Make Me Ugly, Lord - The Story of St. Brigid of Ireland

As a Catholic, I love the Saints. As a Catholic living out my Lenten obligation, or trying to, I love them even more when I "suffer" from lack of chocolate chips in my cookies or from the consumption of burgers on Fridays. Their sufferings make mine so small and so easily "doable" when I read about their beheadings, the stripes inflicted on their backs by enemies, their faithful adherence to the Truth that set them free even while shackled to prison walls and tied to stakes ready to be burned by their own Church sometimes. For each day in the human calendar, their is a Catholic Saint ready to intercede for a world so far secularized they are numb to the heavenly aides who are available to guide them daily toward Christ. February has its own set of Saints who stand at the ready with the tales of their lives, the perpetual prayers for the world, for the stories that simply inspire even those who do not believe, or who, at least, do not believe in a mighty cloud of Catholic witnesses - a universal church of those living and those dead whose souls go on for eternity and who fight for the salvation of the world.

In the month when Lent most often begins for Catholics and Orthodox Christians, in the month also named for the time when the ancient Romans appealed for their sins - Februalia - February presents us with, exactly 28 Catholics Saints worth mentioning. Several stand out in popularity and in faith, but one is most remarkable in her stand against "the sins of the flesh", even against her own beauty. In an age when we are told that we can, and deserve, to have it all, the unusual request for ugliness from a young girl from a poor island of Celtic nomads changed the course of history for so many women around the world.

The year of Brigid's birth is not certain, but by 525 AD, the early part of the 6th Century, our beloved Irish Saint was already dead. When Brigid was a young girl, the story of St. Patrick's brave return to the island that had enslaved him to serve their people and become one of them through evangelization and ministry, left an indelible mark of faith on Brigid's soul. Even from a young age, she longed to serve the God who had converted her people to Christianity. With some of her ancient Celtic roots still firmly intact, Brigid began to search out this Jesus who had been born far from Erin's emerald isle. Even before she was old enough to leave her mother's side, young St. Brigid was already watching the creation of miracles at her front door.

In her village, she often sought the face of Christ in the eyes of the poor and when she saw that they were in need of food or clothing, in true Gospel fashion, she would seek them out and offer them her family's pale of milk. When her parents discovered this offering, they would become incensed. Being poor and without much themselves, they were justifiably upset at their daughter's surrendering of the family groceries. But Brigid would promise that God would supply what she had offered up to Him through the poor and needy He had sent her way. Sure enough, as the story goes, St. Brigid's family would find their milk pale full of milk in the morning where Brigid had left it empty the day before.

"But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:19

St. Brigid is known for her great beauty. Some records have stated that hers "was a heart aching beauty" so great she had any number of suitors. There was very little need even for a dowry. Brigid was enough for any man who would be lucky enough to be blessed with her as a wife. However, because physical beauty was experienced as a personal stumbling block for St. Brigid, she asked her Lord to make her ugly, to take away the looks that had distracted so many from her message about Christ and His love. She did not want to marry, as her father so desired. Instead, she wanted to be a nun dedicated to the service of Christ through the poor.

God granted her request, and St. Brigid entered a convent early into her young life as a much uglier woman than she could have imagined. Surprising to most believers today, St. Brigid saw her ugliness as a divine blessing and she was quite grateful for it. When she felt lead by the Holy Spirit to begin her own convent for other devoted young women, it is said, that St. Brigid's great beauty returned and was made all the more beautiful this time because of the deep inward peace and love that this woman displayed to all those who came in contact with her - especially those in the greatest amount of physical or emotional need.

It is hard to imagine such a request these days. As an American woman living in the 21st century, I cannot imagine awakening to beg God for ugliness so that I might serve Him more faithfully. I am not sure that I have reached that stage in my Lenten journey. I relish my Mary Kay cosmetics and career and I delight in the compliments I receive when I am well-dressed and impressive to others. But I so deeply understand that desire of St. Brigid as well - to desire God so sincerely that any distraction becomes an obstacle. I would love to experience that type of faith in my Catholic life. But this is what makes Brigid a Saint with a capital "s" and me just a first stage saint with a lower case crooked letter. I imagine that the spiritual heights she obtained were reached by preschool age. That stage is still far off for me as an adult and most American Catholics today. Her intercession is needed in our lives each day, and I imagine that February is filled with her loving and invisible attention to our lives - those who accept her as real and those who do not. And I bet she does not request ugliness for any of us who she most certainly sees each as beautiful in our own unique way.

"Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30