Today is the feast of St Brigid. According to legend, Brigid met a nun in 7th century Ireland who had broken her vow of chastity and become pregnant. St Brigid performed a miracle when she laid hands on the woman, prayed, and induced an abortion.
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Twelve years of Catholic indoctrination…um…school, and here is one of many things that I didn’t learn in any of the three schools I attended. Thanks for sharing.
My brother in Christ being a doctor is NOT a miracle. Also like… the Bible has a recipe for abortions. What are Christian’s smoking because I want some.
I’m an atheist, but I have a Saint Brigid’s Cross hanging up over my entryway. I got it when I lived in Ireland. It’s one of my favorite keepsakes from my time there.
1934 Germany, Adolf Hitler ordered a purge of the Nazi party to install loyalists. It was called The Night of the Long Knives. From there, the Nazi Party spread fear and intimidation through the marginalization of Jews, ethnic minorities, educators, and those with mental disabilities. Donald Trump.
You made a great choice. I, on the other hand, chose Dorothy because I was told I couldn’t use Cowardly Lion. If I were being confirmed today, I would use Wicked Witch of the West. I’ve come a long way, Baby.
Aww man, y'all got to pick a patron saint? On the Protestant side we had to write a longass paper about our faith and then they gave us pastries and shitty coffee after the fact 😒
Yeah… it’s supposed to become your identity in the church, and you’re supposed to spend your life attempting to emulate your chosen namesake. Guess I’ve got some work to do.
Well then! I grew up in a mixed household but did the religious education on the Protestant side.
So if you ever need a Token Proddy™️ to fuck up the Our Father and silently judge the quality of the pastries (or lack thereof), my rates are negotiable. 😂
Brigid lore is rad. Because her mother was an enslaved woman, I think she might also be the saint of women experiencing domestic violence. I think she put her own eye out to avoid an unwanted marriage. https://www.lentmadness.org/2015/03/brigid-of-kildare-vs-elizabeth/
Wow. Imagine Brigid coming to the aid of a young terrified woman, and having the compassion and courage to help this nun. Others in the church obviously thought the same thing, she was Sainted for doing the right thing.
I can believe that a woman turned her bathwater into beer and an entire lake into milk and pulled her eyeball out of her head and threw it at a guy and grew a new eyeball, but being pro-choice? Ridiculous.
For theatre reasons, we had a statue of St Lucy in our house
Statue eventually got moved to a storage room in the basement where it was forgotten until I had to show a contractor around and screamed, then had to explain why she was holding a plate with eyes
If you have rushes or even just some vine-y plant stems hanging around, making a St Brigid cross is a fun afternoon craft for pro-abortion children and adults. 🙏🏻 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn_MG4HZVOo
If too much word about St. B gets around, the Catholic Church will do more to squash her as a symbol of independence. Churches in America are all about fetus-worship these days. They’ll throw women, even saints, under the bus for a fetus. #lostsheep
A pattern emerges throughout the ages of history. Weak males who are canNOT be men. Instead, blame their cowardice, frailty & failures on strong women & folks different from them... today, better known as conservatives or in the US...maga.
I expect it’s less about forming an opinion on abortion and more about understanding why it is important to support a right to bodily autonomy and the consequences of denying that right.
You can tell a 12 year old they're not alone in deciding on a choice and it would break your heart if they felt they couldn't talk to you and trust in that process. You make an environment they feel safe to talk in. You can't force them.
You want to know how dumb maga is? They saw a liberal woman wearing a St Brigid cross on TV and had a fit screaming that it was an upside cross and symbol of Satan.
Some years ago, I discovered that my birthday, January 31st, is the eve of St. Brigid's saint's day, when the Brigid's Cross is traditionally made across Ireland
. This was my first one.
If I remember correctly, St. Brigid was dropped from the Catholic pantheon and kept by the Anglicans. Ireland has a lot of shrines and sacred wells dedicated to her. There's a church in Kildare next to remains of a fire temple associated with Brigid.
I think you made this up. We always celebrated her protection against fire and bad things. We had the rush crucifix. I still have my st brigid cross I wear every day.
Some trivia for you -
Until 1980 the Southern Baptist Convention, a conservative evangelical denomination, was pro choice. Just days after Roe was handed down, The Baptist Press published an article calling Roe in part, "an advancement of religious liberty, human equality and justice."
Brigid was a goddess before Christians downgraded and possessed her as a saint. And not just a local deity but one worshipped throughout the isles and continent.
This is too priceless! Could you please inform the Catholic Bishops? They used to send me letters insisting that I vote Republican. (I filled in every blank asking for information reminding them of separation of church and state.) How are they adopting Trump/Putin?
Catholic, brought up strict Italian catholic don’t know how I feel about this story. Know about a lot of saints w 8 yrs catholic school in the 50-60s. I don’t know.
This post inspired me to do a little dive & now I'm gonna make a St Bridgid's Cross today. Hang it in my entry. If it's not known here, well, small start, right? 😉
For crying out loud, she was probably an experienced abortionist. Good for her. The question is, why did the patriarchal Catholic church canonised her (whatever it's called) and not call her a witch and burn her alive? Puzzling.
She is, yeah. The early church shifted her status from goddess to saint because people wouldn’t just abandon her entirely. One of the many ways Christianity folded in pagan practices to aid conversion.
Totally did. Today pagans celebrate Imbolc. Brigid, ancient and beloved Celtic Goddess, returns again, bringing with her the light half of the year, the growing time of fertility and abundance.
I recently visited St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street in London. Bride is short for Brigid, and it’s now the patron church of journalists. They have a lovely chapel to St Bridget in what used to the the crypt.
Ahh I found the loophole. Next time someone needs and abortion, just say an Angel came to you in the night and told you to go get one. It was God's will after all.
I was raised Catholic. I assure you I wasn't told about this Saint or her "miracle". Just like I was never told about the Numbers reference to abortion. The narrative is controlled by men who don't believe women are equal. You can see why I'm no longer believe in organized religion.
St Brigid of Ireland is still a Saint Roman Catholic Church didn't have canon on abortion til 1968. In 13th cen the Ensoulment teaching was explored (some like Nancy Pelosi call the Quickening). Humanae Vitae is the current Roman Catholic Teaching on Abortion. It changes over time. Like slavery
And of course, St. Brigid was the Christianizing of the goddess Brigid, goddess of fertility, mothers, and milk. Interesting the Christians have a story about abortion when the goddess was all about fertility.
Brigid was a Pagan goddess who was converted to a "saint" by the church when Catholicism and Christianity made it's way about Europe. She is the goddess of poetry, fire, hearth, and home.
I guess we should also remember children were treated very much like chattle historically. They were expected to work at very young ages and not in the best conditions. Many died. Life had different value in the past.
Exactly. There's only 1 passage in the Hebrew bible that refers to the 'personhood' of a fetus, Exodus 21:22-25, and in that passage the loss of a fetus results in a fine if the woman survives.
'22 If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges _decide_. 23 2/4
'But if there is _any further_ injury, then you shall appoint _as a penalty_ life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.'
So sainted for an abortion, abortion described as a punishment for cheating in the bible, yet "christians" want to pretend like abortion is magically against their faith.
Brigid probably lived in the later part of the 5th century. Cogitosus’s hagiography was written in the 7th century, and I don’t think it should be called ‘legend’.
Moira did you know she was also maybe queer??? she had another nun who was like her life partner and they spent all their time together and called each other “soul friends” and shared a bed and died exactly one year apart on the same day
Brigid was a Celtic goddess for millenia before the Christians came and turned her into a saint so they could make the pagan Irish be Catholic. Same with Christmas, Easter, etc
The miracle is that this story of a “saintly abortion” can co-exist in the same universe as Mississippi Senator Bradford Blackmon’s “Conception Begins at Erection Act.”
Moira, thank you for sharing. I visited Ireland twice and on my first visit bought a St. Brigid's cross that still hangs over the kitchen doorway. Being raised Catholic, the nuns never shared this information.
The nuns at the school where I was sent to as a young teenager were all gay. Their bedrooms wher right next to the dorm where we slept and you could hear the giggles and moans. That was my first intro.
Comments
Some more details.
Again, interesting.
"scripture" doesn't refer to the Bible, but still...
Interesting.
So if you ever need a Token Proddy™️ to fuck up the Our Father and silently judge the quality of the pastries (or lack thereof), my rates are negotiable. 😂
If you seriously believe that, well, I can get a very nice bridge in Arizona to sell you for a bargain.
NO EVIDENCE THAT IT HAPPENED? As opposed to the all the other miracles performed by early saints?
The mental somersaults are entertaining at least
For theatre reasons, we had a statue of St Lucy in our house
Statue eventually got moved to a storage room in the basement where it was forgotten until I had to show a contractor around and screamed, then had to explain why she was holding a plate with eyes
- St. Ben Parker
Can you please elaborate your reasons to assume it?
Actual parenting solves a lot of easy problems.
I hate it here. Please get me out of here
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0127/1276827-ireland-st-brigids-day-traditions-biddy-boys-brat-bhride-/
They called her Lady.
🤔
. This was my first one.
https://youtu.be/Yn_MG4HZVOo?feature=shared
Cogitosus wrote in the 7th century. It’s fairly easy Latin, but if you wish, there are several translations.
Until 1980 the Southern Baptist Convention, a conservative evangelical denomination, was pro choice. Just days after Roe was handed down, The Baptist Press published an article calling Roe in part, "an advancement of religious liberty, human equality and justice."
Please place your hands on this, our straining poisoned White House, & make it give a mighty push.
what silly people we are when we perpetuate such fictions.
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😬🦠😷💉💉💉💉💉💉💉🇨🇦🏴🇺🇦
But the abortion story is quite explicit.
Too bad the Supreme Court didn't know that.
Maybe they'll experience some divine retribution.
But I see your point.
We are a real price of work !