Followers of St. Brigid plan to celebrate her Sunday with the scheduled return of relics associated with Ireland’s so-called patron saint. The festival will take place almost a thousand years after her body was removed from the town of Kildare. She founded a famous monastery in Kildare, and a legend filled with colorful miracles was born.
The celebrations in her hometown, south-west of Dublin, mark the anniversary of the death of Bridget in 1500, a series of events around the world centered around the saint’s feast day on February 1, which marks the 1,500th anniversary of her death around 524 AD. It’s part of the process.
In some ways, Bridget is doing great. The commemoration comes a year after Ireland began holding an annual public holiday in her honour. She was the first Irish woman to be recognized with a public holiday.
St. Patrick has long been Ireland’s best-known saint, but Bridget has gained a growing following in the 21st century. Believers draw inspiration from the ancient pagan goddess Brigid, with whom she shares her name and attributes, as a symbol of female spirituality and empowerment. This occurred amid growing disillusionment with the patriarchal and historically dominant Catholic Church.
Who was stubborn?
First question: Which Bridget?
Brigid is the name of a prominent goddess worshiped by the ancient pagan Celts and the namesake of a saint who lived between the 5th and 6th centuries.
A woman holds up the Cross of St. Brigid as she takes part in a candlelit pilgrimage walk past the ancient well associated with St. Brigid to the Solas Bride Center in Kildare, Ireland, on Tuesday, January 31, 2023. Saint Brigid of Ireland plans to return holy relics associated with the so-called “patron saint of Ireland” on Sunday 28 January 2024, nearly 1,000 years after her remains were removed from her hometown of Kildare. are planning to celebrate. . It is part of a series of events to commemorate the 1,500th anniversary of her death in Ireland and around the world.Credit: AP/Peter Morrison
The goddess Brigid was associated with everything from poetry, healing, and metalwork to nature, fertility, and fire. She was honored on the holy day of Imbolc in midwinter, and today she is commemorated on February 1st, which is also St. Bridget’s Day.
It is said that St. Brigid’s father was a ruler and her mother a slave. Bridget’s life is dramatized by legend, but it is said that she was the abbot of a convent of men and women that became a center of arts and learning and gave the town its name, meaning “oak church” in Irish. It is considered. ”One legend says that when the local king agreed to give her just enough land to fit under his cloak for her monastery, she miraculously transferred the land to her surrounding countryside. It is said that it spread to
St. Brigid traveled, preached, and healed. She is often depicted with images of fire and light, and is associated with fertility, caring for living things, and peacemaking.
Another legend says that Brigid gave her father’s jeweled sword to a poor man to barter for food.
Women pray at St. Bridget’s Cathedral in Fault, Ireland, Wednesday, February 1, 2023. The faithful of St. Brigid in Ireland are planning a celebration on Sunday, January 28, 2024, and the return of relics related to St. Brigid. Dubbed the “Patron Saint of Ireland” – almost 1000 years after her body was removed from her hometown of Kildare. It is part of a series of events to commemorate the 1,500th anniversary of her death in Ireland and around the world.Credit: AP/Peter Morrison
What relics will be returned to Kildare?
Brigid is believed to be buried in her convent church in Kildare. Around the 9th century, her body was moved to the northern town of Downpatrick to avoid raiding by Vikings and other raiders. The shrine was later destroyed by British troops during the Protestant Reformation.
Various churches across continental Europe claim to have relics of St. Brigid. It contained a fragment of Bridget’s skull, which, according to legend, was brought to a church in Portugal by three Irish knights. Fragments of the relic were returned to the Brigidine Sisters elsewhere in Ireland in the 1930s and are kept in a small metal reliquary shaped like an oak tree, reminiscent of Brigid. That is the relic that will be returned to Kildare.
The relics’ new resting place will be a Catholic parish church named after St. Brigid, with plans to put them on permanent display.
What are holy relics? Why do Catholics venerate them?
Catholic canon law states that the church “promotes true and authentic veneration” because of the pious example of the saints. This may include the veneration of holy relics. Relic veneration may include fragments of the saint’s body, the saint’s clothing and other items associated with the saint.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Honor must be clearly distinguished from adoration or adoration, which is due only to God.”
What is ST? Brigid’s Day?
St. Brigid’s Day and Imbolc, a pagan holy day associated with the goddess Brigid and heralding the arrival of spring, both fall on February 1st, but in Ireland they are celebrated on the following Monday.
Why does Brigid have a following in the 21st century?
Brigid’s moment is occurring as many Irish people become disillusioned with traditional Roman Catholicism and its patriarchal leadership in a secularizing culture. Even many devout Catholics are dismayed by scandals such as the cover-up of sexual abuse.
Whether her followers honor Brigid primarily as a saint, a goddess, or a combination of both, they see her as a symbol of female spirituality, environmental care, and artistic creation.
Melanie Lynch, founder of Herstory, which campaigns for a new national holiday, said Brigid’s Day was a day to “stop the senseless war between Christianity and paganism that has been going on for thousands of years” and “bring the wisdom of both lineages together. It is an invitation to see “and beauty.”
What about ST? Will Brigid’s Day be commemorated?
The most dramatic event will be the planned return of the relics to Brigid’s hometown, with a short procession from Solas Bride to St. Brigid’s Parish Church. The church is a Christian spiritual center in Kildare, led by the Brigidine Sisters, whose mission is to “welcome people of all faiths”. The procession will be led by three girls dressed as medieval Irish knights on ponies, who, according to one legend, brought the relics to Portugal centuries ago. It is said that he went
“What struck me was that 1,500 years later she is still so fondly remembered in Kildare and Ireland,” said David Mongay, chairman of local tourism board Into Kildare. “When we think about how we treat the land, how we treat the environment, how we treat animals, how we treat each other, and how we treat ourselves, ’s words, wisdom, and actions are more relevant today than ever.”
Irishman Solas Bride is organizing several events for Brigid’s Light, including a noontime Pose for Peace. Thousands of students plan to mark a pause on the nearby Kara Plain by creating a large St. Brigid’s cross in the shape of a square with four symmetrical arms.
Brigidine Sister Rita Minehan, one of the founders of Solas Bride, said others around the world were also joining in the pause (a minute’s silence at noon local time).
“We are sending a message that we actively oppose war and the proliferation of weapons around the world,” she said. “What is happening in our world is rather frightening. Peace is desperately needed and Brigid was famous as a peacemaker.”
Elsewhere in Kildare, music, ecumenical services and other activities are held.
Herstory, a group that uses art and education to promote female role models, is planning events across Ireland over the holiday and in the days following. These include a dramatic light show in which artistic depictions of Brigid are projected onto historic buildings.
Elsewhere around the world, Irish heritage organizations plan to celebrate the day with concerts and cultural events. The church plans masses in honor of saints, while Wicca and other pagan groups plan meditations and other rituals in honor of the goddess and in observance of Imbolc.