One of the interesting parts of World Youth Day is that it allows Catholics to learn more about the cultures of other Catholics.
In Poland for example, many visited the beautiful Saint Mary’s Church in Krakow, in Sydney many learned for the first time of Saint Mary Mackillop.
Other times, one can learn more about their own culture.
A reader sent us a story about how many Irish pilgrims visited the relics of Saint Brigid in Lumiar, Lisbon.
The church of Saint John the Baptist contains part of the great saint’s skull.
History has it that three knights from Ireland during the 13th century.
An inscription outside the church attests to this and also states that the knights are interred within the building.
The knights presented the relic to King Denis of Portugal, who then placed it in the Royal Monastery of Odivelas. The relic went missing on the journey and turned up in Lumiar. They eventually delivered it to Odivelas, only for it to disappear again and turn up in Lumiar again. King Denis then ordered that the relic be permanently placed in Lumiar.
As a result, the name Brigid became quite common within the region.
As a result, Saint Brigid’s Day feast day became an important day within the region for many of these years, with people blessed using the relic.
In 2019, a campaign was launched to have her relics returned to Kildare for her 1,500th anniversary, however the campaign has not been a successful one.
In 1929, a piece of the skill was brought to Killester.
