The last day of Celitc Advent: Brigit and the Nativity

December 24th The last day of Celtic Advent

I wasn't sure back 40 days ago if I would be able to sustain 40 days of blogging about Celtic saints. It has been a big learning experience for me, and did create a strong sense of Advent devotion and discipline, which was my goal.

For December 24th I could find one ultra obscure Scottish saint, Caran or Caranus, of whom all we have is the he was a bishop in Eastern Scotland, and that's it. Not much to write about with that. I toyed with the idea of writing about how many Celtic saints seem to listed on the calendars, and how that lead us to the ability of all of us to participate as saints. But, although the idea is true, it just didn't hit jive with where I wanted to go. Then I thought about time travel...(OK, this is an obscure lead-off, but it will become clear after a while). I am a sucker for a good time travel story or movie, or a story with two time separate time lines that affect each other across the centuries (like A.S. Byatt's Possession.) What is interesting is that the Celts, way before H. G. Wells, had a sense that Saints sometimes would have a mystical ability to transcend time and space to preform needed functions. This was the case with St. Brigid in particular.

Brigid's feast day is February 1st--not December 24th, yet she has a strong connection to Christmas! She is, next to Patrick, probably the most written about of the Irish Saints. I won't go into great detail since what I want to focus on how she broke through our usual temporal laws, but will instead do a brief synopsis. Brigid came from a royal family in Southwest Ireland. At an early age she had a strong sense of religious purpose--she had a tendency to upset her father by giving away his possessions to the poor and needy. She joined religious orders and founded the double abbey of Kildare, where both men and women were housed. She has numerous miracles attached to her history, and was sought after as a spiritual advisor by many. She is often referred to as "Bride" and the naming of young Irish women as Brigid has persisted for centuries. When I was doing research on the "famine ships" that brought my great-great grandfather over from Galway, it seemed that most of the Bermingham women were named either Mary, Catherine or Brigid.

Brigid has a major association with the Nativity in the Irish stories. She at some point was mystically transported to 1st Century Bethlehem, where she found herself working as a serving maid in an inn. She served bannock bread and water to two strangers: a pregnant woman and her husband who were looking for a place for the night. After they had eaten she found that the bread loaf was miraculously whole and the water jug full. Going out of the inn, she saw a golden light coming from the stable. She went into the stable, just in time to help Mary as a mid-wife in the final stages of labor. She placed the newborn Christ into his Mother's arms, placing three drops of water on his forehead as a symbol of his participation in the Trinity. Henceforth she was known as the Nurse or Mid-wife of Mary.

I find this story, whether historical or not, strangely comforting. It gives me a whole new sense of the "communion of saints," and the ability of the spirit of the saints to be present with us now. After all if Brigid could be there for Mary in her need during labor, why could they not be here for us now when we need them? It seems to also be a fitting conclusion for stories about the Celtic saints, reaffirming the unique characteristics if Celtic spirituality, where we each, like Brigid, use our gifts in humble service to others--and in the process, we become servants of God. So I will end with one of the wonderful prayers of the Carmina Gadaelica:

"I am under the shielding of good Brigit each day;
I am under the shielding of good Brigit each night.

I am under the keeping of the Nurse of Mary,
Each early and late,
Every dark, every light.

Brigit is my companion-woman,
Brigit is the maker of song,
Brigit is my helping-woman,
My choicest of women,
My woman of guidance."

Thank you Lord, for all the Celtic Saints. Let the spirit of Brigit be with me this Christmas Eve, as she was with Your mother on that first eve of your birth. Amen.