The 5 th-century sections are more compelling in both setting and characterization, although Brigid is close to being an almost too-good-to-be-true character: kind, wise, caring, and a proto-feminist. I knew little about Ireland of this period, and appreciated learning about it via period detail. Alex discovers a secret compartment in the reliquary, which hides a gorgeous illuminated manuscript.
She is summoned to Ireland to assess relics associated with Brigid before the owning convent sells them. Should Decius obey Rome by betraying Brigid?Īlternating with the 5 th-century story is that of modern-day Alex Patterson, a medieval art evaluator. Then a messenger arrives from Rome to collect Decius’s heretical evidence. The two develop a relationship which, while still platonic, could easily develop into one which would conflict with their religious vows. Brigid tells Decius that Roman ways will not succeed in Gael and manages to draw Decius into her circle by persuading him to help create an illustrated manuscript and a history of the abbey. She establishes an abbey at Cill Dara, to which Roman scribe Decius is sent by the Church, charged with investigating Brigid’s heresies: she ignores Church hierarchy, keeps forbidden texts, performs masses herself, and has even been consecrated bishop. But even more extraordinary is the contents of the manuscript's vellum pages, which may have dire repercussions for the Catholic Church and could very well rewrite the origins of Christianity.Brigid is a king’s daughter and warrior-trained, but reading The Gospel of Mary the Mother influences her to reject the marriage her parents arranged and instead choose a religious life. Hidden within the sacred box is the most beautiful illuminated manuscript Alex has ever seen.
Modern day: Alexandra Patterson, an appraiser of medieval relics, has been summoned to Kildare to examine a reliquary box believed to belong to Saint Brigid. When Brigid assigns Decius a holy task - to create the most important and sacred manuscript ever made - he finds himself at odds with his original mission and faces the most difficult decision of his life. Hearing accounts of Brigid's power, the church deems her a threat and sends Decius, a Roman priest and scribe, on a secret mission to collect proof of Brigid's heresy.Īs Decius records the unorthodox practices of Brigid and her abbey, he becomes intrigued by her. Followers flock to her Kildare abbey and scriptorium. Rich in historical detail, Heather Terrell's mesmerizing novel Brigid of Kildare is the story of the revolutionary Saint Brigid and the discovery of the oldest illuminated manuscript in the annals of the church, a manuscript that contains an astonishing secret history.įifth-century Ireland: Brigid is Ireland's first and only female priest and bishop.
This Description may be from another edition of this product.
0 kommentar(er)
