On the Road with Saint Brigid

Are you ready for a road trip - with St. Brigid?

February 1st marks St. Brigid's Feast Day that marks the turning of the winter season to spring. St. Brigid is the feminine patron Saint of Ireland whose life and work centered on caring for the poor and suffering. Some say that she was born on the literal threshold, setting the  path of her work in the move and in the  in-betweens.

For several years, St. Brigid has been the source of many a holy shenanigan, for our host: Rev. Tara Lamont Eastman - and this St. Brigid's Day proves to offer more sacred adventures. Join Rev. Tara as she comes to you, literally, from the road discovering St. Brigid's presence closer than she ever imagined!

Questions For Discussion:
1. What is your favorite St. Brigid story?
2. What Saints are you drawn to? Why?
3. In the thresholds of life, where has love surprised you recently?
4. All too soon, everything changes. How do you navigate seasons of change?
5. What kinds of change do you embrace/wrestle with?
6. In the coming of Spring, what are you most looking forward to?

Wild Goose Festival is a transformational community grounded in faith-inspired social justice. Wherever we come together we learn and grow by co-creating art, music, story, theater, and spectacle, engaging in a wide variety of robust, courageous conversations with each other and with thought leaders and artists from other communities. Listeners of Holy Shenanigans Podcast can use the discount code a-tle24 for a $50 discount off the price of an adult weekend ticket!

Transcript

Tara: [00:00:00] Hi there, friends of Holy Shenanigans Podcast. This is Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman, and I am coming to you this day, February 1st, literally from the road. Today is St. Bridget's Day. And for those of Irish descent or Celtic descent, it's a day they celebrate the patron saint of Ireland in. Her feminine form.

Tara: Um, and she is known to be a person to care for the poor and to comfort those who are suffering. But she also has been said to have been born in the doorway. That her mother gave birth to her on the threshold of the house. That she comes to people a lot of times in spaces of transition and [00:01:00] change, or here and there but not quite arrived yet.

Tara: So, I find it so funny today that I am talking to you from the road. Literally, um, visiting somebody earlier today in my work as a pastor. And I looked up on my phone at the end of that visit, I wonder if there's a St. Brigid church anywhere nearby. To find, by a holy shenanigan, a St. Brigid church just 30 minutes south of where I was.

Tara: And so today I am about to walk into this St. Brigid church in a small town in northwestern Pennsylvania. And I can't wait to see what holy shenanigans wait for me as I pass through this doorway named for St. Brigid. [00:02:00] I parked in front of St. Bridget Church and walked around the side entrance to the new wing. Upon entering, there's a sign that said, the office is closed. Please go to St. Agnes Church. But I could hear somebody vacuuming upstairs. Made my way around the stairwell, shouted, Hello, hello. Gentleman who had been cleaning comes down the hallway.

Tara: Sir, may I please go into the chapel? I just was passing by and I noticed it was St. Bridget's Church. I walked down the hallway and entered the sanctuary named for St. Brigid. My eyes and heart were overwhelmed, and I didn't know where to look to first. First, to my left, I saw an icon of Mary. [00:03:00] and then as I looked across the altar, I saw facing me, Greco, a painting embedded in the little corner of the right side of the chapel of the sanctuary.

Tara: In honor of Brigid, saying to care for the poor, to lighten everyone's burden, to comfort the suffering. A beautiful picture of her and the rolling hills of Ireland with sheep. And the corner of the Greco on the far right was pulled back like a dog eared page of a book with an image of God. Calling her onward to the work that was before her.

Tara: Calling me to continue. On the journey to be in the threshold to be there and here, but not totally settled just yet.

Tara: [00:04:00] I paused and I took pictures of the whole sanctuary, but I knew my time was short as the man who was cleaning was getting ready to leave. But I saw a sign that said behind Mary's window is a prayer room where the candles can be lit in honor of Bridget.

Tara: I found my way behind that window by stepping up onto the altar and to the far left. There were lots of hymnals and bric a brac around that room, but to my left was an image of Mary in kneeling pads and electric candles set up. There was no place to leave an offering. Just buttons, buttons to push and light candles for Bridget.[00:05:00] 

Tara: And so I lit one, two, three candles for Bridget. And I heard the steps of the man coming up the hall. I knew it was time to go. But isn't it always time to go when you walk with Bridget?

Tara: This was a blessing. Before I left St. Bridget's, I said, thank you to the man who let me in to see the sanctuary to stop and to pray, to light three candles in her name. I thanked him and said, well, I saw the office was closed. And the other Catholic church up the way was the main office.

Tara: He said, yes, yes. Pretty soon, St. Bridget's isn't going to be a part of the parish anymore. It's going to be something else. Ah, I said. Bridget is still on the move. I told him that this is Bridget's feast day. [00:06:00] February 1st. He had no idea that this was her day. Her day of remembrance. And I was thankful that I had driven a little bit out of my way to let him know that this was her day and that I remembered her, that I remembered her, even though this place is going to be changing soon.

Tara: But isn't that the way of life? All things change all too soon. But love travels with us. Love is with us on the journey and in the thresholds we cross every single day. I am thankful to Bridget for giving me this chance to see her beautiful church before it becomes something different. An opportunity to [00:07:00] take pictures and to share this story with you.

Tara: This holy shenanigans. That I never even knew existed, that St. Bridget's house was here, not very far from me at all.

Tara: And I don't take it for granted that I was able to come here today on February 1st, Bridget's Feast Day, to be reminded to care for the poor, to lighten everyone's burdens, to comfort everyone. Wherever the poor or those who are in suffering are. We don't need to have a big cathedral, but I am thankful that I did get to witness St.

Tara: Bridget's Cathedral. I am thankful that I can carry her with me wherever I [00:08:00] go. 

Tara: I'm your Holy Shenanigans muse, Tara Lamont Eastman. Thank you for joining us this week for Holy Shenanigans that surprise, encourage, redirect, and turn life upside down, all in the name of love. This is an unpredictable spiritual adventure that is always sacred, but never stuffy.

Tara: Thanks to Ian Eastman for sound production and editing. Also, thanks to you, HSP listeners for supporting our work with this podcast by way of www. buymeacoffee. com backslash Tara L Eastman [00:09:00]