CYCLOPS
"and S. Brigid" (U12.1709)
[*Ed. S. Bridgid, aka Brigid of Kildare, or S. Bride (453-523) was Irish, the daughter of Dubtach, a wealthy pagan chieftain of Leinster, and Brocca, his Pictish Christian slave. As a child, she heard S. Patrick preach, which she never forgot. She grew up with high spirits and a tender heart. She could not bear to see anyone hungry or cold, and often gave away things that belonged to Dubtach, her father and legal owner. She gave his treasured sword to a leper while he was negotiating to sell her to the King of Leinster. Dubtach was about to strike her but the King, a Christian, interceded saying "Her merit before God is greater than ours." Dubtach solved this domestic problem by freeing Brigid, and putting her in charge of his dairy that prospered under her care. She refused a proposed marriage, went to Bishop Mel, a pupil of S. Patrick, and took her vows. At the invitation of bishops, she started convents all over Ireland and was a great traveller. Brigid started the monastery of Kildare on the Liffey river being for both monks and nuns. Represented as an abbess, usually holding a lamp or candle, often with a cow nearby. Feast February 1.]
