How did St. Brigid become a saint?
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.
