For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover,Blossom by blossom the spring begins.
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909)
Atalanta in Calydon (1865)
Dear Friends of RCWP USA,
We are continuing to pray for all of you as the episcopal ordinations draw ever closer, and today we do so in the spirit of the Celts, on this feast day of St. Patrick. This feast of all things green also brings to mind our Wisdom Sister, St. Brigid of Kildare (whose feast day was Feb. 1), and indeed another Sister in Spirit/Sister of the Green, Hildegard, and the beautiful blessing from Patricia a couple of weeks ago.
We would also like to begin, this week, to pray for each of the bishops-elect individually, as well as collectively, so today I offer this "witness prayer" in particular honour and upholding of Bridget Mary, who shares the heritage as well as the courage and wisdom and industry of her namesake, St. Brigid of Kildare.
PRAYER TO ST. BRIGID OF KILDARE:
Brigidine Prayer for Peace 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 peaceCover those who are troubled and anxious,And may peace be firmly rooted in our heartsAnd in our world.Inspire us to act justly and to reverenceAll God has made.Brigid, you were a voice for the woundedAnd the weary,Strengthen what is weak within us,Calm us into a quietness that healsAnd listens.May we grow each day into greaterWholeness in mind, body and spirit.Amen. (Source: prayer card from the Brigidine nuns of Kildare.)
Green is often used to represent the fourth chakra, the chakra which hums around the human heart, and it is in the heart where, it is said, heaven and earth meet. In that coming together of matter and spirit, divine and human, Love is created and set free, to manifest inwardly and outwardly, in beauty, power and infinite possibilities. Green is also the colour of the power and delight of Nature, the natural world, a world of instinct and intuition, of creaturely kinship and interdependence. Green is the colour sunlight becomes once it has passed through plant matter with its gifts of warmth and light.
Bridget Mary, may the vigour and wisdom of St. Brigid pour through you with holy abandon! May you be strengthened and guided by the Spirit's movement within your being every step of the way, with every turn of the heel, as every new note in the dance comes to life; may the gifts of the holy ground upon which you are walking and dancing and praying grow up around you in abundance and offer themselves for your ministry.
Bridget Mary, Joan, Andrea and Regina, we bless you and claim you as leaders in our dreaming/visioning/caring/enacting community of God's renewing presence on Earth. As true community, we see ourselves in you, and you in us.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I offer now a scripture meditation, if you like -- on one of the following passages (or any other). A way of doing so would be to begin by lighting a candle and praying using Celtic author J. Philip Newell's language:
"I light a light
in the name of God who creates life,
in the name of the Saviour who loves life,
in the name of the Spirit who is the fire of life."
1. Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation. (Psalm 25:5)
or
2. Jesus said: 'Out of your heart shall flow rivers of living water.' (John 7:38)
or
3. With my whole heart I seek you O God; I treasure your word in my heart. (Ps. 119:10-11)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In closing, let us celebrate the gifts of Green-ness and verdancy and Springtime, of Ireland, of St. Brigid and St. Patrick, and of Bridget Mary, and all the bishops-elect. May each of you, in your giftedness and uniqueness, be blessed with courage and confidence as you walk the path the Spirit of New Life is laying out before you. May you know how much you are valued by all whom you shall guide and all whose needs shall guide you in your pastoring. May the God of Audacious and Visionary Loving inspire your minds, encourage your hearts, and give you the energy of the surging Spring-time creeks, that you might take your new place, with alacrity and joy, in our growing community of Friends of God and Prophets. Amen.
Thank you, all, for your brave coming-forth!
I offer here, in honour and protection of all the current bishops and the bishops elect, an excerpt from the well-known
prayer, the St. Patrick's Breastplate:
[Note: Instead of "I bind to myself today..." some versions read, "I arise today through..."]
I bind to myself todayThe strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:I believe the Trinity in the UnityThe Creator of the Universe..I bind to myself todayThe power of Heaven,The light of the sun,The brightness of the moon,The splendour of fire,The flashing of lightning,The swiftness of wind,The depth of sea,The stability of earth,The compactness of rocks.I bind to myself todayGod's Power to guide me,God's Might to uphold me,God's Wisdom to teach me,God's Eye to watch over me,God's Ear to hear me,God's Word to give me speech,God's Hand to guide me,God's Way to lie before me,God's Shield to shelter me,God's Host to secure me...I invoke today all these virtuesAgainst every hostile merciless powerWhich may assail my body and my soul...Christ with me, Christ before me,Christ behind me, Christ within me,Christ beneath me, Christ above me,Christ at my right, Christ at my left...Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,Christ in every eye that sees me,Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
Amen.
Monica Kilburn, Calgary, Canada
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover,Blossom by blossom the spring begins.
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909)
Atalanta in Calydon (1865)
Dear Friends of RCWP USA,
We are continuing to pray for all of you as the episcopal ordinations draw ever closer, and today we do so in the spirit of the Celts, on this feast day of St. Patrick. This feast of all things green also brings to mind our Wisdom Sister, St. Brigid of Kildare (whose feast day was Feb. 1), and indeed another Sister in Spirit/Sister of the Green, Hildegard, and the beautiful blessing from Patricia a couple of weeks ago.
We would also like to begin, this week, to pray for each of the bishops-elect individually, as well as collectively, so today I offer this "witness prayer" in particular honour and upholding of Bridget Mary, who shares the heritage as well as the courage and wisdom and industry of her namesake, St. Brigid of Kildare.
PRAYER TO ST. BRIGID OF KILDARE:
Brigidine Prayer for Peace 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 peaceCover those who are troubled and anxious,And may peace be firmly rooted in our heartsAnd in our world.Inspire us to act justly and to reverenceAll God has made.Brigid, you were a voice for the woundedAnd the weary,Strengthen what is weak within us,Calm us into a quietness that healsAnd listens.May we grow each day into greaterWholeness in mind, body and spirit.Amen. (Source: prayer card from the Brigidine nuns of Kildare.)
Green is often used to represent the fourth chakra, the chakra which hums around the human heart, and it is in the heart where, it is said, heaven and earth meet. In that coming together of matter and spirit, divine and human, Love is created and set free, to manifest inwardly and outwardly, in beauty, power and infinite possibilities. Green is also the colour of the power and delight of Nature, the natural world, a world of instinct and intuition, of creaturely kinship and interdependence. Green is the colour sunlight becomes once it has passed through plant matter with its gifts of warmth and light.
Bridget Mary, may the vigour and wisdom of St. Brigid pour through you with holy abandon! May you be strengthened and guided by the Spirit's movement within your being every step of the way, with every turn of the heel, as every new note in the dance comes to life; may the gifts of the holy ground upon which you are walking and dancing and praying grow up around you in abundance and offer themselves for your ministry.
Bridget Mary, Joan, Andrea and Regina, we bless you and claim you as leaders in our dreaming/visioning/caring/enacting community of God's renewing presence on Earth. As true community, we see ourselves in you, and you in us.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I offer now a scripture meditation, if you like -- on one of the following passages (or any other). A way of doing so would be to begin by lighting a candle and praying using Celtic author J. Philip Newell's language:
"I light a light
in the name of God who creates life,
in the name of the Saviour who loves life,
in the name of the Spirit who is the fire of life."
1. Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation. (Psalm 25:5)
or
2. Jesus said: 'Out of your heart shall flow rivers of living water.' (John 7:38)
or
3. With my whole heart I seek you O God; I treasure your word in my heart. (Ps. 119:10-11)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In closing, let us celebrate the gifts of Green-ness and verdancy and Springtime, of Ireland, of St. Brigid and St. Patrick, and of Bridget Mary, and all the bishops-elect. May each of you, in your giftedness and uniqueness, be blessed with courage and confidence as you walk the path the Spirit of New Life is laying out before you. May you know how much you are valued by all whom you shall guide and all whose needs shall guide you in your pastoring. May the God of Audacious and Visionary Loving inspire your minds, encourage your hearts, and give you the energy of the surging Spring-time creeks, that you might take your new place, with alacrity and joy, in our growing community of Friends of God and Prophets. Amen.
Thank you, all, for your brave coming-forth!
I offer here, in honour and protection of all the current bishops and the bishops elect, an excerpt from the well-known
prayer, the St. Patrick's Breastplate:
[Note: Instead of "I bind to myself today..." some versions read, "I arise today through..."]
I bind to myself todayThe strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:I believe the Trinity in the UnityThe Creator of the Universe..I bind to myself todayThe power of Heaven,The light of the sun,The brightness of the moon,The splendour of fire,The flashing of lightning,The swiftness of wind,The depth of sea,The stability of earth,The compactness of rocks.I bind to myself todayGod's Power to guide me,God's Might to uphold me,God's Wisdom to teach me,God's Eye to watch over me,God's Ear to hear me,God's Word to give me speech,God's Hand to guide me,God's Way to lie before me,God's Shield to shelter me,God's Host to secure me...I invoke today all these virtuesAgainst every hostile merciless powerWhich may assail my body and my soul...Christ with me, Christ before me,Christ behind me, Christ within me,Christ beneath me, Christ above me,Christ at my right, Christ at my left...Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,Christ in every eye that sees me,Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
Amen.
Monica Kilburn, Calgary, Canada
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