St Brigid

Good day all.

The 1st February is St Brigid's day. If like me, you enjoy a Celtic twist to your Christian life then the 1st and 2nd of February are her days. As with a lot of the Celtic saints there is much myths and legends about her life that we would struggle to take literally.

One such legend tells us that one day she was looking for land to build a monastery for her community and King Leinster refused her request. She persevered! She then asked for as much land as her cloak would cover, so the king agreed since her cloak was so small. Laughing, he didn't hesitate to agree to her unconventional request but miraculously the cloak grew as she laid it down to cover many acres. The king could not retract his agreement and so it was that Brigit gained the land to build the monastery at Kildare.

Along with St Patrick, St Brigid is one of the most important figures in the history of Ireland's Christian beginnings.

Brigid is known for many things such as kindness, generosity of heart, hospitality, her outreach to the poor and needy, her love and care of animals and indeed all of nature and her bravery in speaking truth to power - all qualities that are most needed today. To celebrate St Brigid's day people will make St Brigid's crosses out of rushes, but there are many other ways of engaging with the Brigid 'mindset' such as thinking again about our own relationship with the earth and how we might 'do better'; thinking about our own call to kindness and hospitality, where is this needed most? where might we be called to speak truth to power in the injustices, we see around us?
So, with St Brigid offering us some food for thought for this week do enjoy these early signs of spring for when the snowdrops begin to appear legend has it that her spirit draws near!

Blessing to all,
Jayne