Celtic Spirituality
Celtic Spirituality: Just what does it mean?
14 March 2008
By Liam Tracey OSM
Ireland celebrates the Feast of St. Patrick tomorrow (early, as it cannot be celebrated in Holy Week). But what would St. Patrick - arguably the most famous Celtic saint - make of the practices and beliefs called 'Celtic Spirituality' today? Liam Tracey OSM examines whether the Celtic church was really anything like the romantic picture often painted of it.
In the week or so before Christmas 2007, Heritage Ireland, the body responsible for conserving and promoting Irish heritage, advertised that it would be possible to view the Winter solstice from Newgrange on its webcam. This is where the rising sun over the Boyne Valley enters this famous passage tomb in Newgrange on the days of the solstice. Heritage Ireland expected thirty to forty thousand people to log onto its website to view the solstice. On the morning itself, the site crashed with the numbers who logged on, estimated to be well over one hundred thousand.
In many ways the public interest in Newgrange is emblematic of the ongoing interest indeed fascination with early Ireland and its peoples, not just in Ireland and among the Irish, but among people the world over. Allied to this interest is the booming business in ‘Celtic spirituality,’ from pilgrimages to holy sites to the latest utterances of contemporary wisdom figures.
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Liam Tracey OSM is Professor of Liturgy at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland. He teaches courses in liturgy at undergraduate and postgraduate level and has a particular interest in Irish liturgical evidence.
The Celts believed men and women are equally able to inspire, lead, and participate in all aspects of community and spiritual practice. Celtic Christian spirituality refers to a set of practices and beliefs in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales that developed in the early fifth century during the development of the monastic tradition.
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JOYCE RUPP Joyce Rupp, O.S.M. is a spiritual director in Des Moines and an author whose most recent books include Prayers to Sophia (Innisfree) and Out of the Ordinary (Ave Maria).
An Irish Journey Into Celtic Spirituality | Franciscan Media
For Celtic Christians, God was a key part of all things natural and beautiful. Whereas the ancient Celts worshiped pagan gods for nearly every natural setting, Celtic Christians praised God’s design and creation of all things natural. “The hills, the sky, the sea, the forests were not God, but their spiritual qualities revealed God and were connected to God,” Sister John Miriam explains.
What are the gifts of Celtic Spirituality for our age?
The sanctity of nature, the goodness of the earth · The primacy of friendship and ...