One of my big goals for our community this year was (and is) to become more intentional about practicing hospitality. The Irish are known for their hospitality to visitors and to each other, and we’ve been the lucky recipients of their warm welcome for the last two-plus years. In the interest of mutual education, then, we’ve tried this year to open our home to different groups of people. We’ve had our Vigil Choir over for desserts after Mass, and have started to host a prayer group for young adults that follows the format of Notre Dame’s Emmaus groups.

I think it’s especially important for a community with St. Brigid as its patron to be making hospitality a part of daily life. Brigid, after all, is known as the protector of homes and hearths. Generations of Irish housewives have prayed to her while banking their fires, asking for blessings on the homes warmed by those fires.

I thought, then, that I’d share one of my smaller projects this week. The House of Brigid, Inc., has recently commissioned its own image of St. Brigid by Julie Lonneman, and a copy of that image is now hanging above our own hearth:

This is where our guests this year have gathered for meals and songs and laughter. This is where the four of us gather most nights to share in evening prayer. Under the watchful eye of St. Brigid, we pray that our home may ever increase in generosity so that we might model the love she strove to spread.