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A Prayer for
St Bride's

 St Bride's cross
St Bride's cross protects from evil and deprivation
(make your own)

 David McFall
David McFall works on designs for the west end statues

  

St Bridgit of Kildare

St Bride by David McFallSometime in the sixth century the first known stone church on the site was dedicated to St Bridgit or St Bride of Kildare. Born in 453, shortly after St Patrick, she was the daughter of an Irish prince and a druidic slave. Bride gave away so many of her father's possessions that he eventually let follow her calling and enter the religious life.

She settled with seven other nuns and founded a convent in Kildare. The convent developed into a centre of learning and spirituality, famed for its illuminated manuscripts. The most famous of which, the Book of Kildare, was one of the finest of all illuminated Irish manuscripts which was, tragically, lost over 300 years ago.

Many details of Bride's life are unclear but a poem ascribed to her gives us a picture of her character:

I long for a great lake of ale
I long for the meats of belief and pure piety
I long for flails of penance at my house
I long for them to have barrels full of peace
I long to give away jars full of love
I long for them to have cellars full or mercy
I long for cheerfulness to be in their drinking
I long for Jesus too to be there among them.

St Bride died at Kildare on February 1st, 525 and was buried with St Patrick. This dated is celebrated as the Feast of St Bride and it is customary to carry on Bride's tradition of sharing one's bounty with the poor. A cake was also baked to serve as nourishment for St Bride as she travelled the country.

When the church was restored after the war the eminent British sculptor, David McFall, was commissioned to provide the sculpture of St Bride which currently stands next to St Paul at the West end. Other works by McFall can be seen at Canterbury Cathedral (The Son of Man), St Martin's Dorking (Ralph Vaughan Williams), and Hurst House Woodford (Winston Churchill).