Day 4: Thursday, Sept 19, 2019 Wicklow County

Day 4: Today after breakfast, you will depart for some local touring of the Wicklow county area. 

St. Brigid's Well, Kildare

Stopping at Glendalough and then on to St. Brigid Cathedraland Well in Kildare and Solas Bhríde Centre and Hermitages. Return to your hotel this afternoon for a little free time. Tonight, you will have time to wander the town of Dalkey and enjoy dinner at the hotel.

REFECTION

Glendalough

The Celtic soul calls us to contemplate earth’s beauty and join in the dance of life in celebrating the magnificence all around us. The Celtic soul calls us to spend time outdoors where mountains stretch our minds, and lakes and rivers refresh our spirits. In fact, the connection between water and spiritual power is a characteristic of Celtic spirituality.
A Celtic heart is a pilgrim heart. Celtic saints often undertook a journey to what they termed their “place of resurrection”—usually a site far away—where they were to perform some good work, and die there, stepping into eternity in exile from their earthly roots and home. Such a pilgrimage to one’s place of resurrection was usually a long journey. Every pilgrimage, whether short or long, is an enactment of our life’s journey. It represents the yearning heart, longing for an encounter with God. It is more than a trip or tour, because the pilgrim is seeking ardently for a meeting with the Divine without knowing exactly what surprise is in store. The pilgrimage is actually a response to God’s invitation to relinquish control, to step out and risk all, without knowing the full consequences. Praying With Celtic Holy Women (2003) Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver, p. 9.

PRAYER 

O loving Creator of life, our lives are gifts of your love in our world. We pause this day to reflect on our gratitude for your many blessings. We trust in your loving presence always holding us close in every relationship and event on our pilgrimage through life. We are loved. We are blessed and our lives are blessings to our world. One day we will cross over to the fullness of Love and take our place in the Communion of Saints who have gone before us. May we rejoice as we look forward to singing and dancing with the angels and saints and all our beloved family and friends!

REFLECTION 

Kildare

Brigit was the most prominent woman leader of the Celtic church. Her symbol was perpetual fire, representing wisdom, healing, poetry, metal-working, and the hearth. Although six lives of Brigit were written before the eighth century (and eighty during medieval times), it is difficult to separate fact from legend. Some theorize that she may have been a priestess in service to the Goddess Brid (patroness of fire and knowledge in the Druidic pantheon) before her conversion to Christianity was facilitated by her mother. Whatever the circumstances, Brigit and seven companions, robed in white, were baptized and formed Ireland’s first religious community of women at Kildare, a name that means “church of the oak.”( Praying with Celtic Holy Women, pp. 28-34)

Brigit’s previous authority as a high priestess may explain why Saint Mel, bishop of Ardagh, is said to have ordained her a bishop. The Irish Life of Brigit describes it this way: “When the hour of consecration had arrived, the veil was raised by angels from the hand of Mac Caille, the minister, and was placed on Saint Brigit’s head. As she bent down during the prayers she held the ash beam which supported the altar, which was later changed into acacia, which is neither consumed by fire nor grows old during the passing of the centuries.” Bishop Mel, Saint Patrick’s nephew, who presided at the ceremony said: “Come, O holy Brigit, that a veil may be placed on your head before the other virgins.”

Then, being filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Mel read the form of ordaining a bishop over Brigit. While she was being consecrated, a brilliant fiery flame ascended from her head. Mac Caille, Bishop Mel’s assistant, complained that a bishop’s rank was bestowed on a woman. Bishop Mel argued: “But I do not have any power in this matter. That dignity has been given by God to Brigit beyond every other woman. Only this virgin in the whole of Ireland will hold the episcopal ordination.” Bishop Mel seems to say that only the abbesses of Kildare could be ordained bishop. Brigit’s successors would continue to have high-level authority in the Irish Church. Indeed, other Irish bishops customarily sat at the feet of Brigid’s successors until the Synod of Kells ended this custom in 1152. This monastic bishop was peculiar to Irish law, and indicated the powerful positions in the Irish Church of abbots and abbesses of the great monasteries. (Praying With Celtic Holy Women (2003) Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver, pp. 29-30)

Celebrating St. Brigit’s Gifts in our Lives
Brigit’s hospitality, leadership, healing presence, closeness to God, her spirited promotion of peace are all qualities still needed. Let us celebrate and value Brigit’s gifts to us in the following prayer service.

PRAYER 

O God of compassion and healing,
You gave Holy Brigit to us as a sign of your love.
You caress us with the warmth of the sun,
You encircle us in Love’s embrace.
You are behind us and before us.
You are above us and beneath us.
I consecrate all that I am to you.


Reflection

Sit still for a moment and quiet your soul. Breathe in deeply the tenderness of God. Breathe out compassion for all living things.

Scripture

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

Matthew 25:35–36

Litany

V. That I may give as gift the gifts I have received, I pray.
R. May I, like Brigit, be a reflection of God’s compassion in our world.

V. That I may care for our marvelous planet with its animals and plants, I pray.
R. May I, like Brigit, respect and nurture all earth’s creatures.

V. That I may share my food, clothing, home, and time gener­ously, I pray.
R. May I, like Brigit, serve those who are in need.

Closing Prayer

Saint Brigit, you were a woman of peace,
You brought harmony where there was conflict.
You brought light to the darkness.
You brought hope to the downcast.
May the mantle of your peace
cover those who are troubled and anxious,
and may peace be firmly rooted
in our hearts and in our world.
Inspire us to act justly and to reverence
all God has made.
Brigit you were a voice for the wounded.
Strengthen what is weak within us.
Calm us into a quiet inner listening that heals.
May we grow each day into greater wholeness
in mind, body, and spirit. Amen.

Saint Brigit’s Blessing
May Brigit bless the house wherein you dwell.
Bless every fireside, every wall and door.
Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof.
Bless every hand that toils to bring it joy.
Bless every foot that walks it portals through.
May Brigit bless the house that shelters you.

Praying With Celtic Holy Women (2003) Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver, pp. 34-36

Light the Fire by Liam Lawton
In honor of St, Brigid (composed by Liam Lawton, January 1993)
https://youtu.be/juAeEhRWZRk

There travels forth from the passages of history
A woman’s voice that is heard across the plains,
That calls once more, for a people of new vision
To heal our wounds and green our Earth again,

She spreads her cloak ‘cross the land and far beyond it,
A shadow cast on a people void of hope.
She speaks of peace and the chains that weigh upon it
And there her light shall glimmer from the oak
And all that binds the people shall be broke.

So light the Fire of God’s desire
Within all hearts, let sorrows end.
So light the Fire of God’s desire
God’s chosen one, Your peace upon us send.

And wells now dry, shall issue forth with plenty
To flow upon the sad and parching earth,
To make a prayer from the hearts now tired and empty,
To call on her to bring about new birth,
To make anew the greening of the Earth.

So light the Fire of God’s desire
Within all hearts, let sorrows end.
So light the Fire of God’s desire
God’s chosen one, Your peace upon us send.

And we today need a prophet of new vision,
To lift the low – the forgotten child to heed,
To be the voice of the wounded and the weary,
To plant anew a fresh and peaceful seed
To dance the dance of God’s own Blessed Bríd.

So light the Fire of God’s desire…