(photo above: St Brigid's Cathedral and Round Tower, Kildare)
Brigidines of the Holy Spirit
This community is now dormant as the sole professed member left the church. Aspirants for this charism are invited to contact the Abbot General CSR using the form below. Daily recitation of the Divine Office, at least weekly Mass and some form of service are required. The habit is black with a green cincture. The theory that the community over which St Brigid presided as Abbess of Kildare (the "Church of the Oak") was originally a community of Druidesses has gained popular acceptance over the last hundred years or more, for as the Brigidine community kept a Sacred Flame alight, night and day, for centuries - until the Reformation in fact - it is believed by many that this practise was inherited from the former community, who may have been something akin to Roman Vestal Virgins. "Flame Keeping" continues to be central to Brigidine spirituality today and of course also reminds Christians of the Holy Spirit who descended on Our Lady and the Apostles "like flames of fire" at Pentecost. |
A Prayer to St Brigid
O Thou Most Holy Virgin Bride, we greet Thee. Thou who comest robed in the Greater Glory of the Holy Spirit. Bride of Supreme Wisdom, Beauty and Truth. Come on Wings of Deliverance, bearing the shield of a Dove. Whisper to the saddend Heart of My Humanity that Redemption draweth Nigh. Come O Bride, Thy Servants do Wait, Come O Bride, Thy Servants do Wait, Come O Bride, Thy Servants do Wait, Come in the Light of the Shining Moon, Come in the Dawning of the Day. Here our cry, O Bride, Most Glorious Virgin of Supreme Loveliness. Be Gracious unto thy Servants. Amen. (Kitty Tudor Pole, Christine and Janet (Sr Brigid) Allen) |
Link to A Chaplet of the Holy Ghost