••• COMPUTER VERSION •••
Brigidine Charism
Brigidine Charism
The Brigidine Sisters founded St Patrick’s in 1959.
Mother Ignatius was the first principal and Mother Augustine was also a founding staff member.
The Brigidine Sisters follow their patroness, St Brigid of Kildare.
The Brigidine Charism is one of Strength and Kindliness, and guides our school to live in a manner
that is faithful to the teaching of Jesus and inspired by Brigidine values.
About St. Brigid
Brigid of Kildare is a patroness of those who have a care for the earth,
for justice and equality, for peace and reconciliation.
St. Brigid is a model for a contemplative life.
Carer of the Earth
The feast of St. Brigid on 1st of February is a celebration of the wonderful springing back of the earth
from its winter sleep in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the season when we celebrate new beginnings
and new life on earth. The sod is turned. The day lengthens. Seeds are sown and sails are hoisted.
Many of the stories about Brigid tell of her milking the cows, churning the milk, making up the firkins of butter,
shepherding her flocks of sheep, helping with the harvest and even brewing the ale!
Brigid, in keeping with her Celtic tradition, was wonderfully attuned to the seasons and cycles of nature.
She valued the elements of nature: earth, air, fire and water.
Healing Woman
We are aware of the fragility of our planet; bare and barren lands, polluted air, poisoned waters,
damaged ecosystems and the threats these present to humans and other species. Many individuals
and groups concerned about the environment draw inspiration from the reverence and respect
which Brigid had for the land. She is often referred to as the saint of agriculture.
The Irish monk, Cogitosus who wrote ‘A Life of Brigid’ (Vita Brigitae) in 650 AD, places great emphasis
on Brigid’s faith, her healing powers, her hospitality, her generosity, her great skill with animals,
and above all her compassion for the poor and the oppressed.
Twenty three of the thirty two chapters relate her extraordinary concern for the poor.
Woman of Compassion
One day when Brigid was on a long journey she stopped to rest by the wayside. A rich woman heard about
this and brought her a beautiful basket of choice apples. No sooner had she received them than a group
of very poor people came by and begged her for food. Without a moment’s hesitation, Brigid gave them
the choice apples. The rich woman complained to Brigid, ‘I brought those apples for you, not for them.’
Brigid’s reply was: ‘What is mine is theirs.’
This Brigid legend poses a challenge to us to work for a more equitable distribution of the world’s resources,
a challenge to a world where thousands die daily from hunger or hunger-related diseases or lack of clean water.
Some 20% own and consume about 80% of Earth’s resources. The poverty gap continues to widen both
within and between countries.
Model of Equality
It is generally accepted that Brigid established her abbey and church in Kildare c.470, on the site now occupied
by St Brigid’s Cathedral. Brigid held a unique position in the Irish Church and in the society of her day. As Abbess,
she presided over the local Church of Kildare and was leader of a double monastery for men and women.
Tradition suggests that she invited Conleth, a hermit from Old Connell near Newbridge, to assist her in Kildare.
Cogitosus says: “they governed their Church by means of a mutually happy alliance.”
What emerges from many of these stories and legends about Brigid is the portrait of a strong and gentle woman,
a powerful leader, a good organiser, a skilful healer and a wise spiritual guide. Brigid has become – for men and women
– a potent symbol of Christian womanhood and the feminine face of God.
Woman of Peace
There was no lack of domestic strife in Ireland in Brigid’s time. Feuds between clans were commonplace.
She is often depicted as a peacemaker who intervened in disputes between rival factions and brought healing
and reconciliation. Folklorists tell us that in some parts of Ireland a Brigid’s cross was often used as a token
of goodwill between neighbours, indicating a desire for peace and friendship after a local quarrel.
One of the best-known stories associated with St Brigid is that of her giving away her father’s precious jewelled
sword to a poor man so that he could barter it for food to feed his family. Thus, a sword, a weapon of war,
was transformed into a life-giving instrument, turning a ‘sword into a ploughshare.’ This story offers an important
lesson for today when millions of dollars are spent on weapons of war.
Woman of Contemplation
Brigid emerges as a woman of action in the stories, legends and poems about her.
If however, one were to seek the source from which she drew her strength and energy, one could probably
find the answer in this story.
One day, St. Brendan the Navigator stood on a cliff top and watched two whales engaging in fierce combat.
Suddenly, the smaller whale, in a human voice, cried out for help, not to Brendan but to Brigid who was
not even present. The cry was answered immediately, and the combat ceased. Brendan was puzzled
as to why he had been ignored.
An old Irish poem, written in the seventh century, speaks of her contemplation of the Trinity:
“Deeper than the seas
Greater than words can express
Three persons in one only God
Overflowing with wonder.”
Brigid died at Kildare on 1st February 525. She was laid to rest in a jewelled casket at Cill Dara.
In 835, her remains were moved from Kildare to protect them from Norse invaders. She was interred
in the same grave that holds the remains of St Patrick and St Columcille at the Cathedral grounds in Downpatrick.
Brigidine Beginnings
The Brigidine story begins in 1807 when Daniel Delany, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Ireland,
invited six women to form a religious community in Tullow, Co Carlow on the first of February.
He named them the Sisters of St.Brigid, after the great 5th century Saint of Kildare.
Ireland was still in the shadow of the penal laws. There was a great need for education particularly
in religious faith. Daniel Delany experienced the full force of these laws growing up in a Catholic family
in the mid-1700s. Catholics were denied human and religious freedom. Catholic schools were outlawed.
Severe penalties were inflicted on Catholic parents who attempted to procure Catholic education
for their children at home or abroad.
On 1st February 1807, La Fheile Bride, St. Brigid’s Day, six women gathered in Tullow as they responded
to a personal call to join Daniel in this divinely-inspired endeavour. They were Eleanor Tallon, Bridget Brien,
Judith Whelan, Margaret Kinsella, Eleanor Dawson and Catherine Doyle – all were natives of Tullow
and the surrounding parishes of Ardattin and Clonmore.
They were members of both confraternities and were trained as catechists by Daniel in his Sunday Schools.
He named them the Sisters of St. Brigid. He insisted that he was not founding a new congregation but rather
re-founding the Order of St. Brigid of Kildare which had existed in Ireland from the fifth to the sixteenth century
until the monasteries were suppressed in that century.
These women had taken permanent vows of chastity some years before 1807. They ranged in age from twenty-five
to forty-eight. Daniel Delany was waiting to greet them that morning and to welcome them to the simple house
he had prepared for them. He blessed the house, celebrated Mass, gave Benediction and then withdrew.
They had spent almost the whole of the preceding day and night in prayer. Bishop Delany chose St. Brigid
as the patroness of the congregation, thereby linking it to the spiritual heritage of St. Brigid, Patroness of Ireland.
Brigidines in Australia
In 1883, from the “Land of the Southern Cross” came a cry for help in Christian Education, when Bishop Murray
of Maitland diocese, requested sisters. Six sisters from Mountrath set sail for Australia to found the first Brigidine
convent in Coonamble, New South Wales. From there other foundations were made in the Dioceses of Sydney,
Bathurst, Canberra Goulburn, Perth and Brisbane.
In 1886 a second Australian foundation was established in Echuca, Victoria, with the Sisters coming direct
from Tullow. This foundation was at the request of Dr. Crane OSA, Bishop of Sandhurst. This was followed
by a group from the Abbeyleix community to Beechworth, Victoria in November of that same year when
Dean Tierney of Beechworth made the request to Dr. Crane of Sandhurst. Sisters from Goresbridge
established a convent and school in Wangaratta, Victoria in 1887. A combined group from Abbeyleix
and Goresbridge went to Ararat in 1888, Victoria. Amalgamation of all the Brigidine foundations
took place in 1889.
••• TABLET VERSION •••
Brigidine Charism
Brigidine Charism
The Brigidine Sisters founded St Patrick’s in 1959.
Mother Ignatius was the first principal and Mother Augustine was also a founding staff member.
The Brigidine Sisters follow their patroness, St Brigid of Kildare.
The Brigidine Charism is one of Strength and Kindliness, and guides our school to live in a manner that is faithful to the teaching of Jesus and inspired by Brigidine values.
About St. Brigid
Brigid of Kildare is a patroness of those who have a care for the earth,
for justice and equality, for peace and reconciliation.
St. Brigid is a model for a contemplative life.
Carer of the Earth
The feast of St. Brigid on 1st of February is a celebration of the wonderful springing back of the earth from its winter sleep in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the season when we celebrate new beginnings and new life on earth. The sod is turned. The day lengthens. Seeds are sown and sails are hoisted.
Many of the stories about Brigid tell of her milking the cows, churning the milk, making up the firkins of butter, shepherding her flocks of sheep, helping with the harvest and even brewing the ale!
Brigid, in keeping with her Celtic tradition, was wonderfully attuned to the seasons and cycles of nature. She valued the elements of nature: earth, air, fire and water.
Healing Woman
We are aware of the fragility of our planet; bare and barren lands, polluted air, poisoned waters, damaged ecosystems and the threats these present to humans and other species. Many individuals and groups concerned about the environment draw inspiration from the reverence and respect which Brigid had for the land. She is often referred to as the saint of agriculture.
The Irish monk, Cogitosus who wrote ‘A Life of Brigid’ (Vita Brigitae) in 650 AD, places great emphasis on Brigid’s faith, her healing powers, her hospitality, her generosity, her great skill with animals, and above all her compassion for the poor and the oppressed.
Twenty three of the thirty two chapters relate her extraordinary concern for the poor.
Woman of Compassion
One day when Brigid was on a long journey she stopped to rest by the wayside. A rich woman heard about this and brought her a beautiful basket of choice apples. No sooner had she received them than a group of very poor people came by and begged her for food. Without a moment’s hesitation, Brigid gave them the choice apples. The rich woman complained to Brigid, ‘I brought those apples for you, not for them.’ Brigid’s reply was: ‘What is mine is theirs.’
This Brigid legend poses a challenge to us to work for a more equitable distribution of the world’s resources, a challenge to a world where thousands die daily from hunger or hunger-related diseases or lack of clean water. Some 20% own and consume about 80% of Earth’s resources. The poverty gap continues to widen both within and between countries.
Model of Equality
It is generally accepted that Brigid established her abbey and church in Kildare c.470, on the site now occupied by St Brigid’s Cathedral. Brigid held a unique position in the Irish Church and in the society of her day. As Abbess, she presided over the local Church of Kildare and was leader of a double monastery for men and women.
Tradition suggests that she invited Conleth, a hermit from Old Connell near Newbridge, to assist her in Kildare. Cogitosus says: “they governed their Church by means of a mutually happy alliance.”
What emerges from many of these stories and legends about Brigid is the portrait of a strong and gentle woman, a powerful leader, a good organiser, a skilful healer and a wise spiritual guide. Brigid has become – for men and women
– a potent symbol of Christian womanhood and the feminine face of God.
Woman of Peace
There was no lack of domestic strife in Ireland in Brigid’s time. Feuds between clans were commonplace. She is often depicted as a peacemaker who intervened in disputes between rival factions and brought healing and reconciliation. Folklorists tell us that in some parts of Ireland a Brigid’s cross was often used as a token of goodwill between neighbours, indicating a desire for peace and friendship after a local quarrel.
One of the best-known stories associated with St Brigid is that of her giving away her father’s precious jewelled sword to a poor man so that he could barter it for food to feed his family. Thus, a sword, a weapon of war, was transformed into a life-giving instrument, turning a ‘sword into a ploughshare.’ This story offers an important lesson for today when millions of dollars are spent on weapons of war.
Woman of Contemplation
Brigid emerges as a woman of action in the stories, legends and poems about her. If however, one were to seek the source from which she drew her strength and energy, one could probably find the answer in this story.
One day, St. Brendan the Navigator stood on a cliff top and watched two whales engaging in fierce combat. Suddenly, the smaller whale, in a human voice, cried out for help, not to Brendan but to Brigid who was not even present. The cry was answered immediately, and the combat ceased. Brendan was puzzled as to why he had been ignored.
An old Irish poem, written in the seventh century, speaks of her contemplation of the Trinity:
“Deeper than the seas
Greater than words can express
Three persons in one only God
Overflowing with wonder.”
Brigid died at Kildare on 1st February 525. She was laid to rest in a jewelled casket at Cill Dara. In 835, her remains were moved from Kildare to protect them from Norse invaders. She was interred in the same grave that holds the remains of St Patrick and St Columcille at the Cathedral grounds in Downpatrick.
Brigidine Beginnings
The Brigidine story begins in 1807 when Daniel Delany, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Ireland, invited six women to form a religious community in Tullow, Co Carlow on the first of February. He named them the Sisters of St.Brigid, after the great 5th century Saint of Kildare.
Ireland was still in the shadow of the penal laws. There was a great need for education particularly in religious faith. Daniel Delany experienced the full force of these laws growing up in a Catholic family in the mid-1700s. Catholics were denied human and religious freedom. Catholic schools were outlawed. Severe penalties were inflicted on Catholic parents who attempted to procure Catholic education for their children at home or abroad.
On 1st February 1807, La Fheile Bride, St. Brigid’s Day, six women gathered in Tullow as they responded to a personal call to join Daniel in this divinely-inspired endeavour. They were Eleanor Tallon, Bridget Brien, Judith Whelan, Margaret Kinsella, Eleanor Dawson and Catherine Doyle – all were natives of Tullow and the surrounding parishes of Ardattin and Clonmore.
They were members of both confraternities and were trained as catechists by Daniel in his Sunday Schools. He named them the Sisters of St. Brigid. He insisted that he was not founding a new congregation but rather re-founding the Order of St. Brigid of Kildare which had existed in Ireland from the fifth to the sixteenth century until the monasteries were suppressed in that century.
These women had taken permanent vows of chastity some years before 1807. They ranged in age from twenty-five to forty-eight. Daniel Delany was waiting to greet them that morning and to welcome them to the simple house he had prepared for them. He blessed the house, celebrated Mass, gave Benediction and then withdrew. They had spent almost the whole of the preceding day and night in prayer. Bishop Delany chose St. Brigid as the patroness of the congregation, thereby linking it to the spiritual heritage of St. Brigid, Patroness of Ireland.
Brigidines in Australia
In 1883, from the “Land of the Southern Cross” came a cry for help in Christian Education, when Bishop Murray of Maitland diocese, requested sisters. Six sisters from Mountrath set sail for Australia to found the first Brigidine convent in Coonamble, New South Wales. From there other foundations were made in the Dioceses of Sydney, Bathurst, Canberra Goulburn, Perth and Brisbane.
In 1886 a second Australian foundation was established in Echuca, Victoria, with the Sisters coming direct from Tullow. This foundation was at the request of Dr. Crane OSA, Bishop of Sandhurst. This was followed by a group from the Abbeyleix community to Beechworth, Victoria in November of that same year when Dean Tierney of Beechworth made the request to Dr. Crane of Sandhurst. Sisters from Goresbridge established a convent and school in Wangaratta, Victoria in 1887. A combined group from Abbeyleix and Goresbridge went to Ararat in 1888, Victoria. Amalgamation of all the Brigidine foundations took place in 1889.
••• iPHONE VERSION •••
Brigidine Charism
Brigidine Charism
The Brigidine Sisters founded St Patrick’s in 1959. Mother Ignatius was the first principal and Mother Augustine was also a founding staff member.
The Brigidine Sisters follow their patroness, St Brigid of Kildare.
The Brigidine Charism is one of Strength and Kindliness, and guides our school to live in a manner that is faithful to the teaching of Jesus and inspired by Brigidine values.
About St. Brigid
Brigid of Kildare is a patroness of those who have a care for the earth,
for justice and equality, for peace and reconciliation.
St. Brigid is a model for a contemplative life.
Carer of the Earth
The feast of St. Brigid on 1st of February is a celebration of the wonderful springing back of the earth from its winter sleep in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the season when we celebrate new beginnings and new life on earth. The sod is turned. The day lengthens. Seeds are sown and sails are hoisted.
Many of the stories about Brigid tell of her milking the cows, churning the milk, making up the firkins of butter, shepherding her flocks of sheep, helping with the harvest and even brewing the ale!
Brigid, in keeping with her Celtic tradition, was wonderfully attuned to the seasons and cycles of nature. She valued the elements of nature: earth, air, fire and water.
Healing Woman
We are aware of the fragility of our planet; bare and barren lands, polluted air, poisoned waters, damaged ecosystems and the threats these present to humans and other species. Many individuals and groups concerned about the environment draw inspiration from the reverence and respect which Brigid had for the land. She is often referred to as the saint of agriculture.
The Irish monk, Cogitosus who wrote ‘A Life of Brigid’ (Vita Brigitae) in 650 AD, places great emphasis on Brigid’s faith, her healing powers, her hospitality, her generosity, her great skill with animals, and above all her compassion for the poor and the oppressed.
Twenty three of the thirty two chapters relate her extraordinary concern for the poor.
Woman of Compassion
One day when Brigid was on a long journey she stopped to rest by the wayside. A rich woman heard about this and brought her a beautiful basket of choice apples. No sooner had she received them than a group of very poor people came by and begged her for food. Without a moment’s hesitation, Brigid gave them the choice apples. The rich woman complained to Brigid, ‘I brought those apples for you, not for them.’ Brigid’s reply was: ‘What is mine is theirs.’
This Brigid legend poses a challenge to us to work for a more equitable distribution of the world’s resources, a challenge to a world where thousands die daily from hunger or hunger-related diseases or lack of clean water. Some 20% own and consume about 80% of Earth’s resources. The poverty gap continues to widen both within and between countries.
Model of Equality
It is generally accepted that Brigid established her abbey and church in Kildare c.470, on the site now occupied by St Brigid’s Cathedral. Brigid held a unique position in the Irish Church and in the society of her day. As Abbess, she presided over the local Church of Kildare and was leader of a double monastery for men and women.
Tradition suggests that she invited Conleth, a hermit from Old Connell near Newbridge, to assist her in Kildare. Cogitosus says: “they governed their Church by means of a mutually happy alliance.”
What emerges from many of these stories and legends about Brigid is the portrait of a strong and gentle woman, a powerful leader, a good organiser, a skilful healer and a wise spiritual guide. Brigid has become – for men and women – a potent symbol of Christian womanhood and the feminine face of God.
Woman of Peace
There was no lack of domestic strife in Ireland in Brigid’s time. Feuds between clans were commonplace. She is often depicted as a peacemaker who intervened in disputes between rival factions and brought healing and reconciliation. Folklorists tell us that in some parts of Ireland a Brigid’s cross was often used as a token of goodwill between neighbours, indicating a desire for peace and friendship after a local quarrel.
One of the best-known stories associated with St Brigid is that of her giving away her father’s precious jewelled sword to a poor man so that he could barter it for food to feed his family. Thus, a sword, a weapon of war, was transformed into a life-giving instrument, turning a ‘sword into a ploughshare.’ This story offers an important lesson for today when millions of dollars are spent on weapons of war.
Woman of Contemplation
Brigid emerges as a woman of action in the stories, legends and poems about her. If however, one were to seek the source from which she drew her strength and energy, one could probably find the answer in this story.
One day, St. Brendan the Navigator stood on a cliff top and watched two whales engaging in fierce combat. Suddenly, the smaller whale, in a human voice, cried out for help, not to Brendan but to Brigid who was not even present. The cry was answered immediately, and the combat ceased. Brendan was puzzled as to why he had been ignored.
An old Irish poem, written in the seventh century, speaks of her contemplation of the Trinity:
“Deeper than the seas
Greater than words can express
Three persons in one only God
Overflowing with wonder.”
Brigid died at Kildare on 1st February 525. She was laid to rest in a jewelled casket at Cill Dara. In 835, her remains were moved from Kildare to protect them from Norse invaders. She was interred in the same grave that holds the remains of St Patrick and St Columcille at the Cathedral grounds in Downpatrick.
Brigidine Beginnings
The Brigidine story begins in 1807 when Daniel Delany, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Ireland, invited six women to form a religious community in Tullow, Co Carlow on the first of February. He named them the Sisters of St.Brigid, after the great 5th century Saint of Kildare.
Ireland was still in the shadow of the penal laws. There was a great need for education particularly in religious faith. Daniel Delany experienced the full force of these laws growing up in a Catholic family in the mid-1700s. Catholics were denied human and religious freedom. Catholic schools were outlawed. Severe penalties were inflicted on Catholic parents who attempted to procure Catholic education for their children at home or abroad.
On 1st February 1807, La Fheile Bride, St. Brigid’s Day, six women gathered in Tullow as they responded to a personal call to join Daniel in this divinely-inspired endeavour. They were Eleanor Tallon, Bridget Brien, Judith Whelan, Margaret Kinsella, Eleanor Dawson and Catherine Doyle – all were natives of Tullow and the surrounding parishes of Ardattin and Clonmore.
They were members of both confraternities and were trained as catechists by Daniel in his Sunday Schools. He named them the Sisters of St. Brigid. He insisted that he was not founding a new congregation but rather re-founding the Order of St. Brigid of Kildare which had existed in Ireland from the fifth to the sixteenth century until the monasteries were suppressed in that century.
These women had taken permanent vows of chastity some years before 1807. They ranged in age from twenty-five to forty-eight. Daniel Delany was waiting to greet them that morning and to welcome them to the simple house he had prepared for them. He blessed the house, celebrated Mass, gave Benediction and then withdrew. They had spent almost the whole of the preceding day and night in prayer. Bishop Delany chose St. Brigid as the patroness of the congregation, thereby linking it to the spiritual heritage of St. Brigid, Patroness of Ireland.
Brigidines in Australia
In 1883, from the “Land of the Southern Cross” came a cry for help in Christian Education, when Bishop Murray of Maitland diocese, requested sisters. Six sisters from Mountrath set sail for Australia to found the first Brigidine convent in Coonamble, New South Wales. From there other foundations were made in the Dioceses of Sydney, Bathurst, Canberra Goulburn, Perth and Brisbane.
In 1886 a second Australian foundation was established in Echuca, Victoria, with the Sisters coming direct from Tullow. This foundation was at the request of Dr. Crane OSA, Bishop of Sandhurst. This was followed by a group from the Abbeyleix community to Beechworth, Victoria in November of that same year when Dean Tierney of Beechworth made the request to Dr. Crane of Sandhurst. Sisters from Goresbridge established a convent and school in Wangaratta, Victoria in 1887. A combined group from Abbeyleix and Goresbridge went to Ararat in 1888, Victoria. Amalgamation of all the Brigidine foundations took place in 1889.