This week was another typical week in the House of Brigid, in that it was anything but typical. We rarely have what anyone could call a “normal” week, given the propensity for last-minute meetings and liturgies to crop up on any given day. Our American need for advanced planning and imposed order has definitely gone on hiatus, and we’ve gotten used to the delightfully uncanny way things have of falling remarkably into place here in Ireland.

So how did we spend this typically atypical week, you ask? Well, on the heels of Sunday’s celebration of St. Brigid, Jess, Clarisa, Patrick, and I took turns on various days this week guiding students from our respective primary schools through the epic display at Clonard Church. We shared stories of St. Brigid, described the elements of fire, water, earth, and air and their importance in her life, and told about the traditions of the Brát Bhríde and St. Brigid’s Cross. To say the kids were curious would be a gross understatement; fascinated would be a much better descriptor. They loved looking at the plants and plaster animals in the sanctuary area, dipped their fingers in the holy water flowing in the fountain, and marveled at implements like the butter churn and bee hive. All of the students went away from their mini-tours with a new-found appreciation for our patroness.

After this weekend’s liturgies, we’ll move into a now-familiar mode: workshop preparation. Sunday week (that’s a week from Sunday for you non-Irish speakers) marks our second music workshop of the year, and, as House Director-in-Training, Jessica will be stepping up to take the lead on this event. This workshop, entitled Songs for the Sacraments, will focus on music ideal for special occasions like Confirmation, First Communion, First Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, and Matrimony, but the music we’ve chosen functions well even outside of the special liturgy venue. We’re hopeful that our attendees will discover loads of new music that they can use year-round, not just for the special occasion Masses, and we’re grateful to our friends at World Library Publications for providing us with the octavos for our participants. It should be another great event during another great week that will undoubtedly prove once again that there’s no such thing as typical or routine here at Teach Bhríde. Thank goodness.