Father Knowles on Irish Devotion to Saint Brigid

We continue with the reading of the 1907 book, Saint Brigid, Patroness of Ireland, with a look at how the author, Irish Augustinian Joseph Knowles, viewed devotion to Saint Brigid in her own country. As I noted in the previous post, he is determined to make sure that Saint Patrick receives his share of the credit for Saint Brigid's greatness. Also, as we saw yesterday, Father Knowles believes that pagan Ireland was uniquely responsive to the Christian message and thus he sees the wonder that was Saint Brigid as a heavenly 'reward for the warm-hearted and generous welcome extended to the Apostle' sent to us. That said, he also claims that 'St. Brigid received from her people a worship which history accords to no other saint', which sounds like yet another demonstration of the supposed uniqueness of Early Christian Ireland:

Devotion to St Brigid is not a matter of to-day or yesterday. It began during her earthly life, growing in intensity as the shadows closed in around her mortal career. The fame of her sanctity and her miraculous power rang during her days from end to end of her Island-home. After the National Apostle, she was proclaimed by all the greatest and best beloved of the Saints whose names enrich the Calendar of the Irish Church. St. Brigid received from her people a worship which history accords to no other saint. The nation fell prostrate at her feet, offering to her the sweet incense of a tender and deep-seated love and devotion. The people beheld in her the noblest and best type of womanhood, raised to the most elevated plane attainable by the children of men this side of the grave. They recognised in her the realization of that blessing, which the Almighty had specially bestowed on their race, as a reward for the warm-hearted and generous welcome extended to the Apostle He had sent to teach them His heavenly doctrines. A people who had so readily opened their hearts to the teachings of their Apostle could not but rise to the highest pitch of enthusiastic devotion to her, who was the brightest and most exalted product of St. Patrick's ministry. She typified the perfect woman, nurtured and fed on the word of God. She was the light that shone over their Island to direct the footsteps of the daughters of Erin in the paths of virtue and sanctity.

 And how did the devotion of the Irish people to this 'perfect woman' manifest itself?

In speaking of her they discarded the prefix Saint, and called her, in homely, yet reverent fashion, "Mo Brighe" — or "My Bride." The children received her blessed name at the baptismal font. The sturdy sons of the Irish race added her name to those usually adopted by their sex. With one chorus of acclamation, she was proclaimed the Patroness of their land, the Protectress of their daughters' virtue, and the strength of their warrior sons in defence of Faith and Fatherland. 

I think that in his final sentence Father Knowles has encapsulated the entire spirit of the Irish national revival of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Rev. J.A. Knowles, O.S.A., Saint Brigid, Patroness of Ireland, (Dublin, 1907), 7-8.

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Saint Brigid: 'the pride and glory of the Irish Church'

The opening chapter of Father Knowles' book Saint Brigid, Patroness of Ireland, sets the scene for the career of its subject. He opens, naturally enough, with the coming of Saint Patrick and it is clear that Father Knowles views the fifth-century Ireland to which Patrick came as a place of special holiness, unique among the pagan nations:

Never, in the history of the propagation of the Catholic Faith, was there found a soil more ready for the reception of the blessed seed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, than that of our own dear Isle. In the wide expanse of the dominions of the Catholic Church, Ireland stands alone as a Nation whose conversion, from the darkness of paganism to the full light of the true faith, was accomplished without the shedding of one drop of a Martyr's blood. St. Patrick went from end to end of our Island preaching the Gospel of peace and good will, without encountering any of the obstacles and trials experienced by the Apostles of other nations. His apostolate partook more of the nature of a triumphal procession than of a fierce combat with the powers of darkness and superstition.

This view of Saint Patrick as an all-conquering hero who singlehandedly evangelized the entire island of Ireland was a common one at the time. And despite the fact that he is writing in English, Father Knowles approvingly notes the national apostle's use of the national language:

Wherever our Apostle went, crowds flocked round him to hear the doctrines and practices of the New Law preached to them in their own sweet Gaelic tongue.

The superiority of Saint Patrick's new teachings are particularly manifested to upper-class Irish women: 

Ladies of royal and noble birth sat at the feet of the Apostle, to learn the true dignity of womanhood, attained only by the knowledge and practice of Christian virtue.  

And, attracted by this message, women begin to enter the religious life, as the quotation from Saint Patrick's own Confession records:

...And there is one blessed Irish maiden, of the Scottish race, of noble birth, most fair, of adult age, whom I baptised; and soon thereafter she came to us on some business, and informed us that God's will had been revealed to her, admonishing her to become a Virgin of Christ and draw near to God. Thanks be to God, on the sixth day after that, she worthily and most eagerly embraced that state of life. And indeed all the Virgins of God act in like manner, not at the bidding of their parents — nay, they endure reproaches and persecutions from their parents — and, nevertheless, their number goes on increasing, so that I know not the number of the natives who thus have become of our kindred, besides the widows and those who observe continency.

There is one Irish nun though who stands out from all the innumerable and anonymous others:

At the head of this noble band of consecrated virgins, St. Brigid, Patroness of Ireland, takes her rightful place. She, of all the spiritual children of St. Patrick, was the brightest jewel in his apostolic crown. She is, and always will be, the pride and glory of the Irish Church, the most honoured and venerated on the bead-roll of her Saints, the joy and the crown of the womanhood of holy Ireland.

It is interesting to see Father Knowles take some pains to establish Saint Patrick as the inspiration of Saint Brigid's later career. I will continue with his view of Saint Brigid in tomorrow's post.

Rev. J.A. Knowles, O.S.A., Saint Brigid, Patroness of Ireland, (Dublin, 1907).
 
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Father Knowles on the Writing of Saint Brigid

We begin the exploration of Father Joseph Knowles' 1907 work on Saint Brigid with a look at the author's preface in which he explains his reasons for writing the book. His purpose is twofold - first to satisfy a public demand for such works and secondly to commemorate the centenary of the founding of the Order of Saint Brigid. What I found particularly interesting is the author's attribution of the perceived public demand to 'the untiring zeal and efforts of the Gaelic League and other kindred organizations'. Fr Knowles thus quite self-consciously places his endeavours squarely within the national revival movement, which he credits with having created 'this sound and desirable condition of our literary tastes.' Finally, he hopes that a greater knowledge of our national patroness will lead to a greater devotion to her 'whom a nation's voice has proclaimed "the Mary of the Gael."'

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

 IN this volume the Author has endeavoured to place before his readers a concise and popular narration of the life and labours of St. Brigid, the Patroness of Ireland. The facts and legends, which abound in its pages, he has carefully selected from the most reliable and authentic sources. The present time seems to him opportune and propitious for the publication of the class of literature to which this volume claims to belong. There exists amongst the Irish reading public a marked preference for books that deal with the religious or national history of our country. This sound and desirable condition of our literary tastes is mainly attributable to the untiring zeal and efforts of the Gaelic League and other kindred organizations. 

 The joyous occasion which has called forth this volume may not be passed over in silence. This year the Order of St. Brigid celebrates the centenary of its foundation. To mark with greater emphasis the glorious event the Brigidine Nuns decided to publish a life of their special Patroness. They were pleased to ask the assistance of the Author in carrying out their pious and laudable design. Conscious of many obligations of gratitude to the spiritual daughters of St. Brigid, he could not do otherwise than interpret their wish as a command. Hence the appearance of his name on the title page of this volume. 

 The Author takes this opportunity of returning his sincere and respectful thanks to the illustrious Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin for his gracious letter of approval, which forms an appropriate and valuable introduction to this volume. May these pages, the Author fervently prays, tend to deepen the knowledge of the exalted sanctity of St. Brigid amongst her children, and strengthen their faith in the powerful advocacy of her whom a nation's voice has proclaimed "the Mary of the Gael."

Rev. J.A. Knowles, O.S.A., Saint Brigid, Patroness of Ireland, (Dublin, 1907), ix-xi. 

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A New Life of Saint Brigid

I begin a series of posts on Saint Brigid to run throughout the octave of her feast with a contemporary review of the 1907 life of the saint by the Irish Augustinian J.A. Knowles. Father Knowles' book was probably the most substantial work on our national patroness since Canon O'Hanlon's Life of Saint Brigid, published some thirty years earlier. I will be exploring aspects of Saint Brigid, Patroness of Ireland over the coming days, the entire work can be found at the Internet Archive here.

A NEW LIFE OF ST. BRIGID

"One Blessed Irish Maiden of the Scottish Race."

A new 'Life of St. 'Brigid,' Patroness of Ireland, written by the Rev. J. A. Knowles, O.S.A., St, Augustine's, Cork, has just come to hand. The new work is dedicated to the Most Rev. Dr. Foley, Bishop of Kildare, and Leighin. It is a well-bound and finely-illustrated octavo volume, comprising a double preface and 11 chapters.

One preface is by the author, the other by the Bishop of Kildare. The author tells us that in the new volume he has endeavoured to place before his readers a popular narration of the life and labours of Ireland's patroness. In the Bishop's preface his Lordship earnestly thanks and congratulates Father Knowles on the excellent character of his work, and assures him at the same time that he has placed Irishmen and Irishwomen the world over under a debt of gratitude by placing so interesting a life within their reach. In his famous book, known as the 'Confessions,' Ireland's Apostle writes: 'The sons of the Scotti — the noble race — and the daughters of chieftains are soon to be monks and virgins of Christ. And there is one blessed Irish maiden of the Scottish race, of noble birth, most fair, of adult age. whom I baptised; and soon thereafter she came to us in some business, and informed, us that God's will had been revealed to her, admonishing her to become a virgin of Christ and draw near to God. Thanks be to God on the sixth day after that, she worthily and most eagerly embraced that state of life. And, indeed, all the virgins of God act in like manner, not at the bidding of their parents— nay, they endure reproaches and persecutions from their parents— and nevertheless, their number goes on increasing, so that I know not the number of the natives who thus have become of our kindred besides the widows and those who observe continency.' At the head of this noble band of consecrated virgins, St. Brigid Patroness of Ireland and 'the Mary of the Gael,' takes her rightful place. After the national apostle, she was proclaimed by all as the greatest and best beloved of the saints, whose names enrich the calendar of the Irish Church. "No one was more retiring, more modest, more meek, more humble, or more chaste than Brigid. She was abstemious, prayerful and patient. She was benevolent, forgiving, charitable; she was a temple of God, a consecrated shrine for the Body and Blood of Christ; her heart and her mind were a vestry throne for the Holy Ghost. She was afflicted with those that were in sorrow, she was bright in virtues and miracles. Her type in created things is the dove among the birds, the vine among the trees, the sun among the stars. She subdues pestilence, she restrains the fury of the tempest; she is the child of prophecy, the Queen of the South, the Mary of Erin."

His Eminence Cardinal Moran, in his life of the Saint, gives the following remarkable extract from the work of a Protestant dignitary, entitled, 'St. Brigid and the See of Kildare.' "Extraordinary veneration for the name of Brigid was displayed by the Irish in the Middle Ages. It is said that her feast was celebrated in every Cathedral Church from the Grison to the German Sea for nearly a thousand years."

'Brigid, noble woman,
A flame, golden, beautiful!
A sun, dazzling, splendid!
May she bear us to the eternal kingdom.'

To every reader of the new volume it must be quickly manifest that Ireland's renowned patroness has found in Father Knowles, not only an eloquent, interesting and able biographer, but also a loving and devoted client. His book, which runs into 292 pages, deserves a very wide circulation, and is sure to obtain it. It is brought out by Browne and Nolan, of Nassau-street, Dublin, and the price is the moderate one of 2s 6d.

A NEW LIFE OF ST. BRIGID, (1907, August 1). The Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW: 1895 - 1942), p. 6. Retrieved December 19, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106296318
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Saint Brigid: 'Her grace was her staff through life'

To celebrate the feast of Saint Brigid below is an account of her life from a nineteenth-century American author of Irish descent, John Gilmary Shea (1824-1892). Shea was a Church historian and thus places Saint Brigid into a wider context. His account is both romantic and heroic, paying tribute to our patroness as a pioneering monastic founder and champion of the poor.

THE FRUITS OF THE FAITH AS SEEN IN THE LIVES OF HOLY WOMEN

SAINT BRIDGET. , Abbess, and Patroness of Ireland. St. Patrick not only planted the faith in Ireland, but he also confirmed it by his miracles and preachings, and by establishing monasteries and churches throughout the length and breadth of the land; thus laying the foundations of those great religious establishments which, in after ages, sent missionaries and saints to spread the Gospel throughout Europe. St. Bridget shares with St. Patrick the glory and sanctity of being the first to combine the pious young virgins of Ireland into conventual communities. Her success in this holy task was miraculous, for religious establishments of this kind soon extended over the land, and Bridget encouraged them by her visits, her teachings and example. We all know how great the influence of woman is in softening and refining society, and particularly for moulding the minds of youth for good or evil; and it is not too much to say that the holy and virtuous fire infused by Bridget into the hearts of the women of Erin powerfully aided the labors of St. Patrick in Christianizing the inhabitants.  She was born at Fochard, in Ulster, soon after Ireland had been blessed with the light of faith. She received the religious veil in her youth, from the hands of St. Mel, nephew and disciple of St. Patrick. She built herself a cell under a large oak, thence called Killdara, or cell of the oak, living, as her name implies, the bright shining light of that country by her virtues. Being joined soon after by several of her own sex, they formed themselves into a religious community, which branched out into several other nunneries throughout Ireland, all which acknowledged her for their mother and foundress, as in effect she was of all in that kingdom. She flourished in the beginning of the sixth century, and is named in the Martyrology of Bede, and in all others since that age. Like St. Patrick, St. Bridget spent much of her time in traveling through the country, establishing communities of nuns, and converting and instructing the people; like him, also, she was accompanied by several companions, or disciples, one of whom she always left to preside over her newly-established community, and, finally, having fulfilled her mission, like St. Patrick, she established a permanent house, where she spent the remainder of her life as head of the great and numerous order of Bridgetine nuns which she had established. The fame of her miracles, her virtues and piety had spread over the land, and young virgins — even the daughters of kings and princes — were inspired with similar religious zeal, and desired to follow in her footsteps, and to become worthy to establish religious communities.   The shrine of St. Bridget was to Ireland what Loretto has been to Italy, and was enriched from time to time by the offerings of the faithful until it became one of the wealthiest in Ireland. In that early age of the primitive church the conventual life was only just beginning to assume shape and form. St. Bridget was, perhaps, the very first among the saints of Europe who gathered into communities governed by certain rules a congregation of holy virgins. She was anterior to St. Scholastica, the sister of St. Benedict, who was the great founder of Monasticism in the West. These communities were primitive in their manner of living, as also in the severity of their rules and discipline, which were of the most austere nature. They dwelt in cells of the rudest and simplest construction, and spent their time in prayer, mortification and acts of charity. They freely clothed the naked and fed the hungry; and the convents and monasteries were not only the asylums of the learned and pious, but also of the poor, the afflicted and the distressed. At a time when the licentiousness of paganism struggled against the purity of Christianity in men's hearts, the pure sacrificing lives of those holy virgins who despised the pleasures and allurements of the world to give themselves up, soul and body, to Jesus Christ, must have had great influence upon the sterner and ruder nature of man. Innumerable are the traditions handed down of St. Bridget's charity and generosity. The poor never left her empty handed, and her convent was, indeed, a house of refuge for them. The miracles said to have been performed by the Saint are innumerable. She was visited by several of the holy bishops and nuns of her time, and a warm friendship existed between herself and most of them. She was also frequently visited by other holy men, and by the kings and princes of the land. St. Bridget's life was one series of acts of mercy, love and charity. She labored in peace and for the good of mankind and the glory of God. She sacrificed all worldly pleasures for the beatitude of heaven. The only attainment she sought on earth was to do the will of her Father who is in heaven. His grace was her staff through life, and supported her in her trials and afflictions. His love was the pure flame that warmed her heart and that rewarded her for all her labors and sacrifices. The love of her Saviour alone filled her heart; for Him she lived on earth, and with Him she reigns in heaven. She died Feb. 1, 525, in the seventy-second year of her age. Her body was found with those of SS. Patrick and Columba in a triple vault in Downpatrick, in 1185, as Giraldus Cambrensis informs us. They were all three translated to the cathedral of the same city; but their monument was destroyed in the reign of King Henry VIII. The head of St. Bride is now kept in the church of the Jesuits at Lisbon. See Bollandus, Feb. t. i. p. 99.

John Gilmary Shea, Our faith and its defenders: comprising the trials and triumphs of the defenders of our faith in America (New York, 1894), 123-125.

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The Death of Saint Brigid

The story, perhaps is best told in the language of an ancient writer:

"Now that the last moments of Brigid approached, when she had founded many churches and religious establishments, and erected many altars, and. leading a life of charity and mercy, had performed miracles more numerous than the sands by the sea or the stars of the heaven, Nennidh of the pure hand, returned from Rome and gave the Communion and Sacrament to her and her pure soul sped its way to heaven"

Saint Patrick and the Saints of Ireland from authoritative sources (London, John Ouseley Ltd, 1908-1909), 67.

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St. Bridhe of the Mantle - A Legend of Saint Brigid at Christmas

St. Bridhe of the Mantle.

LEGEND OF THE MARY OF IRELAND.

The following legend is told of St. Brigid, whose feast is celebrated on February 1:

In Ireland this saint is sometimes called 'St. Bridhe of the Mantle' because of the way she came to be at Bethlehem when Our Lord was born.

When she was a tiny child she came to the Island of Iona with her father, Donell Donn, a prince of Ireland, who was banished from the country. He took the child and left at night in a small boat. They were washed up by the storm on the coast of Iona, where they settled and made their home.

When Brigid was 21 years old, one day, as she climbed the hillside, a white bird called her from the thicket and she followed him over the crest of the hill to find herself in a strange country. Here no green fields and pastures met the eye; it was a country of sand and hot sun close to Bethlehem. Her father was with her, and as they came to the village he said: 'Bridhe, the drought has been upon the country for many months. The wells are empty, the wine is failing, and our cattle are dying. I shall leave you in charge of the inn to-night and go to a place near the Mount of Olives where they say the
well is never dry.'

"And what shall I do while you are away?" asked Brigid.

"Stay in the inn," he said, "and don't open the door to a soul."

"But what if they ask for food?" she said.

"There is only enough for yourself," he told her. 'And be sure to keep the promise and not shelter anyone until I return."

He then drove off with his camels, and for two days nobody called at the inn. But on the third night, as Brigid was getting ready for bed, there came a knock at the door.

"Who is it, and what do you want?" she asked without opening the door.

A man's voice replied: "I am Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth, and I have Mary with me, who needs shelter."

"That I cannot give as I have promised not to. Were it not for that I would gladly give you welcome."

Then the woman's voice called from the darkness and Brigid could not resist the sweet pleading of her voice.

She opened the door wide and bade them enter, laying before them all the food she had left. But she could not break the whole of the promise she had made to her father, and so led them to the stable in the courtyard, where they sought shelter for the night.

As she hurried back to the inn she found that her father had arrived, and sorrowfully she told him what she had done. But when they looked at the dishes that were empty, behold they were as if they had not been touched, and at once they realised that a miracle had happened.

Outside came the sound of falling rain.

''The drought is broken!" said Donell Donn. Then they remembered the prophecy:

'The King of  Love, Ruler of the World and All Time, shall be born on the first night of rain following the great drought, and He shall be born in a byre outside an inn.'

They hurried out to see, and there on the hay lay the newly-born Child. Brigid took Him lovingly and wrapped Him in her white mantle, and all, through the night she cradled Him in her arms. At daybreak, the white bird called again, and when she looked about her she found herself on the crest of the holy hill once more, with the green fields and pastures full of sheep and the blue bay of Iona at her feet.

"'Tis all a dream," she said. But she looked at her mantle and saw that it was woven with gold threads into marvellous pictures of birds and beasts and angels. Slowly she went down the hill, and when she came to her father's hut she found that she had been gone for a year and six months.


St. Bridhe of the Mantle. (1935, December 26). The Catholic Press (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1942), p. 6. Retrieved December 19, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104498977

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