St. Patrick & St. Brigid Rosary Chaplet

Also known as

    * Bride
    * Bride of the Isles
    * Bridget of Ireland
    * Bridget
    * Brigid of Kildare
    * Brigit
    * Ffraid
    * Mary of the Gael

Memorial

    * 1 February
    * 10 June (translation of relics)

Profile

    Daughter of Dubtach, pagan Scottish king of Leinster, and Brocca, a Christian Pictish slave who had been baptized by Saint Patrick. Just before Brigid’s birth, her mother was sold to a Druid landowner. Brigid remained with her mother till she was old enough to serve her legal owner Dubtach, her father.

    She grew up marked by her high spirits and tender heart, and as a child, she heard Saint Patrick preach, which she never forgot. She could not bear to see anyone hungry or cold, and to help them, often gave away things that were Dubtach’s. When Dubtach protested, she replied that “Christ dwelt in every creature”. Dubtach tried to sell her to the King of Leinster, and while they bargained, she gave a treasured sword of her father‘s to a leper. Dubtach was about to strike her when Brigid explained she had given the sword to God through the leper, because of its great value. The King, a Christian, forbade Dubtach to strike her, saying “Her merit before God is greater than ours”. Dubtach solved this domestic problem by giving Brigid her freedom.

    Brigid’s aged mother was in charge of her master’s dairy. Brigid took charge ,and often gave away the produce. But the dairy prospered under her (hence her patronage of milk maids, dairy workers, cattle, etc.), and the Druid freed Brigid’s mother.

    Brigid returned to her father, who arranged a marriage for her with a young bard. Bride refused, and to keep her virginity, went to her Bishop, Saint Mel of Ardagh, and took her first vows. Legend says that she prayed that her beauty be taken from her so no one would seek her hand in marriage; her prayer was granted, and she regained her beauty only after making her vows. Another tale says that when Saint Patrick heard her final vows, he mistakenly used the form for ordaining priests. When told of it he replied, “So be it, my son, she is destined for great things.”

    Her first convent started c.468 with seven nuns. At the invitation of bishops, she started convents all over Ireland. She was a great traveler, especially considering the conditions of the time, which led to her patronage of travelers, sailors, etc. Brigid invented the double monastery, the monastery of Kildara, which means Church of the Oak, that she ran on the Liffey river being for both monks and nuns. Saint Conleth became its first bishop; this connection and the installation of a bell that lasted over 1000 years apparently led to her patronage of blacksmiths and those in related fields.

Born

    * 453 at Faughart, County Louth, Ireland

Died

    * 1 February 523 at Kildare, Ireland of natural causes
    * interred in the Kildare cathedral
    * relics transferred to Downpatrick, Ireland in 878 where they were interred with those of Saint Patrick and Saint Columba
    * relics re-discovered on 9 June 1185
    * head removed to Jesuit church in Lisbon, Portugal

Canonized

    * Pre-Congregation

Name Meaning

    * fiery arrow (= brigid)

Patronage

    * babies
    * blacksmiths
    * boatmen
    * cattle
    * chicken farmers
    * children whose parents are not married
    * dairymaids
    * dairy workers
    * Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland
    * fugitives
    * infants
    * Ireland
    * Ivrea, Turin, Italy
    * Leinster, Ireland
    * mariners
    * midwives
    * milk maids
    * newborn babies
    * nuns
    * poets
    * poultry farmers
    * poultry raisers
    * printing presses
    * sailors
    * scholars
    * travellers
    * watermen

Representation

    * abbess, usually holding a lamp or candle, often with a cow nearby
    * abbess with her hand on an altar

 

Also known as

    * Apostle of Ireland
    * Maewyn Succat
    * Patricius
    * Patrizio

Memorial

    * 17 March

Profile

    Kidnapped from the British mainland around age 16, and shipped to Ireland as a slave. Sent to the mountains as a shepherd, he spent his time in the field in prayer. After six years of this life, he had a dream in which he was commanded to return to Britain; seeing it as a sign, he escaped. He studied in several monasteries in Europe. Ordained a priest and then a bishop. Sent by Pope Celestine to evangelize England, then Ireland, during which his chariot driver was Saint Odran, and Saint Jarlath was one of his spiritual students. In 33 years he effectively converted the Ireland. In the Middle Ages Ireland became known as the Land of Saints, and during the Dark Ages its monasteries were the great repositories of learning in Europe, all a consequence of Patrick’s ministry.

Born

    * between 387 and 390 at Scotland as Maewyn Succat

Died

    * between 461 and 464 at Saul, County Down, Ireland of natural causes

Canonized

    * Pre-Congregation

Name Meaning

    * warlike (Succat – pagan birth name);
    * noble (Patricius – baptismal name)

Patronage

    * against fear of snakes
    * against ophidiophobia
    * against snake bites
    * against snakes
    * engineers
    * excluded people
    * ophidiophobics
    * Ireland
    * Nigeria
    * Adelaide, Australia, archdiocese of
    * Armagh, Ireland, archdiocese of
    * Auckland, New Zealand, diocese of
    * Ballarat, Australia, diocese of
    * Boston, Massachusetts, archdiocese of
    * Burlington, Vermont, diocese of
    * Cape Town, South Africa, archdiocese of
    * Dromore, Ireland, diocese of
    * Erie, Pennsylvania, diocese of
    * Fort Worth, Texas, diocese of
    * Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, diocese of
    * Kilmore, Ireland, diocese of
    * Melbourne, Australia, archdiocese of
    * Mymensingh, Bangladesh, diocese of
    * New York, New York, archdiocese of
    * Norwich, Connecticut, diocese of
    * Ottawa, Ontario, archdiocese of
    * Peterborough, Ontario, diocese of
    * Poona, India, diocese of
    * Port Elizabeth, South Africa, diocese of
    * Portland, Maine, diocese of
    * Sacramento, California, diocese of
    * Saint John, New Brunswick, diocese of
    * Thunder Bay, Ontario, diocese of
    * Loiza, Puerto Rico


Representation

    * baptismal font
    * demons
    * harp
    * bishop driving snakes before him
    * bishop trampling on snakes
    * snakes
    * cross
    * Purgatory
    * serpent
    * shamrock