Have a beer with St. Brigid and God!

 Brid agus Muire dhuit!

Today is the feast day of St. Brigid of Kildare, to whom I have a special devotion. Patron saint of poets and brewers, of healers and midwives (and, along with Patrick and Columba, of Ireland itself), she was strong and gentle, prayerful and practical. St. Brigid worked miracles: my favorite is the healing of a blind Sister so that she could see the beauty of a sunset. To ease the thirst of lepers, she once turned a tub of bathwater into a tub of excellent beer. She was called Mary's Nurse, meaning that she helped Mary with the infant Jesus (a Time Lord!). Like so many of the great saints, she was as earthy and real as soil and water, and as wild as fire and air.

The following 10th century poem has been attributed to her:

I'd like to give a lake of beer to God.
I'd love the heavenly
Host to be tippling there
For all eternity.

I'd love the men of Heaven to live with me,
To dance and sing.
If they wanted, I'd put at their disposal
Vats of suffering.

White cups of love I'd give them
With a heart and a half;
Sweet pitchers of mercy I'd offer
To every man.

I'd make Heaven a cheerful spot
Because the happy heart is true.
I'd make the men contented for their own sake.
I'd like Jesus to love me too.

I'd like the people of heaven to gather
From all the parishes around.
I'd give a special welcome to the women,
The three Marys of great renown.

I'd sit with the men, the women and God
There by the lake of beer.
We'd be drinking good health forever
And every drop would be a prayer.

 

In my mind's ear, I can hear this woman laughing, and singing, her voice husky, her eyes shining. How could I keep from loving her?

For my solo album, Feather and Bone, I adapted traditional prayers collected by Alexander Carmichael in Scotland in the 1800s and composed Radiant Flame of Gold, a prayer to Brigid. Here is the track, with the sorely-missed Layne Redmond, and Tommy B on frame drums. I pray it in my times of trouble, and for others in theirs: Download 09 Radiant Flame of Gold

I am under the shielding of good Brigid each day,

I am under the shielding of good Brigid each night.

I am under the keeping of the nurse of Mary

Each early and late, every dawn, every light.

 

To learn more about St. Brigid, start here. To purchase Feather and Bone, send me a Facebook message here.

 

Comments

[Kevin Ainsworth]

Hi Laurel

On Valentine’s Day a lady with moonbeams shooting out of her fingers and her toes and the ends of her hair is bound to get a lot of messages – and rightly so. So to avoid becoming lost in that forest of words I am simply sending a story and a wise saying.

The story: When Honor Blackman, who played Cathy Gale, left The Avengers TV show the Producers were desperately trying to think of a name for the new female character who would replace her. Despite much brainstorming the best they could come up with was Samantha, which was shortened in the scripts to Mantha, but they were not happy with it. Listening to the men unable to come up with a name Marie Donaldson, the production’s press officer, thought about it and had a brainwave. She said “the character should have man appeal. Man Appeal. M Appeal. Emma Peel.” And so a legend was born. Without Marie being in the right place at the right time with her rather romantic suggestion your cat would have a very different name! Happy Valentine’s Day, Mrs. Peel. May all your cream be clotted and your milk full of double cream.

The wise saying: “A loving heart is the truest wisdom.”

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

Regards,

Kevin.

[Laurel Massé]

Hi Kevin!
If there had been no Mrs. Peel, my cat's name would have been Harriet Vane, named after Dorothy Sayers' prickly but brilliant character in her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries.
But here's a funny thing - in 11th grade, when I had reached the height of the obligatory teenage disenchantment with my birth name, I introduced myself for a time as "Samantha, but call me Sam for short"...

The loving heart is the one broken wide open.

Blessings, Laurel