SAINT BRIGID was born
at Foughart (near
Dundalk) in
the year 449. Her
father was Dubthach, and her
mother
was Broetsech. She
was very holy, and worked miracles even in
her youth. The young
maiden was sent one day
to a neighbouring house for meadh for
her sick nurse, but got none. She filled
her pitcher with water from a well on her way
home,
and this water became
sweet meadh; and when
her nurse drank it she
became well.
Her parents
wished her to wed one
of the many noble youths who sought to marry her; but she longed
to give herself to God
in the religious state, and answered like Saint Agnes: "I am
betrothed to
Him who has angels for his servants.”
Her brothers met her one day as she
was going to help a
poor family. The eldest said roughly to her:
" Why do you wander about in this
way instead of staying at home? You
are unwilling to do the bidding
of your father, and cling
stubbornly to your own will:
you lead a life of
virginity to the
dishonour and loss
of your
kindred; but
we will overcome your wilfulness, and
get you a husband, and thus get friends
for our family.” The
others, however, moved by her
gentle bearing, said: “It is not
right to persecute our sister in this way:
she has chosen the better part: let
her serve God as she
likes: and let us
not bring guilt on our
souls." The
holy dove
thus got free
from
the clutches of her headstrong brother.
Brigid got the religious veil in
the year 467
from
Bishop MacCaille, in Uisneach Midhe (W. Meath). “She henceforth”, as an ancient writer says, “led a very holy life, helping the needy in
all their wants. She was very modest and humble, never looking on the face
of a man, given to fasting,
prayer, and good works, spotless and patient,
and gladly doing the will
of God at all
times. She was a consecrated shrine to
receive the Body
and Blood of Jesus Christ, a temple of God; her
heart and mind
were
the throne of the
Holy Ghost, and she
shone brightly by her miracles.
As a dove amongst the birds,
as a vine amongst
the trees, as the sun
amongst the stars, so was
she amongst other women;
she helped all who were
in distress and danger, healed sickness and
kept the angry fury of the
sea within bounds. She is
the Mary of Ireland.”
"She
looked not on the face of man:
Nor husband had; nor
brother:
But where she passed the children
ran,
And hailed that Maid their mother.
O Saint, the favourite
of the poor,
The afflicted, weak, and weary:
Like
Mary's was that face she bore,
Men called her Erin's Mary."
A. DE VERE.
Seven maidens, who had consecrated
themselves to
Jesus Christ, came and
lived with her, and walked blameless before God under her skilful
guidance.
The holy Bishop MacCaille
one day made a feast
for them. As soon as they
had sat down Brigid said: "Father,
first feed our souls with spiritual food." He then spoke on the eight
Beatitudes. When
he
had ended, she said: “My beloved sisters, we
are eight in number, and
eight virtues are set
before us, let each of
us choose
one of them." She herself
chose Mercy. She henceforth began her meals
with the Word of God.
Saint Brigid met Saint Patrick soon afterwards, and heard
him preaching. Whilst he was preaching
she seemed
to be asleep. Saint Patrick, after his sermon, said to her: "Tell aloud what you
saw in sleep." She answered: "I had
this vision: I saw
a herd of white oxen amid ripe corn: and then mottled oxen: then black ones: then
sheep and swine: and
lastly, wolves and dogs fighting."
Saint Patrick said: “That
vision foreshadows the future state of this
land.”
Brigid worked many miracles
during her lifetime. Jesus Christ had said: these
wonders
shall follow after those
who have faith: they shall
cast out devils in My Name: they shall
speak with new
tongues: they shall take up
serpents: and if they
drink any deadly thing it shall not
hurt them: they shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall get better.
This promise was
fulfilled in
this holy Virgin, who
was full of faith, whose
conversation
was in heaven, and who
was destined by God
to be the Patroness of Ireland.
Brigid went to Anghaile,
County Longford, where the O'Fearghails
dwelt, and stayed in a
convent of holy
virgins. As
soon as she went into
it the Nuns washed her dust-stained feet, and then poured the
water on the limbs of a Nun
who was a cripple, and
she at once became
well. A woman came
one day to the convent, bringing a basket of
ripe apples from her
orchard as
a gift for Brigid. A leper was lying on the ground near the door. Brigid said
to the woman: “Give some of these apples to that
poor leper.” The woman
answered: “I brought them
for you and your Nuns, and not for lepers.” Brigid
said to her:
“Your trees shall not bear fruit
again.” The woman, on her return home, found
her trees withered, and they never bore fruit
again.
Brigid then went home
with her Nuns. As they
were
driving along the road they saw
a man with his wife
and child working hard in a
field under the
scorching summer sun.
Brigid looked with pity
at them as they went
about bent beneath their heavy loads in the
sweltering heat, and
bade
the driver of
her chariot unyoke the horses and give
them to the man to
help him at his
work. She and her Nuns meanwhile sat down
on
the roadside. She
said to a Nun: "Dig
a little in the earth,
and a stream of water shall flow;
some men are coming,
and they shall need to
drink.” When the Nun had
dug a little in the
earth a clear
stream of water bubbled up and began to flow
along the dusty
road. A throng of
men,
on foot and on horseback, followed by a Chieftain in
his chariot, soon
afterwards came in
sight. They ran at once
to the well to slake
their thirst. When the
Chieftain had learned
what Brigid had done he made her
a gift of his horses,
and then went on his way thanking God and his
holy spouses.
She worked
another miracle at this time.
Two British wayfarers, knowing her great
holiness, said
to her: “We
are sick and suffer much; we
beg
you to heal us." She
answered: "Go into the house, and
you shall there get food and drink; and I
meanwhile will
pray to God
in the Church for you."
But they said roughly
to her: "You heal your own countrymen
when they are sick,
and you will not do anything for us
who are strangers." She said nothing; but, going
into the church, got holy
water, and then coming out sprinkled them with it,
and they were at once
healed. Some pagans, who
were
standing near,
when they saw this miracle,
were
converted.
Brigid built a monastery in the year
484 in a meadow amid
wide-spreading oak trees, and many
maidens
flocked to that holy
house and strove
to walk in her footprints.
It was called Cill-dara.
“In
woods of Oriel-Leinster's vales,
Her convent
home she planted,
And Erin's
cloistered nightingales,
Their matins darkling chanted."
A.
DE VERE.
Her religious
family was spoken of with respect
far and wide;
and the church of Cill-dara became a place
of pilgrimage for
all the Irish. Saint Broegan writes:
“She was a ladder
to heaven for
very many souls, and was called by all
the chaste Head
of the Nuns of Erin.”
“Saint
Brigid is the mother, all men know,
Of Erin's
Nuns that have been or shall
be,
From great
Saint Patrick's time to that
last day
When Christ
returns to judge
the world with fire!
Her life
was full of miracles."
A. DE VERE.
Cuinnen of Conneire writes: “Brigid of the
blessings loved
ceaseless penance beyond womanhood,
watching, and early rising,
and
hospitality to
holy men." She was wont to go forth from the convent
on
winter nights with another
Nun, and to
stand, with scanty
clothing, for
hours, in bitterly
cold water, praying and reciting the Psalms.
Brigid had many visions
at this time. She one day saw men clothed in white
garments
hard at work ploughing the fields throughout the whole island, whilst other men sowed good seed in the furrows. She then
saw men clad in
black garments, ploughing
and
uprooting the growing seed. An angel said to her: "The
workmen in white garments are Saint Patrick and his
holy disciples; the men
in black garments are teachers
who shall come towards
the end of time:
they shall uproot the
Gospel seed."
The Chieftains
were
ever fighting, like angry dogs, against one another. There was peace,
however, wherever Brigid dwelt. Although, as an old writer says, "the whole island was a
trembling sod" on account of the endless wars waged by the clans, no blood
was ever shed in the
neighbourhood
of Cilldara during the lifetime of the holy Virgin. Many Chieftains fled to her
for shelter, and the monastic
church of Cilldara
was looked on by all as
a safe sanctuary and city of refuge.
An ancient writer says: "The
veiled Virgin, who
drives over the Curreach, is a
shield against sharp weapons. No one
was found equal
to her but Mary: let us
put
our trust in our Brigid."
A Chieftain,
dwelling near the
convent, came one
day to see the holy
Virgin, and, when he
was leaving, got her
blessing. He
went home full of gladness.
Whilst he was
sleeping in his rath
that night, a man, who
bore him a deadly hate, broke into his dwelling, and, stealing on tip-toe into his bedroom, stabbed
him with his own
sword, which was hanging at the head of the
bed. He drove it deeply
into his body, and then fled,
thinking he
had killed him. The Chieftain
screamed,
and the inmates of the house rushed in
and
found him covered with blood.
It turned out, however,
that he was only
slightly wounded.
The Chieftain thereupon
said to the bystanders:
“Do not bewail
what has happened, for the
blessing which
I got to-day from Brigid has saved
my life." He went early
the next morning to thank her, and also gave her many
gifts for herself and her Nuns. Brigid coaxed him to
forgive the man who had
striven to kill him,
and, after some time, the two
men became friends through her entreaties.
Brigid was very hospitable
and kind to
strangers and
travellers, and
always gave whatever she
had to the needy. She was an eye to the
blind, and a foot to the lame,
and a mother to the
poor. Her Nuns one day
said to her: “Mother,
you give away everything that God gives
to us through the hands of charitable Christians; you
leave nothing
to us, but give all
to the poor." She answered: "Give earthly things to God, and He
will give you in return both earthly and heavenly gifts.” A young man one
day putting on the clothes of a
beggarman came
to the convent, and bent
down,
leaning on a stick, and
heaving deep sighs,
begged
Brigid to give him a
sheep as an alms. The holy
woman gave a
sheep to him. He came
back
next day and begged her to give
him another. She gave it.
He came back day after day, until he had got
at last the whole flock. He then
gave them back. When the holy Bishop Broon
had come with some
of his Priests to the convent,
she took off their sandals, washed
their feet, and gave them food
and drink as long as they stayed
there. She also gave them
a rich gift when they
were
leaving, as
she was wont to do whenever a guest was going
away. God would
not allow
Himself
to be outdone in generosity, and
gave
her power to multiply food and
drink. Corn and
meadh,
when blessed by her,
often wonderfully increased,
like the oil in the
house of the widow
of Sarepta when blessed by the prophet
Elias.
[Saint Brigid wrote this Hymn,]
“I would like the viands of faith and true piety: I would like the flails of penance to be in my house,
“I would like the men of Heaven to be at my
house.
"I would like kieves of peace to be at their disposal:
“I would like vessels of charity for distribution: I would like caves of mercy for their company.
“I would
like cheerfulness to be in their drinking: I would
like Jesus also to be
amongst them,
“I would
like the three Marys of illustrious renown:
I would
like the people of Heaven to
be there from all parts.
" I would like
to be a rent-payer to the
Lord, that should I suffer
distress, He would
bestow a good blessing upon me.”
Some holy
virgins said one
day to Brigid:
“Mother, why do not water-cresses, on which holy men
live, grow in this stream?" She answered: “They
shall grow there in future." She prayed all through the following night to God to
work this miracle, and the banks of the
stream were thickly
covered with water-cresses the next morning.
Bishop Mel came at this
time to see Brigid, and stayed some days at
Cilldara. He begged her to go with him
to Tailten (Co. Meath)
where Saint Patrick was
then holding a synod. Whilst
she was there she often
spoke to Saint Patrick, and got
great help
from
his teaching. He gave Priesthood to Natfraich,
and
gave him to her
to be her chaplain. She then went back to Cill-dara.
As Natfraich was one
day driving her chariot, she asked him to
give a spiritual discourse to herself and
to the Nun who was
seated by her side.
He threw down
the reins, and, turning
round, spoke of
spiritual
things to them. The horses,
suddenly taking fright, ran down a
steep road overhanging a
precipice;
but they met with no hurt, having been protected by God.
Nectan Mor, a Pictish King,
having
being driven from his kingdom by his brother Drust,
came to see the holy Virgin,
and begged her
to pray for him, Brigid
foretold to
him that he would get
back
his kingdom, and
that God would
have
mercy on him.
It happened as
she had foretold; and when he became King once
more, he gave Abernethy to God
and to her in
the presence of her disciple,
Saint Darlughdach, who sang
Alleluia over the gift.
The holy
Bishop Ercc of
Slaine (Co. Meath) came to see her, and
begged her to
go
with him to Desmumha (S.Munster).
As they were going along the road Brigid
said to him: “Show
me with your hand, where
your
birthplace is."
He showed it to
her, and, seeing that she had a
sorrowful look, he
said: “Why are you
so sad?” She answered: “Because there is warfare
now between your
family and a neighbouring
tribe.” The Bishop
said: “I
readily believe it, for they
are very unfriendly to each
other."
Brigid soon afterwards said to him:
"Your friends
have
been beaten in battle and
are flying from the field.” He afterwards
learned that she
had spoken the truth. They went through Hy-Failge and Eoganacht,
and came to the
rich plain of Feimin. Brigid worked many
miracles there.
Bishop Ultan wrote
them in a book in the
year 650. They arrived at length at the
home of Bishop Ercc, near Dun Gurbhan, on the seashore. She then saw the southern ocean for the
first time.
She beheld
the great sea
slowly break on the shore,
And her
heart quickly beat as she
list to its roar,
For a
vision it seemed of God
on His throne,
And deep
awe filled her soul as
she stood there
alone.
Brigid then turned her footsteps towards Aradha Cliach (Co. Limerick). She and her
companions
got food and shelter on their journey
sometimes at the
strongholds of Chieftains and sometimes
at “houses of hospitality" built alongside the great roads at short distances from each other.
They reached Aradha Cliach
in a few days.
Brigid stayed for some time
in the golden plain of Aine (near Kilmallock). Whilst she was
there she learned that a
man was kept as a
slave by the King
of that country: She went
into his rath, but did
not find him at home. His foster-father and his
children, however, were there. Brigid seeing harps hanging on the wall said to them: "Play for us on your harps." The young
men said to her; "The harpers are, not here,
they have gone out
on the highway.” A
man who was with
Brigid then said to them in
fun: “Play yourselves on the harps for us, and Brigid will
bless your hands so that you may
be able to play:
do
whatever she
bids you to do." They answered: "We will play: let her
bless us.” They then took hold of the harps in
their hands and
began
to play. The
King heard the music as he drew
nigh to the house
and asked: “Who is
playing?” He learned
what happened, and, going in, begged Brigid to bless him also.
When she had blessed him she said: “Do you now
in turn give freedom
to the man who is
in chains."
He gave the man his
freedom at her request.
Brigid then went back to
Cill-dara, and
soon afterwards heard of the death
of Bishop MacCaille, at
Cruach-an-Bri Eile
(Croghan) in
the year 489.
Saint Conladh, a hermit living in Magh-Liflfe, came to Cill-dara
in the year 490, and
soon afterwards became Bishop there.
He once gave some rich
vestments as
a gift to Brigid, "but she” as Saint
Broegan writes, “gave to
the poor even these rich vestments which Bishop
Conladh
had used when offering
the Sacrifice on the festivals
of the Lord." Saint Conladh died in
the year 519.
Brigid and a blind
Nun sat side by side,
speaking of
God and of heaven, one evening as
the sun was sinking
in the west. The night wore on whilst they
were
speaking, and
daybreak came. The
bright morning sun stood on the hilltops,
and turned earth and sky to gold. When Brigid saw the
fields and trees glittering in the sunshine and sparkling
with dew, she
felt sad at heart
at the thought that her beloved friend
could not behold "the beauty
of heaven with
its glorious show," and she prayed to the
God who had made the
sun to give light to her eyes.
She
then laid her fingers gently on the sightless eyeballs, and the
Nun at once was able
to see. She feasted her
eyes for a long time on the blue
sky, the bright flowers,
and the green meadows, gleaming with sunlight, and thanked God with
her whole heart. Withdrawing her
eyes from the lovely scene, and
looking at Brigid, she said: "Mother,
shut my eyes again, for I
fear lest the better I am able
to see earthly things the less I shall be able
to see heavenly things” Brigid yielded to
her wish, and she became
blind for evermore.
Brigid was now always
living in thought in heaven.
Saint Broegan writes: “Brigid never loved the world, and her thoughts
were
ever in heaven. She
overflowed with
faith. She never spoke ill of anyone.
She was kind-hearted and charitable, and had no care but
for God alone, and God worked
more wonders through her than through anyone else. She showed the
same love to all, to
the servants as well as
to her spiritual daughters, to
beggars, and
to the sick.”
“Bridget never turned away her
mind from the Lord, even for one
hour, but was ever
thinking of
Him in her heart and mind.
She
spent her time
diligently serving the Lord,
doing wonders
and miracles, healing every sickness, until
she gave up
her soul to heaven.” (Annals
of Ireland.)
When Brigid,
soon after she had become
a Nun, was one day
driving, she saw a
giddy
youth running wildly along the
road. She sent
one of the Nuns to
fetch him. He
would not come to her
at first, but the Nun
at length coaxed him to go
to her. Brigid said
to him, as he stood abashed before her:
“Whither were you running?" The giddy boy began to laugh, and answered: "I was running towards the
kingdom of Heaven.” Brigid said to
him: “Would
that I were worthy to
run with you
to-day towards the kingdom of God: pray for
me that I may go
to that blissful land." The boy
answered: “Saint,
pray to God that
I may go straight to heaven; and I
will pray in
turn that you may have everlasting happiness,
along with many others” Brigid
said to him:
“I shall get the Body
and
Blood of my Lord Jesus Christ from your hand when
I am dying." The boy
answered: “Would that you
might live long enough to get
Communion from me." He
then went away. But Brigid prayed much
for him, and he thenceforth led
a very holy life,
and carefully kept that
hand stainless which was to
give the last
sacraments to
the holy Virgin.
He was therefore called Ninnidhlamh-glan, Ninnidh of the
stainless
hand. He became a Priest,
and, sailing to Britain, did much
good
there during many years. He was now
once more with Brigid at
Cill-dara, for
her holy life was
drawing
to an end.
The snow-white
rose whom Christ had made
His
bride in His blood was
about to be planted in the heavenly garden of her
Spouse: the busy bee that had been gathering
honey during her whole lifetime, was going
to where
it was stored in the
city of God:
the wise and faithful Virgin was going
forth to meet the divine
Bridegroom with the lamp
of grace burning brightly in her
soul: she was going
to drink for ever of the water of life, and to eat for
ever of the tree of
life. Brigid, the Queen
of the South, the Mary
of the Irish was dying surrounded by angels,
and
by her Nuns. She died a holy and
happy death, February 1st, in the
year 523.
Her body
was buried in the Church, and the Nuns, as Bishop Edmund O'Dwyer writes,
kept a fire burning day and night
before it: “The
hearth burns with Brigid's unceasing fire, and the
ashes do not increase: it is the emblem of
her loving soul."
The bodies of Saint Conladh and of Saint Brigid were afterwards placed, one on the
right and the other on the left
of the altar, in shrines adorned with gold,
silver, and precious stones: and
golden crowns were hung
overhead.
The relics
of the holy Virgin were taken away when
the Danes made an inroad into Hy-Failge,
in the year 835. Bishop de Burgo writes: “I saw
the head of
St. Brigid, the Patroness of
Ireland, in the
year 1770 in the chapel dedicated to
her in the Church of Saint
John Baptist, at Lumiar, near Lisbon.
Her Office and Mass are
celebrated February 1st, and
the members of the Sodality founded in her honour assist at them.
Sheep and cows are brought
there to be blessed.” —
Hibernia
Dominicana.
Saint Brigid was honoured for many
ages in the Irish Church as the
special Patroness of ecclesiastical
students.
Rev. Albert Barry, Lives of Irish Saints (Dublin, n.d.), 1-18.
Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.
Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment