Lá Fhéile Bríde: A Celebration Of St. Brigid On Saturday, February 1st 2025

Programme For The Day

St. Brigid’s Flame will be present at Knock Shrine on the day, courtesy of the Brigidine Sisters at Solas Bhride, Kildare

11am – Welcome And Introduction outside The Apparition Chapel

11.10 – Guided Prayer at St. Brigid’s Well

This well is located at rose garden, along the pathway that leads from the processional square to Knock Museum.

This spring well which gives rise to the village stream that runs along the pathway close to Knock Museum and is known locally as Carty’s River.

12.00pm – Celebration of The Eucharist in Knock Parish Church

Global One Minute Pause for Peace at 12 noon

The Pause for Peace movement invites people from around the world to stop and pause for 1 minute’s silence/reflection at 12 o’clock local time on St. Brigid’s day, February 1^st.

Inspired by Brigid, a woman of peace, we invite you and people around the world to join with us for 1 minute’s silence/reflection and build a spirit of global solidarity for peace.

Blessing of those named after St. Brigid

We extend a special welcome to all those who are named in honour of St. Brigid. A blessing will take place during the celebration of the Mass

From 12.45pm: Lunch, St. John’s Rest and Care

Please bring your own packed lunch. Tea & Coffee available

2pm: Exploration of Brigidine Sprituality at Knock Prayer Centre

3pm: Closing Prayer at Knock Prayer Centre

About St Brigid, Patron of Ireland

St Brigid (452 – 525) is one of the three Patrons of Ireland, with St Patrick and Colmcille.

Born in County Louth, her mother was a slave, her father and Irish clan chief, and she was fostered in a druid’s household. A beautiful young woman, she developed a deep relationship with God, and chose to become a consecrated virgin. Brigid means Power, Strength, Exalted One.

Through her gifts of leadership and organisation she became an Abbess, and set up a linked monastic community for women and men in Kildare, which became a centre of learning, holiness and of hospitality especially to the poor. Care of the sick was promoted, together with peace, justice and reverence for the earth. Her innumerable gifts were symbolised by a fire which was kept alive till the Reformation and was rekindled in 1993 by the Brigidine Sisters in Kildare.

Brigid’s story is bejewelled by legends. She seems to have travelled the country: some 40 Holy Wells carry her name. The Irish were said to have already ‘hearts that were naturally Christian’ so her evangelising work was free of conflict and richly blessed.

The popular tale of Brigid as a pagan goddess reveals the overlap of Druidic and Christian cultures. This is not surprising since she was ten when St Patrick died, and what became known as ‘Celtic’ Christianity was then only in its infancy. She enjoys international veneration, and her feast-day became a national holiday in Ireland in 2023. Her birthday—La Fhéile Bride–is celebrated on February 1^st, which in the Celtic Calendar was the first day of Spring.

Image: Icon of St. Brigid by Susie Smith

Sculpture of St. Brigid

A beautiful sculpture by renowned Canadian sculptor, Timothy P Schmalz is located outside St. Brigid’s, adjacent to Knock Museum.

This sculpture of St. Brigid captures that moment where she gave her father’s treasured sword to a leper in the presence of the King of Leinster. Before her father was able to strike her down, she explained that she had given the sword of God through the leper. The King, being a Christian, forbade her father to strike her and granted her freedom saying “her merit before God is greater than our own.” This magnificent monument to this famous Irish saint is actually located in Kildare Ireland.

Make Your Own St. Brigid’s Cross

St. Brigid’s Crosses are traditionally woven from rushes. The prevailing Christian folklore surrounding Brigid’s cross involves the deathbed conversion of an Irish pagan chieftain, in some stories, her father. While telling the Chieftain about the Crucifixion of Jesus, Brigid collected rushes from the ground and wove them into a cross, after which the chieftain requested a Christian baptism.

Continue the tradition of making St. Brigid’s Crosses by making your own Cross at Knock Museum.

Drop-in workshop takes place on Saturday, February 1st between 11 – 3pm.

Booking not necessary and all materials supplied.

Pilgrims are also invited to bring with them their own St. Brigid’s Crosses for blessing on the day at 12 noon Mass

About St. Brigid’s Flame

A sacred flame burned in Kildare reaching back to pre-Christian times. When St Brigid built her monastery and church in Kildare she continued the custom of keeping a fire alight. For St. Brigid the fire represented the new light of Christianity, the Light of Christ, which reached our shores early in the fifth century. Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) a Welsh Chronicler who visited Kildare in the twelfth century reported that the fire of St. Brigid was still burning in Kildare and that it was being tended by nuns of St Brigid.

In 1993, a year after the arrival of the Brigidine sisters to Kildare town, the sacred flame was re-lit in the Market Square at the opening of a Justice & Peace conference hosted by Afri and the Brigidine Sisters in celebration of the tenth anniversary of St. Brigid’s Peace Cross Project. As a result the Flame has been carried to many peace conferences around the world. Since then the Flame has been tended by the Brigidine sisters in the Solas Bhride centre.