ST. BRIGIT

Kildare is a place of pilgrimage dating back to long before Christianity arrived in Ireland. The ancient Celts worshipped male and female deities, one of whom was named Brigit or Brigid. She was believed to be the Goddess of poetry, healing, and smithcraft and was associated with nature, fertility and fire. Her worship centered around the area that is now Kildare. With the coming of Christianity, the belief in the pre-Christian deities began to wane, and the new religion assimilated features of the older beliefs. During this time of transition, the historical woman who was to become a saint, Brigid of Kildare, is believed to have been born. The stories of Brigid the Saint and Brigid the Goddess are so interwoven, that it is almost impossible to tease them apart.

In 1992, two sisters of Saint Brigid came to Kildare and opened a small center for Celtic Spirituality called Solas Bhride. A year later, they relit the flame in Kildare's ancient fire sanctuary, built on the restored foundations of a pre-Christian fire sanctuary sacred to the Goddess Brigid that lies next to St. Brigid’s Cathedral.

In a small village just outside Kildare stands a limestone sculpture of St. Brigid and a group of children.  Originally designed by a local priest who was also a talented sculptor, the grouping had been completed by a local women when he died. She had never carved stone before in her life, but felt called to finish the project. As she was completing the last details, polishing the large pectoral cross over Brigit’’s heart, a fossil began to emerge from the limestone. It grew clearer and clearer until finally a perfect crescent moon appeared.

The nuns take it as a miracle, believing that the appearance of the moon, symbolizing the female, in the center of the cross shows the presence of Brigit, and that this had to happen at the turn of a new millenium at the hand of a female sculptor. In a small book written and published by the Solas Bhride Community, it says, 'St. Brigit is emerging once again at a time of transition in the universe...In a new hymn, she is invoked to 'heal our wounds and green our Earth again". . . She is a potent symbol of womanhood, showing us in so many ways, the feminine face of God."
 

Photos and research by Wendy Griffin, Women's Studies, CSULB