Feb 01st - Brigid & Benedict Daswa

I try not to overload these daily meditations but the two people here both deserve mention. Brigid has always been a favorite of mine, but Benedict is a modern martyr of the ancient and the emerging African Church. Most of our modern African saints have been missionaries but Benedict shows the effect of their efforts and also the path of the local faithful while speaking to the rich history of the Church in Africa.  As much as our brothers and sisters have learned from us we have that and more to learn from them - again.

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May Brigid bless the house wherein we dwell.
Bless every fireside, every wall and door.
Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof.
Bless every hand that toils to bring its joy.
Bless every foot that walks portals through.
May Brigid bless the house that shelters us.

— Blessing of St. Brigid

Benedict Daswa was really an ordinary man and we are not celebrating him for national achievement, but he was a man of great faith. And that is the wonderful thing… he was one of us but deeply committed to Jesus Christ, deeply committed in his family life, in his work life, in his community life

— Bishop Jaoa Noe Rodriguez of Tzaneen, South Africa