Mo Gobnait*,
Holy
honey woman in the line of Brigit,
Little
smith who walked the land as prayer,
follower
of the white deer tracks,
Wild
lands dweller at forge and well,
saint-protectress
of the heart-hive of bees.
As
the earth wakes from winter into spring and symbols of hope are
everywhere,
we
ask for a blessing on the waking bees whose hum calls us back to
Creation,
and
whose gathering of pollen, freely offered by the spring flowers,
by
snowdrop, and crocus, by primrose, and by daffodil,
reminds
us to trust that the earth can provide everything that we need.
We
give thanks for the beautiful creation that we have been invited to
share in,
for
the intricate web of life that holds us and all our brothers and
sisters in
abundance
and beauty.
May
the pollen gathering of the bees remind us that we are held safely in
the Holy One’s generous hand, and may their return after winter
sleep revive in us the knowing that we live a Resurrection Life
grounded in hope that can break through winter’s frozen ground. May
our fear of lack and ingratitude for the simple things melt away with
the last frosts. Let us see that we already live in a land flowing
with milk and honey.
Mo
Gobnait,
Holy
honey woman in the line of Brigit,
Little
smith who walked the land as prayer,
follower
of the white deer tracks,
Wild
lands dweller at forge and well,
saint-protectress
of the heart-hive of bees.
We
come before you in grief and gratitude for all that we have done and
do not do
to
live in harmony with the web of life.
As
our fruit trees begin their journey to blossom,
may
we remember the essential role of bees and other pollinators
in
producing so much of the food we eat,
not
just the wild honey which fed John the Baptist in the wilderness,
but
in ways which might not be so easy for us to see.
Let
us come deeper into awareness of the intricate relationships woven
into
Creation,
that we might learn love and serve it better.
Let
the bees inspire in us the hope that we too can bring to flower the
barren places in ourselves and in our wounded world.
Mo
Gobnait,
Holy
honey woman in the line of Brigit,
Little
smith who walked the land as prayer,
follower
of the white deer tracks,
Wild
lands dweller at forge and well,
saint-protectress
of the heart-hive of bees.
May
we follow the example of the hive in knowing that our greatest
service
is
to work not for ourselves, but tirelessly for the common good of all
creation.
May
we too strive in the dark and secret places of our hearts to
shed
light on our own complicity in not speaking out, in refusing to
change through
fear,
through tiredness, through stubbornness, through greed, and through
self-entitlement,
knowing that in the perfect society of the honeybee all
have
equal worth and know their power in working for the good of all.
We
ask forgiveness for all the ways in which we give up hope,
letting
go of the belief that the honey of love can change everything in an
instant, that everything has already changed.
We
ask that you help us take the tattered pieces of our battered hope to
be shaped into
a
honeycomb; strong and beautiful, perfect of form, that might sweeten
the lives of our community, the poor, the vulnerable, the oppressed,
and any who have given up, lost faith in the possibility of good, or
who are afraid to speak. Let justice be the sweetness on our tongue
and the medicine we offer to a broken world.
Mo
Gobnait,
Holy
honey woman in the line of Brigit,
Little
smith who walked the land as prayer,
follower
of the white deer tracks,
Wild
lands dweller at forge and well,
saint-protectress
of the heart-hive of bees.
Let
us remember the holiness of bees; that it was once believed that
their hum
spoke
the secret name of God, that the souls of the dead left their bodies
as bees, that the tears of Christ on the Cross transformed into bees
as a symbol of Risen Life, that beauty can come even from the darkest
of journeys.
Let
us treasure the Beeing** as a precious messenger of beauty, joy, good
work, generosity, and abundance, in a world so often lacking in all
of these.
Let
us do all that we can to ensure that our bee family thrive by being
mindful of our own actions and by speaking out against anything that
threatens their wellbeing; the use of pesticides, the mowing of
wildflower meadows, the proliferation of monoculture farms, the loss
of orchards and wild places, and the hubris that tells us we can do
it without them.
Let
us speak truth to power for the Beeing and for all who cannot speak
for themselves, that the holy Word might become as wild honey in our
mouths.
Mo
Gobnait,
Holy
honey woman in the line of Brigit,
Little
smith who walked the land as prayer,
follower
of the white deer tracks,
Wild
lands dweller at forge and well,
saint-protectress
of the heart-hive of bees.
Hear
the prayers of our hearts for our sister and brother bees, for the
world, and for our part in it.
Aho
mitake oyasin, for all our relations, amen, blessed be, Inshallah.
*Saint Gobnait, also known as Mo Gobnat, is the 6th Century Celtic saint of bees and beekeepers. Her Feast Day is 11th February. Like Saint Blaise, whose Feast Day is on 3rd February, she has much in common with Goddess-Saint Brigid, and it may be that they are one and the same. More about the weaving of holy threads soon.
** The 'Beeing' is a name for the collective consciousness of honeybee kind on our planet. See the work of the Natural Beekeeping Trust , who say "Each beeing, each hive is a little universe, completely evolved, perfect like a star", for more.
