When Sr. Aloysius McVeigh rsm was asked to paint an icon it was at once an honour and a responsibility calling for much research and prayer. By prayerful attention to the presence of Brigid we will experience the stillness, the power, and the prayer, that is the essence of this icon.
Unlike a painting, an icon seeks to reveal spiritual messages and meaning that lie beneath the surface reality. Allowing for a measure of Celtic imagination in the early biographies of St. Brigid (c.452 – 525), there are truths and teachings enshrined in the legends. St. Brigid emerges from them as a woman of extraordinary faith, hospitality, charity and wisdom, with the strength and gentleness that ensures our enthusiastic acceptance of this ‘Mary of the Gael’ as our beloved Patroness.
In her left hand Brigid holds the symbol of her monastic foundation, under the famous oak that gives ‘Cill Dara’ (Church of the Oak) its name. In her right she holds the crosier denoting her dignity as Abbess, conferred by St. Mel of Ardagh, giving her leadership over the church in Kildare and over her dual monastery of men and women.
St. Brigid also founded a school of art and appointed St. Conleth in charge. The achievements in the fields of illumination and metalwork among her disciples elicited the unbounded praise of the 12th century Welsh chronicler, Giraldus Cambrensis,
“All this is the work of angels and not of human skill.”
The icon attempts to portray this by the open book and the flame of learning and also the jewelled sword and brooch. As usual in iconography these symbols have layers of deeper significance. The sword reminds us of Brigid giving away her father’s precious sword to a poor person so that he could barter it for food for his family. Brigid’s foot on the sword signifies her renunciation of wealth and her abhorrence of violence.
A perpetual flame burned in Kildare in pre-Christian times and was kept alight by Brigid and her nuns until the 16th century. In the Christian tradition the flame is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Brigid had a deep respect for all creation. Animals played a significant role in many of her legends, cows and sheep being particularly associated with her. Perhaps most encouraging for us among all the legends, is the parable of her cloak spreading over the Curragh of Kildare. Surely we are asked to see in it Brigid’s pledge of continuing guidance and protection “Brat Bride Ort” (The cloak of Brigid upon you) is a popular blessing used throughout Ireland, invoking the protection of Brigid’s cloak.
Sr. Aloysius McVeigh, R.S.M.
The icon was painted by Sr. Aloysius McVeigh and commissioned by the Parish of Kildare, Ireland. An icon is different from a painting in that it seeks to reveal a story or message that exists below the surface.
What does this icon reveal about the life and works of Brigid? Click on different parts of the icon and discover what each is saying about Brigid.
St Brigid’s Cross woven from rushes, is said to have been used by Brigid in explaining the story of the life and death of Jesus to a dying chieftain. Dating from pre-Christian times, the cross provides a connecting link between pagan customs and the emergence of Christianity. St Brigid crosses are frequently placed over a door to protect people from illness or other misfortune.
In each of the four sections of the Cross of St Brigid are contained symbols of the four gospel writers indicating Brigid’s commitment to the ‘new’ religion of Christianity. The symbols and who they represent are:
(Top left) A lion, representing Mark
(Top right) An eagle, representing John
(Bottom right) An ox, representing Luke
(Bottom left) A human angel, representing Matthew
Madonna Style Face
One of the most common titles used to describe Brigid is that of “Mary of the Gael”. The use of the word ‘Mary’ reflects the connection the Irish people made between Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Brigid, the most famous woman of early Irish history. The word ‘Gael’ or Gaelic is another word that describes people who live in Ireland, with the original language of Gaelic still being spoken in many parts of the country today. One legend tells of Brigid being the midwife to Mary at the birth of Jesus but this would have been impossible as she lived 400 years after this event. Brigid is associated with many traditional feminine qualities including healing, care for people, craft works, and hospitality.
The Madonna style face has no distinct ethnic characteristics, reflecting the fact that Brigid is regarded as a universal saint who was honoured not only in Ireland but also throughout many parts of Europe. It is often said that the Irish are the great travellers of the world, migrating as they did to many other countries, so it is no surprise that Brigid is the patron saint of travellers.
The pre-Christian goddess Brigid was associated with fire as a symbol of energy and light. Keeping the flame alive became an important part of the work of Brigid’s monastery with people being given the task of keeping the fires alight because of the dependence of the monastery on fire for heating, cooking and many craft activities. ‘Brigid’s Fire’, a flame that was never extinguished, burnt in Kildare until the sixteenth century when King Henry viii had it extinguished as part of the Reformation, a time when the Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church based in Rome.
In recent years, two Brigidine sisters living in Kildare have re-lit the flame as a symbol of their connection to Brigid and have established the Solas Bhride (Spirit of Brigid) Centre as a place of work that undertakes community support activities.
Legend has it that Brigid was ordained a Bishop when she and a group of women went to Bishop Mel to receive the veil, a symbol of clothing to demonstrate their commitment to a life of service as religious women. As the other women were receiving the veil, Brigid held back so that she was the last to whom a veil would be given. Instead of saying the prayer as he did to the other woman, Bishop Mel spoke the words that ordained Brigid as a Bishop. Such an event was unheard of in the church given that only men could be ordained priests or bishops, yet Brigid was recognised in her lifetime as a Bishop of the church.
An indicator that Brigid’s ordination as a Bishop was something different is that the crozier held in her hand is often shown to be pointing away from her body, whereas the normal practice for a Bishop is for the crozier to point towards the body.
Brigid also established a school of art and metal work which became famous for the high quality of its designs and products. The brooch represents the artistic and creative work commenced by Brigid and her followers.
Another brooch legend tells of a deceitful man who lent a silver brooch to a woman and then, without her knowledge, removed it from her house so that she would be indebted to him and be forced to become his slave. To ensure the brooch would not be found, the man threw it into the sea so that the woman would forever be his slave. Some time later a fisherman brought a fish to Brigid who cut it open to reveal the missing brooch. Brigid took the brooch to the deceitful man and, through independent witnesses, proved that this was the missing brooch and had the woman released from her slavery.
Brigid is famous for establishing a monastery ( a place where people dedicated to a religious life live and work) at Cil Dara, now known as Kildare. Originally built from timber, and within a cluster of oak trees to maintain the connection and religious symbolism with the old Druid religion, Brigid’s monastery was unusual in that it contained men and women who lived, worked and worshipped separately. Brigid’s monastery was not only a place of prayer but also a centre for helping the local community in farming, caring for animals, craft work and providing practical assistance to the poor.
Brigid’s monastery has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries. Today, St Brigid’s Cathedral stands on the site with a round tower nearby.
Brid – Life Story
Brid or Brigid is thought to have been born in Ireland about the year 453. Her mother was a Christian slave and her father a powerful Chieftain named Dubhtach. Strong in spirit from an early age, Brigid had definite views about what was right or wrong. Her mother was an early follower of the Christian religion in a time when most Irish people still followed the ancient religion of the Druids. Following her mother’s Christian beliefs, Brigid believed that the rich must give to the poor and from her mother’s dairy she handed out bread, butter, eggs and chickens to the poor people in her own community.
Brigid’s father attempted to have her marry a poet, but she refused and instead dedicated her life to God by establishing a large monastery (a place where women or men live together in a community to pray and work) in Kildare.
Brigid became famous throughout Ireland. She travelled extensively establishing other monasteries that became centres for farming, craft, copying religious books, and teaching people to read and write. Brigid died at the age of about 70, but her work continued within the monasteries that she had established until about the 16th century. However, in 1807, Bishop Daniel Delany re-created a group of religious women called the Brigidine Sisters who for the last 200 years have modelled their lives and work on that of Brigid.
The oak tree is of particular significance because Kildare takes its name from Cil Dara, the church of the oak, where St Brigid established her monastery. In ancient times, people who followed the Druid religion would gather in Oak forests to worship. Oak trees were therefore associated with religious practice from early times and it was appropriate that Brigid would establish her monastery within a cluster of oak trees.
Many Brigidine schools have oak trees grown from acorns taken from the oak tree in Tullow, founding place of the Brigidine Sisters. This oak tree was planted by Bishop Daniel Delany in re-founding the Brigidine Sisters from an acorn taken from Kildare where Brigid had established her monastery 1300 years previously.
Clochans or Beehive Huts were dwellings made from shaped rocks that fit together without mortar. Often grouped together for protection, they sometimes were located close to a ringed fort also made of rocks in which animals could be kept and which also acted as a place to defend the community when under attack.
Many Irish communities built round towers as places of safety. They were used as bell towers and places of safe storage for precious belongings such as books. In times of personal danger when a community was under threat or attack, people would lock themselves in the round tower and simply wait for the attacking forces to go away.
Many round towers remain in Ireland today, including one next to St Brigid’s Cathedral in Kildare.
The Cloak Story
As the story is told, Brigid went to the King of Leinster to tell him she needed land upon which to build a monastery.
‘You do, you do,’ replied the King. ‘How much do you need?’
We need only the land my cloak will cover – no more’, she answered.
‘Well if that’s all’ said the king, ‘you shall have it. That can be settled easily.’
On hearing that, Brigid removed her cloak and laid it on the ground. Then to the amazement and astonishment of everyone watching, the cloak began to grow. It grew and grew. It stretched all round at once, stretching itself out and rapidly gaining speed. Startled, the king jumped back. The cloak was like a living thing.
Finally it stopped. Brigid looked around her. In every direction her cloak stretched. It covered acre upon acre of rich, green pastureland. With twinkling eyes she said: ‘Thanks be to God’.
‘And thanks be to me’ said the king, ‘make good use of it’.
Snowdrop flowers appear at Springtime in Ireland and like all spring flowers are a sign of new life, a new beginning at the end of a period of cold and darkness.
Brigid is associated with springtime with her feast being celebrated on February 1 st, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day is also the day on which the Pre-Christian festival of Imbolc was celebrated. This festival originally celebrated the Pre-Christian Goddess Brigid who was recognised as the Goddess of new life linked to the seasonal birth of lambs and calves, the preparation of the fields for the planting of crops and the preparations of fishermen about to go to sea after the long winter. The Pre-Christian Brigid was also known as a goddess of poetry, healing and smithcraft.
Over time, the Pre-Christian Goddess Brigid and the new age Christian Brigid merged into one within the stories and myths handed down from generation to generation to the point where the new age Brigid became legendary for the same powers of healing, craft, and care for animals, with her feast being celebrated at the time of Imbolc.
The Jewelled Sword
The story is told that Brigid’s father, the chieftain, took her to the King of Leinster, so that she might work as a servant. He left her outside in his chariot together with his prized possession, a jewelled sword. Whilst she was waiting outside, a beggar suffering from leprosy came by. Brigid, seeing his need, gave away the jewelled sword much to the annoyance of her father.
The placing of Brigid’s foot on the jewelled sword is generally interpreted as indicating her desire to promote peace and non violence rather than fighting which frequently broke out between warring clans in her time.
The legend of the apples. One day when Brigid was on a long journey, she stopped to rest and a wealthy woman, hearing that Brigid was nearby, brought her a basket of beautiful apples. Not long after, a group of poor people came past looking for food. Brigid immediately gave the apples to these people upon which the wealthy woman protested saying “I gave these apples to you, not to them”. Brigid’s response was “What’s mine is theirs”‘.
This story is frequently told as the basis for followers of Brigid working to provide assistance for people with less money or possessions than they need for a reasonable quality of life.
Bucket and Stool
The bucket and stool are symbols of the many stories in Brigid’s life associated with milking cows. Brigid’s mother, Brocessa, was a slave who was sold from owner to owner and obliged to work in the dairies of the landowners for whom she worked. Brigid, as a young child, would have assisted her mother in the milking and making of butter. Many stories tell of Brigid giving away milk and butter to the poor people of Ireland.
Milk is also significant as an early Christian custom in Ireland was for people to be baptised using milk because of the purity of the white liquid and because of its great nutritional value. This Irish custom was later banned by the Church which forced the use of water in baptism.
A further legend tells of Brigid one day finding the monastery at Kildare did not have enough milk to supply some visiting bishops. Brigid instructed the cows to be milked for a third time that day and more than enough milk was obtained for the visitors. From then on, the legend tells us, these same cows were able to be milked three times each day rather than twice as is the normal practice. This story is only one of many that emphasises the need for hospitality as an important part of the Christian story.
Stories about Brigid often speak of her closeness to the animal world and she is often associated with images of cows, perhaps because her mother worked as a slave in a dairy. Ireland in the fifth century was a collection of villages and extended families (sometimes called clans) that relied on the farming of animals and crops for everyday living. Legends tell us that Brigid had supernatural powers in taming and healing animals, that birds and ducks would fly down to her when she called and that she had a great love for working in the fields.
A famous legend about Brigid and animals is as follows. The King of Leinster had a pet fox which he had kept since the fox was a cub. He had trained it to do tricks. One day the fox strayed into a nearby wood and was killed by a workman thinking it was a wild animal. The king was extremely angry when told of this and had the man arrested and sentenced to death.
The man’s friends, knowing that his wife and family would be left without support if he was killed, asked Brigid to speak with the King. Brigid agreed, knowing that it was unjust to take a person’s life because of a fox.
Whilst travelling to see the King she saw a small fox which happily jumped into her chariot and continued with her to see the King. At first, the King was unwelcoming of Brigid and determined to punish the workman for killing his fox until Brigid produced the fox she had brought with her. Brigid’s fox then began to perform all of the tricks that the King’s fox had been able to perform including jumping through a hoop, pretending to be dead, and standing on its hind legs and begging. Gradually, the Kings anger softened as he began to laugh at the tricks of the fox.
Eventually, Brigid offered the King the fox in exchange for the workman’s life. He agreed and the workman returned safely to his family. Unfortunately for the King, the fox felt imprisoned in its new home and soon escaped back to the woods never to be found despite the King sending out search parties to find it.
This icon can be seen in St Brigid’s Parish Church in Kildare, Ireland. Printed with permission of Rev. Adrian Carbery, Parish Priest of Kildare.