Epiphany XVI: Rabbits, Shirley and Brigid

Good Saturday morning, good citizens of The Epiphany Season. It's the first day of the second month of 2025, which means, "Rabbit. Rabbit. Rabbit."

For those who don't know, saying "Rabbit rabbit rabbit" is a superstition found in Britain and North America wherein a person says or repeats the words "rabbit", "rabbits" and/or "white rabbits" aloud upon waking on the first day of a month, to ensure good luck for the rest of it.

"The More You Know . . . . "

This is also the first day of Black History Month. Every day I'll be remembering one of the bright lights of those of the African Diaspora who have contributed so much to so many. My particular focus, as often as I am able, will be on Black women.

Today, I wish to lift up and celebrate Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005). Congress is more diverse now than it's ever been. However, when Chisholm was attempting to shatter the glass ceiling, the same couldn't be said.

During the racially contentious period in the late '60s, she became the first Black woman elected to Congress. She represented New York's 12th District from 1969 to 1983, and in 1972, she became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Her campaign slogan "Unbought and unbossed" rings even louder today. Senator Kamala Harris paid tribute to Chisholm in her 2020 presidential campaign announcement by using a similar logo to Chisholm's.

Here's a prayer for today.

Do For me God

Oh, God, you know I have no money, but you can make the
people do for me, and you must make the people do for me. I will
never give you peace till you do, God. - Sojourner Truth

Today is also the Feast day of St. Brigid of Kildare. No, she's not on the Calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts in The Episcopal Church, but she should be. She is revered in Ireland even more than St. Patrick. Many there, in the olde sod, Catholic and Protestant alike, wouldn't think of starting the day without eating bannock (a thick, oat flatbread with dried fruit) slathered with fresh, sweet Irish butter, or a plate of colcannon (mashed potatoes and cabbage), with a side of dandelions, and a cuppa rosemary tea in her honor.

St Brigid was born in 451 in Dundalk in Ireland and died in 525. Born to a Christian slave who had been baptized by St. Patrick and a father who was both pagan and a wealthy chieftain in Leinster, she shares a name with the Celtic pagan Goddess of fire. She was a slave from birth, and was returned to her father as a child to be his servant.

Brigid would go on to become a nun and a disciple of St. Patrick. She founded several monasteries, including a vital center of religion and learning in Kildare, as well as a school of art that taught metalwork and illumination.

Her feast day marks the traditional beginning of spring in Ireland

February 1 was originally celebrated as a pagan festival called Imbolc, marking the midpoint between the winter equinox and spring solstice, and the arrival of longer, warmer days.

February 1 is when the daffodils start to bloom, the evenings start to lengthen, and the gloom of winter goes on its way. Brigid would be symbolically welcomed in Irish homes on the day, with a symbolic offering of food and drink. It is also traditional to make St. Brigid’s crosses out of rushes (a straw-like plant); people believed in olden days that these crosses would protect their thatched homes from fire.

My favorite story about Brigid is that, when the bishop came to make her the Abbess of her order, he apparently read the wrong prayer of consecration, making her, instead of Abbess, a bishop.

When later told what had happened, the bishop reportedly said, "What I have done, I have done."

So, you may notice that in many stained glass windows, icons, and statues, she carries a shepherd's crook, as is befitting a bishop.

There's a lot wrong in the world today, but at least we can stop and honor these two women who tried their best to make things right.

I hope something good happens to you today.

Bom dia.