Peace, Justice & Healing
The placing of Brigid's foot on the jeweled sword is generally interpreted as indicating her desire to promote peace and non-violence rather than fighting which frequently broke out between warring clans in her time.
Click on the above picture to read more about the meaning of the Icon. Once on the Brigidine Sister's website, scroll down to the Icon and click on each of the symbols in the picture. Some pop-ups give detailed meaning to each symbol. "May the beacon of your flame show us a path to peace that all may follow"
Picture of 'Saint Brigid' by Ann MacDuff from 'The Little Book of Celtic Saints', Appletree Press
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This page is to honor the work the Olive Branch of Ord Brighideach once did. And a way for us to continue this work, in our own special way. The Olive Branch was a Cill devoted to praying for peace, justice, and healing for those affected by war and conflict. After taking some time to look at what was once their website from years ago, I decided to dedicate a day each week to carry on this work. We post the picture to the left in our Facebook group weekly as a reminder and in hopes that our community will join in for the 7PM prayers. Peace Prayer for Flame-Keepers We ask for the light of your flame To enable us to see clearly, To illuminate the darkness, To show us the shadows Cast by our own light. May the flame of your inspiration Help us to express and comfort, To understand and explain - Encourage us and guide our actions. We ask for the gift of your healing To soften our pain, And mend the wounds We have inflicted on one another - Bless us and make us whole. May the fire of your forge Enable us to shape our future With courage and determination, Using the flame of justice, Tempered by compassion. Brigit, We ask for your protection Against all that would harm us. May the beacon of your flame Show us a path to peace That all may follow. Rob fír/May it be true. Hilaire Wood 12.9.01 (Used with Permission) |
Brigidine Prayer for Peace
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Brigid,
You were a woman of peace, You brought harmony where there was conflict. You brought light to the darkness. You brought hope to the downcast. May the mantle of your peace Cover those who are troubled and anxious, And may peace be firmly rooted in our hearts And in our world. Inspire us to act justly and to reverence All God has made. Brigid, you were a voice for the wounded And the weary, Strengthen what is weak within us, Calm us into a quietness that heals And listens. May we grow each day into greater Wholeness in mind, body and spirit. Amen. (Source: prayer card from the Brigidine nuns of Kildare.) |
Brisingamen of Cill na Craoibhe Olóige slightly altered the prayer to make it suitable for followers of the Goddess Brigit:
Brighid- You are a Goddess of Peace, You bring harmony where there is conflict, You bring light to the darkness, You bring hope to the downcast. May the Mantle of Your Peace Cover those who are troubled and anxious, And may Peace be firmly rooted in our hearts and in our world. Inspire us to act justly and to reverence all of Creation. Brighid- You are a voice for the wounded and the weary, Strengthen what is weak within us, Calm us into a quietness that heals and listens. May we grow each day into greater wholeness in mind, body, and spirit. So mote it be! |
"May peace be firmly rooted in our hearts and in our world"
The Role of Brigit in War and Peace
The Goddess Brigantia (cognate with Brigit) was a goddess of war in the sense of being a tribal protector. In ancient Irish literature Brigit is associated with the sounds connected with war and conflict - whistling, weeping and lamentation. In the story of the Battle of Maigh Tuiredh, for instance: "Bríg came and keened for her son [who had been slain]. At first she shrieked, in the end she wept. Then for the first time weeping and shrieking were heard in Ireland. (Now she is the Bríg who invented a whistle for signalling at night.)" In the Dindsenchas she is said to have instigated wailing and keening for the dead after Mac Gréine's death.
So Brigit is not depicted as a warrior goddess associated with the destructive, gory side of war. She gives protection to those in her care and laments for those who die. She is a mother goddess who weeps for her fallen son and perhaps because every warrior is some mother’s child she does not glorify or exult in war.
She is seen here, then, as one who gives the alarm and mourns for the dead. In our own time we may call upon her to protect us by giving warning of danger, as well as to help us to mourn and express grief. Brigit is surely the patron goddess of all grieving parents.
She may also be delivering a wake-up call to us to become more aware of the sources of injustice and conflict.
Brigit the Saint is known for giving away her father's sword. She often appears as a mediator and in one story in the Liber Hymnorum, when two brothers in conflict ask for her help in battle, she put a film over their eyes so that they were unable to recognise each other and thus conflict was avoided. In this depiction she is on the side of peace and promises her protection, not in battle, but if weapons of war are abandoned.
In our own time Brigit has become a powerful figure capable of uniting opposites; she is a bridge between pagan and Christian communities. Without doubt it is a difficult edge to walk, that between protecting ourselves and our nations without promoting war and violence. Contemplation and prayer to Brigit as reconciler of opposites and bringer of harmony may help us to walk that edge with integrity.
(Source: Brigid's Forge Website / Olive Branch)
So Brigit is not depicted as a warrior goddess associated with the destructive, gory side of war. She gives protection to those in her care and laments for those who die. She is a mother goddess who weeps for her fallen son and perhaps because every warrior is some mother’s child she does not glorify or exult in war.
She is seen here, then, as one who gives the alarm and mourns for the dead. In our own time we may call upon her to protect us by giving warning of danger, as well as to help us to mourn and express grief. Brigit is surely the patron goddess of all grieving parents.
She may also be delivering a wake-up call to us to become more aware of the sources of injustice and conflict.
Brigit the Saint is known for giving away her father's sword. She often appears as a mediator and in one story in the Liber Hymnorum, when two brothers in conflict ask for her help in battle, she put a film over their eyes so that they were unable to recognise each other and thus conflict was avoided. In this depiction she is on the side of peace and promises her protection, not in battle, but if weapons of war are abandoned.
In our own time Brigit has become a powerful figure capable of uniting opposites; she is a bridge between pagan and Christian communities. Without doubt it is a difficult edge to walk, that between protecting ourselves and our nations without promoting war and violence. Contemplation and prayer to Brigit as reconciler of opposites and bringer of harmony may help us to walk that edge with integrity.
(Source: Brigid's Forge Website / Olive Branch)
Click on the image to read more about the inspiration for this mural.
Brigit Peace Mural by Rowan Fairgrove
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Peace in IrelandI call forth the land of Ireland -
Not the land of the hero with lance, barbed, Barbed the wire of her divisions, deep, Deep the grief of her women, wailing, Wailing the wind over desolate waste. I call forth the land of Ireland - Not the land of the hunger, bitter, Bitter the hearts of her children, exiled, Exiled the hopes of their fathers, frail, Frail the flame in the hearth of the family. I call forth renewed the land of Ireland! Land of pastures, green, sustaining, Sustaining the growth of her people, gifted, Gifted the gathering of tribes, peaceful, Peaceful the sons and daughters of Ériu! I call forth the land of Ireland! “ Peace up to heaven, heaven down to earth, Earth beneath heaven, strength in each one!” ~~~~~~~ Hilaire Wood 1998 ~~~~~~~ (Used with Permission) |
