St. Brigid's Day

St. Brigid's Feast Day is February 1.  We were busy that day so we celebrated late.  St. Brigid is one of my favorite Saints.  She was born in the mid-5th century in Ireland.  She founded many convents across Ireland during her lifetime and is a much beloved Saint in Ireland.  You can read more about her life and ways to celebrate her Feast Day HERE.

I read this lovely book about St. Brigid to my children (unfortunately it appears this book is currently out of print, but there is an e-book version available).  I absolutely love the beautiful illustrations by Zachary Lynch (who also wrote and illustrated another favorite book of mine about St. Patrick).

After reading the book about St. Brigid's life we made paper versions of the cross St. Brigid was said to have made from rushes.  We used the instructions found HERE.  We used strips of paper from a magazine, but we should have made our strips a little longer.  They still came out lovely.  We also ate oat pancakes (in lieu of oat cakes).  Traditional recipes for St. Brigid's Day can be found HERE.  We save our colcannon for St. Patrick's Day!

Kontakion of Saint Brigid
The holy virgin Brigid full of divine wisdom,
went with joy along the way of evangelical childhood,
and with the grace of God
attained in this way the summit of virtue.
Wherefore she now bestows blessings
upon those who come to her with faith.
O holy virgin, intercede with Christ our God
that He may have mercy on our souls.