Prayers to St Brighid of Kildare

Since prayers to this incredible Saint who seems to have found a place in my heart despite myself are rare, I thought I would put a compilation of them on my blog to encourage devotion to her. She has absolutely blown me away with her personal care of my soul-- bringing me at every turn to the Cross of Christ and giving me faith, hope and love in abundance:

An Bheannacht --The Blessing

[Irish] In ainm an Athar agus
an Mhic agus an Spioraid Naoimh. Áméin.

[Phonetically] in on-im on ah-her
ah-gus on vick ah-gus on sprid nave. áiméin

[English] In the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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May God bless you, child.

I put you under the protections of Mary and her Son.

Under the care of Brigid and her cloak.

And under the shelter of God tonight.



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St Brigid, Mary of Ireland
Ask for us all today
The courage to do God's bidding
Whatever the world may say
The grace to be strong and valiant
The grace to be firm and true
The grace to be faithful always
To God, God's mother and you.

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"May Brigid bless the house wherein you dwell. Bless every fireside, every wall and door. Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof. Bless every hand that toils to bring it joy. Bless every foot that walks its portals through. May Brigid bless the house that shelters you."

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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
or 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. Amen

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Everliving God, we rejoice today in the fellowship of thy Blessed servant Brigid, and we give thee thanks for her life of devoted service. Inspire us with life and light, and give us perseverance to serve thee all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end.

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his
poverty might be rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love of
this world, that, following the example of thy servant Bridget,
we may serve thee with singleness of heart, and attain to the
riches of the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

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I will build the hearth,

As Mary would build it.

The encompassment of Bride and of Mary,

Guarding the hearth, guarding the floor,

Guarding the household of all.
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Beloved Father, just before Saint Brigid was born, her Christian mother was sold to a Druid landowner. Even though she grew up oppressed as a slave, she found great joy in loving You. As the patron saint of babies, she has a special concern for the gift of new life, so I ask her to pray for the babies in my family, both born and unborn. May they grow up with Jesus and obtain the joy of knowing Him. I place into Your loving hands, Father, all the babies who died prematurely, through abortion, miscarriage or medical conditions. Ask them, Lord, to intercede for me and my family. Saint Brigid, pray for us. Amen.

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Lord God, you gave St Brigid as patroness over nuns and young children. I ask therefore that through her intercession, by which an entire nation under bondage of darkness was made yours and turned to a beacon of light for all mankind,you would help all of us who are called to a vocation of both religious life and parenthood. Strengthen us to carry out our calling to live as salt and light in the earth. Give us wisdom to teach, guide and care for the souls of the children we have been given, both physical and spiritual, and help us, by the example of Brigid, to live Holy lives that are pleasing to You. Grant us the grace of contagious faith, through which we hope to persevere in love for the salvation of souls. Lord, you gave us in her an example of a woman who was zealous, powerful and heroic, all the while remaining submitted to the authorities you placed over her. Grant that we might love you more and more and that through her prayers, our lives would be changed. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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And lastly, there are the fifteen prayers of St Bridget. These are actually prayers that have nothing to do with Brigid of Kildare, but rather with Bridget of Sweden, but since so many people confuse the two saints I am quite certain that where these fifteen prayers are said in honor of Brigid of Kildare and in reparation for Christ's wounds, she and He both hear. :) So, here they are:

THE FIFTEEN PRAYERS
OF SAINT BRIDGET.

1 st Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! You have proved
that You have no greater desire than to be among men,
even assuming human nature
at the fullness of time for the love of men.
I recall all the sufferings of Your life especially Your Passion.

I remember, O Lord,
that during the Last Supper with Your disciples,
having washed their feet,
You gave them Your Most Precious Body and Blood,
and, while consoling them,
You foretold Your coming Passion.

I remember the sadness and bitterness
which You experienced in Your Soul as You said,
"My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."

I remember all the fear,
anguish and pain that You did suffer
in Your delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion,
when, after having prayed three times,
bathed in a sweat of blood,
You were betrayed by Judas,
arrested by the people of a nation You had chosen and elevated,
accused by false witnesses
and unjustly judged by three judges.

I remember that You were despoiled of Your garments
and clothed in those of derision,
that Your Face and Eyes were covered,
that You were beaten,
crowned with thorns,
a reed placed in Your Hands,
that You were crushed with blows
and overwhelmed with insults and outrages.
In memory of all these pains and sufferings
which You endured before Your Passion on the Cross,
grant me before my death a true contrition,
a sincere and entire confession,
worthy satisfaction
and the remission of all my sins.

Amen.

2 nd Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the horror and sadness
which You endured when Your enemies surrounded You,
and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations
and other unheard of cruelties tormented You.
In consideration of these torments and insulting words,
I beg You to deliver me from all my enemies,
visible and invisible,
and to bring me,
under Your protection,
to the perfection of eternal salvation.

Amen.

3 rd Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the very bitter pain
You did suffer when the executioners
nailed Your Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross
by blow after blow with big blunt nails,
and, not finding You in a sad enough state,
to satisfy their cruelty they enlarged Your Wounds,
and added pain to pain,
stretching Your Body on the Cross
and dislocated Your Bones by pulling Them on all sides.
I beg of You by the memory
of this most loving suffering of the Cross
to grant me the grace to love You.

Amen.

4 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I Remember the bruises You suffered
and the weakness of Your Body,
which was distended to such a degree
that never was there pain like Yours.
From the crown of Your Head to the soles of Your Feet
there was not one spot on Your Body which was not in torment.
Yet, for getting all Your sufferings,
You did not cease to pray
to Your Heavenly Father for Your enemies, saying:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Through this great mercy and in memory of this suffering,
grant that the remembrance of Your most bitter Passion
may effect in us a perfect contrition
and the remission of all our sins.

Amen.

5 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the sadness which You experienced when,
foreseeing those who would be damned for their sins,
You suffered bitterly over these hopeless,
lost and unfortunate sinners.

Through this abyss of compassion and pity
and especially through the goodness
which You displayed to the good thief when You said to him,
"This day you will be with Me in Paradise,"
I beg of You that at the hour of my death to show me mercy.

Amen.

6 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the grief which You suffered when,
like a common criminal,
You were raised and fastened to the Cross,
when all Your relatives and friends abandoned You,
except Your Beloved Mother who remained close to You during Your agony
and Whom You entrusted to Your faithful disciple when You said,
"Woman, behold Your son. Son behold your Mother. "

I beg You by the sword of sorrow
which pierced the soul of Your Holy Mother,
to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations,
both of body and spirit,
and to assist me in all my trials
and especially at the hour of my death.

Amen.

7 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember Your profound gesture of love
from the Cross when You said, "I thirst,"
and Your suffering from the thirst
for the salvation of the human race.
I beg You to inflame in our hearts
the desire to tend toward perfection in all our actions
and to extinguish in us all wordly desires.

Amen.

8 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the bitterness of the gall and vinegar
which You tasted on the Cross for love of us.
Grant us the grace to receive worthily
Your Precious Body and Blood
during our life and at the hour of our death
that It may be a remedy of consolation for our souls.

Amen.

9 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the pain You endured when,
immersed in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death,
insulted, outraged by the people,
You cried out in a loud voice
that You were abandoned by Your Father, saying:
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Through this anguish I beg You
not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death.

Amen.

10 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember that for our sakes
You were immersed into an abyss of suffering.
In consideration of the enormity of Your Wounds,
teach me to keep,
through pure love,
Your Commandments,
which are a wide and easy path for those who love You.

Amen.

11 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember Your Wounds
which penetrated to the very marrow of Your Bones
and to the depth of Your Being.
Draw me away from sin and hide me in Your Wounds.

Amen.

12 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the multitude of Wounds
which afflicted You from Head to Foot,
torn and reddened by the spilling of Your Precious Blood.
O great and universal pain
which You suffered in Your Flesh for love of us!
What is there You could have done for us
which You have not done?

May the fruit of Your sufferings be renewed in my soul
by the faithful remembrance of Your Passion
and may Your love increase in my heart each day
until I see You in eternity,
You Who are the treasury of every real good and joy,
which I beg You to grant me in Heaven.

Amen.

13 rd Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the pain You endured
when all Your strength,
both moral and physical,
was entirely exhausted;
You bowed Your Head, saying:
"It is consummated."

Through this anguish and grief,
I beg You to have mercy on me at the hour of my death,
when my mind will be greatly troubled
and my soul will be in anguish.

Amen.

14 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the simple
and humble recommendation You made of Your Soul
to Your Eternal Father, saying,
"Father, into Your Hands I commend My Spirit,"
and when, Your Body all torn and Your Heart broken, You expired.
By this precious death,
I beg You to comfort me and give me help to resist the devil,
the flesh and the world, so that,
being dead to the world,
I may live for You alone.
I beg of You at the hour of my death to receive me.

Amen.

15 th Prayer


Say one "Our Father..."
Say one "Hail Mary..."

O Jesus! I remember the abundant outpouring of Blood which You shed.
From Your Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier,
Blood and Water poured forth
until there was not left in Your Body a single Drop;
and finally the very substance of Your Body withered
and the marrow of Your Bones dried up.

Through this bitter Passion
and through the outpouring of Your Precious Blood,
I beg You to pierce my heart
so that my tears of penance and love
may be my bread day and night.
May I be entirely converted to You;
may my heart be Your perpetual resting place;
may my conversation be pleasing to You;
and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that
I may merit Heaven
and there with Your saints praise You forever.

Amen.

The fifteen prayers were taught by Jesus to Saint Bridget. He said to her,

I received 5,480 wounds on My Body during My Passion.
If you wish to honor each of them in some way
pray the following prayers each day for a whole year.
When the year is over, you will have honored each one of My Wounds.

Monday's motherhood moment

In this case, I think actions speak louder than words. So here are some of the children at the latest Clan gathering:



Angela titled this, appropriately, "must be doing something right." May it be so, Lord! Theres nothing more amazing than seeing our little ones on their knees before You.

John of the Cross: Counsels to Religious

Counsels to a Religious
By St. John of the Cross

From: THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD, revised edition (1991).

Copyright 1991 ICS Publications. Permission is hereby granted for any non-commercial use, if this copyright notice is included.

Introduction To The Counsels To A Religious

These Counsels written for a friar are similar in content and tone to the previous precautions. This fact suggests they were composed about the same time. If they differ from the Precautions in any way it is mainly in their not adhering to the fixed structure of that work. The copy that editors find most reliable was made from an ancient manuscript that had been conserved by the Carmelite nuns in Bujalance. Appearing in the manuscript after these Counsels are the Degrees of Perfection, which editors often placed among John's Sayings. The tendency now is to leave them here since they seem destined for the same friar.

Counsels To A Religious On How To Reach Perfection

Jesus Mariae filius

1. Your holy Charity1 with few words asked me for a great deal. An answer would require much time and paper. Seeing, then, that I lack both of these, I will try to be concise and jot down only certain points and counsels that in sum will contain much, so that whoever observes them perfectly will attain a high degree of perfection. The one who wishes to be a true religious and fulfill the promises of the profession that was made to God, advance in virtue, and enjoy the consolations and the delight of the Holy Spirit, will be unable to do so without trying to practice with the greatest diligence the four following counsels concerning resignation, mortification, the practice of virtue, and bodily and spiritual solitude.

2. In order to practice the first counsel, concerning resignation, you should live in the monastery as though no one else were in it. And thus you should never, by word or by thought, meddle in things that happen in the community, nor with individuals in it, desiring not to notice their good or bad qualities or their conduct. And in order to preserve your tranquility of soul, even if the whole world crumbles you should not desire to advert to these things or interfere, remembering Lot's wife who was changed into hard stone because she turned her head to look at those who in the midst of much clamor and noise were perishing [Gn. 19:26]. You should practice this with great fortitude, for you will thereby free yourself from many sins and imperfections and guard the tranquility and quietude of your soul with much profit before God and others. Ponder this often, because it is so important that, for not observing it, many religious not only failed to improve through their other works of virtue and religious observance, but ever slipped back from bad to worse.

3. To practice the second counsel, which concerns mortification, and profit by it, you should engrave this truth on your heart. And it is that you have not come to the monastery for any other reason than to be worked and tried in virtue; you are like the stone that must be chiseled and fashioned before being set in the building. Thus you should understand that those who are in the monastery are craftsmen placed there by God to mortify you by working and chiseling at you. Some will chisel with words, telling you what you would rather not hear; others by deed, doing against you what you would rather not endure; others by their temperament, being in their person and in their actions a bother and annoyance to you; and others by their thoughts, neither esteeming nor feeling love for you. You ought to suffer these mortifications and annoyances with inner patience, being silent for love of God and understanding that you did not enter the religious life for any other reason than for others to work you in this way, and so you become worthy of heaven. If this was not your reason for entering the religious state, you should not have done so, but should have remained in the world to seek your comfort, honor, reputation, and ease.

4. The second counsel is wholly necessary for religious so they may fulfill the obligations of their state and find genuine humility, inward quietude, and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you do not practice this, you will know neither how to be a religious nor even why you came to the religious life. Neither will you know how to seek Christ (but only yourself), or find peace of soul, or avoid sinning and often feeling troubled. Trials will never be lacking in religious life, nor does God want them to be. Since he brings souls there to be proved and purified, like gold, with hammer and the fire [Ecclus. 2:5], it is fitting that they encounter trials and temptations from human beings and from devils, and the fire of anguish and affliction.2 The religious must undergo these trials and should endeavor to bear them patiently and in conformity to God's will, and not so sustain them that instead of being approved by God in this affliction he be reproved for not having wanted to carry the cross of Christ in patience. Since many religious do not understand that they have entered religious life to carry Christ's cross, they do not get along well with others. At the time of reckoning they will find themselves greatly confused and frustrated.

5. To practice the third counsel, which concerns the practice of virtue, you should be constant in your religious observance and in obedience without any concern for the world, but only for God. In order to achieve this and avoid being deceived, you should never set your eyes on the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the work at hand as a motive for doing it or failing to do it, but on doing it for God. Thus you must undertake all things, agreeable or disagreeable, for the sole purpose of pleasing God through them.

6. To do this with fortitude and constancy and acquire the virtues quickly, you should take care always to be inclined to the difficult more than to the easy, to the rugged more than to the soft, to the hard and distasteful in a work more than to its delightful and pleasant aspects; and do not go about choosing what is less a cross, for the cross is a light burden [Mt. 11:30]. The heavier a burden is, the lighter it becomes when borne for Christ. You should try, too, by taking the lowest place always, that in things bringing comfort to your brothers in religion they be preferred to you. This you should do wholeheartedly, for it is the way to becoming greater in spiritual things, as God tells us in his Gospel: Qui se humiliaverit exaltabitur3 [Mt. 23:12].

7. To practice the fourth counsel, which concerns solitude, you should deem everything in the world as finished. Thus, when (for not being able to avoid it) you have to deal with some matter, do so in as detached a way as you would if it did not exist.

8. Pay no heed to the things out in the world, for God has already withdrawn and released you from them. Do not handle any business yourself that you can do through a third person. It is very fitting for you to desire to see no one and that no one see you. And note carefully that if God will ask a strict account from all the faithful of every idle word, how much more will he ask it of religious who have consecrated all their life and works to him. And God will demand all of this on the day of reckoning.

9. I do not mean here that you fail to fulfill the duties of your state with all necessary and possible care, and any others that obedience commands, but that you execute your tasks in such a way that no fault is committed; for neither God nor obedience wants you to commit a fault. You should consequently strive to be incessant in prayer, and in the midst of your corporal practices do not abandon it. Whether you eat, or drink, or speak, or converse with lay people, or do anything else, you should always do so with desire for God and with your heart fixed on him. This is very necessary for inner solitude, which demands that the soul dismiss any thought that is not directed to God. And in forgetfulness of all the things that are and happen in this short and miserable life, do not desire to know anything in any way except how better to serve God and keep the observance of your institute.

10. If your Charity observes these four counsels with care, you will reach perfection in a very short time. These counsels are so interdependent that if you are lacking in one of them, you will begin to lose the profit and gain you have from practicing the others.

Degrees Of Perfection

1. Do not commit a sin for all there is in the world, or any deliberate venial sin, or any known imperfection.

2. Endeavor to remain always in the presence of God, either real, imaginative, or unitive insofar as is permitted by your works.

3. Neither do anything nor say any notable word that Christ would not have done or said were he in the state I am, as old as I, and with the same kind of health.

4. Strive for the greater honor and glory of God in all things.

5. Do not omit mental prayer for any occupation, for it is the sustenance of your soul.

6. Do not omit examination of conscience because of any of your occupations, and for every fault do some penance.

7. Be deeply sorry for any time that is lost or that passes without your loving God. 8. In all things, both high and low, let God be your goal, for in no other way will you grow in merit and perfection.

9. Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty, persevere in it for this very reason. God often desires to see what love your soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction.

10. In heaven and on earth, always the lowest and last place and office.

11. Never interfere in what you are not ordered to do, or be obstinate about anything, even though you may be right. And if, as the saying goes, they give you an inch, do not take a mile. Some deceive themselves in such matters and think they have an obligation to do that which - if they reflect upon it well - in no way obliges them.

12. Pay no attention to the affairs of others, whether they be good or bad, for besides the danger of sin, this is a cause of distractions and lack of spirit.

13. Strive always to confess your sins with a deep knowledge of your own wretchedness and with clarity and purity.

14. Even though your obligations and duties are difficult and disagreeable to you, you should not become dismayed, for this will not always be so. And God, who proves the soul by a precept under the guise of a trial [Ps.94:20], will after a time accord it the experience of blessing and gain.

15. Remember always that everything that happens to you, whether prosperous or adverse, comes from God, so that you become neither puffed up in prosperity nor discouraged in adversity.

16. Remember always that you came here for no other reason than to be a saint; thus let nothing reign in your soul that does not lead you to sanctity.

17. Always be more disposed toward giving to others than giving to yourself, and thus you will not be envious of or selfish toward your neighbor. This is to be understood from the viewpoint of perfection, for God is angered with those who do not give precedence to his good pleasure over that of humans.

Soli Deo honor et gloria.

Copyright ICS Publications. Permission is hereby granted for any non-commercial use, if this copyright notice is included. Maintained by the Austrian Province of the Teresian Carmel

Let me guess--a large portion of my readers are from ravelry

Click disagree if you're here from rav. :P Guess I need to start posting in the forums more to keep you guys entertained and away from my family life and ministry.

Wordless Wednesday:

The Magic Kingdom

I was doing a guided meditation with my eldest tonight as I have been for the past week because she has been having such a hard time relaxing enough to go to sleep with the Binky Fairy's removal of her binkies. (:P)
In the meditation, she closes her eyes and listens as I take her through the Magic Kingdom, telling her about the sights and sounds and ending with the trek up the hill to the castle. I describe the exterior of the castle, the long, colorful flags hanging from the windows, and the princesses in the windows beckoning her to come in. It helps that some friends of ours are there right now, making it twice as interesting.
At the end I have her in the middle of the castle courtyard and she looks up and sees this big cloud, and Jesus is on it and he tells her that this is His kingdom and it is in heaven waiting for her.
Anyways, for the past two nights she has called this use of her imagination her "eye TV" and asks me to turn on her eye TV to help her go to sleep, which I do right before I pray a rosary in their room. (Baptists everywhere are shaking in their boots! Just kidding. SOrta.)
Anyways, so tonight she stops me mid-meditation and tells me she sees me in the castle on her Eye TV.
I tell her that yes, I'm one of the princesses in the castle. But she says "No, mommy!!" As if its the most obvious thing in the world..."You are there cleaning the castle."
HA! Thanks.