Prayers
Hearth Keeper Prayer
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.
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Saint 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.
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Amen.
Traditional Catholic Prayer to Saint Brigid
A Prayer to Saint Brigid
Oh Brigid, Mary of the Gael,
may your protection never fail.
Spread your mantle over me,
where ‘ere I am, where ‘ere I be.
Cover me with God’s joy and peace,
let my faith and hope never cease.
Shine your light where there is darkness,
strengthen me in any weakness.
Heal all within that may be ill,
give me the desire each day to do God’s will.
‘Till I rest, my journey o’er,
with God and you forever more.
St. Brigid, patron of Kildare and Leighlin,
pray for us.
Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) Prayer
O Holy One,
You who are Creator of all,
who made humanity in Your image Saviour of all,
who called women and men to witness Your ministry,
death and resurrection,
Inspirer of all who seek and serve,
We thank You for the women
You have blessed with Your call to celebrate the Eucharist,
to minister alongside their brothers in a renewed Roman Catholic Church.
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We pray that the Church will soon welcome and nourish to the full the gifts of women as priests, prophets and leaders,
knowing, as Mary of Nazareth knew,
that with You all things are possible.
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Amen.
Atalanta in Calydon (1865) (ver. 4, first chorus)
For winter’s rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover,
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.
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Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909)
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Comment:
This poem paints a picture of the passing of winter and the coming of spring. The words are evocative of this time in Catholic history, when that which is old and no longer life-giving in the church is surrendering itself to a renewed sense of hope, promise and joy in this new springtime of the Christian tradition. With courage and confidence, we people of St. Brigid’s and other communities of renewal, travel onward, following the God of visionary and audacious loving, daring to take our place in the growing community of witnesses who are prophetically obedient to the aliveness of God’s Spirit at work in the world of today (Monica Kilburn-Smith, 2009).
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An excerpt from St. Patrick’s Breastplate
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I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe in the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
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I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
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I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me.
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I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul.
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Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left.
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Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
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I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
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Amen.
The Prayer of St. Francis
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Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
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O Divine Creator, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon of St. Francis of Assisi
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Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord, All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.
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To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.
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Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.
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Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.
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Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.
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Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.
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Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
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Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth
who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.
Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon for love of You and bear sickness and trial.
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Blessed are those who endure in peace, By You Most High, they will be crowned.
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Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.
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No second death can do them harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.
