Friday, December 25, 2009
The Nativity of Our Lord
In the Greek mosaic above, created around the year 1100, midwives are shown bathing the newborn Jesus. This has long been an important image for the Eastern Church because it symbolizes the baptism that is to be.
One tradition has it that the biblical Mary Salome was midwife to Our Lady. But the Irish legend is that Saint Brigit was mystically transported through time and space so that she could serve as midwife at the birth of Jesus. Thus, she is invoked by Irish women during labor.
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