Celtic Monasticism - History and Sprituality

Welcome to this web site on Celtic monasticism. You are about to enter a discussion of the spirituality and history of Celtic monasticism; included in this discussion are several in-depth virtual tours of Celtic monastic sites, such as Iona, Lindisfarne, and Glendalough. Please take some time to explore these links, as much of the content in this discussion is continued in more detail in the virtual tours.

Who were the Celts?

The word "Celt" comes from the Greek Keltos, and means something like "the other" or "stranger." The Celts never called themselves Celts. The Greeks fought the Galatians, and the Romans fought the Gauls; both groups were Celts. The Celtic languages are from the Indo-European family of languages. There are two groups of languages: Brythonic, which includes Welsh, Cornish, Breton; and Gaedonic, which includes Irish (invading Gaels in 300 B.C.), Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. The Celts traveled to Ireland from Gaul and Britain. Today the League of Celtic nations (Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Cornwall, Brittany) attempts to preserve Celtic languages and traditions.

Introduction

[photograph of a coracle on Lindisfarne]

Celtic monasticism is colored by the peregrinations of the Celtic Saints and, consequently, is of a very different character than western European monasticism. While the Rule of Benedict emphasized stability, the Celtic saints were travelers who journeyed far and wide, leaping into their tiny coracles and setting sail on the sea, often without oars or sails, and often without a specific destination, content to let God take them where God would. The peregrinations of the saints is aptly illustrated by the story of the three Irishmen who drifted over the sea for seven days w/o oars, were found, and brought to court of King Alfred. When asked where they were heading, they responded that they "stole away because they wanted for the love of God to be on pilgrimage, we cared not where."

Their love of travel was motivated by their love of God; their journey was undertaken in order to come closer to God. Theirs was a journey in which oars or sails were not necessary, for that for which they were searching was to be found not without, but within: It has been said that, "The longest journey is the journey inward" (Dag Hammarskjold). The peregrinations of the Celtic saints were ways of expressing outwardly a journey which they wanted to undertake inwardly. Columbanus was quick to remind his companions to, "Let us not love the roadway rather than the homeland lest we lose our eternal home...Therefore, let this Principle abide with us, that on the road we live as travelers, as pilgrims, as guests of the world...."

This journey was a journey in which one achieved stability of soul, a constant striving after God in which one might remain in a single place while nevertheless being constantly on the move. On the other hand, one might stay in a single place and nevertheless be on a journey of intense transformation. Celtic monasticism is a world in which journey and stability of place are not at odds at all, but expressions of one spiritual ideal.

In the following pages of this web site, we shall discuss examples of these ideas in the lives of the saints in an the great monastic centers of Ireland, Wales, Northumbria, and Scotland.

Historic Peregrini

St. Patrick was one of greatest peregrini. He was born in 387 C.E., and was a Briton who was captured by Irish pirates at sixteen and enslaved by the Dalriada kings for six years. During this period, he suffered from solitude, suffering, hunger, lack of clothes, and cold; he kept the will to live through an intense life of prayer. Finally, Patrick heard voice telling him his ship was ready. Trusting in the voice, he made a 200 mile journey, and found a group of sailors who who took him on their ship. They likely landed somewhere on coast of Gaul, though this is not at all certain. Patrick's account of this event mentions wandering in the desert, and there is no desert of such a magnitude in France nor was there then. At any rate, he eventually escaped, and later went back to Britain.

After his return home, he felt called to the priesthood, and went to Gaul to study at the monastery of St. Martin of Tours, and also to the great centers of Lerins and Auxerre. While on the continent, he became active in anti-Pelagian ministries. In the midst of this activity, he heard the "Voice of the Irish" from Vitoricus in a vision, saying "we beg you to come and walk among us once more." This was the voice of the multitude, to whom he would later minister in charity.

Patrick went back to Ireland in 432 C.E. According to legend, Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, and indeed, there are not any snakes in Ireland. Many of the sources of Patrick's life are spurious, but he helped to spread Christianity in Ireland. Ireland was a pagan stronghold at the time. It was customary in Ireland to celebrate the feast of Beltaine, held on May 1 in honor of the sun god Bel. During the feast, one fire was lit from which all other fires in Ireland were lit; this celebration was a ritual of fertility. On Holy Saturday in 433 C.E., while the High King on Tara prepared to extinguish all fires in the land but his, Patrick lit a fire on the nearby Hill of Slane. He was ordered to appear before the King, and as he made his way there, began to chant a hymn now known as the breastplate of Patrick, or the lorica or Deer's Cry. As Patrick passed, all that the king saw were deer. Although the Deer's Cry as we know it today cannot be traced earlier than the ninth century, its first few lines and its last lines emphasize the orthodox beliefs which Patrick helped to spread in Ireland.

St. Patrick's Breastplate

( the Lorica or Deer's Cry)

For my shield this day I call:
A mighty power:
The Holy Trinity!
Affirming Threeness,
Confessing oneness,
in the making of all
Through love ...

For my shield this day I call:
Christ's power in his coming
and in his baptizing,
Christ's power in his dying
On the cross, his rising
from the tomb, his ascending;
Christ's power in his coming
for judgement and ending.

For my shield this day I call:

strong power of the seraphim,
with angels obeying,
and archangels attending, in the glorious
company
of the holy and risen ones
in the prayers of the fathers in visions prophetic
and commands apostolic
in the annals if witness ...

For my shield this day I call:
Heaven's might,
sun's brightness,
Moon's whiteness,
Fire's glory,
Lightening's swiftness,
Wind's wildness,
Ocean's depth
Earth's solidity,
Rock's immobility.

This day I call to me:
God's strength to direct me,
God's power to sustain me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's vision to light me,
God's ear to my hearing,
God's word to my speaking,
God's hand to uphold me,
God's pathway before me,
God's shield to protect me ...

From evil enticements,
from failings of nature,
from one man or many,
that seek to destroy me,
anear or afar ..

Around me I gather
these forces to save
my soul and my body ...

Against knowledge unlawful
that injures the body,
that injures the spirit.

Be Christ this day my strong protector
against poison and burning
against drowning wounding
through reward wide plenty

Christ beside me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ within me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ to the right of me
Christ to the left of me

Christ in my lying, my sitting, my rising
Christ in heart of all who know me
Chirst on tongue of all who meet me;
Chirst in eye of all who see me;
Christ in ear of all who hear me.

For my shield this day I call
a mighty power:
The Holy Trinity!
Affirming Threeness,
Confessing oneness,
in the making of all
Through love ...

The lovely "Christ beside me," is an excellent example of the Celtic emphasis on the pervasiveness of the Divine in the world around us. It also reminds us that the constant peregrinations of the saints were not an effort to find God, as the hymns tells us that if you can't find God where you are, there's no need to go anywhere else looking for him. The Celtic saints were deeply aware of the omnipresence of God, beside us, beneath us, above us, all around us and within us and all creation.

Celtic monasticism full of such peregrini who, in their constant wanderings, spread monasticism throughout Ireland, to Scotland, and Northumbria, and later to continental Europe. The history of Ireland and Scotland is full of great teachers and monks who formed deep, spiritual friendships (anamchara) which persisted across hundreds of miles and across the channels of time.

Organized monasticism arrived in Ireland through the influence of St. Ninnian's monastery in Scotland, who had encountered St. Martin of Tours; St. Patrick himself spent time at St. Ninnian's monastery. St. Enda (460-530) was a monk at St. Ninnian's who founded Killeeny at Inishmoor on the Aran Islands. Kieran founded Clonmacnois on Shannon river, and was the anamchara of St. Kevin of Glendalough. This friendship even transcended death. After Kieran's death in 618 C.E., monks reported hearing Kevin and Kieran in fervent discussion. The anamchara tradition was an important aspect of Celtic monasticism, in which true disclosure of the self to another was an essential aid in the spiritual journey of self-discovery and union with the Divine. St. Bridgit said that a person without an anamchara "was like a body without a head."

Kieran was a student of St. Finnian of Clonnard, who is known as the patriarch of Irish monasticism and the Teacher of Saints. Finnian was first a monk in Gaul who later went to Rome and then to Ireland. Finnian tutored 3,00 saints, twelve of whom are apostles of Ireland.

The most well-known of these are Columcille (Columba), who was born in 521 C.E. and whose , name means "Dove of the Church." Columba founded over thirty-five monasteries in Ireland, including Derry, Durrow, and Kells (whose name means "Groves of Oak Trees.") According to legend, Columba was condemned for copying a Psalter brought by Finnian from Rome, and a struggle ensued in which several people were killed. Leaving his homeland, he went into exile. In 563 C.E. at the age of forty-two he left Ireland with twelve disciples and went to Scotland. There he founded the famous and important medieval community of Iona. Take some time now to explore Dr. Vess's virtual tour of Iona.

There are many other famous peregrini in Celtic lore. At the request of King Oswald of Northumbria, St. Aidan of Lindisfarne left Iona and traveled to Northumbria where he founded Lindisfarne. Through Aidan's effort, Northumbria was Christianized. You may explore the history, spirituality, and archaeology of Lindisfarne through Dr. Vess's Virtual Tour of the Priory.

Some peregrini traveled even farther. Columban was born in 543 C.E.. He studied under a disciple of St. Finnian. After thirty years in a monastery at Bangor, he wandered with twelve disciples to Gaul. He founded three monasteries in Burgundy, including the famous Luxeuil; these communities established fifty-three daughter houses in later years. Columban went on to Switzerland and Austria; he left his disciple Gal in Switzerland, who founded the monastery of St. Gallen. Later Columban went to Bregenz in Austria and founded Bobbio near Milan. Columban wrote two monastic rules: Regula Monachorum and Regula coenobialis. Through his peregrinations, a large part of Europe was introduced to Christianity and to monasticism. These monasteries were also very important centers of culture in the Middle Ages.

Brendan the Navigator , whose voyage was immortalized by the Venerable Bede, is perhaps the summation of the tradition of wandering. In the sixth century he took to the sea. According to legend, Brendan wound up in North America. He traveled without oars and without sails, navigating the storms of life, and trusting in faith to carry him through.

Some of the continuous movement of the saints is reflected in the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels. The interconnections of the swirling designs reflect the interconnections of all of life. Every space on the vellum is filled with intense movement; close examination is required to see the intricacy of the design, which can be thought of as a metaphor for the contemplative life shared by the anamcharas, in which every aspect of life is closely examined and the sometimes obscure and hidden connections are seen. These beautiful illuminations not only reflect movement visually, but were themselves made during periods of peregrination.

After the sack of Lindisfarne by the Danes in 793 C.E., the Cuthbert congregation fled with the relics of Cuthbert and Lindisfarne Gospels. Their wanderings carried them to many places, until they finally wound up in Durham in the eleventh century. During this long period of wandering, they continued to work on the Lindisfarne Gospels. The technique of outlining the letters in red dots is a strong suggestion of movement and continuous rethinking of life; on the Luke Gospel, there are over 10,600 dots, which would have taken at least six hours to produce.

Links for further exploration

The Book of Kells an absolutely wonderful site; you can click through the book online. In Dublin, one can only see one page a day!

Index:

Who were the Celts?

Introduction

Historic Peregrini

St. Patrick's Breastplate

( the Lorica or Deer's Cry)

Links for further exploration