Brigit of Kildare, Coworker and Colleague of The Vulnerable!

Brigid of Kildare @ 1500

How is Saint Brigit of Kildare, a Coworker and Colleague of The Vulnerable? This differs from calling Brigit “Patron of The Powerless” as named by Dr. Elva Johnston. With a pattern of non-violent leadership authority that did not humiliate, Brigit changed the minds of noblemen, bishops and kings while working with and advocating for those in need. Our saint is a trend setter of spiritual values like compassion, deep love of the land, extravagant generosity, mercy, hospitality, alternative leadership and peace-making. Steadfast in her empowerment and co-creating with the marginalized, Brigit of Kildare is a true ally who collaborates with the vulnerable and all people of good will.

There are two different relational models of sainthood conveyed here, Brigit as Coworker and Colleague of the Vulnerable or Brigid as “Patron of The Powerless”. The latter seems to replicate The Roman patron-client structure that signifies who is more worthy and who is not. In this sense, a “saint” is someone who intercedes for us. Traditional sainthood suggests exceptionalism. Uncommon people do saint-like activities that are not possible for the rest of us. I prefer understanding Brigit and all healthy others in The Divine Realm or The Otherworld as coworkers and colleagues. They help us to overturn injustice while co-creating peace and cooperative community, where all can thrive and live in fullness together. Messaging matters so I chose the word vulnerable rather than the word powerless. A vulnerable person is not helpless while a powerless one certainly is. Therefore, I name Brigit as Our Coworker and Colleague, a powerful Ally collaborating with us from The Divine Realm or Otherworld as an empowering companion, she walks beside us as a fellow traveler on our journey.

    When and where did Brigit develop her preferential option for the ostracized? Her experience of her own family inspired her to actualize kind-heartedness. Brigit’s father Dubthach, a Leinster chieftain, was very cruel to her mother Broicsech. Being his slave, he sold her while she was pregnant with Brigit. Supporting and caring for the marginalized began with what Brigit witnessed in her own childhood experiences.

   Her patriarchal and hierarchical society did not stop Brigit’s innovative model for leadership. According to Dr. Johnston, Brigit expertly outwitted kings and noblemen without shaming them. She negotiated to free slaves. Brigit courageously, manifested right-relationships to save the lives of those in prison and enslaved. One of Brigid’s primary biographers, Cogitosus, labeled her town The Monastic Sanctuary City of Kildare. Brigid was Abbess and leader of this double monastery of women and men which was the heart of the entire settlement. The monastics lived in the center with farms, homes and craftspeople living around and working with them. She partnered with Bishop Conláed in collaborative ways to institute peace-making amongst rivaling clans. Her coactive peace-making approach established a pattern for the abbesses and many others who came after her. Her approach differed from how the kings and other ecclesiastical leaders of her time, whose leadership strategies were often conducted by violence and demanding submission through intimidation, governed. In non-aggressive ways of partnership, she pushed through male-controlled barriers. Brigit’s collaborative and compassionate cleverness and pattern of mutuality secured lifesaving freedom, peace and thriving beloved community.

   Known as “Mary of The Gaels” and “Mother of Ireland” Brigit is remembered for her unending kindhearted strength and approachability no matter how desperate the situation, nevertheless she persisted! Propelled from what she witnessed as a child, she was determined to lead, care for and partner with in ways that strengthened those in need to do the same. Liberating those held bound or in danger of death, Brigit’s example helped others to overturn entrenched patriarchal ladders in favor of energizing the downtrodden by helping them instead of judging them to be helpless. Brigit of Kildare is an enduring Colleague and Coworker of The Vulnerable and all those desiring a world of just peace where everyone can thrive.

Brigid

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 The Holy One has made.

Brigid you were a voice for the wounded and the weary.

Strengthen what is weak within us. Calm us into a quietness that heals and listens.

May we grow each day into greater wholeness in mind, body and spirit.

May it be so! (author unknown)

Saint Bishop Brigit of Kildare, pray with us!

Free Online Cross-Cultural Concert Recommendation: March 1st at 7 pm Central Time. Spiritual and Folk Artist Alana Levandoski will premier her folk opera, Longing, which combines Alana’s Cianalas/Tasknota, Scottish/Polish cultural heritage in thought-provoking and expansive ways that invites others to similar reflective growth.

Reserve your free online concert ticket here: https://alanalevandoski.com/

With the intention of promoting her concert, I am sharing this Music Sample. People of The Gift by Alana Levandoski.

Photo: St. Brigid Well, just outside Kildare Town Proper, on way of The Brigid’s Way Pilgrimage, Ireland, taken by Karen in July 2023.

“If we want to reap the harvest of peace and justice in the future,

we will have to sow the seeds of non-violence, here and now, in the present.”

(Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Irish Peace Nobel Laureate)

Happy Birthday!  Irish Woman & Noble Peace Prize Winner: Mairead Corrigan: (DOB January 27, 1944 in Belfast). Listen to Mairead, In Her Own Words below the video is about 2 minutes.            

In Loving Memory of and surrounded by, My Four Irish Great-Grandmothers.

Beannachtai’, Blessings,

Karen Kerrigan, ARCWP

Reference:

Johnston, Elva. St. Brigit of Kildare: Patron of The Powerless. UCD Library, Cultural Heritage Collections. January 25, 2018.

https://ucdculturalheritagecollections.com/2018/01/25/st-bridgit-of-kildare-patron-of-the-powerless/