from fr john’s desk… feast of st bridget - 1 february 2021 seemingly unimportant facts or little coincidences have always fascinated me. since moving to the parish in 2016 i have always enjoyed the fact that the two patronal feasts of st stephen and st bridget act as bookends for our year: st bridget’s feast on 1 february and st stephen’s feast on 26 december. how wonderful that our two saints watch over our year in this way— always there to help us with their intercession. we were fortunate to have been able to celebrate st stephen’s feast day mass in public last december but now we are unable to celebrate, along with the school, our st bridget’s feast day mass in church this year—but you can watch the mass at www.st-stephens-warrington.co.uk st brigid of kildare brigid was born in the year 451 ad in faughart, dundalk, ireland, county louth. three biographies agree that her mother was brocca, a christian pict and slave who had been baptised by saint patrick. they name her father as dubhthach, a chieftain of leinster. these accounts tell us that brigid's mother was a slave and that dubthach's wife forced him to sell her to a druid when she became pregnant. brigid herself was born into slavery. from the start, it was clear that brigid was holy. when the druid tried to feed her, she vomited due to his impurity. it is said a white cow with red ears appeared to sustain her instead. as she grew older, brigid performed many miracles, including healing, and feeding the poor. according to one tale, as a child, she once gave away her mother's entire store of butter. the butter was then replenished in answer to brigid's prayers. around the age of ten, she was returned as a household servant to her father, where her habit of charity also led her to donate his belongings to anyone who asked. dubthach was so annoyed with her that he took her to the king of leinster to sell her. while dubthach was talking to the king, brigid gave away his jewelled sword to a beggar to barter it for food to feed his family. the king recognized her holiness and convinced dubthach to grant his daughter her freedom. it is said that brigid was professed as a nun by either by st. mac caill at croghan, or by st. mél of ardagh at mág tulach, who also granted her the rights of an abbess. it is said that in about 468, she and st. maughold (macaille) followed st. mél into the kingdom of tethbae, which was made up of parts of modern counties meath, westmeath and longford. according to tradition, around 480, brigid founded a monastery at kildare (cill dara, "church of the oak"), on the site of an older pagan shrine to the celtic goddess brigid, served by a group of young women who tended an eternal flame. the site was under a large oak tree on the ridge of drum criadh. brigid, with an initial group of seven companions, is credited with organizing communal consecrated religious life for women in ireland. she founded two monastic institutions, one for men, and the other for women, and invited conleth (conláed), a hermit from old connell near newbridge, to help her in kildare as spiritual pastor of them. for centuries, kildare was ruled by a double line of abbot-bishops and of abbesses, the abbess of kildare being regarded as superior general of the monasteries in ireland. her successors have always been accorded episcopal honour. brigid's small oratory at kildare became a center of religion and learning, and developed into a cathedral city. brigid is also credited with founding a school of art, including metal work and illumination, which conleth oversaw. the kildare scriptorium made the book of kildare. when dying, st. brigid is said to have been given the sacrament of the dying by st. ninnidh. afterwards, he reportedly had his right hand encased in metal so that it would never be defiled, and became known as "ninnidh of the clean hand". tradition says she died at kildare on 1 february 525.