From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Thu Apr 6 22:49:35 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k374nZjb031849; Thu, 6 Apr 2006 22:49:35 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l.rootsweb.com [66.43.16.22]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k374nGdo003395 for ; Thu, 6 Apr 2006 22:49:16 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l [127.0.0.1]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id k372HMFI013353 for ; Thu, 6 Apr 2006 22:17:23 -0400 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k372HMEw013352 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Thu, 6 Apr 2006 22:17:22 -0400 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with SMTP id k3727XFI013285 for ; Thu, 6 Apr 2006 22:07:33 -0400 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k374dGXA028231 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Thu, 6 Apr 2006 22:39:16 -0600 X-Envelope-From: flame1@tampabay.rr.com Thu Apr 6 22:39:16 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k374dGjb028220 for ; Thu, 6 Apr 2006 22:39:16 -0600 Received: from ms-smtp-01.tampabay.rr.com (ms-smtp-01.tampabay.rr.com [65.32.5.131]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k374dDLK031631 for ; Thu, 6 Apr 2006 22:39:14 -0600 Received: from DHHV4Y81 (188-106.124-70.tampabay.res.rr.com [70.124.106.188]) by ms-smtp-01.tampabay.rr.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with SMTP id k374dBai017827 for ; Fri, 7 Apr 2006 00:39:13 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <002901c659fd$3ffed0e0$0301a8c0@DHHV4Y81> From: "Carol Judge" To: "Roots-L" Subject: Re: [ROOTS-L] Is Bridget a nickname? Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2006 00:39:23 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 X-Virus-Scanned: Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com X-Spam-Score: 1.525 (*) BAYES_00,BLANK_LINES_70_80 I recently took a tour in Ireland and learned about Bridget - one of the patron saints of Ireland. On the drive to the west coast, we came upon St Bridget's Well in Liscannor. There are many holy wells in Ireland revered as places of healing, prayer, and meditation, which according to Celtic myth are guarded by feminine spirits. The following tales were relayed to us by our tour guide. Bridget was an Irishwoman born in the 5th century shortly after Christianity was introduced to Ireland. A product of a noble father and a slave mother, she was known for her boundless charity and compassion. She asked an Irish chieftain for a quantity of land so she could build a monastic community. The chieftain replied that she could have whatever amount of land her cloak would cover. She took the cloak from her shoulders and cast it on the ground where it spread to cover 12 acres. On the property, under a large oak tree, she built a small church, Cill-Dara (Kildare), which means "church of the oak". Bridget's father was a pagan Scottish King who had never embraced Christianity. As he lay dying, Bridget picked up some rushes on the floor and twisted them into the shape of a cross. Seeing what she had made, her father asked her to explain her beliefs. On his deathbed, he agreed to be baptized. Our tour guide said when she was growing up, she was taught to make St. Bridget's crosses. Every year she would make a new cross and put the old one up in the thatch of the roof to protect the home against fire and lightning and the inhabitants against illness. There are still old buildings in Ireland where dozens of crosses can be seen imbedded in the thatch of the roofs. A search for - Saint Bridget Ireland - on Google will give you plenty of sites to look at but you might start with these. You might also search under Bridget's Cross. http://www.interment.net/data/ireland/clare/stbridget/bridget.htm http://historymedren.about.com/library/who/blwwstbrigit.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid_of_Ireland Carol Judge