Second Term: St Brigid of Ireland

Since it is now August, I went to choose another saint for the next two-month term.

St. Brigid of Ireland

Feast: February 1

Patronage: Babies; Children Whose Parents are Not Married; Dairy Workers; Fugitives; Mariners; Midwives; Nuns; Poets; Printing Presses; Scholars; Travellers
Learn more about St. Brigid of Ireland

Jennifer Fulwiler's Saint's Name Generator has been so good to me so many times that I am now going to add her apostolate to my regular prayers : ),   I love that generator.  Sometimes I go and meet new saints just to cheer myself up or get extra prayers for something.  But this choosing of a saint for each two months is working out well. 

Brigid is an old favorite -- Paddy would have been called Brigid if he had only had that second X chromosome.  Many years before that, when I was about the age Paddy is now, my Scottish grandfather always (jokingly) requested that I name my daughter Brigid.   I think he thought it would be rather a dreadful name to inflict on a child -- I still remember his Scottish accent rolling out "Brriigggid!" but I think it is a beautiful name.

And we are definitely having a traveler's summer, so it's great to have a patron of travelers at hand.    This weekend we head up the mountain to a family reunion, and next week we are off again, this time to Lake Tahoe.   Then southward to take my daughter back to college.  Then northward again in September.  

Here is a nice prayer to St Brigid:

Prayer to Saint Brigid 

 Saint 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 and 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

There are some more prayers here.

 Here's how to make a St Brigid's Cross.  And a story about it. 

Sort of looks like that extra X chromosome whose notable absence gave me a Patrick Gabriel instead of a Brigid Rose.   Not that I would trade my Paddy for anything; but I would love for him to have had a little sister, and St Brigid was a very good friend of St Patrick's.   

Brigid is described as a little like Paddy, high-spirited and warm-hearted,     She cared deeply about the poor and got in trouble with her father for giving away her things to the less fortunate, rather like St Francis of Assisi.    Maybe I can ask her help in figuring out how to be more helpful to those in need. 

So that is my saint for the next term!  Anyone else choose patron saints for school terms or for different seasons of the year?