As long as we love one another,
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us. 

The themes of Job and Ephesias draw our attention to care for the poor and in need. They encourage us to not turn a blind eye but to give, to see, to bear witness, and to respond. They encourage us to do so knowing that the arc of the universe bends towards justice when we work with it for our mutual liberation. 

The message beneath connects us to this day – Brigid’s Day. 

We know her as a woman for our time. Brigid was also known as a “woman of peace.” Rita Minehan, csb, a scholar and member of the Brigidine Sisters of Kildare, writes in her book Rekindling the Flame: A Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Brigid of Kildare of Brigid and her legacy of hospitality, generosity, care for the poor and for the stranger. So much so in fact she notes that in The Life of Brigid or Vita Brigitae, attributed to the writer Cogitosus in 650 AD, “…twenty three of the thirty-two chapters tell of her extraordinary concern for the poor.” 

The stories of Brigid and her care for the poor are many. One is of the woman who gave her a gift of the finest apples, which she promptly gave to the hungry, much to the dismay of the woman who provided them. “But I gave the choice apples to you, Brigid, as a gift.” Brigid replied, “What’s mine is theirs.”

She is also well known for giving a jewel-encrusted sword to a poor family to trade for food. “In Brigid’s hands, swords become plowshares.” She is also known for the blessings bestowed upon her, the Abbess ordained as Bishop, so that she might provide such hospitality. Legend has it that when Brigid asked the King of Leinster for land to build her abbey, he said she could have as much land as her cloak could cover. And so she unfurled it and it spread across the plain. Today, Kildare, Ireland stands as a beacon of peace. The home of Brigid the Peacemaker who gave council to many is even the home of the Irish Peacekeepers who bring aid and sanctuary across the world. 

Here the work of justice accompanies the call for peace. The Brigidine call is a holistic one. Both a devotional and socially active path, those called to continue Brigid’s work do so in embodied sacred practice tending the elements of fire and water – a literal perpetual flame, and holy well sites – providing sustenance to the physical and spiritual life of the pilgrim, while turning their attention to the difficult issues of our time: “human trafficking, the plight of the displaced person in our world and the welfare of the planet,” as Rita Minehan says in her work “From the Acorn to the Oak: Celebrating the Brigadine Story.”

The Sisters offer hope to do the true work of truth and reconciliation – which means we tell the truth first, and build relationships on the foundations of acknowledgement, of grieving, and of celebration. There is no festival of Bhride (Brigid) without a convening of diverse members of society oriented towards mutual respect, appreciation, service, education and support of our youth. We leave behind forced assimilation and feigned ignorance. We build from a place of healing and forgiveness. We build from our care and reverence for the land, as well as each other.

Brigid is said to have been a woman of healing – through water, through prayer, through reeds into crosses, which continues to this day.  She is the advocate and carer for the stranger, for the sick. She did not allow opinion to sway her from her values nor from her devotions. Her teachings and example of community is like the many petaled rose of the Magdalene. Yet it is the fire and the water in her case that brings us home. 

At Brigid’s Feast, February 1st, we remember we are also at the threshold of Imbolc, one of the eight sacred festivals of the Celtic Wheel, a pre-Christian Irish cycle of seasonal festivals, and the first day of Spring. We are reminded of our old ways of timekeeping in rhythm with the cycles of nature. It is in this remembrance we come home to ourselves in connection with heaven and earth – in the cycles of planting and growing and harvesting. Our true love, our true spirituality is not separate from our vision of God, neither is it separate from the Earth. Brigid’s gift to us is an arc of mending, of sanctuary and of repair. It is a field of consciousness in which the fabric of life is not torn – where the earth is healing, where people are mending, where we as humans are liberated to our full potential as creators, as life givers, as the keepers of this sacred earth, to be mindful, and joyful and humble and free. 

A prayer sung during Brigid’s Eve, January 31st, as pilgrims approach Brigid’s Wayside Well in Kildare, Ireland – Rita Minehan, csb also writes this prayer in her book, Rekindling the Flame: 

St. Brigid’s Well

Oh, come to the water all who are thirsty;
Though you have nothing, I bid you come
And be filled with the goodness I have to offer,
Come, listen, live.
-Is 55:1-3

ALLELUIA  

As long as we love one another,
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us. 

                 1 John 4:12

We are free to love.

On February 1st, the Feast Day of our Saint Brigid, the Brigadine Sisters of Kildare call us to a moment of presence, a Pause for Peace, at 12 noon in your local time. 

The sisters have been preparing youth ambassadors for peace, spreading light among the new generations.

You are very welcome to join us as we focus our intent on a healed world. In honor of Brigid you may wish to light a candle or be beside sacred waters, whether you are alone or in community. 

“You may feel your light is small or insignificant. Be assured your light can make a difference in other people’s lives and in our fragile world.

You may wish to send out light from your heart to family and friends from this special place.

You may wish to send out light to all who are suffering in our world at this time.

You may wish to send out light to planet Earth, our common home.

As you come to the end of your meditation, focus again on your breath, breathing in gently and breathing out gently.

Be in the present moment.

Be at peace.”

-From Rekindling the Flame, by Rita Minehan, csb

On January 28, 2024, during the 1500 year anniversary of the passing of the Saint, a relic of Brigid came home to Kildare. After 1000 years, the woman of the land has made her way home. Kildare is the English of Cille Dara, the Church of the Oak, and this is where Brigid made her home, her abbey of both men and women, her community, her pride of place. At Solas Bhride where the Flame of Brigid burns once again, we celebrate an Irish Saint’s life who, 1500 years ago, taught us that there is a place at the table for everyone. We will continue to honor her legacy holding strong behind the water and the light. We will hold. Here the modern day Brigids, artists and poets work together, all unified in the work of spirit moving through us bringing justice and healing to our world. Whether you relate to the woman, the Goddess, or the Saint, Brigid as keeper of flame and healing water, hearth and home, poetry and earth, for the poor and for the just – she is the woman for our time.

As long as we love one another, God will live in us and his love will be complete in us.