How to Make St. Brigid Cross from Reeds

A Virtue and Prize

Forest in Ireland
by Josip Rmc from Pixabay

In your patience possess ye your souls. ~ St. Luke 21:19

It is a virtue and a prize to listen patiently to and put up with insults for the sake of God ~ St. Brigit of Kildare

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ~ St. John 15:13

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. ~ 1 Corinthians 1:13

Greetings on the Forefeast of the Meeting of our Lord!

Today (Feb. 14/1) is also the Feast Day of St. Brigit of Ireland and St. Valentine of Rome. St. Brigit is one of my favourite saints, and St. Valentine is the first western saint I heard of, as a child. I delight in how instrumental St. Brigit was implementing educational and artistic centres… How she founded the spiritual community that bettered their county and country – through charity, hospitality, and medical support. I love how St. Brigit perceived Christ in everyone she met, and through the strength of her great faith and pure heart, performed – and continues to this very day… working miracles!

Parish Youth Choir sing Hymn to St. Brigit of Ireland (Feb. 2025)

St. Brigit of Ireland Past Posts

St. Brigid of Ireland ~ Feb. 13, 2021

Gabhaim Molta Bríghde ~ Feb. 14, 2022

Holy Mother Bríghde ~ Feb. 13, 2023

Happy St. Bríghde Day! ~Feb. 14, 2024

St. Bridget of Ireland ~ Jan. 25, 2025

St. Valentine
Past Post

A Valentine ~ Feb. 14, 2022

Happy St. Bríghde Day!

Image by Jonas from Pixabay

Greetings! Happy St. Bríghde of Ireland’s Feast Day!

St. Bríghde is pronounced Breejya, in Gaelic. She is also known as St. Brigid or St. Bridget.

I saw a stranger yestereen;
I put food in the eating place,
drink in the drinking place,
music in the listening place,
and in the name of the Triune
he blessed myself and my house,
my cattle and my dear ones,
and the lark said in her song:
Often, often, often,
goes the Christ in the stranger’s guise…
often, often, often,
goes Christ in the stranger’s guise.
~ Irish Rune of St. Brigid’s Hospitality

Besides, founding a famous monastery that blessed and bettered her country, 5th century St. Brigid was instrumental in implementing educational, and artistic centres, enhancing her community through charity, hospitality and medical support.

With her great faith and pure heart, she humbly performed miracles, perceiving Christ in all.

St. Brigid continues to intercede for us, whenever we reach out to her as a heavenly friend. She is the patroness of dairy workers, infants, midwives, blacksmiths, poets, nuns, and students.

Let us praise St. Brigid, and emulate her in seeing Christ in others!

How to make St. Brigid Day green rush crosses… Instructions found on St. Sophia website via The Ark #8 (Youth Quarterly) on pages 25-27.

Today is also St. Valentine the Presbyter’s Feast Day! (also celebrated on July 6th in the Eastern Church) ❤️

Tomorrow is one of the Great Twelve Feasts of our Lord – The Meeting of the Lord in the Temple.

Snowdrop Flowers also known as Candlemas Bells, are associated with this ancient Feast Day!

I composed my own (very rustic) simple folk-hymn of praise, honouring St. Brigid of Ireland, and set it to the tune of an ancient Irish melody of unknown origin, as heard below – accompanied by ukulele.

☘️

Holy St. Brigid, pray to God for us!

May your day brim with
God’s blessings of Love
and Peace from Above!

Gabhaim Molta Bríghde

An Ancient Irish Chapel – Image by Josef Kotarba Pixabay

Gabhaim Molta Bríghde (pronounced gaw-im molta breejya) means I Give Praise to St. Brigid.

Greetings on St. Brigid of Ireland’s Feast Day!

Along with St. Patrick, Holy St. Brigid is the Patroness and Protector of Ireland.

Here is a link to my simple folk song praising St. Brigid of Ireland.

The YouTube video below is a Gaelic Folk Song about St. Brigid, with an English Translation in the description section. The lineage of Gabhaim Molta Bríghde’s ancient, traditional melody and lyrics are from “unknown sources” however this arrangement of Sheet Music is sometimes attributed to Tomás Ó Flannghaile (Thomas Flannery), 1846-1916.

Gaelic with English Translation

Here is a fascinating article with excellent photos by Clare Monardo, describing An Exploration of the Holy Wells of St. Brigid. (What a wonderful pilgrimage this would make!)

A Gift of Hospitality – St. Brigid Abbess of Kildare.

On St. Brigid’s Day, it can be traditional to enjoy the Irish fare of oat bannocks, colcannon, barm brack, and perhaps a wee draught of beer.

How to make a St. Brigid Cross, woven from rushes. (Thank you for sharing your newly woven St. Brigid’s Rush Cross, Irena and Juliana!)

St. Brigid’s association with the miracles of fire and the closeness of her day to tomorrow’s Feast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple (also known as Candlemas), are closely linked.

On St. Brigid’s day, we celebrate Christ, the Light unto all Nations – the Eternal Spring Who draws nigh to all.

Troparion of Venerable Mother Brigid, Enlightener of Ireland (Tone 4): Instructed by the discourses of the holy Patrick, thou didst arrive at the utmost west, heralding the Orient which hath visited us from on high. Wherefore, we bless thee, O venerable mother Brigid, and cry out to thee: Pray thou in behalf of souls.

Kontakion of Venerable Mother Brigid, Enlightener of Ireland (Tone 6): Rejecting thy noble rank, and loving the godly monastic life, from the wood of the oak didst thou raise up a convent, the first in thy land; and having there united a multitude of nuns to God, thou didst teach the surrounding lands to cry to the Lord: Have mercy on us!

St. Brigid continues to bestow blessings upon those who come to her with faith, interceding with Christ our God, that He may have mercy on our souls.