St. Brigid
Catholic Church
Baltimore, Maryland
About Our Patron Saint, St. Brigid
Contact Parish Office
900 S. East Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21224
Phone: 410-563-1717
Email:  sbrigid@archbalt.org

February 1 is the feast of St. Brigid of Ireland, often called Mary of the
Gael. Her feast day is one of the official holy days of the Ladies Ancient Order of
Hibernians, Inc. Hibernians throughout the country gather annually for celebrations in
her honor. St. Brigid’s life was a remarkable one, next to St. Patrick she is the most
revered saint in all of Ireland.

Gaelic Order and the Druidic religion.  St Patrick had already reached Ireland and was
in the process of changing all that, but though his message had reached the court of
Dubhtach, the powerful Leinster Chieftain held firm to the old religion. In his religion,
one of the most powerful goddesses was 'Brid or Brigid,' the goddess of fire whose
knowledge.  Her feast day was the first festival of the year and was held on February 1.
It was the beginning of Spring; the working season for farmers and fishermen and a
time of husbanding of animals and the Celts called on 'Brid' to bless their work and
bonfires were lit in her honor.

Patrick did not condemn the Celts as idolatrous pagans, but explained their druidic
customs in Christian terms and gradually, Bible heroes and Christian saints began to
replace the Celtic gods and goddesses on the Irish calendar.  However, the
personalities of some of the Celtic deities were so strong that they could not be
replaced and one of these was 'Brid' and the rites associated with her continued to be
practiced each February 1 right into Christian times. But this was soon to change.

At about 453 AD, a child was born between Dubhtach and one of his Christian slaves
named Brocessa.  The slave girl was sent to a cabin at the foot of the Cooley
Mountains near Dundalk, Co Louth, to have the child. The baby was a healthy girl.  The
mother was sold to a Chieftain in Connaught and the child was given to a Druid to be
raised and educated. The child was named Brigid; perhaps to seek the blessing of the
goddess for from the very beginning, there were indications that she was special. It
was reported that she was born at sunrise and that the cottage in which she was born
burst into flames when she left it.

Brigid grew into beauty and her love for all of God's creatures knew no bounds. After
her fosterage, she returned to her father's house as a slave, although she enjoyed the
privileges of family. She was given to solitude and loved to wander the woods
befriending the animals. She was renowned for her generosity, giving much of her
father's wealth away to the poor. Many are the stories attributed to this remarkable
lady, including her journey on foot from Leinster to Connaught to find her mother
whom she freed from bondage and returned to the house of Dubhtach.

In keeping with he life planed for her, she became a vestal virgin in service to the
goddess 'Brid' and eventually high priestess at the Kil Dara (the temple of the oak), a
pagan sanctuary built from the wood of a tree sacred to the Druids. There she and her
companions kept a perpetual ritual fire in honor of 'Brid.'

The exact circumstances of her conversion to Christianity are unknown, though it is
certain that her Christian mother was a guiding influence. Some claim that she
personally met St. Patrick which is possible since she was 10 years old before he
died. Whatever the circumstances, Brigid and her companions in service to 'Brid,' all
accepted the Christian faith and formed Ireland's first Christian religious community of
women. Legend tells that upon her acceptance of her vows, fire appeared above her
head.

Brigid changed the pagan sanctuary of Kil Dara into a Christian shrine, which gave its
flame dedicated to Christ, which was thereafter maintained by her followers until it
was doused by the forces of Henry VIII. Brigid's wisdom and generosity became
legend and people traveled from all over the country to share her wisdom. Her
monastery at Kildare became one of the greatest centers of learning in Europe.

She continued her holy and charitable work until her death in 526 AD, when she was
laid to rest in a jeweled casket at Kil Dara. In 835, her remains were moved to protect
them from Norse invaders and interred in the same grave that holds the remains of St.
Patrick and St. Columcille at Downpatrick.

So strong was the respect and reverence for this holy lady that she became the
patroness of parishes, towns and counties, not only in Ireland, but also across Europe.

During the Age of Chivalry, Brigid was so revered as a model of women of every age,
that gentlemen, knights and nobles began the custom of calling their sweethearts
their "Brides" - a custom that has come down to this very day. In Ireland, the people
likened her to 'Brid,' the ancient goddess of fire and wisdom - for wasn't Brigid's life
touched with fire and as for her wisdom, that was undisputed.

As the shamrock became associated with St. Patrick, a tiny cross-made of rushes
was aligned with St. Brigid. Supposedly woven by her to explain the passion of Christ
to a dying pagan, similar crosses are fashioned to this day as a defense against harm
and placed in the rafters of a cottage on the feast day of St. Brigid.

So, it was that reverence for this holy child of Ireland grew so strong that she not only
eclipsed 'Brid' for whom she was named, but was given her Feast Day. Second only to
St. Patrick as a Patron of Ireland, Saint Brigid (St. Bride) holds a cross woven from
rushes (St. Brigid's cross), which was her custom to make when she was instructing
the pagans and which are hung anew in Irish homes each year on her feast day. In her
other hand, she holds a bowl of "St. Brigid's fire," a miraculous fire that burned at her
convent for centuries.

Prayer to St. Brigid
Brigid, You were a woman of peace.
You brought harmony where there was conflict.
You brought light to the darkness.
You brought hope to the downcast.
May the mantle of your peace cover those who are troubled and anxious,
and may peace be firmly rooted in our hearts and in our world.
Inspire us to act justly and to reverence all God has made.
Strengthen what is weak within us.
Calm us into a quietness that heals and listens.
May we grow each day into greater wholeness in mind, body and spirit.
Amen
St. Brigid is the patron saint for babies; blacksmiths;
boatmen; cattle; chicken farmers; children whose parents are
not married; dairymaids; dairy workers; fugitives; infants;
Ireland; Leinster, Ireland; mariners; midwives; milk maids;
raisers; printing presses; sailors; scholars; travellers;
watermen Creativity,  Scholars, Poets