Desideratum is Latin for "the thing desired". The Enlightenment thinkers were all about the word, but I still like it.
Saint Brighid was a goddess, but when Christianity came to Ireland, she converted and became a nun, and then by virtue of an accident/miracle the only female bishop, and almost instantly a saint. When Christianity replaces native religions, elements of the native religion tends to replace bits of dogma at the same time. Besides inserting herself in as saint, she became a replacement Virgin Mary. There are wonderful stories about her monastery/convent at Kildare. It was the only one to house both male and female religious. She had a best friend/roommate/probable lesbian lover. One of her nuns had an affair and became pregnant, and rather than kick her out of the order, or allow her to be killed, Brighid gave her a miracle abortion. She told her not to do it again, but that it was better to be a forgiven sinner with good work to do than dead. The nuns at Kildare continue to tend Brighid's eternal flame, even though the Vatican has declared that she never existed and revoked her sainthood.
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Re: interests
Date: 2006-06-28 12:14 am (UTC)Saint Brighid was a goddess, but when Christianity came to Ireland, she converted and became a nun, and then by virtue of an accident/miracle the only female bishop, and almost instantly a saint. When Christianity replaces native religions, elements of the native religion tends to replace bits of dogma at the same time. Besides inserting herself in as saint, she became a replacement Virgin Mary. There are wonderful stories about her monastery/convent at Kildare. It was the only one to house both male and female religious. She had a best friend/roommate/probable lesbian lover. One of her nuns had an affair and became pregnant, and rather than kick her out of the order, or allow her to be killed, Brighid gave her a miracle abortion. She told her not to do it again, but that it was better to be a forgiven sinner with good work to do than dead. The nuns at Kildare continue to tend Brighid's eternal flame, even though the Vatican has declared that she never existed and revoked her sainthood.