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CV NEWS FEED // The Diocese of Brooklyn is set to host its first diocese-wide celebration of the Feb. 1 feast day of St. Brigid of Ireland.
The Diocese has a longstanding history of serving Irish Catholics since the founding of the Cathedral Basilica of St. James, the first Catholic church in its region, according to the Cathedral’s website.
The celebration of St. Brigid of Ireland will take place on her feast day, commencing with a bagpipe processional into Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert Brennan at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in downtown Brooklyn, according to a Jan. 23 article in The Tablet.
After Mass, there will be various Irish cultural performances and a social gathering, according to a Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph’s Facebook post. The Co-Cathedral notes that six of the eight bishops of the Brooklyn diocese had Irish roots, and the Irish also founded the first parish in the downtown area.
“And,” the Co-Cathedral notes in the post, “two men of Irish ancestry from our diocese — Bishop Francis X. Ford and Msgr. Bernard Quinn — are candidates for beatification and sainthood!”
The celebration will mark the continued renewal of Catholic identity in the Irish-American community.
Director of the Diocese’s Irish Apostolate Father Christopher Heanue told The Tablet that he appreciates the revival of devotion to St. Brigid and that it’s appropriate to “highlight powerful female saints.”
“The culture of Catholicism in Ireland has been fading year by year,” said Fr. Heanue, whose parents were Irish immigrants. “So I think it’s just any kind of revival toward any saint is a cherished thing.”
St. Brigid was a religious sister who evangelized throughout Ireland and founded a famous monastery at Kildare, Ireland, according to The Tablet. She is the patron saint of midwives and children.
Those interested in attending the St. Brigid celebration can learn more here.
