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| Image by Darren Larson |
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Brigid
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A GREETING
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
(Psalm 9:1)
A READING
Mary said, tell me, Lord, why have I come to this place–to gain or to lose?
The Lord said, you have come to reveal the greatness of the revealer.
Mary said to him, lord, is there a place that lacks the truth?
The Lord said, the place where I am not.
Mary said, Lord you are fearful and marvelous.
-- from the Gnostic text, Dialogue of the Saviour, ch. 24,
as found in The Complete Gospels, ed. by Robert J. Miller
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord,
searching every inmost part.
(Proverbs 20:27)
A PRAYER
I should like a great lake of ale For the King of Kings. I should like the angels of heaven to be drinking it through time eternal. I should like excellent meats of belief and pure piety. I should like flails of penance at my house. I should like the men of heaven at my house; I should like barrels of peace at their disposal; I should like vessels of charity for distribution; I should like for them sellers of mercy. I should like cheerfulness to be in their drinking. I should like Jesus to be there among them. I should like the three Marys of illustrious renown to be with us. I should like the people of heaven, the poor, to be gathered around us from all parts.
- from the Prayer of St. Brigid of Kildare,
found in The Flowering of the Soul: A Book of Prayers by Women
edited by Lucinda Vardey
VERSE FOR THE DAY
Love your friends like your own soul,
protect them like the pupil of your eye.
-- from The Gospel of Thomas, ch. 25,
as found in The Complete Gospels, ed. by Robert J. Miller
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A fox on the Mourne Mountains south of Dublin, as photographed by Ryan Simpson,
found on the Facebook page of Ryan Simpson Photography.
Brigid is the third of the three monastic figures commonly referred to as the patron saints of Ireland (with Patrick and Columba) and possibly the most colourful one. She was said to be the daughter of an enslaved woman whom tradition holds gave birth to her while crossing through a doorway with a bucket of milk. This birth has given her the significance of being one who is connected to boundary places and thresholds -- important in Celtic spirituality. Later, she would provide milk for the poor and those living with leprosy from cows that offered a flow far beyond what they would normally produce. Cogitosus, a monk from the order at Kildare that she eventually founded, is credited with writing the first biography of a saint, by recording her life in the mid seventh century.
Perhaps because of her great motherly compassion for all on the margins, Brigid is often compared to and associated with Mary the mother of Jesus. A closer figure within the Christian story might instead be Mary Magdalene. Like Mary Magdalene, she played a significant but largely undocumented role in the unfolding of Christianity in her context. Like Mary Magdalene, there are stories to explain why she never married. In the case of Brigid, they include her own self-disfiguring to repel suitors, only to have her body miraculously made whole again later.
She had a legendary compassion for animals; there are stories about Brigid and the foxes she saved. (The fox is a significant animal in these times, often treated with favour, sometimes domesticated and assumed to have mystical powers.) She was deeply committed to the poor and particularly attentive to those who lived with leprosy. Some of the folklore surrounding Brigid includes trees she blessed that provided an abundance of fruit. She also had an unabashed fondness for ale and operated monastery breweries. There are several paintings that show her changing water into ale, the way Jesus did with wine. In today's prayer attributed to her, the petitions begin with, "I should like a lake of ale..." -- a lively departure from pious language. Included in her prayer is a desire for the company of the 'three Marys of illustrious renown.' Like Mary Magdalene, she was both venerated and looked on with uncertainty for her unconventional ways.
Also like Mary Magdalene, scholarship has suggested that Brigid is a compliation of several figures. She is considered to be a descendant of the pre-Christian Celtic goddess Brigit and through this association, she became a patron saint of livestock and dairy farming, and poetry and the arts, including weaving. The intricately woven St. Brigid’s Cross is still popular today.
Brigid’s feast day is February 1st, which coincides with the Celtic festival of Imbolc, marking the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Imbolc signals the first stirrings of spring, when the trees start to shake off winter and begin to resume new life. The Celtic tree of veneraton for Imbolc is the willow, respected as the mother tree of all trees. Brigid’s flower, the snowdrop, is among the first to appear in the late winter in Ireland.
In the short excerpt from the Gnostic text Dialogue of the Saviour, we hear Mary Magdalene characterized as having ‘come to reveal the greatness of the revealer.’ To uncover or reveal is a special gift of teaching and of ministry. Both Mary and Brigid were able to convey the mystery and the wonder of the Christian story in a way that inspired lives to be transformed. When did you have such a teacher who revealed the mystery of faith to you in a way that opened doors in your life? How can you continue to become such a figure in the life of others?
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| Image by Alcides Ota |
LC† Come Holy Darkness is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year.
Thank you and peace be with you!