Here
is the third
of
our Novenas for the Fallen Through, which for this month are devoted
to Brigid and to seeking justice and healing for the victims of the
Grenfell Tower fire. If you would like to read more about this work
please have a look here.
Today’s
prayer weaves gratitude, blessing, and protection for the Emergency
Services, particularly firefighters, but also ambulance drivers,
police,
nurses,
and doctors, who came to the aid of the people of Grenfell. I know
that many of us will have seen heartbreaking images of firefighters
exhausted and weeping, later returning to the sight of the fire to
applause and hugs from the local community. It is so easy to have an
‘us and them’ mentality in our world but one thing that the
Grenfell fire did do is break down those barriers and, of course,
also revealed where ‘us and them’ remains horribly relevant in
our society.
Brigid,
who has so many aspects, is fierce in protection of her people, just
as the Emergency Services are, although of course they need
protection too. There
are many stories of her protective nature. In
the early days of her convent it was believed that St Brigid and her
nuns were watched over by the Goddess herself. One day some cattle
rustlers came to the convent in the middle of the night, thinking
that stealing cows from a group of women would be easy work. The
Goddess, sensing that the cows had gone, caused the waters of a
nearby stream to rise, frightening the cattle who refused to cross.
The men, realising that they would have to encourage the cows across
the stream by leading them, took off their clothes and tied them in bundles to the cows’ horns. At that moment the cows turned and ran
back to the convent! Shortly afterwards the men appeared at the gate
of the convent full of repentance and pleading for the return of
their clothes.
One
of Brigid’s many names, which I have included in our prayers, is
‘Brigid of the Mantles’. In this aspect she is protector of the
land. In
the legend of her cloak, or mantle, St Brigid is said to have found
the perfect place for her convent at Kildare in Ireland where a holy
oak grew. She asked the king to give her the land to build on and he
refused. She prayed to God for help, returned to the king, and asked
him whether she might be given just the land that her mantle could
cover. Finding this amusing, the king agreed and so Brigid’s four
companions each took a corner and, walking north, south, east, and
west, continued until it covered exactly the land that Brigid had
asked for. Seeing this miracle, the king fell to his knees and is
said to have converted to Christianity on the spot. Her cloth was
also used for healing; strips of fabric, representing her mantle,
being left out each Imbolc (the day of her festival on February 1st)
to be blessed by the goddess-saint and used throughout the year for
their healing properties. The
threads in her cloth can also be seen as the strands that connect all
creation in a web. To be ‘wrapped in Brigid’s mantle’ is life
itself and a blessing indeed.
Her
sacred rowan tree, with its abundance of red berries, is also a tree
of protection. It is one of the most holy trees in the Scottish folk
tradition and its use was forbidden except for
sacred purposes. Rowan
twigs were traditionally
placed above doorways, and also barns, to protect those who lived
there from misfortune.
Returning
to firefighters, I remember when one of my neighbours locked herself
out of the basement flat in our house, having turned the oven on.
After a while there was much smoke, the lights went out, and she
became especially distressed as her baby rabbit was loose in the
room. We called the fire services and they came almost
immediately.
I was in awe of how quickly they reacted to the circumstances,
seemingly without a pause. We were upset, over-excited, and generally annoying I’m sure, but they were kind, professional, and reassuring
in every way. They made sure that we were safe, they made sure that
the fire (which had really just been smoke) was safe, and they made
sure to find my neighbour’s rabbit. I was already in awe of the
work they do but experiencing that at close quarters reinforced that
a thousand times. The
energy that came from them was staggering. I
know that on the night of the Grenfell fire many, whether they
survived or not, would have felt that reassuring presence, even in
the midst of such terrible circumstances and
I am glad for that.
We should have nothing but gratitude for what they do.
Before
we begin today's prayer I will share this deeply moving poem written by a
firefighter in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire. Please do listen. It deserves to be heard by us all.
Novena
for the Fallen Through ~
Justice,
healing, and wholeness for the people of Grenfell, and for us all.
This prayer begins with fire.
Blessed
Brigid,
Holy
Woman,
Saint
and Goddess,
Mother
of Fire.
Brigid
of the mantles,
Brigid
of the peat heap,
Brigid
of the twining hair,
Mary
of the Gaels.
We
ask for blessings to be poured upon
our
Emergency services;
our
ambulance drivers, our
police,
our
doctors, our nurses,
but
especially, our firefighters,
who
run into the heat of fire
with
hardly a thought for themselves,
not
knowing what they might find or see.
We
ask that you watch over their work,
protect
them in body, mind, heart, and spirit,
wrap
your strong
mantle around them,
as
they walk through fire for us all.
Blessed
Brigid,
Holy
Woman,
Saint
and Goddess,
Mother
of Fire.
Brigid
of the mantles,
Brigid
of the peat heap,
Brigid
of the twining hair,
Mary
of the Gaels.
May
all who risk their lives for our safety
be
blessed by the spirit of the rowan trees
that
grow so abundantly in our towns and cities,
sharing
the autumn fire of their berries with us all.
May
each and every berry that ripens offer up a prayer
of
protection for those who answered the call
to
the Grenfell fire.
May
each leaf that falls from their
branches in autumn
take
with it a memory, of sights seen, of sounds heard,
of
regrets for what was done, or not done,
memories
that none should be asked to hold.
Sacred
rowan, mountain ash, growing in the most
inhospitable
places where little soil holds your roots,
let
us find ways to grow strong and abundant
in
generosity and fierce spirit even from
circumstances
that seen so devoid of life,
where we feel that we cannot thrive.
where we feel that we cannot thrive.
Let
life grow from death, as your seasons teach us.
Blessed
Brigid,
Holy
Woman,
Saint
and Goddess,
Mother
of Fire.
Brigid
of the mantles,
Brigid
of the peat heap,
Brigid
of the twining hair,
Mary
of the Gaels.
We
ask that those in power cease
their
relentless attacks upon those
who
selflessly risk their lives on our behalf,
that
they should be rewarded,
not
only with our endless gratitude
but
with the money they need to feed themselves and their families
without
worry or stress or
attack on their integrity or worth,
remembering
that many decisions made
lead
us to feel that there is money to burn.
Let
the wealth that we have instead be used in ways
that
are fair, generous, and good.
Blessed
Brigid,
Holy
Woman,
Saint
and Goddess,
Mother
of Fire.
Brigid
of the mantles,
Brigid
of the peat heap,
Brigid
of the twining hair,
Mary
of the Gaels.
We
thank our firefighters, and others,
who
went to what they believed was an ordinary fire
in
the Grenfell Tower, and who walked into a nightmare,
but
who stayed and fought for lives to be saved,
comforted
the survivors, and those who would not survive.
Let
the words of reassurance offered to those
who
they already knew would not be saved,
words
that must have broken the hearts of those who uttered them,
ring
through the corridors of Westminster and open the hearts
of
all whose hearts are closed to the
consequences
of
their decisions.
We
ask this in memory of Mohammed
Neda, Ali Yawar Jafari,
Karen
Bernard, Lucas James, Rania Ibrahim and her daughters,
Fathia
and Hania, Stefan Anthony Mills, Ligaya Moore.
We
ask this in memory of Zainab Dean and her son,
Jeremiah,
Khadija
Saye and her mother, Mary Mendy, Gary Maunders,
Mohammad
Alhajali, Hesham Rahman, Tony Disson, Sheila Smith.
We
ask this in memory of Mariem Elgwahry and her
mother, Suhar,
Jessica
Urbano Ramirez, Deborah Lamprell, Steve Power,
Dennis
Murphy, Amal Ahmedin and Amaya Tuccu, Isaac Paulos.
We
ask this in memory of Marco Gottardi, and
Gloria Trevisan,
Mohammed
Nurdu, Fouzia el-Wahabi, her husband, Abdul Aziz,
Nur
Huda and Mehdi, Yasin.
We
ask this in memory of Nadia Loureda, Maria Del
Pilar Burton,
Berkti
Haftom and her son, Biruk, Nura Jamal, her husband, Hashim,
their
children, Yahya, Firdaws, Yaqub, Kamru Miah.
We
ask this in memory of Fatima Afrasehabi, her
sister, Sakina,
Nadia
Choucair, her husband, Baseem Choukair,
their
children, Mierna, Fatima, Zainab,
their
grandmother, Sirria, Raymond Bernard.
We
ask this in memory of Majorie
Vital and her son, Ernie,
Joseph
Daniels, Logan Gomes, Khadija Khalloufi,
Abdeslam Sebbar,
Fathia
Ahmed and her son, Abufars Ibrahim. Of Omar Belkadi,
Farah
Hamdan, Malak, Leena, and Tamzin who lived.
Of
Mohamednur
Tuccu, Husna and Rebaya Begum,
Mohammed
Hanif, Mohammed Hamid, Vincent Chiejina, Hamid Kani,
a
‘woman’ unnamed, all the unnamed, the disappeared.
Blessed
Brigid,
Holy
Woman,
Saint
and Goddess,
Mother
of Fire.
Brigid
of the mantles,
Brigid
of the peat heap,
Brigid
of the twining hair,
Mary
of the Gaels.
We
ask that all; dead or
living,
homeless
or
hurting, numb
or weeping,
whether
once living in the Grenfell Tower,
or
responding to the call for help,
whether
implicated in creating the conditions
in
which people would die,
or
working for justice,
be
wrapped in your mantle
where
healing can take place in hearts,
in
community, in fire station and hospital,
in
Government, amongst us all,
knowing
that there is no them and us,
there
is only us making sense of what makes no sense.
Brigid
of the Mantle, encompass us,
Lady
of the Lambs, protect us,
Keeper
of the Hearth, kindle us.
Beneath
your mantle, gather us,
And
restore us to memory.
Mothers
of our mother, Foremothers strong.
Guide
our hands in yours,
Remind
us how to kindle the hearth.
To
keep it bright, to preserve the flame.
Your
hands upon ours, Our hands within yours,
To
kindle the light, Both day and night.
The
Mantle of Brigid about us,
The
Memory of Brigid within us,
The
Protection of Brigid keeping us
From
harm, from ignorance, from heartlessness.
This
day and night,
From
dawn till dark, From dark till dawn. (1)
And
let all members of our Emergency Services be wrapped
in
your protection, and our thanks, always.
This
prayer ends with fire. Let it be the fire of gratitude.
For
this we pray.
Aho
mitake oyasin, amen, blessed be. Inshallah.
 |
| Credir: EPA |
References, with thanks ~
1) Traditional Celtic Christian prayer to St Brigid from https://saintbrigids.org/reflections/prayers/
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