Brigit, woman ever excellent, golden, radiant, flame
Lead us to the eternal Kingdom, the brilliant, dazzling sun.
One of the columns of the land with Patrick preeminent,
The adornment above, the royal queen.
– From Ultán’s Hymn[1]
O LORD, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth…
– Psalm 8.1
The pursuit of excellence
Celtic Christians were, it seems to me, captivated by the idea of excellence. When, shortly after the death of Patrick, they began to transform local tribal homelands into monastic communities, they used certain symbols to help the members of their community keep the centrality of God and worship in their minds. At the center of each community were the dwellings and sacred workspaces of the brethren. The servants of God were set off from the rest of a community by a small, symbolic wall, usually of stone but sometimes wood. This was not for defense but as a symbol of authority, carried over from the pre-Christ-ian Celtic culture. Here the authority was spiritual and edifying, not authoritative and bullying. The presence of the low walls and the buildings within it—huts or cells, a refectory for dining, a scriptorium for copying texts, and a chapel—would have been reassuring for those who lived beyond the low wall in the surrounding community. From anywhere they could see, even when the brethren weren’t out among them, serving in some capacity, that there were men committed to seeking the Lord for their wellbeing.
And those men pursued their work with excellence, according to a common rule of disciplines, with the singing and praying of psalms woven through their daily lives. When they went to copy manuscripts, their work had to be excellent, for it was being done for God and His people. They even invented a new font (as we call them today) which soon, because of its excel-lence, became the standard throughout Europe.
When they turned to art, their illuminated manuscripts, sacred vessels, everyday tools and adornments, and especially their high crosses were all fashioned with a characteristic excellence that makes their style much to be desired even in our day.
Celtic Christians sought excellence in all aspects of their lives, because excellence reflects the character of God—His beauty, wisdom, holiness, graciousness, strength, justice, and love. O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth!
The right stuff
Today we would say of Brigit that she had “all the right stuff.” In her life and work, her witness and counsel, and in the overall management of her monastery and her nuns, Brigit showed the excellence of God.
And the report of that excellence would be spread by all who knew or encountered her. We have seen how Brendan, puzzled and troubled, hastened from Britain (where he was serving at the time) to return to Ireland to “have speech” with Brigit. It took her a moment of prayerful consideration and a strict economy of works to help the great saint realize his error and repent of his ways.
This would be the story of her life, as we shall see. It should be the story of our lives as well. Not only does Paul call us to “excel still more” in manifesting the love of God (1 Thess. 4.10 NASB), but he insists that should approve all excellent things, in particular, those that are encoded in the Law of God (cf. Phil. 1.10; Rom. 2.18). We are called and instructed to pursue excellence—Godlikeness—in everything.
And this how her contemporaries saw Brigit.
We can learn standards of excellence and manifestations of glory by studying the works of the Lord in creation, guided by His revelation in His Word, and by turning to the example of saints like Brigit. Let us, as we proceed through this study, look to see the excellence and glory of God in the life of Brigit, so that we may gain insight to how more of God’s excellence may show in our lives as well.
For Reflection
1. What do you understand by the term “excellence”?
2. How do you respond to things that are excellent?
Psalm 8.1, 2
(Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
O LORD our Lord how great is
Your Name in all the earth!
The heav’ns display Your glory,
and tell Your wondrous worth!From babes and nursing infants,
LORD, let Your strength increase,
’til all your foes surrender,
and all their boasting cease.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we are looking at ways the Law of God applies to our lives. This week our Read Moore podcast continues addressing the question raised by our book, What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
[1] Davies and O’Loughlin, p. 121
