Friday, February 2, 2018

Candlemas and the feast of Saint Brigid

 
I wasn't up to doing much the past few days, so I am celebrating two of my favorite holidays all though the weekend. February 1 is the Feast of St. Brigid of Kildare, the saint I chose as my patron when I was confirmed, and February 2 is Candlemas. I will try to post something about Candlemas later this weekend, but for now, let me tell you a story.
One of my favorite ledgends has always been that of St. Brigid, Mary of the Gael. 
There are so many different versions of this tale that this may not be the one you know, but this is as I remember my Mama telling it, and has a special place in my heart:

Brigid was the daughter of a great pagan chieftain called Dubhthach and a Christian slave girl named Brocca ~ much to the anger of Dubhthach's wife. The ledgend says a druid, who was greatly honored by the chieftain, had a vision that the slave girl's child would be greatly blessed.
Though he was not able to see how this blessing would come about, the kind druid bought Brocca, and when Brigid was born he treated her as if she was his own daughter, and allowed her to be Baptized.
As a very young child Brigid would become sick whenever she was fed, so God sent a white cow with red ears to give her milk. Once Brigid was well again the cow went back into the woods and vanished.
She tried to be a good child. She did as she was told, and helped her mother and the Druid take care of their herd of red cows. However, she would often be distracted by prayer, and give away all the milk and butter they had to whichever hungry person came to the door. But whenever she prayed, God would send angels to bring sweet milk and butter to replace the food she had given away.

However the greatest miracle happened when she was nearly grown. Whether she was sent a holy vision, or if Angels came and carried her in their arms no one can tell, but one day while Brigid was walking something miraculous happened. She found herself transported from her home in Irland to the streets of Bethlehem, on the night of Christmas Eve. A man who looked like her druid foster father and called her 'daughter' beckoned her into his house. He had her prepare the stable behind it for a family who could not fit inside the already full building.
The man and the woman had traveled far, and the pregnant wife was not much older then Brigid herself, but even though they were weary they were kind.  They only had a few bundles of supplies and a small sturdy donkey with them, and Brigid made the couple as comfortable as she could on a bed of hay in the stable, and brought them some bread and milk from the kitchen.
That night, the man who looked like Brigid's foster father woke her and said, 'Hurry daughter, the woman in the stable is having her child.'
Brigid ran to the stable and was there at Christ's birth. By some miracle she acted as midwife when she lifted Jesus into his mother's arms. That night, after the shepherds had left to return to their flocks, she held the child  while his mother slept.
The next morning she again went walking, to think of all the wonders that had happened. Once again she heard a voice calling to her, and looked up to find herself back in Ireland, with the druid her foster father calling her name.
She is called the Mary of the Gael, for just as Our Lady, the Virgin Mary, brought Christ into the world, so Saint Brigid brought his message to Irland. 
May you all have a most blessed Candlemas, Imbolc, the day when the infant Jesus was presented in the temple ~ a celebration of Light,  of Fire, of Hope, and New Life. And a day to give thanks for the small things,  for new lambs and blackthorn flowers, weaving cloth and glowing candles. ♡

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