A choice between two women today, one from 5th century Ireland and the other from Biblical times. Brigid of Kildare, whose theme song, based on her penchant for giving material possessions to the needy, may well be the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give it Away Now" faces Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, whose theme song would presumably be that early hit known as the Hail Mary.
In yesterday's Madness, Francis of Assisi stormed to victory over John Wycliffe 66% to 34% and will face the winner of Balthazar vs. Cecilia in the next round.
In case you missed yesterday's edition of Monday Madness you can catch it here. Then readjust your Lenten priorities to insure you never again miss Tim and Scott's hard-hitting commentary.
Brigid of Kildare
Brigid was born into slavery in 453 CE in what is now known as Ireland. She was born out of wedlock to a Druid high priest named Dubhtacht and an enslaved woman named Brocca. Dubhtacht promptly sold Brigid off, since he was hoping for a boy.
This plan didn’t work; Brigid arrived back at her father’s house when she came of age — and had freshly converted to Christianity as well. (Saint Patrick was already active in Ireland by this point, so her conversion was not surprising, but it really annoyed her father).
What further irked her father was Brigid’s practice of giving away every single thing in his house to any impoverished person who asked. Food, clothing, silver — Brigid gave it away without a second thought in order to aid the poor who flocked to her generous spirit. When Brigid gave away his jewel-encrusted sword, her father reached the end of his rope and was determined to sell her to the king.
The king didn’t share Dubhtacht’s frustration — and as he was convinced that she was a holy person, the king promptly gave Brigid her freedom.
Brigid had one goal in mind. She marched across Ireland, from Leinster to Connaught, to find and buy her mother’s freedom. After this, Brigid became a nun, and established a monastery at Kildare, where she lived for the rest of her life.
The Kildare monastery was a double monastery —meaning men and women monastics lived together — and Brigid was the abbess over both houses. It was the first such establishment, but others soon followed throughout the Celtic countryside. As abbess,Brigid was sought out for her advice and counsel, and Kildare became a great cathedral city in Ireland and a center for the arts, learning, and spirituality.
Ever the consummate hostess, many of the miracles associated with Brigid had to do with food — especially dairy foods. Her cows were rumored to give milk three times a day. In one of the most mystical stories of Brigid’s life, we find her miraculously whisked through time and space to be the midwife to Mary and wet nurse to baby Jesus. It’s easy to see why Brigid is celebrated as the patron to both dairy farmers and lactating women.
Brigid was known for being wise and generous and good at explaining the gospel in the people’s language and culture. Legend has it that she went to visit a dying man who was out of his mind with fever. She sat beside him to console him, and as she sat, she started weaving together rushes from the floor into a cross shape. The man saw what she was doing and asked what the cross meant. She explained it, and the man was moved to ask for baptism. To this day, Saint Brigid’s cross is omnipresent in Ireland.
Brigid died at Kildare in 525 CE, but her life and her presence echo still across Ireland and throughout the world today.
Collect for Brigid of Kildare
Everliving God, we rejoice today in the fellowship of your blessed servant Brigid, and we give you thanks for her life of devoted service. Inspire us with life and light, and give us perseverance to serve you all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Elizabeth
We are introduced to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, in Luke’s Gospel. Elizabeth was said to be a descendant of Aaron, Israel’s first priest. She, like so many of the great mothers of the Jewish faith (for example, Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah), was old and barren. Luke is clear that her sterility was not on account of impiety; she was described as “righteous before God” and said to live “blamelessly according to all commandments and regulations of the Lord.”
Her husband Zechariah was serving as priest, offering incense in the temple, when he was informed that Elizabeth would bear a son in her old age. Zechariah expressed disbelief and was rendered mute until the day John the Baptist was presented in the temple. Elizabeth, on the other hand, modeled trust in God’s promises and was rewarded with a pregnancy entirely free of snarky comments about the amount of pita and hummus she consumed.
Elizabeth lived in seclusion for five months until she was visited by her relative, Mary. At Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in Elizabeth’s womb, leading her to praise Mary proclaiming, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” In this moment she acted as prophet, a role her son would take up when he prepared the way of the Lord in the desert. After the boy was born and when he was presented at the temple, since Zechariah was mute, Elizabeth was obedient to God’s command and named her son John. He would later be described by Jesus as “more than a prophet” and that “among those born of women no one is greater than John.”
The Protoevangelium of James narrated how during Herod’s murderous rage, Zechariah was killed for concealing Elizabeth and John. God led Elizabeth to a mountain and miraculously protected her and her young son so that John could grow and fulfill the mission God had prepared for him. Elizabeth, now an elderly widow with a young child, faithfully raised John, who was later recognized not only as a great prophet and the forerunner to the savior but also as a holy figure to be emulated in his own right.
Collect for Elizabeth
Lord God, we remember before you today Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist. May we be so convicted of the presence of Jesus that, like her, we would proclaim as blessed those who bear him into the world. Grant that we would have the deep faith and abiding peace to rest in your promises for this life, no matter how incredible those promises seem to us, and to have the grace and will to proclaim those promises to the world, for the sake of Jesus. Amen.
Vote!
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196 comments on “Brigid of Kildare vs. Elizabeth”
As the priest of a tiny Universal Anglican parish called "St. Brigid in the Desert," I guess you know who I voted for! The story of her being transported through time and space to midwife Jesus' birth is new to me!
My favorite part is when Brigid marched across Ireland to purchase her mother's freedom. As mom to 16 and 13 year old girls, this comforts me that daughters do eventually love their mother again. Or at least find them worthy!
I won't know my vote until I'm physically making it. This one's too hard! The woman who gave us the Hail Mary vs a female Irish saint (& abbess!)
Bountiful Brigid, Mary of the Gael!
Brigid! of course. And you spelled it correctly, too. Fabulous! St Brigid is smiling and giving away the fruits of heaven to all who ask.
It just gets harder and harder to choose. I ended up going with Brigid, who was able to turn her teen rebellion(against a parent who had rejected her in the strongest terms at birth) in a way that helped others. I am now raising teenagers and I can only hope that their inevitable rebellion will serve God so well.
Elizabeth seems more real to me- and since the women of the Bible have so little written about them, just to be mentioned we must realize how important she was. Also, a grateful, gracious woman who hosted her pregnant, unwed cousin.
I'm with you, Jen, as my college-age daughter Elisabeth rolls her eyes every time I mention Lent Madness. *sigh* As others have said, it's been tough deciding between the patron saint of nursing mothers and late-to-conceive mothers. I was both (mother, not saint!). But as I received so much strength from Sarai, Hannah, and Elizabeth, during my years of infertility, I ended up voting for Elizabeth. The child who eventually came to us, we call Elisabeth Grace. And blessed am I (eye-rolling, not withstanding!).
While I was taken with the stories about Brigid, in the end I voted for Elizabeth. I've always been moved by illustrations of Mary embracing her dear cousin. As many have noted, Elizabeth supported Mary through a time that must have been difficult for her and spoke prophetically about the child she was bearing. But Mary also was a dear friend and support for Elizabeth, a woman surprisingly bearing a child when no one expected her to AND living with a mute husband in the bargain. When Zechariah, a priest, was rendered mute, I wonder what the people of their community thought? Certainly that God was punishing him for some reason. That too must have been hard for the couple and added to the challenges Elizabeth faced. Friendship is one of the primary ways we come to know the love of God, and for me, the friendship of Mary and Elizabeth is as powerful an image of friendship as that of David and Jonathan or Ruth and Naomi.
I'm not sure that living with a mute husband, given all the hormonal changes during pregnancy and the ages of Elizabeth and Zechariah, was necessarily a bad thing. It may have kept John the Baptist from being from a broken home!
I voted for Brigid of Kildare; Elizabeth is well-know, and this is the first time I had heard of Brigid. A contemporary saint of this magnitude deserves more recognition.
Although Brigid is to be commended for what she did, I voted for Elizabeth. Just like Mary deserves our praise, gratitude and honor for being Jesus' mother, Elizabeth deserves it too (although of course to a lesser extent) for being John's mother. Also, I will vote for scriptural fact vs. legends any day.
"Scriptural fact"? One of the great glories of the Episcopal Church is that it permits fundamentalists to live peaceably alongside those who see a lot of legends in Scripture itself. Peace be unto you, Hilda!
I voted for Brigid, but it occurred to me that the king gave her freedom, so that she wouldn't give away all his stuff, too.
Quite a quandary today. I was all ready to pick Brigid as I, growing up Irish Catholic, always had a liking for those female saints. I had aspirations to be like them one day and perhaps still do. I then saw the matchup with Elizabeth who I also always admired as a little girl even though I might not have understood the whole pregnancy thing because I grew up Catholic and those things weren't discussed in the family with six kids...but I digress. I voted for Brigid just because it was a toss up for me. This is way too hard.
The CBs wrote outstanding bios today! Thoughtful! The sprightly Brigid brought Christ to so many people in Ireland and beyond. But, she gave away Other People's stuff. Other People might find that hard to forgive. "Oh well, that's just Brigid . Again."
Elizabeth, quiet, at home, and pregnant late in life, must have known God had a plan for her baby. How joyful she was when her unborn leapt at Mary's greeting ! Surely God the Father and the Holy Spirit were present at that meeting.
Finally, I voted for Elizabeth for that precious moment in time.
I suggested Brigid to add to the list. I was thrilled to see her here. I have to say this was a hard vote. Elizebeth deserves the highest honour. She carried John who prepared the way for Jesus to save all us sinners. She gave us the Rosary ,something I depend on often. However I am Irish and I thought to me self..self, what err ya ta do ? So I voted fer Brigid in expectation Elizebeth would lead. But shes not and thats all I'v to say to that. I wish I could give as Brigid. Now days they would lock me up.
I'm a member of St Brigid of Kildare Rio Vista,CA!! No question who should get my vote!!
Well spoken.
Exactly Ole Boy!
Had to go with my Irish great grandmother Bridget who came across as a child and as a widow lived with her daughter, son in law and their eight children in Brooklyn. That must have taken the patience of a saint!
I'm Irish, I live in dairy country (northern Vermont), I'm a priest: Brigid for me all the way!
My name Saint, what can I say, of course I voted for her..
A Table Grace for St. Brigid
God bless the poor
God bless the sick
God bless the human race
God bless our food
God bless our drink
All homes, O God, embrace.
I am always thankful, but rarely public about it. Thanks for giving a "grace" that makes sense.
Two women! I have a bias toward women so this was difficult. On one hand I would like to give recognition to Elizabeth; an old, barren woman made to bear and raise a son like John alone. He sounds as if he needed a Father's hand. The deciding factor was the cow. I milked a cow once. Any woman who milks a cow three times a day, every day....gets my vote!
Nice, Len!
I love Brigid and won't mind if she wins, but as the late in life mother of a strong-willed child, I voted for my namesake.
Ay-Men! Liz. Even as a not-so-late-in-life mother of my own surprising and strong willed child, Elizabeth has long been a sentimental favorite of mine. And ol' Zach the speechless, you KNOW he wasn't easy to deal with, either! I recon Elizabeth was as happy to see Mary as Mary was to see Elizabeth! Solidarity, girls!
I voted for Elizabeth. Her role as the mother of John the Baptist and the first person to speak through the Spirit that the blessed fruit of Mary's womb is Lord is too often overlooked.
This is a tough one. Brigid is a strong and holy woman and I love the Celtic Christians, but my heart is always with Mary's cousin Elizabeth and the child who leapt with joy in her womb when he recognized his lord and savior. Great measure of the Holy Spirit all around, but I hate to see Elizabeth behind in the polls.
I'm Celtic, so it's Brigid for me.
I've always had one foot, sometimes both, outside the church door. Brigid's life, for her time, speaks to me, a prodigal daughter of sorts.
I am looking with great anticipation toward a visit to Casa Santa Brigida
(albeit Roma), soon. Her hair shirt is on display on the 4th floor of the building. Different country, different saint, but compelling likenesses as well. However, Elizabeth is more compelling and I gave her name as a middle name to my youngest daughter. Don't we all use relevance to factor our choices? And it's important to support the less popular!
So Elizabeth for me!
Like so many others, this was a very difficult decision for me. I attended St. Brigid grammar school in San Francisco . . . and I named my sweet, amazing, and strong-willed Dutch rabbit Elizabeth. After thoughtful consideration all day, I voted for St. Brigid.
Elizabeth. Because the story of Mary and Elizabeth being there for each other in their pregnancies is such a rare biblical image of two women being there for each other, going through the same thing but in different ways, and sharing that experience.
And because -- I forget where I first saw this pointed out -- with Zechariah mute for the duration of Elizabeth's pregnancy, that means that Jesus and John spent those few months in utero surrounded by women's voices.