Why pray the Rosary every day for a year?
Each time the Blessed Virgin has appeared-- whether it be to Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes; to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco at Fatima; or to Mariette Beco at Banneux-- she has asserted the importance, saving grace, and power of praying the Holy Rosary on a daily basis. Based upon her words, the Rosary is penance and conversion for sinners, a pathway to peace, an end to war, and a powerful act of faith in Jesus Christ. Pope Paul VI presented the Rosary as a powerful means to reach Christ "not merely with Mary but indeed, insofar as this is possible to us, in the same way as Mary, who is certainly the one who thought about Him more than anyone else has ever done."
To show us how this is done, perhaps no one has been more eloquent than the great Cardinal Newman, who wrote: "The great power of the Rosary consists in the fact that it translates the Creed into Prayer. Of course, the Creed is already in a certain sense a prayer and a great act of homage towards God, but the Rosary brings us to meditate again on the great truth of His life and death, and brings this truth close to our hearts. Even Christians, although they know God, usually fear rather than love Him. The strength of the Rosary lies in the particular manner in which it considers these mysteries, since all our thinking about Christ is intertwined with the thought of His Mother, in the relations between Mother and Son; the Holy Family is presented to us, the home in which God lived His infinite love."
As Mary said at Fatima, "Jesus wants to use you to make Me known and loved. He wishes to establish the devotion to My Immaculate Heart throughout the world. I promise salvation to whoever embraces it; these souls will be dear to God, like flowers put by Me to adorn his throne."
Today, February 1, we celebrate the feast day of
Saint Brigid of Ireland (453-523), one of three patron saints of Ireland. Brigid was one of the most remarkable women of her times, and while her life and the extravagant miracles attributed to her are the stuff of Celtic legend and poetry, there is little doubt that her extraordinary spirituality, limitless charity, and overflowing compassion and generosity toward those in distress were real. Considered a saint by most while she lived, her life, works, and piety inspire us still today.
Below, a collection of ancient, traditional, and modern hymns and poetry, honoring both Saint Brigid of Ireland and the rich Celtic history of her birthplace.
Hymn to Saint Brigid
(Saint Ultan, early 7th century)
Brigid, noble woman!
A flame, golden, beautiful,
A sun dazzling splendid,
May she bear us to the eternal kingdom.
May Brigid save us,
Despite the throngs of demons
May she overthrow before us
The battle-hosts of every disetie.
May she destroy within us
Our flesh's taxes,
blossoming branch!
Mother of Jesus!
The pure Virgin, dear to us,
Great her dignity,
May we be always safe
With my saint of the Lagenians.
She is a pillar of the Kingdom
With Patrick the preeminent,
The garment of garments,
The Queen of Queens.
When in our old age
Our bodies are laid in sackcloth,
May Brigid shower her blessings on us,
May Brigid save us.
Traditional Celtic Hymns to Saint Brigid
Far above enthroned in glory
Sweetest Saint of Erin's Isle
See thy children kneel before thee
Turn on us a Mother's smile.
Sancta Maria, hear our pleading
Faith and hope and holy love
Sweet St Brigid, Spouse of Jesus,
Sent to us from Heaven above.
Sweet St Brigid, Erin's children,
Far and near o'er land and sea
In the world and in the cloister
Fondly turn with love to thee.
Sancta Maria, sooth the mourner
Shield the weary tempted soul
Sweet St Brigid, guide thy children
To thy bright and happy home.
Praise we all Saint Brigid
Praiseworthy in our lands
Praiseworthy in all countries
Let us sing her praises.
She is in the torch fire
Shining through the country
Best of all within our youth
Smooth and gentle woman.
Winter's House is Darkness
Winds of cutting sharpness
But, upon Saint Brigid's Day
Spring is near returning.
Poem in Honor of Saint Brigid
The footsteps of St Brigid are everywhere I go
Rising out of darkness from the earth below
Little bells of Spring time -
Pure and white as snow.
The footsteps of St Brigid
Have travelled far and wide
Unconstrained by boundaries,
Monarchies or tides -
An abbess and a foundress
A holy one of God
Whose prayers rose up like incense
From rock and field and bog.
O Saint Brigid, Ireland's children
Still recall with greatest pride
All you did for church and country
With the Cross your truest guide.
Ask the Saviour now to bless us
Ask Our Lady to enfold
In maternal wraps of goodness
All we are and all we hold.
Dear to us is Mother Ireland
Dear to us this faith passed down
Help us to uphold and value
All that won for you a crown.
May we follow in your footsteps
As you look from heaven above
May you shower upon your children
Heaven's grace and heaven's love.
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| Saint Brigid's Well |
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