The feast of St. Bridget is celebrated on February 1. It has become a custom on Bridget's feast day to share food with neighbors and especially with the less fortunate. It is also a time to place a cake on one of the outside windowsills as food for St. Bridget as she makes her rounds through the country. Corn is sometimes offered for St. Bridget's white cow, which according to legend always accompanied her on her charitable rounds. Stories of St. Bridget tell us that as she sat beside her dying father, she was meditating and began weaving a cross made from the river rushes which were growing along the banks of the River Shannon. Today, people often place a St. Bridget Cross in their homes and farm buildings to protect themselves and their animals from evil and deprivation.

St. Bridget was born in the Irish village of Faughart circa 450 A.D. Her father was an Irish chieftain named Dubthac and her mother was called Brocca. According to legend, St. Patrick baptized her parents. As she grew older, Bridget developed great affection for the poor and would often bring food and clothing to them. One day she gave away a whole pail of milk, and then began to worry about what her mother would say. She prayed to God to make up for what she had given away, and when she got home, her pail was full.

St. Bridget is buried at Downpatrick, Ireland with two other great Irish saints, St. Patrick and St. Columba. She shares the title Patron of Ireland with St. Patrick. Because her purity and sweetness often made people think of the Blessed Mother, she is sometimes called Mary of the Gael.

(Saints for Young Readers for Every Day of the Year, The Dictionary of the Saints)