Imbolc and St. Bridgid of Ireland
(an excerpt from the St. John Ogilvie prayerbook)
Imbolc - the First day of Spring
Imbolc (pronounced im-PO-lk) is commemorated 1 February halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. In agrarian culture, it marked the soon birth of Spring Lambs, as Imbolc means “in the belly” describing pregnant ewes. In Catholic culture, this first day of Spring is associated with the Feast of St. Brigid, followed by the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus (Candlemas) on 2 February.
St. Brigid’s (Bridget) Day (1 February) is remembered in the folk tradition of the Brigid's Bed. Young, unmarried women used to make a “Brigid doll and a Brigid bed.” A Vigil was kept with Brigid all night that ended with the arrival of eligible suitors in a Brigid Proces-sion in the parish grounds. A crafty hallmark is the making of St. Brigid’s crosses.
St. Brigid was born in AD 451 in Faughart, Ireland. Her mother Bocca was a pictish slave and baptized by St. Patrick. Her father sold her to a Druid but God blessed her with miracles and she was later set free. She founded a monastery at Kildare on the site of a pagan shrine and died in AD 521.
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (2 February) 40 days after Christmas recalls Mary's purification after childbirth and the redemption of the firstborn son (Lev. 12.1-4, Ex. 13:12–15; Lk 2.22-40). It is also the basis of the venerable custom of the “Churching of Women,” that celebrated their return to the Liturgy after childbirth.
Candlemas was a Roman festival Lupercalia celebrating the return of Spring. Candlemas is the usual time for the blessing of candles for home ritual use. Blessed candles are used for the “Blessing of Throats” by the priest on the Memorial of St. Blaise (3 February).
I recently learned, much to my chagrin, that the candles used for the blessing of throats on the feast of St Blaise have a proper blessing and that they are connected to an incident in the Saint’s life. I had thought candles were used because of the previous day’s festival. Either way, it’s important that we recover a sense of the sacredness of time by celebrating these three feasts, as well as all the others, along with the cycles of nature. Our ancestors knew the value of this. We, in our modern, progressive world, have forgotten it. Thank you for the reminder.