Saint Brigid 'Heroine of the Golden Age'

Today is the Feast of Saint Brigid and so I offer my annual antidote to the new Brigid for a new Ireland with an account from the Australian press published ninety years ago which sees her as the 'Heroine of the Golden Age'. It begins by depicting Saint Brigid primarily as the 'patron saint and protector of all young and tender growing things' but without the neo-pagan overtones of today's nature-worshipping goddess. Particularly striking to me was the analysis of the secret of Brigid's greatness, where the anonymous author struggles to reconcile our saint's gentle womanly side with her abilities as a missioner and her 'extraordinary versatility', despite describing her later on as 'preaching and teaching better and harder than ten men'. There is an interesting section on Saint Brigid's connection with bells plus a wonderful presentation of the 'pastoral republic of Kildare' as a 'lost Utopia'. As an offering for Saint Brigid's feast day, this article brings together all of the traditional information the Irish expatriate in Australia would need. I wish everyone in every part of the world celebrating Saint Brigid's Day, the blessings of the feast!

St. Brigid

February is the month of, St Brigid, and today February 1, her feast is kept. She is the patron saint and protector of all young and tender growing things, babies, lamb and flowers. She spreads her cloak against the, harsh east wind to give shelter to precocious nature.

Friend of the Lambs. —They say that when the young lambs cry out in the night on the hillsides, they are calling to Brigid to bring the shepherds to them. Others say that that she brings the lambs down to the shepherds herself, carrying them under her kindly cloak. She is often represented with a lamb in her arms. She loved animals, and gave to them pity and mercy, and all living things loved her. The shyest of the wild birds flew to her as they did to St. Francis.

Her Greatness.—The modern mind may find it difficult to associate this gentle mother with one of the greatest organisers and missioners that Ireland has ever known. Yet Brigid was, in her own way, as great a missioner as St. Patrick. And she was the greatest of all Irish women. In her were united two qualities that are so often incompatible, greatness and goodness, and when they meet a miracle happens and a saint is born.

Brigid's legend is packed with anecdotes illustrating the many sides of her extraordinary versatility.The legend is a safe guide, as it is the evidence of contemporary opinion. For Brigid to have impressed herself so indelibly on her generation, and on the generations that followed, means that she-must have been truly remarkable. We must only guess at her greatness.

She was the spiritual link between Patrick and Columkille. She was born about 450 A.D., while Patrick was still preaching. She died in 525 A.D., four years after Columkille was born. The legends about her beginning in her early years. She worked on the farm, in the fields, and in the Druid's dairy. On the farm she befriended all the animals, and in the dairy she was one of the best butter-makers. The old tales say that although she gave away an undue proportion of butter and milk to every poor person who passed the door, yet she always had enough over and to spare. Brigid's generosity brought upon her the anger of her master; but when he discovered the daily miracle of the butter and milk he recanted, and offered her the whole lot. Her fame began to spread, and people began to take notice of her. She got many good offers of marriage, but her vocation was clear. She became a nun and seven other virgins followed her example. Each of them chose a Beatitude, and Brigid chose "Blessed are  the merciful for they shall obtain mercy."

Brigid of the Bells.—Not for her the peaceful cloister, yet. She travelled throughout Connaught, preaching and teaching better and harder than ten men. When her fame was growing, the King of Leinster offered her land to build a monastery, and on it she founded the abbey and school which were to be for centuries the most famous in the land.

She built her first oratory under an oak tree on the banks of the Liffey—the tree survived down to the tenth century—and there established her Cill, afterwards famous as Cill Dara (Kildara), the Church of the Oak. The abbey and school became, great centres of religion and learning, and from all over Ireland the pilgrims and scholars came, seeking faith or learning. She was joined by her kinsman, Conleath, a hermit and a skilled craftsman in metals. He became Bishop of this growing Community, but, even when he was Bishop Conleath, continued his bellmaking. Under his inspiration and Brigid's, a decorative metal school was developed in Kildare, and they turned out bells, croziers, shrines, and other articles for churches far and near. Brigid's name became associated with bells, and bells were christened after her. St. Bride's, in Fleet-street, London, was one of the churches under her patronage.

The Pastoral Republic.—The Kildare settlement prospered and expanded. They had their Abbey, their school, their culture, their crafts, and arts, their farms and herds and dairying. It is hard to visualise, in this tormented age, the sweet contentment of that happy colony on that pleasant plain. We can only regard it as a dream of some lost Utopia. Surrounded now by all the sounds she loved best, the church bells ringing, the lowing of the cows in milk, the swish of the plough; the musical din of the anvil, Brigid was a busy woman. In spite of her teaching and her training of the young nuns she found time to "keep up" old occupations and accomplishments. She worked on the farms, and herded sheep on the Curragh. Lambing found her out looking after the ewes. She tended the sick and set up a special house for them; she organised what we now call "rest-homes," and hospitals. She was centuries ahead of her time, and a tireless innovator. She taught the people to be kind to animals.

Life's Close.—As her world acclaimed her greater, she became more humble and more beloved. Kindness was never subordinated to efficiency. She never went beyond the spiritual and physical reach of her people. She found time to travel to various parts of the country, converting pagans, counselling her own, spreading light and grace. The spark in Kildare glowed and spread and became a flame of Christianity from sea to sea. They called her "Prophetess of Christ, the Queen of the South, the Mary of the Gael." 

Her life went down in serenity to its close. Her work in Kildare was done; the foundations were securely laid. Thus died Brigid, heroine of the Golden Age.

Advocate, 1 February 1934, p. 12.

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