How did saint Brigid become a saint?

Answer 1

St. Brigid was declared a saint by members of the early Irish Church based on her life of holiness and devotion to Our Lord. There was no official canonization process in place at the time so local bishops could declare saints. Now only the pope can do that.

Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland (Brigit, Bridget, Bridgit,or Bríd) (Irish: Naomh Bríd) (c. 451-525) is one of Ireland's patron saints along with Saints Patrick and Columba. Her feast day is February 1, or Candlemas, the traditional first day of spring in Ireland. She is believed to have been an Irish Christian nun, abbess, and founder of several convents.

As with many ancient saints the biography of Brigid of Kildare has been complicated by the passage of time. Much change has occurred within the corpus of information which now exists. Often the lines between oral tradition, written tradition and new revelation have become hard to distinguish. The earliest extensive life of Brigid is the Vita Brigitae of Cogitosus and is thought to have been written no later than 650.[2] According to tradition, Brigid was born at Faughart near Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. Because of the legendary quality of the earliest accounts of her life, there is much debate among many scholars and even faithful Christians as to the authenticity of her biographies. According to her biographers her parents were Dubhthach, a pagan chieftain of Leinster, and Brocca, a Christian Pict and slave who had been baptised by Saint Patrick. Some accounts of her life suggest that Brigid's mother was in fact from Lusitania, kidnapped by Irish pirates and brought to Ireland to work as a slave, in much the same way as Saint Patrick. Many stories also detail Brigid's and her mother's statuses as pieces of property belonging to Dubhthach, and the resulting impact on important parts of Brigid's life story. Brigid was given the same name as one of the most powerful goddesses of the pagan religion which her father Dubhthach practiced. In that religion, Brigid was the goddess of healing, inspiration, craftsmanship and poetry, which the Irish considered the flame of knowledge.

Whether she was raised a Christian or converted in as some accounts say, is unknown, but she was inspired by the preaching of Saint Patrick from an early age. Despite her father's opposition she was determined to enter religious life. Numerous stories testify to her piety. She had a generous heart and could never refuse the poor who came to her father's door. Her charity angered her father: he thought she was being overly generous to the poor and needy when she dispensed his milk and flour to all and sundry. When she finally gave away his jewel-encrusted sword to a leper, Dubhthach realized that perhaps her disposition was best suited to the life of a nun. Brigid finally got her wish and she was sent to a convent.

Brigid received the veil from Saint Mel and professed vows dedicating her life to Christ. From this point biographers heap stories and legends onto Brigid. She is believed to have founded a convent in Clara, County Offaly - her first: other foundations followed. But her major foundation would emerge in Kildare. Around the year 470, she founded Kildare Abbey, a double monastery for nuns and monks, on the plains of Cill-Dara, "the church of the oak", her cell being made under a large oak tree. As Abbess of this foundation she wielded considerable power. Legends surround her, even her blessing as Abbess by Saint Mel has a story attached to it. According to the legend, the elderly bishop, as he was blessing her during the ceremony, inadvertently read the rite of consecration of a bishop. Brigid and her successor Abbesses at Kildare had an administrative authority equal to that of a Bishop until the Synod of Kells in 1152. Brigid was famous for her common-sense and most of all for her holiness: in her lifetime she was regarded as a saint. Kildare Abbey became one of the most prestigious monasteries in Ireland, famed throughout Christian Europe. In the scriptorium of the monastery, for example, the lost illuminated manuscript the Book of Kildare may have been created - if it was not the existing Book of Kells, as many suppose.

She died at Kildare around 525 and was buried in a tomb before the high altar of her abbey church. After some time her remains were exhumed and transported to Downpatrick to rest with the two other patron saints of Ireland, Patrick and Columba (Colmcille). Her skull was extracted and taken by three Irish noblemen to Igreja de São João Baptista (Lumiar) in Lisbon, Portugal, where it remains. There is widespread devotion to her in Ireland where she is known as the "Mary of the Gael" and her cult was brought to Europe by Irish missionaries, such as Foillan, in the centuries after her death. In Belgium there is a chapel (7th-10th century) dedicated to Sainte-Brigide at Fosses-la-Ville and Saint Brigid is the patron saint of the Dutch city of Ommen.