How the Name Came to Be
One month before I opened St. Brigid’s Spiritualist Church, I still had no name for it. I had looked up all the Celtic names I could find and none seemed to fit. Over the next two weeks as I sat in a mediumship development circle, my grandmother, also known as Nana Lanigan, came to me twice. She just smiled at me and I got the feeling that she knew something that I did not. Following my Nana Lanigan’s visits, I developed a strong urge to know her name. I could not remember it until I went to a young woman’s home to do some work. She gave me a warm welcome as she answered her door, “Hi, you must be Richard. My name is Brigid.” Immediately I remembered that Brigid was my grandmother’s name!
When I arrived home later that day, my friend Ellie called to ask if I had decided on a name. I told her that I had not and she responded by asking if I had thought of using the name of one of the patron saints of Ireland, St. Brigid. When I related my recent experiences, Ellie’s response was, “that is too cool Richard, and as we know, there is no such thing as coincidence.” She pointed out that I was being given the name from Spirit. I agreed and that is how the name came to be.
St. Brigid is the patron saint of poets, storytellers, and healers. She was also a spiritual medium, although she was not called that in those days. She is one of two patron saints of Ireland, and the only native saint (as St. Patrick was born in Roman Britan). Her feast day is celebrated on February 1st, also known as Imbolc, the ceremonial first day of spring. St. Brigid is connected to the renewal of the earth, the promise of abundance, the hope of new growth, and the eternal cycle of new life.
