My turn to think up the Friday 5 this week....There is so much going on this weekend that I thought I'd provide an options Friday 5!!!!
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First Super-bowl ( someone explain to this Brit the significance)- love it or hate it?
5 reasons please!!!!!
As I said- I don't understand!!!
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Second Candlemas/ Imbloc/ Groundhog day/ St Brigid's day- all of these fall on either the 1st or 2nd February.
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1. Do you celebrate one or more of these?
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Celebration is fairly new for me, I like the mix of meaning and significance offered by all of these festivals ( with the possible exception of Groundhog day).
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2. How?
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Tomorrow I will attend a Eucharist for Candlemas- this is the first time I will have done so, so I may blog about it then.
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3. Is this a bit of fun or deeply significant?
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I am hoping it will be deeply significant. This collect for Candlemas sums up my thoughts:
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Almighty Father,
whose Son Jesus Christ was presented in the Temple
and acclaimed the glory of Israel
and the light of the nations:
grant that in him we may be presented to you
and in the world may reflect his glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Presented to God, reflecting his glory...
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4. Are festivals/ Saints days important to you?
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Increasingly so- they give a sense of rootedness and connectedness and story. Meditating on the lives of the Saints is something I would have spoken against in years gone by. I have changed my mind!
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5.Name your favourite Saints day/ celebration.
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Fire Goddess or Christian Saint?
That she shares both her name and her feast day with those of the earlier pagan goddess Brigid, may indicate that Saint Brigid is partially or entirely a fictional creation based on the pagan figure in order to convert Celts to Christianity; the euhemerization of pagan figures and tradition was a common practice of Christian missionaries. However she may merely have been named after her. Given the struggle Christian missionaries faced in their efforts to preach the Gospel in Ireland, even though they Christianized some elements, the adoption of a pagan goddess into the Communion of Saints may have been an effort to Christianize one of the most enduring pagan goddesses. Most historians say that she was a real person whose life was embellished by imaginative hagiographers, and this seems the most likely scenario. Evidence for a political function of the stories comes from detailed political analysis which demonstrates that they have been created or at least manipulated to document the power of Kildare over surrounding regions.
Whether she was raised a Christian or converted in 468, as some accounts say, is unknown, but she was inspired by the preaching of Saint Patrick from an early age. Despite her father's opposition she was determined to enter religious life. Numerous stories testify to her piety. She had a generous heart and could never refuse the poor who came to her father's door. Her charity angered her father: he thought she was being overly generous to the poor and needy when she dispensed his milk, butter, and flour to all and sundry. When she finally gave away his jewel-encrusted sword to a leper, Dubtach realized that perhaps her disposition was best suited to the life of a nun. Brigid finally got her wish and she was sent to a convent.
Brigid received the veil from Saint Mel and professed vows dedicating her life to Christ. From this point biographers heap stories and legends on Brigid. She is believed to have founded a convent in Clara, County Offaly - her first: other foundations followed. But it was to be in Kildare that her major foundation would emerge. Around 470 she founded Kildare Abbey, a double monastery, for nuns and monks, on the plains of Cill-Dara, "the church of the oak", her cell being made under a large oak tree. As Abbess of this foundation she wielded considerable power. Legends surround her, even her blessing as Abbess by Saint Mel has a story attached to it. According to the legend, the elderly bishop, as he was blessing her during the ceremony, inadvertently read the rite of consecration of a bishop and that this could not be rescinded, under any circumstances. Brigid and her successor Abbesses at Kildare had an administrative authority equal to that of a Bishop until the Synod of Kells in 1152.
Brigid was famous for her common-sense and most of all for her holiness: in her lifetime she was regarded as a saint. Kildare Abbey became one of the most prestigious monasteries in Ireland, famed throughout Christian Europe. In the scriptorium of the monastery, for example, the lost illuminated manuscript the Book of Kildare may have been created — if it was not the existing Book of Kells, as many suppose.
(From Wikipedia)
Repeating what I said on the Revgals site:
Bonus- 2nd Feburary is also my Birthday- I will donate £1.00 for every comment on my Friday Five Post to the Methodist Relief and Development Fund.
