,,the ,,life ,,of ,,saint ,,bridget ,,virgin ,,and ,,abbess ,,patroness ,,of ,,ireland ,o how beautiful is the chaste generation with glory6 for the memory thereof is immortal3 because it is known with ,god and with men1 and it triumpheth1 crowned for ever4 ,,wisd4 iv1 #a4 ,,next to the glorious ,st4 ,patrick1 ,st4 ,bridget--whom we may consider his spiritual daughter in ,christ--has ever been held in singular veneration in ,ireland4 ,even in the neighboring kingdoms of ,england and ,scotland1 as a foreign writer affirms1 this great saint has1 after the glorious ,virgin ,mother of ,god1 been singularly honored and revered4 #a ,a pity1 then1 it is1 that we know so little of her hitherto1 and that our means of knowing much are still so scanty4 ,we are not able to give more than a biographical sketch1 but the facts are so interesting1 and above all so edifying1 as will in some measure compensate for their fewness4 ,to commence1 then1 our account of the great patroness of ,ireland3 ,,nativity ,,of ,,st4 ,,bridget--,,her ,,early ,,piety--,,she ,,embraces ,,the ,,religious ,,state ,,and ,,founds ,,several ,,monasteries--,,her ,,saintly ,,death4 ,,about the year of our ,lord1 #dec1 was ,st4 ,bridget born4 ,the place of her nativity was ,tochard or ,taugher1 in the vicinity of ,dundalk1 though her illustrious father1 ,dubtach1 and her mother ,brocessa or ,brotseach1 of the noble house of ,o',connor1 usually resided in ,leinster4 ,during her youth every attention1 which parents of distinguished rank and eminent piety could employ1 was assiduously paid to her education4 ,great things were expected from her2 during her infancy her pious father had a vision1 in which he saw men clothed in white garments pouring1 as it were1 a sacred unguent on her head1 thereby prefiguring her future sanctity4 ,while yet very young1 ,bridget1 for the love of ,christ our ,lord1 whom she chose for her spouse1 and to whom she was closely united in heart and spirit1 bestowed every thing at her disposal on ,his suffering members1 the poor1 and was the edification of all who knew her4 ,she was surpassingly beautiful2 and fearing1 in consequence1 that efforts might be made by her many suitors to dissolve the sacred vow by which she had bound herself to the ,lord1 she besought ,him to render her deformed1 and to deprive her of that gracefulness of person which had gained for her such admiration4 ,her petition was instantly heard1 for her eye became swoln1 and her whole countenance so changed1 that she was permitted to follow her vocation in peace1 and marriage with her was no more thought of4 ,after a short interval1 and when she was about twenty years old1 #b the young virgin made known to ,maccaille a bishop1 and a disciple of ,st4 ,patrick1 and who had seen over her head a pillar of fire1 her determination to live only to ,christ ,jesus1 her heavenly ,bridegroom1 and he quite approved of her pious resolve1 and consented to receive her sacred vows4 ,on the appointed day1 the solemn ceremony of her profession was performed1 after the manner introduced by ,st4 ,patrick1 the bishop putting up many holy prayers1 and investing ,bridget with a snow-white habit and a cloak of the same color1 after she had put off her secular ornaments4 ,while she inclined her head on this happy occasion to receive the sacred veil1 a miracle of a singularly striking and impressive nature occurred2 that part of the wooden platform adjoining the altar on which she knelt recovered its pristine vitality1 and put on1 as all the bystanders witnessed1 its former greenness and verdure1 retaining it for a long time after4 ,at the same moment ,bridget's eye was healed1 and she became as beautiful and lovely as ever4 7,lessons in ,office of ,st4 ,bridget47 ,encouraged by her example1 three1 or1 as some say1 eight1 other ladies made their vows with her1 and in compliance with the wish of the parents of these her new associates1 the saint agreed to found a religious residence for herself and them in the vicinity4 ,a convenient site having been fixed upon by the bishop1 a convent--the first in ,ireland--was erected upon it2 and1 in obedience to the prelate1 ,bridget assumed the superiority4 ,her reputation for sanctity became greater every day1 and in proportion as it was diffused throughout the country1 so increased the number of candidates for admission into the new monastery4 ,the bishops of ,ireland soon perceiving the important advantages which their respective dioceses would derive from similar foundations1 procured that the young and saintly abbess should visit different parts of the kingdom1 and1 as an opportunity offered1 introduce into each one the establishment of her institute4 ,while thus engaged in a portion of the province of ,connaught1 a deputation arrived from ,leinster to solicit the saint to take up her residence in that territory2 but the motives which they urged were human1 and such could have no weight with ,bridget4 ,she was insensible to every argument founded on friendship and family connections 7for1 as we have already said1 she was of ,leinster descent1 and had spent in that province a great portion of her youth72 it was only the prospect of the many spiritual advantages that would result from compliance with their request1 that induced her to accede1 as she did1 to the wishes of the respectable body which had petitioned her4 ,some time after1 the saint taking with her a number of her spiritual daughters1 journeyed to ,leinster1 where they were received with many demonstrations of respect and joy1 the people exulting at the great spiritual good which they were about to confer on the province4 ,the site on which ,kildare now stands appearing to be well adapted for a religious institute1 there the saint and her companions took up their abode4 ,to the place appropriated for the new foundation some lands were annexed1 the fruits of which were assigned to the little establishment4 ,this donation1 indeed1 contributed to supply the wants of the community1 but still the pious sisterhood principally depended for their maintenance on the liberality of their benefactors4 ,mercy having grown up with ,bridget from her very childhood1 she contrived out of their small means to relieve the poor of the vicinity very considerably1 and when the wants of these indigent persons surpassed her slender finances1 she hesitated not to sacrifice for them the moveables of the convent4 ,on one occasion1 when their distress was unusually grievous1 the spouse of ,christ1 imitating the burning charity of ,st4 ,ambrose and other great servants of ,god1 sold some of the sacred vestments that she might procure the means of relieving their necessities4 ,she was very generous and hospitable too1 particularly to bishops and religious1 and so humble1 that she sometimes attended the cattle on the land which belonged to her monastery4 ,the renown of ,bridget's unbounded charity drew multitudes of the poor and necessitous to ,kildare2 the fame of her piety attracted thither many persons of distinction also1 who were anxious to solicit her prayers or to profit by her holy example4 ,in course of time the number of these so much increased1 7and what an additional proof does it not afford of the thirst for spiritual improvement indulged by our ancestors67 that it became necessary to provide accommodation for them in the neighborhood of the new monastery1 and thus was laid the foundation and origin of the town of ,kildare4 #c ,the spiritual exigencies of her community and of those numerous strangers who resorted to the vicinity1 having suggested to our saint the expediency of procuring the locality to be erected into an episcopal see1 she represented it to the prelates1 to whom the consideration of it rightly belonged4 ,deeming the proposal just and useful1 ,conlath1 a recluse of eminent sanctity1 illustrious by the great things which ,god had granted to his prayers1 was1 at ,bridget's desire1 chosen the first bishop of the newly-erected diocese4 ,in process of time1 it became the ecclesiastical metropolis of the province to which it belonged1 #d probably in consequence of the general desire to honor the place in which ,st4 ,bridget had so long abode4 ,over all the convents of her institute established throughout the kingdom1 a special jurisdiction is said to have been exercised by ,conlath and his successors in the see of ,kildare2 but the evidence supplied by historians on this point is by no means of a conclusive character3 the only inference that can be deduced from their statements is1 that1 in virtue of his dignity as metropolitan1 the bishop of ,kildare was specially charged with the care of the ,bridgetine convents established within the province4 ,the desire of the holy abbess for the permanent residence of a prelate at ,kildare being accomplished1 she applied herself unreservedly to the care of the community over which she immediately presided1 and was to them in her every act what the devout ,a ,kempis means by a mirror of life1 and a book of holy doctrine4 ,her sanctity was attested by many miracles4 ,she was constantly occupied in promoting the good of others2 she often cleansed the lepers1 healed the sick and languishing by her prayers1 and obtained sight for one blind from his nativity4 ,nor was the spirit of prophecy wanting to her2 numerous were her predictions of future things4 7,office1 #c ,less4 ,roman ,breviary47 ,the most eminent persons of her time either visited or corresponded with ,st4 ,bridget4 ,besides several others1 ,st4 ,albeus1 bishop of ,cashel or ,emly1 and ,st4 ,brendan of ,clonfert1 conferred with her on religious subjects2 and the celebrated ,gildas is said to have sent her1 as a token of his esteem1 a small bell cast by himself4 #e ,after seventy years devoted to the practice of the most sublime virtues1 corporal infirmities admonished the saint that the time of her dissolution was nigh4 ,it was now half a century since1 by her holy vows1 she had irrevocably consecrated herself to ,god1 and1 during that period1 great results had been attained1 her holy institute having widely diffused itself throughout the green isle1 and greatly advanced the cause of religion in the various districts in which it was established4 ,like a river of peace1 its progress was steady and silent2 it fertilized every region fortunate enough to receive its waters1 and caused them to bloom forth spiritual flowers and fruits with all the sweet perfume of evangelical fragrance4 ,the remembrance of the glory she had procured to the ,most ,high1 as well as the services rendered to dear souls ransomed by the precious blood of her divine ,spouse1 cheered and consoled ,bridget in the infirmities inseparable from old age4 ,her last illness was soothed by the presence of ,nennidh1 a priest of eminent sanctity1 over whose youth she had watched with pious solicitude1 and who was indebted to her prayers and instructions for his great proficiency in sublime perfection4 #f ,the day on which our abbess was to terminate her course 7,feb4 #a1 #ebc7 having arrived1 she received from the hands of this saintly priest the blessed body and blood of her ,lord in the ,divine ,eucharist1 and as it would seem1 immediately after her spirit passed forth1 and went to possess ,him in that heavenly country where ,he is seen face to face and enjoyed without danger of ever losing ,him4 ,her body was interred in the church adjoining her convent1 but was some time after exhumed1 and deposited in a splendid shrine near the high altar4 ,cogitosus1 who lived two centuries later1 thus describes the church which then contained this valuable treasure3 ,the church of ,kildare enclosed an ample space of ground1 and was of a height proportioned to its extent4 ,the building was divided into three compartments1 each one of them remarkable for the vastness of its dimensions1 yet by the ingenuity of the architect1 one roof skilfully adapted1 covered the entire4 ,the eastern division of the structure1 terminated at north and south by two of its exterior walls1 while a wooden partition extending to the north and south1 and separated by a small interstice from the eastern extremity of the church1 formed the enclosure of the sanctuary4 ,adjoining the latter1 and at its northern and southern points1 were two doors1 by one of which the bishop and his assistant entered to celebrate the ,holy ,mass1 and perform the other public offices2 while by the other the nuns were admitted on the days on which they were to receive the ,holy ,communion4 ,the nave of the church was again divided into two parts with separate entrances4 ,one division was appropriated to the male portion of the congregation1 the other was exclusively reserved for females4 ,the appearance of the edifice was very pleasing1 continues the same author1 by the number of windows distributed through the entire building4 ,on the eastern extremity1 the limit of the sanctuary1 was a variety of sacred images1 which met the eye the very moment one entered the porch of the church1 and the interstices were filled up with suitable decorations4 ,at either side of the altar stood the sacred shrines of ,st4 ,bridget and ,st4 ,conlath1 which were adorned with a profusion of precious metals exquisitely wrought1 studded with costly gems and stones of great price1 and surmounted by diadems of gold and silver1 types of the glory with which the ,lord rewards ,his faithful servants4 7,vita ,st4 ,brigid47 ,in the following 7the #ith7 century1 the country being desolated by the ,danes1 the remains of ,st4 ,bridget were removed in order to secure them from irreverence1 and transferred to ,down1 were deposited in the same grave with those of glorious ,st4 ,patrick4 ,the ,bridgetines1 the holy order founded by this holy virgin1 and her most precious memorial1 continued to flourish for centuries after her decease1 and gave many saints to ,ireland4 #a ,hector ,boethius' ,history of ,scotland1 ,l4 #i #b ,the age of twenty years was that required by the ,irish ,church to making the monastic vows4 7,synod ,st4 ,patric4 ch4 #ag47 #c ,kildare got its name from there being a very high oak tree near ,st4 ,bridget's habitation4 ,kil signifying cell--,dura1 oak tree4 #d ,cogitosus ,vita ,st4 ,brigida4 #e ,dr4 ,lanigan1 ch4 #i1 sect4 #e1 ,eccles4 ,hist4 ,ireland4 #f ,nennidh was a student1 perhaps at ,kildare1 when ,st4 ,bridget happening one day to be with some of her nuns near the monastery1 saw him running very fast and in an unbecoming manner4 ,having sent for and inquired of him whither he was running in such haste1 he replied1 as if in jest1 ,to the ,kingdom of ,heaven4 ,whereupon the saint gravely said1 ,i wish ,i deserved to run along with you to-day to that ,kingdom1 pray for me that ,i may reach it4 ,affected by these words1 the young man besought her to recommend him to ,god that he might pursue a steady course towards ,heaven4 ,she promptly acquiesced1 and the consequence was his commencement from that moment of a life of perfection4--,dr4 ,lanigan1 #i ch4 #e section1 ,eccles4 ,history4