Happy Spring! Happy St. Brigid's Day!

   In Ireland, February 1st is celebrated as St. Brigid's Day.   It also marks the Gaelic Festival of Imbolc, the first day of Spring.

St. Brigid's Cross

Saint Brigit of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland (Irish: Naomh Bríd; c. 451 – 525) is one of Ireland's patron saints, along with Patrick and Columba. Irish hagiography makes her an early Irish Christian nun, abbess, and founder of several monasteries of nuns, including that of Kildare in Ireland, which was famous and was revered. Her feast day is 1 February, which was originally a pagan festival called Imbolc, marking the beginning of spring. Her feast day is shared by Dar Lugdach, whom tradition says was her student and the woman who succeeded her.

Celebrating Imbolc

St. Brigid's Well

The saint shares her name with an important Celtic goddess and there are many legends and folk customs associated with her. Some scholars suggest that the saint is merely a Christianization of the goddess. Others suggest that she was a real person who took on the goddess's attributes.

St.Brigid is a patron saint of Ireland, dairymaids, cattle, Irish nuns, midwives, and newborn babies.  There is a pilgrimage site near Liscannor, County Clare, in Ireland called St. Brigid's Well.

Here is an URL's for St. Brigid:  http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/irish-women-should-follow-st-brigid-not-just-st-patrick-189219961-237561981.html,  This site will give you more information on the festival of Imbolc  (pronounced, i-MOLC):  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc.

 Saint Brigid Hearth Keeper Prayer                       

Prayer Cloths on tree at St. Brigid's Well

Courtesy of SaintBrigids.org

Brigid of the Mantle, encompass us,
Lady of the Lambs, protect us,
Keeper of the Hearth, kindle us.
Beneath your mantle, gather us,
And restore us to memory.
Mothers of our mother, Foremothers strong.
Guide our hands in yours,
Remind us how to kindle the hearth.
To keep it bright, to preserve the flame.
Your hands upon ours, Our hands within yours,
To kindle the light, Both day and night.
The Mantle of Brigid about us,
The Memory of Brigid within us,
The Protection of Brigid keeping us
From harm, from ignorance, from heartlessness.
This day and night,
From dawn till dark, From dark till dawn.

   I'm back home after an uneventful plane ride from Atlanta, via Dallas, to Wichita.  I did sit next to a young looking Georgia Tech mathematics professor en route to Dallas to visit his sister.  I don't ever remember having ANY college professor that looked that young!  While going to Wichita, my seat mate was a 20-something woman from Maine who is now living in Wichita. BTW, there were a lot of cowboys riding from TX to KS.  There were some cowgirls too.  Maybe they were coming or going to a rodeo!

   My dog girls were very happy to see me when I came home.  They wouldn't stop kissing (licking) me and wanting to be where ever I was.  Steve was glad I was home too.

   Sending thoughts and prayers to all my Iowa friends and family as they dig out of their latest blizzard. Keep safe!  No snow here in Wichita.

Love ya!