(A.D. 525.)
[S. Bridget, or Bride as she is called in England, is the Patroness
of Ireland, and was famous throughout northern Europe. Leslie says,
"She is held in so great honour by Picts, Britons, Angles, and
Irish, that more churches are dedicated to God in her memory, than
to any other of the saints;" and Hector Boece says, that she was
regarded by Scots, Picts, and Irish as only second to the B. Virgin
Mary. Unfortunately, little authentic is known of her. The lives
extant are for the most part of late composition, and are collected
from oral traditions of various value. One life is attributed,
however, to Bishop Ultan Mac Concubar, d. circ. 662; another, a
metrical one, is by the monk Chilian, circ. 740; another by one
Cogitosus, is of uncertain date; another is by Laurence, prior of
Durham, d. 1154; and there is another, considered ancient, by an
anonymous author.]
Ireland was, of old, called the Isle of Saints, because of the great
number of holy ones of both sexes who flourished there in former ages;
or, who, coming thence, propagated the faith amongst other nations. Of
this great number of saints the three most eminent, and who have
therefore been honoured as the special patrons of the island, were S.
Patrick their apostle, S. Columba, who converted the Picts, and S.
Bridget, the virgin of Kildare, whose festival is marked in all the
Martyrologies on the 1st day of February.
This holy virgin was born about the middle of the fifth century, in
the village of Fochard, in the diocese of Armagh. Her father was a
nobleman, called Dubtach, descended from Eschaid, the brother of King
Constantine of the Hundred Battles, as he is surnamed by the Irish
historians. The legend of her origin is as follows, but it is not to
be relied upon, as it is not given by Ultan, Cogitosus, or Chilian of
Inis-Keltra.[6] Dubtach had a young and beautiful slave-girl, whom he
dearly loved, and she became pregnant by him, whereat his wife, in
great jealousy and rage, gave him no peace till he had sold her to a
bard, but Dubtach, though he sold the slave-girl, stipulated with the
purchaser that the child should not go with the mother, but should be
returned to him when he claimed it.
Now one day, the king and queen visited the bard to ask an augury as
to the child they expected shortly, and to be advised as to the place
where the queen should be confined. Then the bard said, "Happy is the
child that is born neither in the house nor out of the house!" Now it
fell out that Brotseach, the slave-girl, was shortly after returning
to the house with a pitcher of fresh warm milk from the cow, when she
was seized with labour, and sank down on the threshold, and was
delivered neither in the house nor out of the house, and the pitcher
of warm sweet milk, falling, was poured over the little child.
When Bridget grew up, her father reclaimed her, and treated her with
the same tenderness that he showed to his legitimate children. She had
a most compassionate heart, and gave to every beggar what he asked,
whether it were hers or not. This rather annoyed her father, who took
her one day with him to the king's court, and leaving her outside, in
the chariot, went within to the king, and asked his majesty to buy his
daughter, as she was too expensive for him to keep, owing to her
excessive charity. The king asked to see the girl, and they went
together to the door. In the meantime, a beggar had approached
Bridget, and unable to resist his importunities, she had given him the
only thing she could find, her father's sword, which was a present
that had been made him by the king. When Dubtach discovered this, he
burst forth into angry abuse, and the king asked, "Why didst thou give
away the royal sword, child?" "If beggars assailed me," answered
Bridget calmly, "and asked for my king and my father, I would give
them both away also." "Ah!" said the king, "I cannot buy a girl who
holds us so cheap."
Her great beauty caused her to be sought in marriage by a young noble
of the neighbourhood, but as she had already consecrated herself by
vow to Jesus, the Spouse of virgins, she would not hear of this match.
To rid herself of the importunity of her suitor, she prayed to God,
that He would render her so deformed that no one might regard her. Her
prayer was heard, and a distemper fell on one of her eyes, by which
she lost that eye, and became so disagreeable to the sight, that no
one thought of giving her any further molestation.[7] Thus she easily
gained her father's consent that she should consecrate her virginity
to God, and become a nun. She took with her three other virgins of
that country, and bidding farewell to her friends, went in 469 to the
holy bishop Maccail, then at Usny hill, Westmeath; who gave the sacred
veil to her and her companions, and received their profession of
perpetual virginity. S. Bridget was then only fourteen years old, as
some authors assert. The Almighty was pleased on this occasion to
declare how acceptable this sacrifice was, by restoring to Bridget the
use of her eye, and her former beauty, and, what is still more
remarkable, and is particularly celebrated, as well in the Roman, as
in other ancient Martyrologies, was, that when the holy virgin, bowing
her head, kissed the dry wood of the feet of the altar, it immediately
grew green, in token of her purity and sanctity. The story is told of
her, that when she was a little child, playing at holy things, she got
a smooth slab of stone which she tried to set up as a little altar;
then a beautiful angel joined in her play, and made wooden legs to the
altar, and bored four holes in the stone, into which the legs might be
driven, so as to make it stand.
[Illustration: S. BRIDGET. After Cahier. Feb. 1.]
S. Bridget having consecrated herself to God, built a cell for her
abode, under a goodly oak, thence called Kil-dare or the Cell of the
Oak; and this foundation grew into a large community, for a great
number of virgins resorted to her, attracted by her sanctity, and put
themselves under her direction. And so great was the reputation of her
virtues, and the place of her abode was so renowned and frequented on
her account, that the many buildings erected in the neighbourhood
during her lifetime formed a large town, which was soon made the seat
of a bishop, and in process of time, the metropolitan see of the whole
province.
What the rule embraced by S. Bridget was, is not known, but it appears
from her history, that the habit which she received at her profession
from S. Maccail was white. Afterwards, she herself gave a rule to her
nuns; so that she is justly numbered among the founders of religious
Orders. This rule was followed for a long time by the greatest part of
the monasteries of sacred virgins in Ireland; all acknowledging our
Saint as their mother and mistress, and the monastery of Kildare as
the headquarters of their Order. Moreover, Cogitosus informs us, in
his prologue to her life, that not only did she rule nuns, but also a
large community of men, who lived in a separate monastery. This
obliged the Saint to call to her aid out of his solitude, the holy
bishop S. Conlaeth, to be the director and father to her monks; and at
the same time to be the bishop of the city. The church of Kildare, to
suit the requirements of the double monastery and the laity, was
divided by partitions into three parts, Cogitosus says, one for the
monks, one for the nuns, and the third for the lay people.
As S. Bridget was obliged to go long journeys, the bishop ordained her
coachman priest, and the story is told that one day as she and a
favourite nun sat in the chariot, the coachman preached to them the
Word of God, turning his head over his shoulder. Then said the abbess,
"Turn round, that we may hear better, and throw down the reins." So he
cast the reins over the front of the chariot, and addressed his
discourse to them with his back to the horses. Then one of the horses
slipped its neck from the yoke, and ran free; and so engrossed were
Bridget and her companion in the sermon of the priestly charioteer,
that they did not observe that the horse was loose, and the carriage
running all on one side. On another occasion she was being driven over
a common near the Liffey, when they came to a long hedge, for a man
had enclosed a portion of the common. Then the man shouted to them to
go round, and Bridget bade her charioteer so do. But he, thinking that
they had a right of way across the newly made field, drove straight at
the hedge; then the proprietor of the field ran forward, and the
horses started, and the jolt of the chariot threw S. Bridget and the
coachman out of the vehicle, and severely bruised them both. Then the
abbess, picking herself up said, "Better to have gone round; short
cuts bring broken bones."
Once a family came to Kildare, leaving their house and cattle
unguarded, that they might attend a festival in the church, and
receive advice from S. Bridget. Whilst they were absent, some thieves
stole their cows, and drove them away.
They had to pass the Liffey, which was much swollen, consequently the
thieves stripped, and tied their clothes to the horns of the cattle,
intending to drive the cows into the river, and swim after them. But
the cows ran away, carrying off with them the clothes of the robbers
attached to their horns, and they did not stop till they reached the
gates of the convent of S. Bridget, the nude thieves racing after
them. The holy abbess restored to them their garments, and severely
reprimanded them for their attempted robbery.
Other strange miracles are attributed to her, of which it is
impossible to relate a tithe. She is said, after a shower of rain, to
have come hastily into a chamber, and cast her wet cloak over a
sunbeam, mistaking it, in her hurry, for a beam of wood. And the cloak
remained there, and the ray of sun did not move, till late at night
one of her maidens ran to her, to tell her that the sunbeam waited its
release, so she hasted, and removed her cloak, and the ray retired
after the long departed sun.
Once a rustic, seeing a wolf run about in proximity to the palace,
killed it; not knowing that it was the tame creature of the king; and
he brought the dead beast to the king, expecting a reward. Then the
prince in anger ordered the man to be cast into prison and executed.
Now when Bridget heard this, her spirit was stirred within her, and
mounting her chariot, she drove to the court, to intercede for the
life of the poor countryman. And on the way, there came a wolf over
the bog racing towards her, and it leaped into the chariot, and
allowed her to caress it. Then, when she reached the palace, she went
before the king, with the wolf at her side, and said, "Sire! I have
brought thee a better wolf than that thou hast lost, spare therefore
the life of the poor man who unwittingly slew thy beast." Then the
king accepted her present with great joy, and ordered the prisoner to
be released.
One evening she sat with sister Dara, a holy nun, who was blind, as
the sun went down; and they talked of the love of Jesus Christ, and
the joys of Paradise. Now their hearts were so full, that the night
fled away whilst they spoke together, and neither knew that so many
hours had sped. Then the sun came up from behind Wicklow mountains,
and the pure white light made the face of earth bright and gay. Then
Bridget sighed, when she saw how lovely were earth and sky, and knew
that Dara's eyes were closed to all this beauty. So she bowed her head
and prayed, and extended her hand and signed the dark orbs of the
gentle sister. Then the darkness passed away from them, and Dara saw
the golden ball in the east, and all the trees and flowers glittering
with dew in the morning light. She looked a little while, and then,
turning to the abbess, said, "Close my eyes again, dear mother, for
when the world is so visible to the eyes, God is seen less clearly to
the soul." So Bridget prayed once more, and Dara's eyes grew dark
again.
A madman, who troubled all the neighbourhood, came one day across the
path of the holy abbess. Bridget arrested him, and said, "Preach to me
the Word of God, and go thy way." Then he stood still and said, "O
Bridget, I obey thee. Love God, and all will love thee. Honour God,
and all will honour thee. Fear God, and all will fear thee." Then with
a howl he ran away. Was there ever a better sermon preached in fewer
words.
A very remarkable prophesy of the heresies and false doctrines of
later years must not be omitted. One day Bridget fell asleep whilst a
sermon was being preached by S. Patrick, and when the sermon was over,
she awoke. Then the preacher asked her, "O Bridget, why didst thou
sleep, when the Word of Christ was spoken?" She fell on her knees and
asked pardon, saying, "Spare me, spare me, my father, for I have had a
dream." Then said Patrick, "Relate thy vision to me." And Bridget
said, "Thy hand-maiden saw, and behold the land was ploughed far and
wide, and sowers went forth in white raiment, and sowed good seed. And
it sprang up a white and goodly harvest. Then came other ploughers in
black, and sowers in black, and they hacked, and tore up, and
destroyed that beauteous harvest, and strewed tares far and wide. And
after that, I looked, and behold, the island was full of sheep and
swine, and dogs and wolves, striving with one another and rending one
another." Then said S. Patrick, "Alas, my daughter! in the latter days
will come false teachers having false doctrine; who shall lead away
many, and the good harvest which has sprung up from the Gospel seed we
have sown will be trodden under foot; and there shall be controversies
in the faith between the faithful and the bringers-in of strange
doctrine."
Now when the time of her departure drew nigh, Bridget called to her a
dear pupil, named Darlugdach and foretold the day on which she should
die. Then Darlugdach wept bitterly, and besought her mother to suffer
her to die with her. But the blessed Bridget said, "Nay, my daughter,
thou shalt live a whole year after my departure; and then shalt thou
follow me." And so it came to pass. Having received the sacred
viaticum from the hands of S. Nennidh, the bishop, the holy abbess
exchanged her mortal life for a happy immortality, on February 1st,
525.[8] Her body was interred in the church of Kildare; where her nuns
for some ages, to honour her memory, kept a fire always burning; from
which that convent was called the House of Fire, till Henry of London,
Archbishop of Dublin, to take away all occasion of superstition, in
1220, ordered it to be extinguished.
The body of the Saint was afterwards translated to Down-Patrick, where
it was found in a triple vault, together with the bodies of S. Patrick
and S. Columba, in the year 1185. These bodies were, with great
solemnity, translated the following year by the Pope's legate,
accompanied by fifteen bishops, in presence of an immense number of
the clergy, nobility, and people, to a more honourable place of the
cathedral of Down; where they were kept, with due honour, till the
time of Henry VIII., when the monument was destroyed by Leonard, Lord
Grey, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. S. Bridget's head was saved by some
of the clergy, who carried it to Neustadt, in Austria; and from
thence, in 1587, it was taken to the church of the Jesuits at Lisbon,
to whom the Emperor Rudolf II. gave it.
In art, S. Bridget is usually represented with her perpetual flame as
a symbol; sometimes with a column of fire, said to have been seen
above her head when she took the veil.