Happy St. Brigid’s Day!

A Saint that I have always loved, even before coming to Orthodoxy, is St. Brigid of Kildare. She’s a major figure in early Monasticism, in Celtic Orthodoxy and in Irish lore. She’s known for her hospitality which is a good thing to strive for in my own home. We even have a cat named after her (which I’ve since learned isn’t quite correct, oops). It’s also the Patron Saint day of both Mary Brigid and my friend Joni, so many years to you! Her life can be read here.

My church school kids made St. Brigid’s cross on Sunday out of paper. Next time, I’ll cut the strips thinner so we can do a second layer, but they turned out quite nice. I figured it was more appropriate than having them make homemade beer, which she’s also famous for, grin!

Father Thomas reminded me of this poem:



THE GIVEAWAY
[from THE LOVE LETTERS OF PHYLLIS MCGINLEY, New York, Viking Press, 1957]

Saint Bridget was
A problem child.
Although a lass
Demure and mild,
And one who strove
To please her dad,
Saint Bridget drove
The family mad.
For here's the fault in Bridget lay:
She WOULD give everything away.

To any soul
Whose luck was out
She'd give her bowl
Of stirabout;
She'd give her shawl,
Divide her purse
With one or all.
And what was worse,
When she ran out of things to give
She'd borrow from a relative.

Her father's gold,
Her grandsire's dinner,
She'd hand to cold
and hungry sinner;
Give wine, give meat,
No matter whose;
Take from her feet
The very shoes,
And when her shoes had gone to others,
Fetch forth her sister's and her mother's.

She could not quit.
She had to share;
Gave bit by bit
The silverware,
The barnyard geese,
The parlor rug,
Her little
niece-'s christening mug,
Even her bed to those in want,
And then the mattress of her aunt.

An easy touch
For poor and lowly,
She gave so much
And grew so holy
That when she died
Of years and fame,
The countryside
Put on her name,
And still the Isles of Erin fidget
With generous girls named Bride or Bridget.

Well, one must love her.
Nonetheless,
In thinking of her
Givingness,
There's no denial
She must have been
A sort of trial
Unto her kin.
The moral, too, seems rather quaint.
WHO had the patience of a saint,
From evidence presented here?
Saint Bridget? Or her near and dear?


Both Laura and Dawn have written beautiful posts as well. Thank you.

Holy St. Brigid, pray to God for us.


icon from All Saint's Church (which is Episcopalian, it appears)