Cover Art: St Brigit and Her Ale by Anna Pierlot

The cover art here is from the February 2013 issue of Catholic Insight, depicting St Brigit pouring ale from a barrel into a pitcher, with a straw cross swinging from her belt. The artist, Anna Pierlot, is a student at Campion College in NSW, Australia.

She says, about her painting,

"This piece depicts St. Brigid, patron of Ireland (along with St. Patrick). She is often shown holding a reed cross, a crozier of the sort used by abbots, along with some source of fire or light. Fire is a central image connected with St. Brigid; nuns at her monastery are said to have kept burning a sacred eternal flame. She is said to have had the power to multiply such things as butter, bacon, and milk; she is shown here brewing beer."

Remember Marcella

When looking for well researched and illustrated posts on Irish saints, particularly the three primary saints of Ireland, Columba, Patrick, and Brigid, you could do a lot worse than to turn to Marcella, who describes herself thus:

"I am an Irishwoman interested in the lives of our native saints. I am not a professional scholar in this field but attempt to keep up with the work of those who are. I am particularly interested in the many obscure Irish saints whose names fill the pages of our Martyrologies."

Once the force behind Under the Oak, Marcella now maintains Trias Thaumaturga and Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae. To get a sense of her interest in Brigid, have a look at the posts about her in February 2012:

• Vignettes from the Lives of the Irish Saints: Sain...
• The Life of Brigit of Kildare in the Castilian Ley...
• A Commentary on the Life of Saint Brigid by Donatu...
• Prologue to The Life of Saint Brigid by Donatus of...
• Colgan's Lives of Saint Brigid
• The Oak of Kildare
• An Analysis of the Perpetual Fire at Kildare
• Gerald of Wales and the Perpetual Fire at Kildare
• Brigid the Fire Goddess?
• Saint Brigid and Imbolc
• Is Saint Brigid Really a Celtic Goddess?
• Devotion to Saint Brigid in Wales
• Saint Brigid and Glastonbury
• Another traditional hymn to Saint Brigid
• Duan Bhríde - Dearc Anuas
• Traditional Hymn to Saint Brigid
• The Hymn in Praise of Saint Brigid by Saint Ultan
• The Hymn in Praise of Saint Brigid of Brogan-Cloen...
• A Miracle of Saint Brigid at the Church of Kildare...
• The Tombs of Saints Brigid and Conleth at Kildare
• Earlier Relics of Saint Brigid
• A 17th-Century View of Saint Brigid: Brigida Thaum...
• A Fleeting Glimpse of the Historic Brigit
• The Church at Kildare - a lost reality?
• Patrons in Poetry: Brigid, the Daughter of Duffy
• Patrons in Poetry: Saint Brigid Passes
• Patrons in Poetry: Saint Brigid by Michael Walsh
• A Legend of Saint Brigid
• Saint Brigid the Saint of Agricultural Life
• The Feast of Saint Brigid in the Scottish Calendar...
• The Feast of Saint Brigid on the Irish and Contine...
• The Feast of Saint Brigid in the Martyrology of Ch...
• The Feast of Saint Brigid in the Martyrology of Do...
• The Feast of Saint Brigid in the Martyrology of Oe...
• The Office of Saint Brigid from the Roman Breviary...
• A Homily for Saint Brigid's Day
• A Meditation for Saint Brigid's Day
• Homily from the Leabhar Breac - Conclusion
• On the Life of Saint Brigid - a Homily from the L...
• Adest Dies Leticie - This is the Day of Rejoicing
• Lauds for the Feast of Saint Brigid