth, Ireland. Her parents were baptized by St. Patrick, with
whom she developed a close friendship. According to legend, her father was
Dubhthach, an Irish chieftain of Lienster, and her mother, Brocca, was a slave
at his court. Even as a young girl she evinced an interest for a religious life and took the veil in her youth from St. Macaille at Croghan and probably was professed
by St. Mel of Armagh, who is believed to have
conferred abbatial authority on her. She settled with seven of her virgins at
the foot of Croghan Hill for a time and about the year 468, followed Mel
to Meath. About the year 470 she founded a double monastery at Cill-Dara
(Kildare) and was Abbess of
the convent, the first in Ireland. The foundation developed
into a center of learning and spirituality, and around it grew up the Cathedral city of Kildare. She founded a school
of art at Kildare and its illuminated manuscripts became famous, notably the Book of Kildare, which was
praised as one of the finest of all illuminated Irish manuscripts before its disappearance three
centuries ago. Brigid was one of the most remarkable women of her times, and
despite the numerous legendary, extravagant, and even fantastic miracles
attributed to her, there is no doubt that her extraordinary spirituality,
boundless charity, and compassion for those in distress were real. She died at
Kildare on February 1. The Mary of the Gael, she is buried at
Downpatrick with St. Columba and St. Patrick, with whom she is the
patron of Ireland. Her name is sometimes Bridget and Bride. Her feast day is February 1.[2]
Brigid’s association with nature and fertility is
certainly an inheritance from Ireland’s pagan past, baptized. Her foundation at
Kildare (in Irish, cill dara, “church of the oak”) was built under an oak tree
sacred to the Druids, next to a holy well to which women had long come asking
for deliverance from barrenness, and the nuns under Brigid’s care tended the
eternal flame the initiates of the goddess Bride had lit. Ages before today
became her feast day in the Calendar of Saints, this day was celebrated by the
Celts as Imbolc, the inauguration of the spring season of lambing and of cattle
coming into milk. Imbolc means
“in the belly,” a reference to the ewes’ bellies full to bursting with
pregnancy. Of the many miracles attributed to St Brigid, the most notable are
those associated with fertility and abundance and hospitality–increasing the
yield of milk in times of drought, making butter churns overflow. My favorite,
because of the way it epitomizes the triumph over dualism that Brigid
symbolizes, is the legend that angels mystically transported her back in time
and across space to serve as the wet nurse and foster mother for the Christ
Child. Here is a great wonder indeed: A virgin suckling the Virgin’s Son![3].
Difficult for us to countenance and legend will be mixed with fact.
miracles:
Several of
Brigit’s miracles occurred on Easter Sunday. On this day, a leper had come to
Brigit to ask for a cow. She asked for a time to rest and would help him later;
however, he did not wish to wait and instead stated he would go somewhere else
for a cow. Brigit then offered to heal him, but the man stubbornly replied that
his condition allowed him to acquire more than he would healthy. After
convincing the leper that this was not so, she told one of her maidens to have
the man washed in a blessed mug of water. After this was done, the man was
completely cured and vowed to serve Brigit.
On another occasion, Brigit was traveling to see a physician for
her headache. They were welcomed to stay at the house of a Leinsterman. His
wife was not able to have children that survived except for two daughters that
had been dumb since their birth. Brigit was traveling to Áth with the daughters
when her horse suddenly startled, causing her to wound her head on a stone. Her
blood mixed with the water here. Brigit then instructed one of the girls to
pour the bloodied water onto her neck in God’s name causing the girl to be
healed. The healed sister was told to call her sister over to be healed as
well, but the later responded that she had been made well when she bowed down
in the tracks. Brigit told the cured sisters to return home and that they also
would birth as many male children that their mother had lost. The stone that
Brigit had injured herself cured any disease of the head when they laid the
head on it.
One of the
more commonly told stories of St. Brigid was when she went to the King of
Leinster to ask for land to build a convent. She told the king that the place
where she stood was the perfect place for a convent. It was beside a forest
where they could collect firewood and berries. There was also a lake nearby
that would provide water and the land was fertile. The king laughed at her and
refused to give her any land. Brigid prayed to God and asked him to soften the
king’s heart. Then she smiled at the king and said “will you give me as much
land as my cloak will cover?” The king thought that she was joking and because
Brigid’s cloak was so small he knew that it would only cover a very small piece
of land. The king agreed and Brigid spread her cloak on the ground. She asked
her four friends to hold a corner of the cloak and walk in opposite directions.
The four friends walked north, south, east and west. The cloak grew immediately
and began to cover many acres of land. The king was astonished and he realized
that she had been blessed by God. The king fell to the ground and knelt before
Brigid and promised her and her friends money, food and supplies. Soon
afterwards, the king became a Christian and also started to help the poor and
commissioned the construction of the convent. Legend has it, the convent was
known for making jam from the local blueberries which was sought for all over
Ireland. There is a new tradition beginning among followers of St. Brigit to
eat jam on the 1st of February in honour of this miracle. [8]
It was also said that once an elderly woman appeared at her door
begging for food and Brigit turned her down as the only piece of food she had
in the house was a dish of butter. The old woman replied to Brigid saying even
that would do. When Brigid turned away from the door she saw on the table three
dishes of butter. It seemed that the lord had rewarded her for her kindness.[4]
Lessons from the life of Brigid.
Living, Missionaly, and contextually
in a pluralistic culture. Brigid was an Irish Christian and as Christianity crosses
culture, the message of the Gospel is always contextualised within it. In her
role as Bishop she would reach out to the Druidic population around
demonstrating the power of God and taking their symbols and stories and
baptising them so the message of the Gospel could be heard.
The eternal
flame of Bride became the symbol of the welcoming Holy Spirit as the Monks and
Nuns practised radical hospitality. The Rush cross symbol of fertility became
the symbol of New life from Christs death on the cross. In a world of druids she would perform
miracles on Christian feasts of healing instead of death through human
sacrifice at the druids feasts of solstice’s. The Tri-une God was not a God who
wounded but healed and did not have to be appeased. We may struggle with some
of the miracles attested to her but remember the days and the context. The
Gospel was being proclaimed to a mystical people who could only conceive of god
in these ways. God moves in mysterious
ways and signs that attest to His being are they way He rolls !
Lastly
Brigid was an Apostolic leader, she church planted and exercised the office of
Abbess and Bishop over the Nun’s and Monk . The issue of her authority was never
questioned according to her gender but rather to her Holiness of life and the
anointing of God upon her life. Oh that the church today would see women in the
light of Patrick and Columba.
[1] Brigid
Irish Saint accessed at : http://christian-way.com/brigid-of-ireland-i-would-like/
On 1st of February 2013
[2] Brigid
Catholic online Accessed at : http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=453#top
on 1st of February 2013
[3] Patheos the life of Brigid, Acessed at : http://www.patheos.com/blogs/egregioustwaddle/2012/02/bacon-and-butter-and-bathtub-beer-why-the-church-needs-st-brigid-bad.html
on 1st of February 2013.
[4] Wiki article on Brigid of
Kildare, accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigit_of_Kildare
on 1st of February 2013
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