Posted on 02/01/2006 8:28:04 AM PST by Catherine A
Per the 1962 Missal, today's Feast is that of St. Ignatius of Antioch, but St. Brigid, though not celebrated liturgically by those using the 1962 Missal, is still honored today, especially among the Irish.BR>
St. Brigid -- her name is correctly pronounced "Brigg-id" or "Bree-id" but almost never is -- was born in A.D. 451 or 452 to a pagan father (Dubthach) and Christian slave mother (Broicsech) just after the time that St. Patrick was preaching (St. Patrick died in A.D. 493). It is said a Bishop -- a follower of St. Patrick -- met the pregnant slave woman and predicted that the child she was carrying would do great things. It is said, too, that a Druid of Dubthach's household had predicted that there would soon be born one who "shall be called from her great virtues the truly pious brigid; she will be another Mary, mother of the great Lord."
Brigid's mother was sent away at the insistence of her father's wife -- sold to a Druidic poet in Connacht -- but Brigid was to be returned to her father after she was raised (it was undoubtedly he who gave her her name -- most likely in honor of the false goddess, Brigid, whose name means "Fiery Arrow.")...
(Excerpt) Read more at fisheaters.com ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.