❤️‍🔥Weaving Two Parables of Jesus and Saint Brigid's Story into Her Cross ❤️‍🔥

Creatively Weaving and Meditating with Saint Brigid's Cross.

If you liked reading this, please click the ❤️button
on this post so other people can find it on Substack!
Buíochas! (bwee-kus), Thank you!

In the Celtic Tradition it was recognized that if you send blessings out from your heart, they are multiplied as they return into your life.

Join me in a creative process of weaving Two Parables of Jesus and The Story of Saint Brigid as we make our own Saint Brigid Cross.

The Story of The First Saint Brigid’s Cross

Saint Brigid went to her dying father Dubthach’s home. Compassionately, she sat at his bedside. Noticing rushes on the floor, she picked them up. Telling him The Story of Jesus as she wove the rushes into the cross. Dubthach asked to be baptized before he died.

Traditionally, Irish People gather rushes and construct Saint Brigid Crosses on The Feast of Saint Brigid, February 1st. New crosses can be mounted by the entry doors to your home. Prayers are said on behalf of all who dwell and enter the home, for protection from illness and anything that tears us apart.

For Our 21st Century

Creating a Brigid Cross models the quantum entanglement of our interrelationships throughout the Cosmos. “Driven by the forces of love, the fragments of this world are seeking each other, so that the world may come into being.” Teilhard de Chardin

Brat Bride* Brigid’s Mantle Tradition.

On the evening of January 31st, St. Brigid’s Eve, people intentionally put a piece of cloth outside. I tie a special scarf to a post on my porch. The tradition is that Brigid comes by and blesses the cloth at night. During the rest of the year, the cloth is used wherever healing in body, heart, mind, and community are needed. (*braught breed)

Constructing Your Own Brigid Cross.

Us the following meditation as you weave your cross.

Materials:
20 pipe cleaners
I purchased my pipe cleaners at a local grocery store.
A candle to light in honor of Brigid's Flame.

Steps Before Beginning this Meditation (A-F).

A. Set out all your materials. B. Keep 1 pipe cleaner vertically straight. C. Fold 18 pipe cleaners in half, pinching the fold. Do not cut the 18 folded pipe cleaners.

For the fasteners. D. Only cut one pipe cleaner into four. If you wish, use yarn pieces or rubber bands.

E. Each of the 19 numbers of the following meditation stands for a pipe cleaner that will be woven into your cross in order.

F. After, your preparations are all set.

I invite you to allow your cross-making time to be meditative and prayerful. Take your time.

Prayer:

Light a candle in honor of Brigid’s Flame. Commit to tending Her flame in your heart. Welcome The Parable Teller, Jesus, and Saint Brigid into your meditation. (Pause)

Who are people and situations you wish to remember and ask for healing during our meditation? (Pause)

Fáilte*! Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Our Beloved Jesus and Saint Brigid of Kildare! In our world that appears filled with divisions and conflict, we ask You to address and reveal Your Presence and Wisdom to us as we retell Two of Jesus’ Parables and The Story of Brigid of Kildare while weaving her cross. Activate their message in our lives.

Saint Brigid of Kildare, Pray with Us! Amen. (*fall-cha)

Two Readings from The Parables of Jesus and A Retelling of The Life of Brigid of Kildare.

1. (Place the one straight pipe cleaner vertically in front of you)
Say aloud, “Now all the tax collectors and public sinners were coming near Jesus to listen. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This Rabbi receives public sinners and eats with them.”

2. (Weave one bent stem around the middle of the vertical stem, pointing the ends to the right. Rotate your work to the left. The straight stem is now horizontal)
So Jesus told them a parable saying, What woman, having ten coins and losing one, would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it?

3. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
 And when she does find it, she calls her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’

4. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotate to the left, pinching in your current work tight)
 In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of Our Beloved over one person who chooses to move into the larger mind* of The Kin-dom.”  (adapted from The Message)

5. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
Jesus told another parable saying, The Reign of Our Beloved is like a woman carrying a jar full of Meal. 

6. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
While she is walking on a path some distance from her home, the handle of her jar breaks, and the meal spills out behind her on the road. 

7. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
The woman is unaware of the problem, for she has noticed nothing. 

8. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left, pinching your current work tight)
When she opens the door to her house and puts the jar down, suddenly she discovers it is empty. (The Gospel of Thomas Logion 97. The Luminous Gospels)

9. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotate to the left)
A Retelling Story about Saint Brigid of Kildare.
On The Threshold of dawn and spring, Broicsech, who was a slave, stepped with one foot inside her house and one foot outside, giving birth to Brigid while carrying milk.

10. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
During her childhood, Brigid accompanied her chieftain father Dubthach to visit a king. Remaining in the cart, she gave away his bejeweled sword to a poor man so he could trade it to buy food for his family. 

11. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
As a young woman, Brigid went to become a nun. The Presiding Bishop Mel, inspired by The Holy Spirit, prayed the prayers consecrating her a bishop instead of a nun! His assistant complained about giving episcopal orders to a woman.

12. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left, pinching your current work tight)
Bishop Mel said he had no power over the matter as the Order of Bishop was given by God to Brigid and all her successors at Kildare.

13. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
Later in the year, Brigid and her Sisters were looking for monastery land, but the local king refused to provide. Pleading, she promised only to take the land her cloak could cover. 

14. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
At first the king watched in amusement, then he became baffled as her cloak stretched very far and wide. He finally had to beg her to stop! The 5,000 acres her cloak stretched across are called Curragh Plains. 

15. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
At Kildare, * Brigid was an Abbess and Bishop in a double monastery of women and men. The monastery served as a community center for spirituality, hospitality, education, illumination, healing, and miracles. (*Cill Dara, Church of The Oak)

16. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotate to the left)
In addition, her monastery provided a reconciliation center where opposing Clans could come to peacefully settle their disputes. 

17. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
Continuing a perpetual flame tradition from pre-Christian times, Brigid along with nineteen other Sisters kept the fire going at her monastery. This practice lasted until the 16th century when all monastery activity was suppressed. 

18. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotating to the left)
In 1993 the flame was re-lit in the Market Square, Kildare, by Sr. Mary Teresa Cullen, then congregational leader of the Brigidine Sisters. The flame continues burning bright at Solas Bhride, in Kildare, cared for by The Brigidine Sisters. 

19. (Weave the next bent stem around the stems that are pointing upwards and rotate to the left, pinching in everything tight.)
In 2023, The people of Ireland voted to make the first Monday of February a bank holiday in honor of Brigid of Kildare. (An Adapted Retelling the Story of Saint Brigid of Kildare. (451 - 524 CE)

Prayer for Fastening the Arms to complete your Brigid Cross.

(Use the short pieces to fasten each arm)

While fastening the ends of each of the four arms of your Brigid Cross pray,

First arm, Hear what the Spirit is saying in the Parable of The Lost Coin.

Second, Hear what the Spirit is saying in The Parable of The Empty Meal Jar.

Third, Hear what the Spirit is saying in Retelling the Story of Brigid of Kildare.

Finally, Hear what The Spirit is saying to you, your community, and the world as you look at your Brigid Cross! Amen.

My Commentary on The Parables, Brigid Retelling and The Brigid Cross.

How can three women of limited funds: The Woman with The Lost Coin, The Woman with The Empty Meal Jar and Brigid of Kildare convey The Reign of The Kin-dom of Our Beloved? Sister Ilia Delio says, “The Story and Teachings of Jesus, (and I believe The Story of Saint Brigid) show us the way to a life that chooses to move beyond all obstacles and dualisms that stand in the way of new and deeper personhood toward unity and community. (adapted from Ilia Delio)

In the familiar story of The Lost Coin from Luke’s Gospel, we learn that this woman just had Ten coins total. Each only worth about a single day’s wage, she misplaces one! Desperately, sweeping every nook and cranny of her house, she finds what was lost. Why, with so little to live on, does she call her family and friends to celebrate finding the coin? How much did she spend to throw her party? Jesus’ vision of The Divine Reign must of sounded absurd to the original hearers as it is for us today! Defies all conventional sense. To thrive, in The Reign of The Kin-dom, what one has cannot be hoarded but generously given away!

In this parable, I replaced the expected word, “repent” which is found in most conventional translations with “move into the larger mind.” The original Greek word is metanoia. Which is often interpreted as, change your direction. The interpretation to move into the larger mind may better convey the meaning of metanoia. Instead of just turning around to a new direction in a dualistic, one way or the other way fashion, “move into the larger mind” invites the hearer to not only turn around but to change course, expanding and broadening one's experience and practice of Divine Reign.

What does The Parable of The Lost Coin have to say to you, your community and world currently?

The Parable of The Empty Meal Jar comes from The Gospel of Thomas. As we hear this less familiar parable, we might wonder, whether the reason the woman went so far from her home was to buy the costly Meal? Did exhaustion on her return journey distract her? Now with the jar empty, was she rendered destitute? Our Wisdom Rabbi Jesus totally counters to what we are accustomed! No happy ending with this one! Are we somehow to find The Divine Reign of The Kin-dom in emptiness, loss, and nothingness? Jesus’ vision turns expected norms upside down. What seems like the end to us in The Realm of Divine Love is not the end of the story!

What does The Parable of The Empty Meal Jar have to say to you, your community, and your world at this current time?

Brigid of Kildare lived about four centuries after Jesus. The story of this woman continues to inspire the spirituality of people all over the world 1,500 years after she lived. Her story’s longevity defies logic about the way things are supposed to be. How can an Irish woman’s legacy extend farther into mainland Europe than her two male counterparts Patrick and Columba combined? Her legendary life even went as far as South Africa in the Middle Ages. What about her story influenced and inspired people?

Although Brigid's father was a chieftain, she was not the daughter of his wife but his slave woman. Furthermore, Brigid’s compassionate habit of giving away prized family treasures for trade, to buy food for the poor, was not ingratiating her father. Brigid’s brothers were furious when she refused marriage because they would not receive her bride price. Several stories have Brigid sent away during her childhood to prevent her from further giving away her family’s possessions. Brigid knew what one has cannot be hoarded but generously given away! Although her youth was filled with obstacles, she grew in stunning generous faith, moving into the larger mind.

Even more outlandish, Brigid became ordained a bishop* by Bishop Mel! This long-standing bishop tradition is celebrated in texts and in stained glass windows as well as statues where Brigid is depicted holding a crosier (bishop’s staff) and a cathedral, just like male bishops do and can be found all over Ireland! Brigid’s story defies common orthodox conventions!

Brigid’s Spirit-filled genius as both Bishop and Abbess gave her rare authority over a double monastery of women and men. Under her leadership the monastic center spread out in larger concentric circles forming a thriving community including farmers of livestock and agriculture, smith workers, hospitality workers caring for the sick and the scriptorium where beautiful, illuminated texts were created. A later historian named Charles of Wales documented a book so luminous that only angels could have created it. How can we update this compassionate community from the 5th century into our time?

Brigid’s Perpetual Flame demonstrates passion for continuing her legacy. What can this flame kindle in us as we learn from Brigid’s story about authenticity, leadership and agency? How can her flame continue burning bright in our hearts?

I combined the process of making a Brigid Cross while intentionally reading lines from Jesus’ Parables and The Story of Brigid in prayerful and meditative ways. Like Brigid, you told the stories. I hope using the many modalities involved in cross making caused you to work with the stories in new and expanded ways.

Episcopal Priest and World-Renowned Spiritual Leader, Cynthia Bourgeault once said when referring to The Parable of The Good Samaritan, it is not about joining The Good Sam Club where points are given for good behavior. The Economy of The Reign of The Kin-dom does not work like that. Jesus’ Parables can fry the sockets off our normal vantage points and mind sets! The Two Parables of Jesus and The Story of Brigid of Kildare invite us to make profound expansive shifts in our perspectives about the way our lives, communities and our world are supposed to be. We are invited to choose to move beyond a worldview of scarcity and alienation to a larger frame of reference that includes abundance, compassion, expanded community and generosity. The Divine Kin-dom found for the Woman with The Lost Coin, even discovered in loss for The Woman with The Empty Meal Jar and continued in the memory and legacy of Saint Brigid of Kildare profoundly addresses us today. How do we continue the pattern in our own lives, our communities, and our world?

Happy Saint Brigid's Day! 💚

Prayer for Mounting Your Brigid Cross
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome,
Saint Brigid, pray with us.
Saint Brigid, woman of fire, woman of light
Woman of endless warmth and welcome
Be with us each time we open our door.
Knock down the walls of indifference around here.
In our heads, in our hearts and in our cozy lives
Set our bones ablaze.
With the fire of love and hospitality
For family and neighbors
For the poor, the dispossessed.
Kindle our hearts to passionately care about the people.
For whom there is little welcome
The homeless ones, the refugees,
Those who lack shelter, food, and clean water.
St Brigid, woman of holy fire, we call on your spirit.
To awaken us to challenge unjust structures
Which renders millions of people as refugees!
May it be so in our lives, communities, and our world.
(Sr. Rita Minehan, Solas Bhride, in Kildare)

At the end of every post, I leave a quote by Mairead Corrigan.

With Mairead Corrigan's birthday just past, I wish for her to speak.
She is an Irish Woman & Noble Peace Prize Winner,
(DOB January 27, 1944, in Belfast)
Please listen to her on this link.

Mairead Corrigan

Resources for this Post:

Scripture Resources: *“Repent,” Metanoia, going into the larger mind. https://cac.org/daily-meditations/self-emptying-going-int-the-larger-mind-2017-04-14

*from Leabhar Breac =‘On the Life of St. Brigit’, translated from the Gaelic by Whitley Stokes in 1878 (www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T2010101/index.aspl)

Saint Brigid’s Day and Imbolc have come! 💚💐

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

Beannachtai’, Blessings,

Karen Kerrigan, ARCWP

“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)