by Leslie Hardinge (1972)
PREFACE
Studies in the Celtic Church are attaining increasing importance,
not only among scholars, archaeologists, theologians, historians,
and linguists, but also among general readers. The books on
Celtic topics, both popular and technical, multiply year by year.
The anniversary of the landing of Columba fourteen centuries ago,
celebrated in so many ways in 1963, has aroused great interest.
The purpose of this work is twofold: to investigate the sources
so as to discover what Celtic Christians actually believed and
practised; and to arrange the available facts so as to present a
systematic picture of this aspect of Christianity. Due emphasis
will be placed on those points which are unique.
The expression "Celtic Church", as used in this work, connotes
that group of Christians which lived in the British Isles before
the coming of the Italian mission of Augustine (A.D. 597), and
continued for about a century, or a little more, in an
independent state. The term "church" is a handy title for this
body of believers, and has no suggestion that they constituted
anything of an organization with a centralized government or an
acknowledged head. "Britain" is employed as a simple designation
of the entire British Isles, as, during the period under review,
Ireland was known as "lesser Britain."
Certain appellations are used with special meanings. The names
of countries, such as England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Germany,
and France, and of counties, such as Cornwall, Somerset, and
Devon, indicate the localities suggested by their
twentieth-century meanings. This is done for clarity. In original
quotations, in which, for example, the Irish are called Scots,
the context will reveal the correct significance. "Old-Irish",
always hyphenated, points to works written before about eight
hundred. "Glossator", "commentator" and "theologian", connected
with the glosses preserved in the Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, are
general titles for the clerics who wrote them. They are used
interchangeably for variety. Although these glosses were written
by two or three hands, they all come within the Old-Irish period.
They are regarded as containing what might for convenience be
called the consensus of Celtic opinion on topics theological. In
the context of Christian studies, "Celtic" invariably means
"Celtic Christian". The word "beliefs" is a simple heading for
the doctrinal and moral concepts which were the dynamics of the
conduct of Celtic Christians, while "practices" indicates their
outward religious acts, both in worship and behaviour which grew
out of such beliefs.
The Celtic Church began at a date unknown. In this investigation
the starting-point is the mission of Patrick some time towards
the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century. The
investigation of the beliefs and practices of the Christianity
which he professed, and which he probably gained from his father
and grandfather who were both clergymen, will have as its
starting-point the usages and doctrines of the mid-fourth
century. During the larger portions of the fifth and practically
the entire sixth century the Celtic Church was apparently cut off
from Western Christianity, and developed points of view which
were different from those of the broad stream of believers in
Mediterranean lands. Subsequent to their contact with continental
Christianity at the very end of the sixth century the Celts
continued their independence until they were, section by section,
gradually absorbed by the Church of the Romans.
The end of the independence of the segments of the Celtic Church
took place at different times. Southern Ireland was the first to
throw in its lot with the representatives of the Italian mission.
If a date is to be set, perhaps 632 would be suitable.
Northumbria, through its king and leaders, gave up Celtic usages
following the Council of Whitby, 664. Northern Ireland
surrendered to the eloquent appeals of Adamnan and accepted Roman
customs at the very end of the seventh century, 695. The
Christians in Scotland, with their headquarters at Iona, felt the
heavy hand of King Nectan, who in 717 banished the Columbate
brethren from their island retreat and established at Iona those
who followed Roman traditions. But there were still remnants of
these independent Christians in Scotland when Margaret became
queen in the second quarter of the twelfth century, at which time
they threw in their lot with Canterbury. Some time about 768 the
Celts of South Wales, that is, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall,
appear to have joined forces with the Anglo-Roman Church, while
North Wales (modern Wales), accepted Catholic views about 777.
When the Celts assumed Roman usages, they surrendered their
independence. The Celtic Church was no longer purely "Celtic",
but became Anglo-Roman-Celtic. Its uniqueness receded with the
passing years. It is the purpose of this study to seek for those
beliefs and practices which these Celtic believers professed
before they were modified by seventh and eighth-century
traditions from continental Europe.
That they held special doctrines and usages, differing in several
respects from those of Italian Christianity, is vouched for by
the sources.
The weight of this evidence tends to underline the fact that
there existed fundamental and far-reaching differences between
the Celtic and Roman Churches. Rome was ignorant of these
discrepancies until the opening decade of the seventh century. It
seems reasonable to conclude that the Celts were, for their part,
also unaware of the beliefs and usages of the Roman Christians.
The purpose of the historian is to discover what those
differences were.
A vast literature has sprung up during the past century on
various aspects of the Celtic Church. Monumental bibliographies
have been compiled, among which J. F. Kenney, "The Sources of the
Early History of Ireland; Ecclesiasticali," and Wilfrid Bonser,
"An Anglo-Saxon and Celtic Bibliography," 450-1087 deserve
special mention. They greatly aid the historian who is kept up to
date with the help of the bibliographies published annually in
the journal of the "Irish Historical Society," under the
inspiration of Ludwig Bieler.
But among the almost twenty-five thousand books and articles
listed the present investigator has not been able to find a
single volume devoted solely to a consideration of the beliefs
and practices of the Celtic Christians. Passing allusions to, and
studies of, concepts and acts of worship and conduct there are,
but the only work even nearly touching the plan of this book is
F. E. Warren, "The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church," and
it was written over eighty-five years ago. But, as its title
suggests, it deals with only one important phase, which is
actually outside the scope of this book. It is hoped that the
following pages will be a first step in filling the need for a
brief, comprehensive handbook on the topic of the beliefs and
practices of the Celtic Church. It should be emphasized that this
study excludes the liturgy and the institutions of the Celts
which constitute a phase too vast to be touched in this work, and
must be left to another investigation.
The sources for this study may be listed under seven heads.
Histories and geographies, by Patrick, Gildas, Nennius, Bede and
Adamnan, Dicuil and Giraldus Cambrensis, while not specifically
such in the modern sense, reveal insights into the thinking and
acting of the Christians during the times of these authors.
Narratives, which were but oral traditions written down later,
are replete with clues. Comminatory stories, containing
anachronisms, nevertheless reveal what the writers believed were
the actual facts of the case. Reflecting traditional memories of
the clerical scribes, they are often very useful contributions to
an understanding of early conditions and backgrounds. The
critical historian must try cautiously to demythologize these
accounts.
The Lives of saints, a large number of which have been preserved,
also often full of anachronisms and propaganda, reveal
conditions, not always of the saint's age, but of the times of
the writers. These biographies are occasionally in the form of
homilies. They were probably read long ago, by the light of
sputtering candles, to monks relaxed over their suppers, and
present points which the historian is able to weave into the
tapestry he is preparing.
Scattered over the pages of Celtic Christian literature many
poems and verses may be found, containing religious ideas which
are illuminating. The ancient Annals are indispensable mines of
information. Although they are more accurate for the compiler's
own age, they also show, here and there, what the Celtic
Christians believed and practised. Legislation, both civil and
ecclesiastical, the Liber ex Lege Moisi, laws, penitentials, and
rules, also are vital sources.
Glosses, crowding between the lines of Old-Irish biblical texts
and commentaries on the Scriptures, being suggestions for
sermonic development, are the finest indexes for the theological
views of these ancient Christians. Written in Old-Irish,
preserved inviolate in continental libraries, they crystallize
the concepts of the Celtic Church.
A word of thanks is also due to my artist friends, Clyde
Provonsha and C. M. Hubert Cowen, for the line drawings and
initial letters and chapter headings which add so much interest
to the opening pages of each chapter.
LESLIE HARDINGE
INTRODUCTION
The RISE of the CELTIC church m BRITAIN
Christianity tiptoed into Britain. It left no written records of
its entry, but here and there its footprints may be traced in the
soil of these islands.
Archaeological evidence of Christianity in Roman Britain is
meagre. A fragment, containing a Christian cryptogram, attests
the witness of Christians before the peace of Constantine. The
foundations of what were probably two small churches of this
period have so far been discovered at Silchester and Caerwent.
The chirho monogram has been found in several places: worked into
mosaics; carved on building stones, rings, and lamps; and painted
on the walls of houses. It is found most frequently in southern
England. Excavations since 1947 in London, and from 1949 at the
Roman villa of Lullingstone, on the Darent, have revealed other
possible Celtic Christian remains. Christian symbols found at
Lullingstone house chapel are the earliest in any building in
Britain. Similar house chapels have been unearthed in Gaul.
The purpose of this chapter is to consider briefly the evidences
bearing on the origin of Celtic Christianity so as to form a
framework for the study of its beliefs and practices.
Among the precious remains in Scotland are the three Kirkmandrine
gravestones. Excavations at the east end of the church at
Whithorn have revealed what might well be a fifth-century place
of worship. Three possible Celtic Christian artifacts were
unearthed at Traprain Law in East Lothian. But these fragments of
archaeological evidence tell only of the presence of Christians
before the fifth century, they do not establish that an organized
Church existed, nor do they show any particular place of origin
for Celtic Christianity.
Written records of the presence of early Christians are extremely
meagre. The earliest statements are merely passing illusions by a
few church fathers. The first hint of a group of organized (314),
convened by the Emperor Constantine. Three bishops, a presbyter,
and a deacon are recorded as having come from Britain, but even
this statement is open to question. It should be stressed that
this council met independently of the bishop of Rome, who was not
present. A copy of its decisions was sent "fratri Sylvestro."
British clerics were also present at the Council of Rimini (359).
Three of them were so poor that they accepted financial aid from
the Emperor.
Gildas lamented that British Christians were plagued by Arianism,
while Germanus and Lupus are believed to have come to their aid
against Pelagianism. Germanus is believed to have returned with
Severus (444-5) at the request of British Christians, possibly to
help in their combat with Pelagianism, or perhaps to encourage
them to bear up under the blows of the Picts and Scots. Who
authorized these visits has yet to be established. But from the
middle of the fifth century nothing further was heard of British
Christians until the arrival of Augustine one hundred and fifty
years later. That Christians were in Britain during the fourth
and fifth centuries is known, but when or whence they came cannot
yet be established.
(The author lacked the knowledge or research into the early
arrival of Christianity into Britain, which has been established
by other authors and researchers, reproduced on this website -
Keith Hunt)
Scarcely had the tramp of the feet of the departing Romans died
away than the Picts and Scots surged into northern England. The
people fled, their farms ravaged, their homes in ashes. Decades
of fluctuating war and peace followed. About the middle of the
fifth century the desperate British leaders solicited help from
the pagan Saxons. Soon the guests from the Continent had become
the masters of England. When Augustine landed in Britain in 597
the country was virtually heathen. What Christians there were had
fled to the far west.
(Again the author was short on correct research into early
Christianity in Britain - Keith Hunt)
But even traces of these Christian settlements in Wales before
the coming of Augustine are slight and scattered. On the lonely
moors of Cornwall Christian settlers have left traces of their
existence in several caves. The Picts of southern Scotland
probably received the faith through the preaching of Ninian.
Ninian's name is embedded in several place-names scattered over
Scotland and the Western Isles.
The presence of Christians in Scotland during the fifth century
is also vouched for by Patrick's complaint to Coroticus that his
soldiers were "apostate." About a century after Ninian's death
Kentigern laboured in the region now known as Glasgow. He is even
more of a shadowy figure than Ninian. Jocelyn, his biographer,
confessed that he had found some things "contrary to sound
doctrine and the Catholic faith" in the old biography of
Kentigern. Being "grieved and indignant that the life of so
priceless a prelate ... should be tainted with heretical
passages", he rewrote his story, seasoning "the barbarous
composition with Roman salt." Ailred recorded that he had used
similar methods in his "Life of Ninian." This tendency of later
bagiographers must be kept in mind when seeking for the beliefs
and practices followed by early saints. The faith and works of a
sixth-century Celtic saint evidently appeared "contrary to sound
doctrine and the Catholic faith" to a pious writer of the twelth
century. What these "heretical passages" might indicate will be
considered later. When Columba arrived there were few, if any,
Christians still surviving in Scotland. It would appear that it
was from Ireland that the faith was successfully reintroduced
into Scotland.
But how Christianity came to Ireland in the first place is not
known. By the end of the fourth century a few representatives of
the faith had apparently reached its shores. The old Irish
writers had little doubt that there had been Christians in
Ireland before Patrick began his missionary work. Tirechan, in a
homily on the life of Patrick, mentioned archaeological remains
of liturgical objects, glass chalices under a stone altar. There
are also notices, in the Book of Armagh, of Christian clerics in
Ireland before the saint's arrival who later pledged the support
of their churches to Patrick. Patrick himself recorded that he
had laboured "to confirm the people". This might well mean those
previously baptized by others. He also noted that he had
travelled into pagan regions in which no Christian had previously
preached.
(Once more I state that the coming of Christianity into Britian
very early - during the first century AD can be found in
historical material, but most will not acknowledge it. It would
seem this author was one of them, if she even knew where to look
for such proof - Keith Hunt)
At the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth centuries
conditions on the Continent seem to have forced numbers to flee
westward. Kuno Meyer rightly pointed out that among these
refugees there were probably Christians. Virgilius Maro recorded
that Huns invaded the Goths with the result that the depopulation
of the entire Empire commenced. This was completed by the Huns
and Vandals and Goths and Alans, "owing to whose devastation all
the learned men on this side of the sea fled away, and in
transmarine parts, i.e. in Hiberial and wherever they betook
themselves, brought about a very great advance of learning to the
inhabitants of those regions" Ecclesiastical loan words modified
in Irish would attest such intercourse.
During the fifth and sixth centuries, while the Continent and
even Britain were ravaged by sporadic wars, Ireland in its
seclusion appears to have been the bastion of learning and
Christianity. During these troubled years many British students
received a kindly welcome and hospitable entertainment from the
Irish schools. The lot of Christians in Ireland was improved by
the coming of Patrick, a Briton, born of three generations of
clergy about 388. Patrick's grandfather was ordained a priest
about 325. The Christianity practised by Patrick's ancestors and
by the saint himself would reflect no further modifications in
faith and works than would be held by Christians generally,
during the early fourth century.
When Palladius, ordained and authorized by Celestine, came to
Ireland (c. 431), he "baptized a few in that place" and founded
three churches." But the "Irish already believing in Christ" did
not rally about Palladius, who withdrew from the island and died
during the following year. It seems that the attitude of the
Celtic Christians in Ireland towards the emissary of Pope
Celestine, was similar to that shown by the Celtic Christians of
England a century and a half later towards Augustine.
The churches which Patrick established in Ireland continued after
his death, but were apparently not many in number. Wilfrid
taunted Colman and his friends, saying: "Do you imagine that
they, a few men in a corner of a remote island, are to be
preferred before the universal Church?" And the letter of Pope
Honorius addressed to the Irish "earnestly warned them not to
imagine that their little community, isolated at the uttermost
ends of the earth, had a monopoly of wisdom over all the ancient
and new churches throughout the world" When the clerics at the
court of Alfred were trying to convert Adamnan to the Roman
practices, Adamnan "was earnestly advised by many who were more
learned than himself not to presume to act contrary to the
universal customs of the church, whether in the keeping of Easter
or in many other observances, seeing that his following was very
small and situated in a remote corner of the world. In his letter
to his superior at Iona, Cummian gave his reasons for deserting
the usage of the Celts in favour of that of Rome. He discussed
the unity of Catholic countries and contrasted them with "the
little party formed by the Britons and Scots, who are almost at
the very end of the world, and but a mere eruption, so to speak,
on its surface."
These charges could easily have been countered had the Celtic
Church had a large following. The picture that seems to emerge
from the sources is of a comparatively small band of enthusiastic
missionaries wielding an influence greatly disproportionate to
their numbers, doing a work quite out of keeping with their size,
and maintaining their zeal for an impressively long period.
The time during which British Christianity is lost sight of (450-
597), was an important one for the development of Western
Christian thinking. Many changes took place. It does not seem
likely that the recommendations of Nicea or the definitions of
Augustine and other great councils and teachers were known to
Patrick and the Christian communities he established. L. Gougaud
might well be right in thinking that there was no such thing as a
Celtic Church with a unified system of beliefs and practices.
Christianity in the far west of Europe during the unsettled
decades of the fifth and sixth centuries would concern itself
only with providing principles for a simple and helpful way of
life. With little centralized control communities would develop
their own emphases and views, and ecclecticism and pragmatism
would mark the early beliefs and practices of Celtic Christians.
As teachers developed, they interpreted the Scriptures as they
felt best.
..........
NOTE:
The author, and many others, did not research enough, or
deliberately refused what they saw in recorded history to prove
there was a large and vast Christian religion in the British
Isles centuries before the coming of the Roman church in 597 AD.
That history you can find in other studies on this website.
Keith Hunt
TO BE CONTINUED
The Celtic Church in Britain #2Missionary Workby Leslie Hardinge (1972)
The MISSIONARY OUTREACH OF CELTIC CHRISTIANITY
Bede's story of the Church in Britain brings his readers face to
face with the Celtic attitude toward evangelism. He records that
Augustine began his approach to the indigenous British Christians
"by urging them to establish brotherly relations with him in
Catholic unity, and to join with him in God's work of preaching
the Gospel to the heathen". But the Celts refused. This has been
interpreted as indicating their lack of zeal for the conversion
of the pagan Saxons. But conquerors have seldom been eager to
accept the religion of the conquered. The records suggest that
Celtic Christians at large were eager to propagate their faith.
This may be established from Bede's own records. And one of the
canons attributed to Patrick stressed that "one's country is
first to be taught, after the example of Christ; and afterwards
if it does not make progress, it is to be abandoned".
After his second attempt to persuade the Celtic Christian leaders
to co-operate with him proved futile. Augustine laid down his
ultimatum. Here is his final statement as Bede has preserved it,
and Bede's own comment on its result. Augustine invited the
British Christians "to join with us in preaching the word of God
to the English. But the bishops refused these things, nor would
they recognize Augustine as their archbishop". The last sentence
is the crux of the matter. The British Christian leaders would
not submit to Augustine. It was a matter of authority and not
merely of a lack of zeal for evangelism. To have complied with
the request for the former they evidently felt would have
amounted to submission to the latter.
Notwithstanding all this, one of the main characteristics of
Celtic Christians during the seventh century was the stress they
laid upon missionary activity. Far and wide the "pilgrims for
God" ranged the islands of the western seas, lashed by storms.
Their frail coracles bore them from Ireland to the land of the
pagans of North Britain, untamed in heathenism. Across into the
Continent ravaged by war, the representatives of the Celtic
Church carried the gospel. For the British evangelist "to voyage
over the seas, and to pace over broad tracts of land was not so
much a weariness as a delight", Gildas recorded. They often
embarked in the smallest of currachs, allowing the winds and
currents to bear them where they would. Some must have found
unmarked graves in the rough waters of the north Atlantic. With
no assistance from a missionary base at home, into lands unknown,
the pilgrim evangelists journeyed. They lived where they were
able to find shelter; they ate what they received from hospitable
strangers. Here is a story, although of a later date, which is
typical of any point during the period of Celtic missionary
activity:
Three Scots came to king Alfred in a boat without any oars,
from Ireland, whence they had stolen away, because they
desired, for the love of God, to be in a state of
pilgrimage, they necked not where. The boat in which they
came was wrought of two hides and a half, and they took with
them food sufficient for seven nights; and on the seventh
night they came to land in Cornwall, and then went
straightways to king Alfred.
And so Celtic Christians, in gratitude for the faith they had
received, travelled from their homes, "propter nomen Domini,
making always peregrinatio pro Dei amore."
Interest in this type of evangelism probably started in Ireland
through the influence of Patrick's example. His words must have
stirred the hearts of his people: "Who was it that called me,
fool though I be? ... that ... I should faithfully be of service
to the nation to whom the love of Christ conveyed me ..." This
labour, he affirmed, he had "learnt from Christ my Lord". He
looked back after his eventful life and testified that his only
reason for returning to Ireland was the gospel and God's
promises.
Those who revered Patrick's memory followed his lead. Later
Celtic preachers used arguments taken from biblical precedents
when advocating missionary enterprise. The "Old-Irish Life of
Columba" sketched the saint's career in the form of a sermon
probably read on the occasion of his festival. The speaker
introduced his theme by discussing the call of Abraham to go from
Ur to the Promised Land. He presented three reasons why similar
pilgrimages should be made in his time. God's grace might call
men to service in foreign lands; other missionaries might make
appeals; a "soul-friend" might suggest such a trip. To these,
three further reasons might be added: the ascetic urge to find
the "desert"; the Celt's love of adventure; or the expulsion of
those who maintained the old usages in face of the gradual
Romanization of the Celtic Church. These motives, singly or in
combination, scattered hundreds of pilgrim-missionaries into
distant lands. The movement probably started with Columba in 563.
Place names, and dedications of churches across Europe and its
islands demonstrate the extent to which these evangelists
travelled.
Columba's contribution towards the conversion of Scotland and the
accomplishment of his followers in Christianizing their Anglo-
Saxon neighbours is, from the viewpoint of world history, the
most momentous achievement of the Irish section of the Celtic
Church. In 563, at the age of forty-one, Columba left Ireland for
Iona with a dozen helpers.
King Bruide is credited with having given Iona to Columba as a
missionary base. From it Columba's followers and successors
spread their settlements into remote parts of Scotland, and out
to the western islands. And so the long task of bringing the
northern heathen tribes into the Christian fold began. But not
only did the Columban church reach out to evangelize Scotland, it
also spread its influence into England. By 632 Augustine's
disciple Paulinus, after founding an outpost of Christianity in
Northumbria, was forced by a rise of paganism and war to flee
south, leaving Hames the deacon to try to maintain the faith.
After the departure of Paulinus the Christianity in the north of
England passed into another phase. While Oswald had been in exile
at Iona, the brethren had instructed him carefully in "the
teachings of the Scottish church". When he became king, he
apparently disregarded whatever remnants of Kentish Roman
Christianity might still have remained, and sent to his old
friends at Iona for a missioner to instruct the Northumbrians in
the Celtic Christian faith. The first Celtic preacher to respond
was too exacting and met with little success before he returned
home disgruntled. The brethren at Iona held a council to discuss
their next move. One of their number made the point that the
spread of the gospel among pagans would be hastened by tact and
patience. The others noted his insight into the situation and
decided that he would be a suitable missionary. So Aidan was
immediately ordained and sent to Northumbria.
It was probably about 635 AD that Aidan arrived. As had Columba
before him, Aidan picked an island off the coast as his base. It
was from Lindisfarne that light penetrated pagan Northumbria. On
occasion King Oswald himself acted as Aidan's interpreter in the
work of evangelizing his subjects. From the north, Celtic
Christian beliefs spread into the kingdom of the Middle Angles,
and thence into Essex. Here Fursey from Ireland had pioneered
Christianity. The brethren of Lindisfarne spread the knowledge of
the cross from the Forth to the Thames. There were, however,
large areas of Britain which remained rough and pagan.
On the day Aidan died in 651, the young lad Cuthbert requested
entrance into the Christian community at Melrose. He was destined
to become the most illustrious missionary of that celebrated
settlement. Sometimes on horseback, more often on foot, Cuthbert
sought out distant villages and everywhere preached the gospel"'
leaving behind him "a fame which no Churchman north of the Humber
has surpassed or even rivalled". When the initial success of
Augustine and his followers failed to fulfil its promise, it was
the group of missionaries from Iona, establishing their base on
"the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, the true cradle of English
Christianity" that gave the faith a precarious foothold up into
Scotland and down into England.
Celtic missionaries also laboured on the Continent. About the
time Columba established Iona, Columbanus was born in what is
today Leinster. His first schooling was under Sinell on the
island of Clauin, in Lough Erne. He moved on to the Christian
school of Bangor on Belfast Lough, about 580, for further study
with Comgall. After he had been many years in the cloister he
longed to go into strange lands and with twelve companions
crossed England and reached Gaul. Preaching and teaching as he
and his friends were able, living and toiling with any who shared
hospitality with them, the Celtic clerics entered Burgundy the
next year. King Sigibert, grandson of Clovis, welcomed Columbanus
and gave the ruins of the ancient Roman castle of Anegray
(Anagrates) in the Vosges, as a site for the first Celtic
monastery on the Continent. Austere to severe, the regulations
which Columbanus drew up bound his fellows to rigid lives of
stern discipline. Their food was simple, their labours
exhausting, their devotions long sustained. Either refraction or
forgetfulness was immediately punished.
From this Christian household the salutary principles of religion
and education, the blessings of mercy and tolerance, the
disciplines of justice and righteousness flowed gently into the
turgid stream of Gallic life. Multitudes journeyed to listen to
the Irish teacher and stayed to believe. But opposition from
angry pagans and jealous Roman clerics drove them eventually
through the region which is today called Switzerland and on into
Italy. King Agilulf donated Bobbio to Columbanus. Here the
Irishmen built up a Christian settlement and laid the foundations
of what was to become the most famous Celtic house in Italy.
But not only did the missionaries from Ireland travel across
Scotland and down into England and on into the Continent, they
also turned their eyes northward. To the isles of the western
seas as far away as Iceland and beyond they sailed their tiny
craft. Maol Rubha, born into the same clan as Columba, crossed
into Scotland in 671 and established a settlement at Applecross
in the region known today as Ross-shire, between Loch Garron and
Loch Torridon. He preached both in Scotland and also in Skye and
other islands of the Hebrides. Dying in his eightieth year, Maol
Rubha left a reputation almost as glowing as that of the great
Columba himself.
Celtic pilgrims soon occupied islands lying to the extreme north
of Scotland. The ancient Norwegian chronicler noted that "these
islands were at first inhabited by the Picts and papae", and "the
papae have been named from their white robes, which they wore
like priests; whence priests are all called papae in the Teutonic
tongue. An island is still called after them Papey. But, as is
observed from their habit and the writings of their books
abandoned there, they were Africans, adhering to Judaism." Here
is a very early record of Celtic Christian settlers who were
accused of "adhering to Judaism". This expression is used to
indicate observers of the Jewish Sabbath. This evidence suggests
that early Celtic Christians followed this custom. These pioneers
were Christians who tenaciously held to their ancient beliefs and
had been banished by tyrants such as King Nectan.
(Ah yes indeed, the true Christianity brought to Britain in the
first century AD was a Christianity of 7th day Sabbath observing,
hence Rome accused them of Judaism and of being heretics - it is
recorded in history, the facts are there for those who will see
with their eyes - Keith Hunt)
From the outer Hebrides or from the northern Orkneys, or it might
even have been from Ireland itself, the Irish missionary-
settler-hermit-adventurers sailed up into the Atlantic looking
for a "desert" in which to fulfil their pilgrimage. The Irish
geographer Dicuil wrote (c. 825) that a priest had told him that
"for nearly a hundred years hermits dwelt, [in the Faroes] from
our Scottia (Ireland) ... But the Norsemen had slain every one of
them." So it was believed that as early as 725 Celtic settlers
had lived on the Faroes.
But not satisfied with these outposts in the ocean, more daring
pilgrims travelled on to Iceland:
But before Iceland was inhabited (by settlers) from Norway,
there were there the men whom the Norwegians call Parpar;
these were Christian men, and it is believed that they had
come from the west beyond the sea, because Irish books, and
bells, and croziers, were found (left) behind them, and many
other things besides, so that one might know they were
Westmen.
Olaf's Saga added "that they were Christian men, and had come
from the west beyond the sea". Theodoric observed in his
"Historia" that they were "very few" in number. The Norwegian
chronicler noted as of the date 872:
And then the land (which is now called Iceland) began to be
inhabited for the first time, except that a very few men
from the island of Ireland, that is lesser Britain, are
believed to have been there in ancient times, from certain
indications found; namely their books, and certain utensils.
While these Celtic pilgrims were not missionaries in the
strictest sense, even in death their books testified to
succeeding pagan peoples of the Christian faith which they had
professed.
The Celtic predilection for change occasionally was a source of
difficulty. The penitential of Cummean ruled against "any
wandering and unstable man", and decreed that he "shall be healed
by permanent residence in one place". There are records of trips
even to the Holy Land and Rome in later centuries. But these were
not always viewed with favour, as this quatrain in Old-Irish
suggests:
Going to Rome? Going to Rome? 'Twill bring no profit, only
trouble. The King thou there wouldst quest Not found shall
be, if he go not in thy breast.
A similar sentiment was expressed on the virtue of long journeys
in order to find God: "Since God is near to all who call upon
Him, no necessity is laid on us to cross the sea. For one can
approach the kingdom of heaven from every land." These sentiments
seem to reflect a swing away from a regard of pilgrimages,
especially to Rome, as ways for deepening devotion. There were
those who contentedly sighed:
All alone in my little cell without a single soul in my
company. Beloved pilgrimage before going to the tryst with
Death.
And it was for this that Cormac, son of Culennan, made his
choice, singing for many of his friends:
Shall I choose, O King of the mysteries,
After the delight of downy pillows and music,
To go upon the rampart of the sea,
Turning my back upon my native land?
Shall I be in poverty in the battle
Through the grace of the King, a King without decay,
Without great honour, without my chariot,
Without gold, or silver, or horse?
(Finian of Clonard was told by God's angel when desiring to go to
Rome "What would be given thee at Rome", saith he, "will be given
to thee here. Go and renew faith and belief in Ireland after
Patrick" (LSBL, 224). Does this mean that there had taken place
some sort of apostasy in Ireland after the passing of Patrick?
(See Todd, Patrick, 503) Gildas, David, and Cadoc are supposed to
have helped establish the second order of Irish saints)
Shall I launch my dusky little coracle
On the broad-bosomed glorious ocean?
Shall I go, O King of bright Heaven,
Of my own will upon the brine?
Whether it be roomy or narrow,
Whether it be severed by crowds or hosts -
God, wilt Thou stand by me
When it comes upon the angry sea?
Individual response to a divinely placed inner drive to spread
the faith, singly or in groups, impelled Celtic missionaries to
go forth. Without credentials or material support, self-reliant
and trusting in God they accomplished more than their numbers
would warrant. Spontaneity, lack of traditionalism, and
individuality were the features of this movement.
With the gradual Christianizing of the peoples of the Continent
the motives for making journeys outside Celtic lands changed. As
Roman Christianity spread during the seventh and succeeding
centuries, Celtic missionary pilgrims encountered more and more
representatives of the Church of Rome, and after initial
suspicion, and sometimes hostility, many eventually joined with
them.
But not only did this missionary and pilgrim travel in itself
indicate an important phase of the practice of Celtic Christians,
it also provided opportunity for a comparison to be made between
their beliefs and those of Roman Christian communities.
..........
To be continued
The Celtic Church in Britain #3Passover/Easter battle with Romeby Leslie Hardinge (1972)
THE CELTIC CHURCH AND THE SEAT OF ROME
Frequently the remark is encountered that Celtic Christianity had
no fundamental differences with Roman Christianity. This view
should be set against the ancient records of the contacts between
Celtic Christians and the representatives of the bishop of Rome.
Wherever and whenever these initially took place there was
conflict. By creed and temperament the Celts were seemingly
unable to adapt themselves easily to the suggestions of others.
Used to interpreting the Scriptures in their own way and
following their traditional manners, they were not immediately
ready to change.
Without consultation with them Augustine was granted jurisdiction
over the Celtic Christians by Pope Gregory. The Roman pontiff
ruled: "All the bishops of Britain, however, we commit to your
charge. Use your authority to instruct the unlearned, to
encourage
......
*Writing of Wilfrid and his training under the influence of
Lindisfarne, Margaret Deanesly said of the attitude of the Celtic
Church towards Rome: "There was no hostility, no suspicion, of
the see of Peter; ... Rome was a place of pilgrimage, very holy,
very distant" (The Pre-Conquest Church in England, 8;).
In contrast with this view Nora Chadwick stated the basic issues
thus: "The fundamental and far-reaching nature of this great
spiritual and intellectual contest between the Celtic Church and
the adherents of Roman usage can hardly be overestimated"
(Studies in the Early British Church, 14).
......
the weak, and correct the obstinate." In 601 Gregory sent
Augustine the pallium and a letter in which he declared: "You, my
brother, are to exercise authority in the name of our Lord and
God Jesus Christ both over those bishops whom you shall
consecrate, and any who shall be consecrated by the Bishop of
York, and also over all the British bishops." Two categories of
bishops are here noted, those to be consecrated under Roman
jurisdiction, and "the British bishops" of Celtic tradition.
Augustine was arbitrarily placed over the latter, but his
authority was not accepted by them. Gregory went as far as to
deny that episcopal authority existed among Celtic Christians.
"You", he assured Augustine, "are the only bishop"' of the Church
in England.
In opening his discussion with the leaders of the Celtic
Christians, the emissary of the bishop of Rome learnt to his
surprise that, besides a difference in the date for celebrating
Easter and the mode of tonsure, there were "certain other of
their customs ... at variance with the universal practice of the
church" A century later Bede noted that the Celtic Christians
differed from the Roman "in many other observances". These
consisted not merely of ritual, they included also "doctrine!?"
("disciplines ac moribus, rendered so by L. Sherley-Price).
At their second meeting the rift between the two parties widened.
The Celtic leaders consulted "a wise and prudent hermit", who
told them that Augustine must meet his Celtic brethren as equals
by rising to greet them. Should he fail to do this, the hermit
warned, "do not comply with his demands" It turned out that the
Italian remained seated and submitted four demands. The Celtic
"bishops refused these things, nor would they recognize Augustine
as their archbishop". The last sentence is vital. The Celtic
Christians were unwilling to submit to the authority of
Augustine, as the representative of the Roman Church, and by
their subsequent actions showed their determination to maintain
their independence.
Laurentius, who succeeded Augustine as archbishop of Canterbury,
also worked for unity with the Celtic Church. He "sought also to
extend his pastoral care to the original inhabitants of Britain,
and to the Scots of Ireland adjacent to this island of Britain.
For having learned that in their own country the life and customs
of the Scots and of the Britons were unorthodox ... he wrote a
letter jointly with his fellow bishops ..." This statement is
very important as it indicates two items: first, that early in
the seventh century the Celtic Christians in Ireland did not
differ in "life and customs" from their brethren in England and
Wales with whom Laurentius had closer contacts, and also that
Roman Christians regarded Celtic Christianity as "unorthodox". A
copy of the pastoral epistle has been preserved in which
Laurentius confessed:
Until we realized the true situation, we had a high regard
for the devotion of the Britons and Scots, believing that
they followed the customs of the universal Church; but on
further acquaintance with the Britons, we imagined that the
Scots must be better. We have now, however, learned through
Bishop Dagan on his visit to this island, and through Abbot
Columbanus in Gaul, that the Scots are no different to the
Britons in their behaviour. For when Bishop Dagan visited
us, he not only refused to eat with us, but even to take his
meal in the same house as ourselves.
Rome and its representatives were apparently unaware of the
actual beliefs and practices of Celtic Christians. It would seem
natural, therefore, that the Celts were also ignorant of the
peculiar beliefs and practices of the Roman Church. This fact is
fundamental to all study of life and works of the Celtic
Christians. They had lived for so long cut off from the Western
Church that they were unaware of the changes which had taken
place in theology and ritual. Commenting on the outcome of the
appeal made by Laurentius, a century and a quarter later, Bede
sighed that "the present state of affairs shows how little he
succeeded" Neither party would give way.
Even as late as the seventeenth century Cardinal Caesare
Baronius, Librarian of the Vatican (+ 1607) echoed the Roman
viewpoint. Laurentius, he said, laboured "with might and main for
the purpose of extricating the Britons and Scots from their
schism, and reconciling them to the Catholic Churchä." That this
difference was recognized as an actual schism at the time was
noted by Bede. He lamented that "even in our own days the Britons
pay no respect to the faith and religion of the English, and have
no more dealings with them than with the heathen".
With the enthronement of Theodore of Tarsus in 668 as the seventh
archbishop of Canterbury the cause of Roman Christianity received
its most successful champion. He was commissioned by the Pope "to
draw together a new people in Christ, and establish them in the
Catholic and Apostolical faith". Theodore's attitude towards the
Celtic Christians was shown both by his legislation and by his
actions. In the first canon of his famous penitential he
recommended that, "If one has been ordained by heretics, if it
was without blame (in the matter) he ought to be re-ordained".
That Theodore lived up to his own rules is witnessed by his
dealings with Bishop Chad who had been ordained with the help of
Celtic bishops and became an adherent of Roman usages:
During his visitation, Theodore consecrated bishops in
suitable places, and with their assistance he corrected
abuses wherever he found them. When he informed Bishop Chad
that his consecration was irregular, the latter replied with
the greatest humility: "If you consider my consecration as
bishop to have been irregular. I willingly resign the
office, for I have never thought myself worthy of it.
Although unworthy, I accepted it solely under obedience." At
this humble reply, Theodore assured him that he had no wish
to deprive him of his office, and completed his consecration
according to Catholic rites.
At the time of Chad's consecration, "Wini was the only bishop in
all Britain who had been canonically consecrated". His
consecration had been carried out in Gaul, evidently because in
665 the Roman party in Britain was still very small. Wini had
actually been assisted by two bishops in the consecration of
Chad. But Theodore regarded this consecration of Chad as
"heretical". Eddius, who denounced the Celtic Christians as
schismatici Britanniae et Hiberniae, sneered at Chad as having
been consecrated by Quartodecimans. He added a most revealing
detail, that Theodore "fully ordained Chad through every
ecclesiastical grade" to demonstrate the Roman feelings.
Theodore also ruled that baptism performed by Celtic clerics
should be regarded as invalid: "A person from among these
nations, or anyone who doubts his own baptism, shall be
baptized." Communion was restricted. "If any one gives the
communion to a heretic, or receives it from his hand ... he shall
do penance for an entire year"," Theodore further legislated. The
"heretics" with whom he had to deal were, in the main, Celtic
Christians.
About the middle of the seventh century, Ronan, a champion of the
Roman Easter, sought to bring Finan, a successor of Aidan of
Lindisfarne, into line with Rome. But Finan became a "more deter-
mined and open adversary of the truth", Bede regretted. When
Wilfrid, a student of Lindisfarne, returned from a visit to the
Imperial City, he was an ardent convert to Roman usage, convinced
that what he had learned in Italy "ought to be preferred above
all the traditions of the Scots". His biographer noted that
Wilfrid had discovered the correct computation of Easter "which
the schismatics of Britain and Hibernia did not know, and many
other rules of ecclesiastical discipline". About this time Eata,
Cuthbert, and other Celtic brethren were actually expelled from
their residence, and their settlement given to others. This
eviction took place from Ripon, which was then handed over to
Wilfrid (c. 661-2).
The story of the Council of Whitby (664) has often been told.
Against the arguments submitted by the representative of the
Celtic party, which Bede reported in a most fragmentary fashion,
while he devoted much space to those of the Romanizer Wilfrid,
the latter rudely replied to Colman: "The only people who are
stupid enough to disagree with the whole world are these Scots
and their obstinate adherents the Picts and Britons, who inhabit
only a portion of these two islands in the remote ocean." In his
summing up, Wilfrid was reported as having spoken patronizingly
of Columba and his pious successors. He declared that, were they
living, they would immediately accept Roman usages. He then
accused Colman and his friends of obstinate sin, adding:
For although your Fathers were holy men, do not imagine that
they, a few in a corner of a remote island, are to be
preferred before the universal Church of Christ throughout
the world. And even if your Columba-or, may I say, ours also
if he was the servant of Christ-was a saint of potent
virtues, can he take precedence before the most blessed
Prince of Apostles, to whom our Lord said: "Thou art Peter
..."
As a result of "Wilfrid's farago of fictitious tradition and
fabricated testimony", King Oswy was won over to the Roman side.
But the Celtic ecclesiastics, loyal to their faith, were prepared
to relinquish lands, homes, and positions, for what they regarded
as their faith. "Colman, seeing his teachings rejected and his
following discounted, took away with him all who still dissented
from the Catholic Easter and tonsure--for there was no small
argument about this as well - and returned to Ireland in order to
consult his compatriots on their future course of action."
There is something very moving about Colman and his faithful
companions, vanquished yet unconquered, leaving everything behind
them and setting out for an unknown place in which they might
worship as their consciences dictated. On the lonely island of
Inishbofin, "The Isle of the White Calf", off the coast of Mayo,
they established their new settlement. Fifty years after the
event Bede characterized the accomplishment of the Synod of
Whitby as "the exposure and banishment of the Scottish sect".
There was apparently no doubt in the historian's mind of the
schismatical nature of the Celtic Church.
Following the council of Whitby the cause of the Roman mission
prospered. Bede noted Wilfrid's achievement thus: "He introduced
into the English churches many Catholic customs, with the result
that the Catholic Rite daily gained support, and all the Scots
remaining in England either conformed to it or returned to their
own land." But while the initial victory had been gained at
Whitby and the Roman tradition accepted by King Oswy, it was not
without centuries of struggle that the Celtic party was finally
absorbed.
Aldhehn, abbot of Malmesbury, (+ 709) like Wilfrid a convert to
the Roman party, was also an ardent advocate of his newly found
faith. He complained in a letter to Geraint, king of Devon and
Cornwall, that:
beyond the mouth of the Severn the priests of Cambria, proud
of the purity of their morals, have such a horror of
communication with us that they refuse to pray with us in
their churches, or to seat themselves at the same table.
More than this, what is left from our meals is thrown to
dogs and swine; the dishes and bottles we have used have to
be rubbed with sand or purified by fire before they will
condescend to touch them. The Britons give us neither the
salutation nor the kiss of peace, ... and if one of us went
to live in their country, the natives would hold no
communications with him till after he had been made to
endure a penance for forty days.
He added his estimate that the teachings of these heretics were
not in accord with the Catholic faith.
Sometime about 768 the Celtic Christians of South Wales, that is,
Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, appear to have accepted the Roman
usages. Elbodus, bishop of Bangor, finally persuaded the people
of North Wales, that is modern Wales, to receive Roman traditions
(c. 777). Long ago Ussher published a poem of Taliessyn, "chief
of the bards" of the ancient Cymri, in which this conflict
between Roman and Celtic Christians is poignantly put:
Wo be to that priest ybom
That will not cleanly weed his corn,
And preach his charge among:
Wo be to that shepherd (I say)
That will not watch his fold alway,
As to his office doth belong:
Wo be to him that doth not keep
From Romish wolves his sheep
With staff and weapon strong.
But scattered remnants of stubborn Celtic Christians persisted in
their own ways until the eleventh century, when they were finally
absorbed by the Roman party.
Having considered the relationship of the Celtic Christians in
England and Wales with the See of Rome, it is necessary also to
study the case of Ireland. Cardinal Baronius entitled one section
of his Annals for the year 566: "The Bishops of Ireland,
Schismatics". He noted how the Irish Church, which had been
apparently thriving well "made shipwreck in consequence of not
following the bark of Peter which takes the lead of all".
For the year 604 Baronius added the opinion which was evidently
current in Rome:
It is quite plain that the Scots were also just in like
manner tinged with the same dark dye of schism as the
Britons, and guilty like them of separating from the Church
of Rome. And for this reason they were visited by God with
the same vengeance as came upon the Britons in being given
up for a prey to those inhuman savages, the Angles and the
Saxons.
There seems to be no reasonable doubt but that the cleavage
between Roman and Celtic Christians was very wide, and could not
be bridged without one party's giving way to the other.
The way southern Ireland was induced to conform with Rome came
about something like this. About 629 a synod was held at Campus
Lene (Magh Lene), near Tullamore, with Cummian the major advocate
of conformity. He tells the story in a letter to his superior at
Iona, listing the reasons why he left the Celtic traditions. He
related how he had consulted "our ancient fathers, Bishop Ailbe,
Kieran of Clonmacnoise, Brendan, Nessan, and Lugidus, what they
thought of our excommunication decreed by the Apostolic Sees". *
This sentence is clear. Rome had evidently anathematized the
Celtic Christians in Ireland sometime early in the seventh
century, possibly following their rejection of the appeal to
conform made by Laurentius. This would confirm the statement of
Baronius that the Celtic Christians "were separate from the
Church". Cummian sought to heal this hostility. The result of the
Synod of Campus Lene was that the majority agreement "that the
more worthy and approved practice, recommended to us from the
source of our baptism and wisdom, and by the successors of the
Apostles of the Lord", should be adopted. But Cummian and the
Roman party did not enjoy the success for thich they hoped. He
complained bitterly that "a certain whited wall" arose who caused
a revulsion of feeling, "who did not make both one, but caused a
separation and partly rendered void what had been agreed to; whom
the Lord, as I hope, will smite as seemeth him good".
To mend this further rift, Cummian persuaded some Celtic
representatives to journey to Rome to study the matter further.
The delegates returned about three years later when there was
another great Council of the people of Ireland in the White Field
(near Carlow), among whom there was contention about the
order of Pasch. For Laserian, abbot of the monastery of
Leighlin, to whom were subject one thousand and fifty monks,
defended the new order which came recently from Rome, but
others defended the old.
Fintan Manu, the venerable representative of the Celtic party,
urged the assembly to stay by the old order. "The people
therefore decided according to the opinion of the holy man and
returned home with joy." But even this decision was short-lived.
Pilgrimages to Rome had become common, and more and more Celtic
......
*Note Cummian's reference to "Apostolic Sees", sedibus
apostolicis. Later in his letter he mentions "the fourfold
Apostolic See, namely of Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch, and
Alexandria, in which there exists a perfect unanimity on the
subject of Easter". He was evidently unaware of any dominance on
the part of the Roman See.
......
Christians were influenced by Roman usages. That the union party
under Cummian achieved its aims is suggested by Bede, who wrote
of the year 635: "The Scots in the south of Ireland had already
conformed to the injunctions of the Bishop of the apostolic see,
and observed Easter at the canonical time."
The swing to Rome was precipitated by arguments similar to the
well-known one made by Cummian: "What more harmful ideas can be
held concerning our Mother the Church than if we are to say Rome
errs, Jerusalem errs, Alexandria errs, Antioch errs, the whole
word errs, but the Britons and the Scots are the only people who
think right?" A letter from the Bishop of Rome himself also
probably helped.
Bede has preserved the information that Pope Honorius also
wrote to the Scots whom he learned to be in error about the
observance of Easter, as I mentioned earlier.
He earnestly warned them not to imagine that their
little company, isolated at the uttermost ends of the earth,
had a monopoly of wisdom over all the ancient and new
churches throughout the world, and he asked them not to keep
a different Easter, contrary to the paschal calculations and
synodical decrees of all the bishops of the world.
John, who had just been elected pope, followed this up with an
earnest appeal:
[We] learned that certain persons in your province are attempting
to revive a new heresy from an old one, contrary to the orthodox
faith, and that they ignorantly refuse to observe our Easter on
which Christ was sacrificed, arguing that it should be observed
with the Hebrew Passover on the fourteenth of the moon".
The Pope concluded: "We therefore beg you not to rake up the
ashes of controversies long since burned out." And so the Celtic
Christians of southern Ireland capitulated and joined in
communion with Rome.
But for more than half a century northern Ireland continued to
hold out. Adamnan of Iona was the apostle of union. Recommended
by his brethren to study abroad, Adamnan left his island retreat
and travelled to England. At the court of his friend Alfred he
learned the Roman way of "keeping Easter and many other
observances". On his return to Iona, "seeing that his own
following was very small", Adamnan tried to lead his own people in
Iona and those who were under the jurisdiction of that monastery into the correct
ways that he had himself learned and whole-heartedly
accepted, but in this field he failed. Then he sailed over
to preach in Ireland, and by his simple teaching showed its
people the proper time of Easter. He corrected their ancient
error and restored nearly all who were not under the
jurisdiction of Iona to Catholic unity, teaching them to
observe Easter at the proper time. Having observed the
canonical Easter in Ireland, he returned to his own island,
where he vigorously pressed his own monastery to conform to
the Catholic observance of Easter, but had no success in his
attempts, and before the close of the next year he departed this life.
It was probably at the Synod of Tars (697) that northern Ireland
capitulated. But a further meeting was held in 704 to confirm the
decision. The ancient annalist recorded that:
In this year the men of Erin consented to receive one
jurisdiction and one rule from Adamnan, respecting the
celebration of Easter, on Sunday, the fourteenth of the moon
of April, and respecting the tonsuring of all the clerks of
Erin after the manner of St Peter, for there had been great
dissension in Erin up to that time; i.e. some of the clergy
of Erin celebrated Easter on the Sunday [next after] the
fourteenth of the moon of April, and had the tonsure of
Peter the Apostle, after the example of Patrick; but others,
following the example of Columbkille, celebrated Easter on
the fourteenth of the moon of April, on whatever day of the
week the fourteenth should happen to fall, and had the
tonsure of Simon Magus. A third party did not agree with the
followers of Patrick, or with the followers of Columbkille;
so that the clergy of Erin used to hold many synods, and
these clergy used to come to the synods accompanied by the
laity, so that battles and deaths occurred between them; and
many evils resulted in Erin in consequence of this, viz., a
great murrain of cows, and a very great famine, and many
diseases, and the devastation of Erin by foreign hordes.
They were thus for a long time, i.e. to the time of Adamnan,
who was the ninth abbot that took [the government of] Ia
after Columbkille.
But while the majority of Irish Celtic Christians accepted the
Roman traditions, there was apparently a sizeable minority that
continued to exercise independence. Even four centuries later, in
the time of Malachy O'Morgair, the Bishop of Rome had grave
misgivings about the way things were being carried on in Ireland.
In 1142 Malachy became abbot of Bangor and coarb of Comgal. His
great biographer, Bernard of Clairvaux, called him
an axe or a mattock casting down evil plantings. He
extirpated barbaric rites, he planted those of the church.
All outworn superstitions (for not a few of them were
discovered) he abolished, and wheresoever he found it, every
sort of malign influences sent by evil angels ... Moreover
in all Churches he ordained the apostolic sanctions and the
decrees of the holy fathers, and especially the customs of
the holy Roman Church.
This reform entered into all phases of the surviving practices of
the Celtic Christians. Malachy introduced the "canonical hours
after the fashion of the whole world ... For there was not such
thing before, not even in the city" of Armagh.
Some Celtic usages had evidently persisted long after outward
conformity to Rome had been achieved at the end of the seventh
century.
But the monks of Iona, and the other Christian settlements owing
allegiance to it, remained firm to their ancient traditions in
spite of Adamnan's persuasion. It was left to Egbert to bring
about the union of Iona with Rome. Egbert was an Englishman who
had been educated in Ireland. He vowed to become a pilgrim away
from his homeland, and resolved on a missionary journey into what
would today be called Germany. He was persuaded to change his
plans because of a vision granted to Boisil, to whom an angel
gave this directive: "Now go and tell him that, whether he wishes
it or not, he is to visit the monastery of Columba, because their
ploughs do not run straight, and it is his duty to recall them to
the right way." Egbert's mission was a success, for not long
afterwards the Scottish brethren who lived in the Isle of Iona,
and also the monastic settlements under their jurisdiction, were
induced to adopt Roman usages.
But while this might be the decision of the majority at Iona, the
matter was by no means settled. Rival abbots ruled side by side
for some time in the island. King Nectan was disturbed by these
divisons, and, having received a reply to a letter he had written
(c. 710) to Ceolfrid, abbot of Jarrow, explaining the Roman
traditions, he resolved to act. And so in 717 "the family of Iona
were expelled across the mountains of Britain by Nectan". To
those who had refused to comply exile beyond the Grampians was
decreed. Having brought about a clean sweep of the schismatical
element, the Roman cleric Egbert "consecrated the island anew to
Christ". But as in Ireland, so in Scotland, remnants of Celtic
Christians persisted until the coming of Margaret, the bride of
Malcolm, king of Scotland. This energetic queen soon set about
eradicating "wholly the illegalities that had sprung up in (the
church). For when she saw that many things were done in that
nation contrary to the rule of the true faith and the holy custom
of the universal church", she worked with the Celtic church
leaders to reform them. The queen finally offered the remnants of
these Christians, in Ninian Hill's terse phrase, "conformity or
Canossa". They prudently accepted the former, and eventually
disappeared from the British scene. By the Council of Windsor
(1072), Scotland was placed under the Archbishop of York; and
Lanfranc was as triumphant in Scotland as he had been in Ireland.
The weight of the arguments from the sources irrefutably show
that there existed fundamental and far-reaching differences
between the Celtic Christians and the Roman Church, which held
them as schismatics and heretics. Rome was ignorant of these
differences until the opening decade of the seventh century. It
seems reasonable that the Celts were also ignorant of the usages
and beliefs of Roman Christians. The rights and wrongs of the
situation are no concern of the historian. His purpose is to
discover what these differences were. These divergencies will aid
in shedding light on the actual beliefs and practices of the
Celtic Christians.
..........
NOTE:
DID YOU CATCH ALL THIS? CHRISTIANITY IN BRITAIN WAS WAY DIFFERENT
FROM THE CHRISTIANITY OF ROME. YES, IT WOULD BE, FOR CHRISTIANITY
HAD ARRIVED IN BRITAIN BEFORE THE DEATH OF THE APOSTLES, AS
PROVED IN OTHER STUDIES ON THIS WEBSITE.
HERE WE HAVE SEEN THE GREAT DIFFERENCE IN THE OBSERVATION OF THE
DEATH OF CHRIST - ROME'S EASTER OR THE TRUE PASSOVER ON THE 14TH
OF THE FIRST MONTH. THE CELTS HAD BEEN TAUGHT THE CORRECT WAY BY
THOSE COMING INTO BRITAIN TO BRING CHRISTIANITY IN THE FIRST
CENTURY AD. IT WAS NOW IN BRITAIN THE SAME OLD BATTLE AS IT HAD
BEEN BY POLYCARP AND POLYCRATES OF THE CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR,
WITH THE BISHOP OF ROME, WHO HAD IN THE SECOND CENTURY ACCEPTED
AND ADOPTED THE PAGAN EASTER.
THIS IS A VERY GOOD ILLUSTRATION AS TO THE SLOW BUT GRANDULE
DOMINATION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OVER THE WORLD AS
CENTURIES LATER INTO OUR 21ST CENTURY, WE HAVE THE WORLD ADOPTING
THE PAGAN CHRIST-MASS IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER, AND ALSO THE PAGAN
JANUARY 1ST AS THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR.
THE BOOK OF REVELATION MAKES IT CLEAR THAT ROME HAS MADE ALL
NATIONS DRUNK ON HER SPIRITUAL FORNICATION.
AS JESUS AND THE FATHER CALL OUT IN REVELATION "COME OUT OF HER,
MY PEOPLE, PARTAKE NOT OF HER SINS SO YOU WILL NOT PARTAKE OF HER
PLAGUES" AND AS SHOWN IN REVELATION, HER FINAL FALL AND SMASH TO
DESTRUCTION.
Keith Hunt
To be continued
The Celtic Church in Britain #4The Importance of Scripture
by Leslie Hardinge (1972)
ROLE OF THE SCRIPTURES
By far the most influential book in the development of the
Celtic, was the Bible. It moulded the theology and guided the
worship of the early Christians. It suggested rules of conduct
and transformed the ancient laws of Irish and Welsh pagans into
Christian statutes. It lay at the foundation of the education of
children and youth, and sparked the genius of poets and song
writers. It provided inspiration for the scribes of history and
hagiography and affected the language of the common people,
becoming the dynamic for the production of the most beautiful
hand-written books ever made. A study of the beliefs and
practices of the Celtic Church compels the historian to consider
the role played by the Bible in their development.
PATRICK
Let us begin with Patrick and the Bible. One of the most
arresting characteristics of the writings of Patrick is the
number of biblical citations they contain. Besides direct
quotations there are many phrases filled with imagery borrowed
directly from the Scriptures. In the short "Confession" and the
shorter "Letter to Coroticus," N. J. White has counted three
hundred and forty examples from fortysix books of the Bible.
Because of this Patrick was styled "the man of the lasting
language, i.e., the holy Canon". There is nothing in Patrick's
works which indicates his acceptance of the teachings of church
fathers or the canons of councils. He appealed solely to the
Scriptures in support of what he believed, practised, and
propagated: "The words are not mine, but of God and the apostles
and prophets, who have never lied, which I have set forth in
Latin. He that believeth shall be saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned. God hath spoken." This attitude, as will be
noted in the next chapter, is typical of the Celtic teacher. He
took for granted that the Bible was God's Word and could and
should be understood by all, and carefully obeyed. The "Hymn of
Secundus" eulogized Patrick's regard for the Bible as the basis
for his theology:
He finds in the sacred volume the sacred treasure ... Whose
words are seasoned with the divine oracles ... Whose seeds
are seen to be the Gospel of Christ.... He sings Hymns with
the Apocalypse, and the Psalms of God, On which also he
discourses, for the edification of the people of God;
Which Scripture he believes, in the Trinity of the sacred
name, And teaches the One substance in Three Persons.
(L.Bieler, "The Works of St. Patrick, p.64-65)
(The Trinity teaching of Patrick may not have been anywhere near
the same as the Roman church. We certainly do have three parts to
the present Godhead - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - the
Scriptures makes this very clear, but difining the three parts is
altogether another subject, that I have expounded on this website
in various other studies - Keith Hunt)
Gildas the Briton, possibly from Bangor-on-Dee, apparently
referred to no book but the Bible in "De Excidio," which, like
Patrick's works, is replete with quotations from the Scriptures
only. His citations show a thorough grasp of its meaning, and his
use of its imagery suggests that he was completely saturated with
its language. Gildas' copy of the Scriptures appears to have been
the "Itala."
Bede's testimony to Celtic missionaries was that they "diligently
followed whatever pure and devout customs that they learned in
the prophets, the Gospels, and the writings of the Apostles". And
of Aidan and his friends he added: "His life is in marked
contrast with the apathy of our own times, for all who
accompanied him, whether monks or lay-folk, were required to
meditate, that is, either to read the Scriptures or to learn the
Psalms. This was their daily occupation wherever they went."
Following the example of Patrick, Columba and Celtic Christians
for centuries made the Scriptures the foundation of their
studies. The Lives of the saints often vouch for the fact that
the Bible, and especially the Psalter, lay at the basis of their
teachings. St Samson, for example, was "very often immersed
(sensatus) in searching and in learning the Holy Scriptures". A
conclusion as to which biblical books were to be regarded as
canonical was evidently reached early in the story of Celtic
Christians, but it is not known when and by whom this decision
was made.
(Yes it is known and can be known, as other studies on this
website prove to you from history that the Gospel came to Britain
not many years after the death and resurrection of our Lord
Jesus. Hence as the NT formed so did the canon the the NT
Scriptures and the contact with Britain would maintain the Celtic
British church had the canon of the NT Scriptures as did the
first apostles and the apostle John who lived to near the end of
the first century AD. - Keith Hunt)
The Old-Irish glossator observed that certain unnamed heretics
had read the canon of the Old and New Testaments but had
perverted them. The Muratorian Fragment from the ancient Celtic
settlement at Bobbio, compiled about 800 from a much earlier
document, points to the interest of Celtic scholars in what were
inspired Scriptures. Jerome's list of the canonical books of the
Bible could hardly have reached Ireland before his Vulgate, which
was believed to have arrived there towards the end of the sixth
century.
(And all of that has nothing to do with true Christianity coming
to Britain shortly after the start of the NT apostolic church.
The days of Jerome and the Roman church in Britain is far from
the reality of true Christianity reaching Britain in the first
first century AD - Keith Hunt)
The Bible most popular with Christians of Celtic lands was the
Old Latin. It is called the "Itala." This version was
pre-Hieronymian, and similar to the recension known in Africa and
Gaul before 383.Patrick's New Testament citations may possibly
include two from the Vulgate, but it is probable that either
Jerome himself followed the Old Latin, or that the scribe, when
later copying Patrick's works, inadvertently inserted the version
he knew from memory. N. J. White called attention to the fact
that: "It is noteworthy that some of the readings found in St
Patrick's Latin writings suggest that he used manuscripts
emanating from south Gaul. In particular, there are several
remarkable readings common to him and the Latin translation of
Irenaeus." J. F. Kenney observed that, even though many of these
Gallican and African versions have perished, "the Irish were the
most important of the agents who have transmitted to us Old Latin
texts...." In the copy of the Pauline Epistles used by the
Wiirtzburg glossator, Colossians occurs between 2 Thessalonians
and 1 Timothy. A careful study of the sequence of the New
Testament books cited by Gildas shows that in his Bible
Colossians had this position too. This is also the case in the
New Testament in the Book of Armagh, and would seem to be
characteristic of the Scriptures used by the Celts. It is
interesting to discover that this is also a feature of the
African version employed by Augustine, Primasius, and Isidore of
Seville.
(What was going on in Rome, with Patrick, and the Celtic church
by the time Rome came to Britain about 500 AD has little to do
with the centuries before. By Patrick's time and certainly after
Rome came to Britain, much truth had been lost by not only Rome
but by Celtic Christianity, and the influence of Rome after 500
AD just perverted more of Celtic Christianity - Keith Hunt)
It is very likely that the copy of the version of the Hermit of
Bethlehem was first brought to Ireland by Finnian (+ 579), who
crossed the sea with "the law", for "it was Findia that first
brought the whole Gospel to Ireland", where its arrival caused
great rejoicing.
(Ireland was not England, Wales, and Scotland where true
Christianity first came not long after the death and resurrection
of our Lord Jesus - Keith Hunt)
The desire to use the purest version of the Bible, and to make
sense of it free from all speculation, is underlined by the
comminatory legend of Maelsuthain O'Carrol, "chief doctor of the
western world in his time". He was accused of interpolating
biblical passages with his own words and theories. Michael
summoned three of Maelsuthain's pupils and announced that he
would be "sent to hell for ever for this and other sins". The
three students flew to earth in the form of doves and warned
their unfortunate master of his impending fate. Maelsuthain
repented, vowing, "I will put no sense of my own into the canons,
but such as I shall find in the divine books." This is an
illustration of Celtic expositors' constant attempts, to make the
Bible its own interpreter, without recourse to the commentaries
of others, either of the fathers of the Church or of their
contemporaries.
(Yes some still had the courage to stand up to the Roman church -
Keith Hunt)
But with the Romanizing of the Celtic Christians the Old Latin
was gradually modified with phrases from the Vulgate. Of the
Gospels a well-developed "Irish version" finally evolved, in
which are readings not found in any surviving copy of the Old
Latin. These variant "versions" point to the individuality and
eclecticism of both scribe and exegete. When compared with the
deep regard for the sanctity of the holy Scriptures shown by the
early Celtic Christians, writers after the time of the Danish
invasions placed less and less stress upon the Bible and more on
tradition, eventually appealing to the fabulous and foolish. But,
before this interest in the authority of the divine oracles had
waned, the Old-Irish glossator emphasized that "the authority of
the word of God ... is greater than the word of men"? adding: "It
is not possible to doubt God's words, i.e., to say that what the
word of God may say should not be true. It will effectively
accomplish the work to which it is put. As pure silver is used
for some purpose, so with the words of the Lord, a deed is
effected from them at once after they have been spoken." The
Scriptures were accorded paramount authority, and were listened
to as the voice of the Holy Ghost addressing his people in the
character of a king upon his throne. An admonition which grew
from this view is voiced by Cummian in his penitential: "He who
takes up any novelty outside the Scriptures, such as might lead
to heresy, shall be sent away."
Even during the twelfth century, when the views of Celtic
Christianity had all but disappeared, the Bible was remembered in
eulogy:
One of the noble gifts of the Holy Spirit is the Holy
Scripture, by which all ignorance is enlightened, and all
worldly affliction comforted, by which all spiritual light
is kindled, by which all debility is made strong. For it is
through the Holy Scripture that heresy and schism are
banished from the Church, and all contentions and divisions
reconciled. In it is well-tried counsel and appropriate
instruction for every degree in the Church. It is through it
the snares of demons and vices are banished from every
faithful member in the Church. For the Divine Scipture is
the mother and the benign nurse of all the faithful who
meditate and contemplate it, and who are nurtured by it,
until they are chosen children of God by its advice.
(O'Curry, "Letures" - p.376-7, from the "Lebar Brecc")
Whence did the ancient Celtic Christians receive such a
veneration for the Scriptures? It probably came with their ideas
regarding th religious life. Cassian's (+ 435) influence in
western monachism shows the pervasive effects of his Collations
and Institutions. In a conversation which Germanus had with his
friend the Abbot Nestorus, Germanus inquired as to the best way
of expelling from the mind the notions of pagan authors. The
Abbot replied in effect: "Read the sacred books with the same
zeal that you read heathen writers and your thoughts will be
pure." And so the pious Christian bent his energies to mastering
the Bible. Cassian set aside the commentators and advised his
disciples to do the same; devoting their time to prayer, fasting,
and meditation, so as to reach an understanding of the
Scriptures, promising that God would reveal to them in their
dreams the sense of the passages which they thus considered.
Cassian also stressed the need for active labour of all kinds, to
be combined with a study of the Scriptures, as the best education
for life and eternity. So there developed schools attached to his
communities. The pupils were taught to read the Bible. They
practised writing by multiplying copies of parts of the
Scriptures. With this increasing stress on biblical studies
devotion to philosophy and pagan authors, and even the
commentaries of the early church leaders, diminished. As there
were no fixed criteria of criticism or interpretation, each
preacher and teacher was a law to himself in his expounding of
the Bible.
Of all Celtic lands Ireland became the cradle of this movement
towards this deeper study of the Scriptures. Many came from
Britain and the Continent to sit at the feet of the great Irish
teachers. A seventeeth-century poem by a Continental scholar, B.
Moronus, published by Ussher, eloquently pictures this trend:
Now haste Sciambri from the marshy Rhine; Bohemians now
desert their cold north lands; Auvergne and Holland, too,
add to the tide. Forth from Geneva's frowning cliffs they
throng; Helvetia's youth by Rhone and Saline
Are few: the Western Isle is now their home. All these from
many lands, by many diverse paths Rivals in pious zeal, seek
Lismore's famous seat.
Finnian founded the school at Clonard which earned this great
renown, and was said on occasion to have had three thousand
students. These Irish colleges trained ministers not only for
Celtic churches but also for some adhering to the Anglo-Saxons.
Agilbert, successor of the Roman missionary Birinus and
evangelist to the West Saxons, had fitted himself for more
proficient service by "studying the Scriptures in Ireland for
many years". Even Anglo-Saxon noblemen pursued their education in
Ireland in preparation for careers in their own church. In 664
Britain was stricken by the plague. While Ireland was also
afflicted, some regarded it as a safer place, and, arriving
there, devoted their time to "studying under various teachers in
turn. The Scots welcomed them all kindly, and, without asking for
any payment, provided them with books and instruction." And so a
love for the Scriptures was fostered and extended.
(And so while the Roman church did its dirty work of proclaiming
errors, falsehoods, man-made traditions, and claiming to be the
only true church, that founded by Peter - Keith Hunt)
It is significant that from Irish schools comes the earliest
surviving commentary produced in the British Isles, the Wurtzburg
glosses on the Epistles of St Paul. Bede's commentaries are lost;
Alcuin wrote only on Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews. M. L. W.
Laistner thus succinctly noted the contribution of Ireland:
The preoccupation of Irish scholars with Biblical exegesis,
which has sometimes been assumed without adequate proof, has
very recently been placed beyond doubt and shown to have
been intense and widespread ... Many of these productions
of the Irish show certain traits in common. Characteristic
phrases recur, there is a fondness for displaying erudition
by explaining the sense of words or names in Latin, Greek or
Hebrew. Above all, many stress the literal interpretation of
the Bible, a fact which to a great extent explains their
ultimate disappearance, because by the ninth century the
predominant trend in exegesis was to follow Gregory and Bede
and to lay the chief emphasis on the allegorical and moral
sense of Scripture.
(Ya Roman theology took its hold on Britain by the 9th century
and what little remained of true Christianity through the Celtic
church was fast being obliterated - Keith Hunt)
This literalistic attitude toward the Bible must never be lost
sight of in any study of Celtic Christian beliefs and practices.
While the earliest writers of the Celtic Church, Patrick, Gildas,
Adamnan, to mention three, made practically no use of
noncanonical books of Scripture, hagiographers and homilists
after the tenth century used the stories and imagery in them
freely. The Book of Enoch provided frequent inspiration: for
example, prayers were addressed to the seven archangels for each
day of the week, and reference was made to the seven heavens. But
there is no evidence that the writer has direct access to the
Apocrypha. R. E. McNally rightly summarized its role in Celtic
theology: "A careful study of the occurrence of the apocryphal
literature as source material seems to indicate that the Bible
commentators used it mainly to supply inconsequential,
imaginative details and almost never to displace the
traditionally Christian sense of Scripture."
But while the early Celtic writers quoted from neither councils
nor church fathers, during the seventh and succeeding centuries
more and more books must have reached the British Isles in the
satchels of peregrini. References from the following writers are
found in Celtic commentaries subsequent to the second half of the
eighth century, without, however, any acknowledgement of the
source being made, either to the author or to his work:
Ambrose - Commentary on St Luke and Hexaemeron.
Aquila - Commentary on the Psalms.
Augustine - City of God and De Genesi ad Litteram.
Cassian - Institutiones.
Gregory - Magna Moralia on John and Homilies on Ezekiel and the
Gospels.
Hilary - "Ambrosiaster", on St Paul's Epistles.
Isidore - Etymologiae and Sententiae.
Jerome - Commentaries. letters, De Viris Illustribus, and
translation of Origen.
Origen - in translation by Jerome and Rufinius.
Pelagius - Commentary on St Paul's Epistles.
Primasius - Commentary on St Paul's Epistles (?)
Prisian - Commentaries.
Symmachus - Commentary on the Psalms.
Theodore of Mopsuestia - Commentary on the Psalms
There are also allusions to the Irish commentators Mailoairmrid
and Coirbre by the glossators.
The later Celtic commentator borrowed indiscriminately. In that
gold-mine of his opinion, the Wurtzberg glosses in Old-Irish on
the Pauline Epistles, this is clearly manifest. Augustine was
quoted eleven times; Isidore five; Origen twenty-one; Hilary or
"Ambrosiaster" twenty-nine; Jerome one hundred and sixteen; while
there are one thousand three hundred and sixteen citations taken
directly from the arch-heretic Pelagius himself. Attacked by
Jerome, anathematized by the Bishop of Rome, preached against by
Germanus and Lupus, hounded from pillar to post, Pelagius was
strongly entrenched in the hearts of his own Celtic friends, who
ignored the prohibitions of councils and the proscriptions of the
fathers. His writings were used for centuries in Ireland, on
occasion, however, modified when not acceptable to the eclectic
theologians. Here is another instance of the independence of
Irish expositors, and a
(For discussion of the position of the Pelagian writings in the
Celtic Church see H. Zimmer, Pelagius in Inland, where all the
references are printed in full [pp. 40-112]. H. Williams argues
rightly that Pelagius was not held to be a heretic [if the Irish
even knew of his condemnation as such] in the Celtic Church; see
"A review of Heinrich Zimmer's Pelagius in Irland and The Celtic
Church in Britain and Ireland", ZCP iv. 3 (1903); cf. F. W.
Wasserschleben, Die irische Kanonensammiung, where the Irish
canons xviii, xix, quote Pelagius. This is further evidence that
Pelagius was regarded as valid authority by Irish Christians.
Pope-elect John (c. 640) appealed to the North Irish to give up
their allegiance to Pelagius. Some of them were evidently quoting
Pelagius freely)
defiance of the opinions of the broad stream of Western
Christianity.
The remarkable thing, however, about all these citations from the
fathers is that not one is used for defining doctrine, or as
authority for practice. They were employed because they aptly
expressed the thought which the commentator desired. As will be
noted, statements by various fathers are placed side by side.
Occasionally as many as five different views were presented, and
the reader or homilist is left to choose the one which he thinks
the best.
The decrees of ecclesiastical councils were also treated with
caution or indifference. When the canons of the Frankish synods
were quoted against Columbanus, he met argument with argument,
and cited in response the canon of the Council of Constantinople
which recognized the liberty of "the churches of God planted in
pagan nations, [to] live by their own laws, as they have been
instructed by their fathers" More than a century later Boniface
(+ 754) complained to Pope Zachary against Irish missionaries,
certifying that their leader Clement ignored the canons of the
Church, rejected the writings of the fathers, and despised the
authority of the synods. Ussher pointed out that Alcuin (+ 804)
had noted that some Irish theologians of his day put little
weight on authority and custom "unless some reason was added to
authority". This helps to tell us why the represenatives of the
Roman mission of Augustine were surprised that the Britons
differed from them in so many respects.
It would be well at this juncture to consider the methods used by
the Celts in biblical interpretation. It took many centuries of
trial and error before Western Christianity devised techniques,
and so it is not surprising to find among the Celts several
different ways of explaining the Bible. Cassian, whose influence
has been noted, declared that the narrative of the Scripture,
usually easily understandable in its historical sense, ranked
lowest. To the questing student the allegorical meaning lay
beneath the surface, and finally, deeper still, the anagogical
significance was the richest. But among Celtic commentators there
is discernible no systematized form of exegesis.
Most often the simple historical sense alone was taken. On the
psalmist's reference to "enemies" the comment was, "These are the
Moabites, Ammonites and Idumeans". The commentator read Psalm 108
and applied it to the days of Hezekiah, noting that the "fool"
referred to Sennacherib. St Paul's prediction of the "falling
away" was taken to refer to the departure of the Empire from the
Romans. The Celtic expositor was evidently unaware that this had
already taken place when he penned his comment in the seventh or
eighth century. "Thorn in the flesh" was explained as "headaches"
In these examples, which are part of hundreds which might be
cited, what was considered to be the simple historical purport of
the text was drawn from the biblical terms.
The historical meaning was occasionally used in combination with
the allegorical. On the Apostle's allusion to the different calls
played on a trumpet, the homilist noted that this referred to
speaking, for "unless the foreign language is distinguished and
translated, no one who hears it understands". Does this comment
indicate that in parts of Ireland worship, or perhaps preaching,
was carried on in the vernacular? One more instance of the
allegorical method will suffice. On St Paul's reference to
"leaven" the glossator remarked: "As it was forbidden to put
leaven in bread at the feast of the lamb, so it is not right that
there should be any of the leaven of sin in the feast of the
Lamb, i.e. Christ" The literal meaning or story (stoir) is
contrasted with the allegorical (sens), or sometimes with the
secret or mystical significance (ruin or run).
Very rarely a threefold system of interpretation was used,
namely, the literal meaning (stoir), the mystical or allegorical
meaning (sians or sens), and the moral or tropological
significance (morolus). Sometimes a fourfold system was employed,
but this was rare. The commentator applied the narrative twice.
There was a first application to the time of the biblical writer,
and a second was made to later Hebrew history. Here is the
Old-Irish expositor's philosophy of hermeneutics:
There are four things that are necessary in the Psalms, to
wit, the first story (stoir), and the second story, the
sense (siens) and the morality (morolus). The first story
refers to David and to Solomon and to the above-mentioned
persons, to Saul, to Absalom, to the persecutors besides.
The second story to Hezekiah, to the Maccabees. The meaning
(siens) to Christ, to the earthly and the heavenly church.
The morality (morolus) to every saint.
While there existed a Western Christian fourfold method of
interpretation, this Celtic system was different, perhaps evolved
from that of Theodore of Mopsuestia. Columba was believed by his
biographer to have had a sytem somewhat akin to this:
He divided a division with figures, between the books of the
law, i.e. he divided a division with allegorizing between
the books of reading or of Lex. i.e. of the Law of each, the
Old Law and the New Testament, i.e. he used to distinguish
history (stair) and sense (sians), morality (morail) and
mystical interpretation (anogaig).
That this Celtic technique was regarded as a good one is
suggested by the poem attributed to Airbhertach (+ 1016):
Four things in the Psalms (pure counsel), the first story, the
second story (stair),
There are found in them (it is not falsehood!) noble sense
(sians) and morality (moralus),
It is with these that the first story is with Solomon.
With the persecutors of the hosts, with Saul, with Absalom. The
second story which is here declared refers to Hezekiah, to the
People,
To the Kings (excellent the fame!), to Moses, to the Maccabees.
The meaning (siansa) of the Psalms, with their divisions, to Holy
Christ, to the Church;
The morality after that severally to every just one, blessed
vigil-keeping.
The Celtic expositior was seeking a method of construing the
meaning of the Scriptures in a practical way. "The second story"
points to the application of the original biblical message to a
later generation, that is, the message of the Pentateuch, the
Books of Joshua and judges, and even the writings of 1 and 2
Samuel, point to later periods and persons, such as Hezekiah and
the people of Israel. The third stage of significance, called the
meaning (siansa) drew attention to Christ and his Church. The
fourth and final application was "to every just one". This Celtic
fourfold division, quite different from the quadriform system
which developed in the Western Church, was concerned with
pragmatic issues. How the message of the Scriptures could be
applied to the needs of the Christian was the concern of the
Celtic homilete.
AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE
A careful study of the glosses in the Wurtzberg commentary
demonstrates that biblical exegesis shows a great reverence for
the antiquity and authority of the Scriptures. No desire is
anywhere detectable in the Celtic expositions to formulate a
system of dogmatic theology. There is little or no curiosity or
speculation regarding obscure passages. But there is a
tranquillity, a complete absence of controversy pervading the
study of the oracles of God. The interpreter was preoccupied with
the spiritual and the practical, and sought to make this plain.
ORIGINAL LANGUAGES
There is little evidence that Celtic theologians, as a whole, had
any great knowledge of the original languages of the Bible, but
there are indications that a few readings from the Hebrew and
Septuagint were known. The eighth-century old-Irish glossator
occasionally observed - "so far the text of the Hebrew version",
and, "this is the translation of Jerome, and he is commenting on
... the version of the Septuagint". But these readings probably
Teached Celtic scholars through the writings of commentators
after the seventh century, since, as has already been noticed, it
does not appear probable that these works would have preceded the
arrival of the Vulgate.
(Again the true early fact of the first century is that Greek was
known and spoken in Britain. Greek was the common language of the
Roman empire. The LXX was in print, the NT writings in Greek
would have made their way into Britain in the first century AD
when Christianity was brought to England and the Celtic people.
By the 5th,6th,7th century all this may indeed have become lost,
as the influence of the Roman church tookover the land of Britain
- Keith Hunt)
Greek and Hebrew words are sprinkled over the commentaries. The
Celt was "interested in etymology." Often, apparently with
several works before him, he selected what appealed to him from
each: "This is the etymology which Isidore says ..." He then
added, "Sergius, however, gives another sense ..." And still
farther, "Cassiodorus, however, gives another sense, to wit ..."
And then, "Ambrose, however, says ..." The glossator gave his
readers this warning on semantics: "It does not behove us to add
to the Holy
(KM, Hibernica Minora, 31 : "Question. How is their meaning
arrived at? Not difficult. There is found a Greek neuter noun,
[Greek] functio is its interpretation. It receives the Greek
Preposition 'dia,' with a sense of separating, so that it makes
[Greek], and disiunctio is its interpretation, to wit, separation
of the sense and the purport and the author and the form that are
in the psalms. 'Diapsalma' is put to separate anything that has
been joined together by misreading, The same noun also receives
the Greek preposition [Greek], which, interpreted, is 'cou,' so
that it makes [Greek] which, interpreted, is 'con', so that it
makes [Greek] which, interpreted, is 'coniunctio'. 'Sympsalma' is
put, to join together anything that has been separated by
misreading")
Scriptures from without, for whenever the author lets out a word
on his mouth, there is a word in his mind that answers to it."
Sometimes the commentator was working either with a poor copy or
with a limited knowledge of Greek, as illustrated by his note on
St Paul's "labouring, i.e. making ropes". He mistook (Greek),
tents, for (Greek), ropes. That he was more intent on applying
the passage under discussion to the spiritual needs of his
hearers is demonstrated by the gloss on the Apostle's statement
in 1 Cor. 15.53: "Whether in the active or the passive it should
be done. Whether the verb induo ends in 'b' for the active, or in
'r', induor, for the passive, there is passivity on the part of
the one who submits to God." His interest in grammar is shown by
the comments on 'wicked': "i.e. to the adjective, i.e. a
substantive, i.e. a substantive is not added to them, because the
Psalms were sung in metre. The sense demands it, though the metre
does not allow the substantive to be added to the adjective.
There is a slight indication that the expositor on Ps. 30.9 had
some knowledge of the Hebrew (kdphdr) in his explanation: "he
covered up and forgave their sin, and reckoned it not as a
reproach unto him". From these illustrations, and very many more
might be added, the conclusion seems inescapable that the
Old-Irish commentators had only a limited knowledge of Greek and
Hebrew words, and that they probably gained this from the
writings of others.
(In the first centuries AD this was probably not so. Much was
lost by the time the Roman church entered Britain and certainly
thereafter - Keith Hunt)
PREACHING
Preaching, in harmony with the divine command, was an important
means by which the Celtic missionaries, Patrick and Columba,
Columbanus and Aidan, spread the gospel. There are scores of
allusions to preaching in the Old-Irish glosses, and even in
biblical passages in which there are not any apparent suggestions
of preaching, the Celtic homilete saw some. Illustrations might
be multiplied. It seems reasonable to suppose that these notes
represent the views of preachers, as they prepared to address
their congregations or to teach their theological students or
catechumens.
* "Preach" - Whether any one likes it or dislikes it, preach to
him. 2 Tim. 4.2, TP 1, 696.
"Speak we" - It is Christ we preach, 2 Cor. 2.17, TP 1, 597.
"Sentence or answer" - We had the death of Christ for a subject
of preaching. 2 Cor. 1.9, TP 1, 592.
"Grace" - The grace of teaching or preaching; for it was to
preach to all that I received this grace. Rom. 15.15, TP 1, 539.
"Keep under" - Through preaching, and not accepting pay. 1 Cor.
9.27, TP 1, 556.
That the cleric strove to make his discourse as pleasant as
possible is indicated by his ideal of preaching as "a stream of
eloquence of speaking with the grace of sweetness upon it".
The thousands of Irish glosses written between the lines of
biblical manuscripts or commentaries on books of the Bible were a
sort of midrash on the text. In his introduction to Psalm 9 the
glossator has left a record of his methodology: "It is customary,
then, in this book to say the words of the psalms, and then words
are brought in from this commentary to complete the psalms." The
fact that these twelve thousand comments are written in OldIrish
would point to preaching in the vernacular. The expositor or
preacher used these notes as reminders of the thoughts he wished
to convey when he was actually before his listeners. The comments
are, for the most part, very short, their ideas greatly
condensed. The teacher was free, then, to discourse as he
pleased. Sometimes as many as five different interpretations are
found on a single passage. The remarkable point about this is the
complete absence of anything fixed or dogmatic. There is nothing
partisan. A. W. Haddan long ago noted that "The difference
between [Ireland] and other parts of the Church, lay chiefly in
her possessing a wider and more self-grown learning, and in the
consequent boldness and independence of her speculations".
An unknown Irish teacher has left a brief treatise on what he
considered were the steps in sermon construction.t It is embedded
in a fragment of an Old-Irish work on the book of Psalms. The
homilete desired his students to concentrate on clarity above
all, and to couch his thought in short words. Topics should be
chosen
*On Ps. 68.:g the glosses are: "He is here commenting on the text
of Symmachus. Mailgaimrid cecinit: ... of the birth whereby he
was born of the Father before every element, though it is not
easy to get that out of the commentary; for as the sun is prior
to the day, and it is the day that makes clear everything, so the
birth of the Son from the Father is prior to every element; i.e.
he considers Oriens here as a name of God. He was here a
commentary on ad orientem. Mailgaimrid : ab initio, i.e. of the
generation of the Son by the Father." TP t, 285.
+ "Question. What is argumentum? Not difficult. Acute mentis
inventum, 'a sharp invention of the mind', or acutum inventum, or
'a sharp invention'. There is a word arguo, that is ostendo.
Argumentum, then, ostendio 'showing'.
Question. For what use were arguments invented? Not difficult.
To set forth through stout words the sense which follows, ut
dixit Isidorus: Argumenta sunt quae causal rerum ostendunt. Ex
brevitate sermonum longum sensum habent.
To rivet attention and divisions of the theme should enable the
hearers to pursue the subject, without distracting digressions.
Diligent and acute thought was to be employed to gain new
insights. This is certainly an excellent piece of homiletic
instruction! It is endorsed by the glossator, of about the same
period, in his explication of the Pauline use of the word
"tongues": "Translating from one language into another, like
Jerome and the seventy interpreters: or, to draw forth hidden
meanings from single words, and then to preach from them
afterwards, as is the custom of preachers."
Most of the surviving sermons, however, simply consist of an
elucidation of the text of Scripture. A passage might be read
from the Gospels, or the Epistles, or the Psalms. The homilete
would then make a few germane remarks. His purpose was twofold:
firstly, he wished to convey the intent of the author of the
biblical passage; secondly, he desired to make its application
helpful in the daily lives of his hearers. An example is found in
the second of the three lives of Patrick. The speaker opened his
homily by reading, in Latin, the directive of our Lord to the
Apostles, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing ..."
On this text he expatiated as follows:
Meet is the order, teaching before baptism. For it cannot be
that the body should receive the sacrament of baptism before
the soul receives the verity of faith.
"All nations", that is, without acceptance of persons.
"Baptizing them", that is, men of the Gentiles. "In the name
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost." "In the
name", he saith, not "in the names". Here is set forth the
Unity and Trinity of Persons. For the singularity of "name"
expresses Unity. But the diversity of appellations indicates
the Trinity. "Teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you." An especial order: He directed the apostles
first, to teach all nations, and then to baptize them with
the sacrament of faith, and in favour of faith and baptism,
to enjoin all things that were to be heeded. And lest we
should think that the things
"Question. For what use were divisions distinguish the sense
which follows."
"Question. What then is the difference between the argument and
the title? Not difficult. The arguments were invented to set
forth the sense that follows, ut diximus: Titulus to illustrate
the cause and occasion at which the psalm was sung." KM, op.
cit., 29.
Ordered were few and trifling, be added: "All that I have
commanded to you", so that they who have believed and been
baptized in the Trinity may do all that bath been enjoined.
"And lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the
world", as if he would say, "This is your reward", and as if
he had said, "Fear not to go into the world and to be
harassed with tribulations, for my help will be present to
you therein, even to the end of life, in doing signs and
miracles." The apostles fulfilled [this], and so forth.
This is not profound exposition, but it is preaching in slow
motion. The thought, as some precious stone, is held up before
the listeners, and slowly turned around in the hands of the
speaker as he describes its various facets. There is little
movement, no rush of ideas. There is, however, a devotional study
of the implications of Scripture to aid practical piety.
J. Strachan long ago published one of the very few genuine
OldIrish homilies which have survived. It was evidently addressed
to a group of Christians as an encouragement to more joyous
adoration of God and a deeper devotion to the virtues of
Christian living. It begins with a short, direct introduction in
the form of a statement of purpose. This would be natural before
a congregation assembled for their regular service of worship.
Here is what an outline of this sermon might have looked like as
it lay on the lectern before the Celtic preacher:
Introduction: The Christian must be thankful to God.
1. It is REASONABLE to be thankful for all God's blessings.
i. Creation praises its Creator.
ii. Sinners have cause to praise their Saviour.
iii. Christians naturally praise God.
11. It is a DUTY to be thankful for all God's blessings.
i. God abides with the righteous, and expels the devil, who
dwells in the wicked world.
ii. The emancipated Christian will praise God from his heart.
111 Upon WHAT may he expect God's Blessing?
i. Upon all he possesses - animate and inanimate, for without God
life is hell, with him, heaven.
(a) What is hell like?
(b) What is heaven like?
ii. What will be the RESULT of abiding in
(a) the atmosphere of hell?
(b) the atmosphere of heaven?
Conclusion: Let all enter into a relationship with God in which
blessings - now and ever-will result.
Imagination and extempore speaking filled in the details.
The way in which the Irish preacher went about developing his
theme was simple and direct. Following his opening statement,
which was an unadorned declaration: "We give thanks to Almighty
God, Lord of heaven and of earth, for his mercy and for his
forgiveness, for his charity, and for his benefits which he has
bestowed upon us in heaven and on earth", the preacher read Ps.
145.10 in a Latin version which differed from that of Jerome.
This he immediately translated into Old-Irish for the benefit of
those of his hearers who did not understand Latin. He took up the
first idea, "All Thy works ..." and went on to demonstrate how
all creation praises the Creator. He then cited Ps. 103.22, and
translated it, developing the thought that even sinners are not
without divine blessings, and quoting what appears to be a
paraphrase of Acts 17.25, which he translated into Old-Irish.
Since God is good and distributes his benefits to righteous and
wicked alike, he is worthy of praise. There follows a list of the
attributes of God. He is eternal, omnipotent, the creator and
sustainer, the nourisher and gladdener, the illuminator, ruler,
teacher, giver of the law, and judge of the world.
His second main point demonstrated that it was a duty for the
Christian to praise God. He quoted from St Peter and then
paraphrased the apostle's words, "the man who thanks God for his
grace and benefits is a fee simple estate to the King of all".
God abides in him while the devil dwells in the ungrateful. The
speaker then underlined the latter thought by a further citation
from St Peter, and remarked that the devil possesses the
ungrateful. It is for this reason that we should "give thanks to
God for his innumerable benefits". This Latin passage is
translated, or rather paraphrased.
His third point is a discussion of the objects upon which God
bestows his benefits. He listed the blessings of nature, the sun,
rain, and ripening grains. He then moved without a pause into:
"For he who receives Christ's folk, it is Christ whom he receives
therein; as He himself says, Qui vos recipit the recipit, qui vos
spernit the spernit", which he translated into Old-Irish. In
three ways he repeated this thought without any amplification or
exegesis, which is almost completely absent from his discourse.
He then dilated on the "likeness of the kingdom of heaven and of
hell in this world". Hell he illustrated by winter and snow,
tempest, cold, age, decay, disease, and death. Heaven he pictured
by fair weather, summer, blossom, leaf, beauty, feasts, feats,
prosperity. But there was an even severer form of hell to which
sinners will be condemned on the day of doom when Christ bids
them "Depart ..." This, too, was said in Latin and Irish. The
preacher was moved by his theme into giving a terrifying
description of hell:
Its site is low, its surrounding is strong, its maw is dark,
its dwelling is sorrowful, its stench is great, its monsters
are everlasting, its surface is [rough], its soil is
unfruitful, it is a cliff to restrain, it is a prison to
keep, it is a flame to burn, it is a net to hold fast, it is
a scourge to lash, it is an edge to wound, it is night to
blind, it is smoke to stifle, it is a cross to torture, it
is a sword to punish.
There is no attempt to present a biblical view of Hades. He
allowed his imagination to carry him away. He next presented a
list of things the Christian might do to avoid hell: "Labour and
study, fasting and prayer, righteousness and mercy, faith and
charity," were his prescriptions. To those who are faithful in
all these things Christ will one day say, "Come ye blessed ..."
This statement he gave first in Latin and then in translation.
The speaker then came to his final paragraph, which was an
appeal: "One should, then, strive after the kingdom of heaven."
This was unlike the present world, which he then went on to
describe in the most lurid language:
It blinds like mist, it slays like sleep, it wounds like a
point, it destroys like an edge, it burns like fire, it
drowns like a sea, it swallows like a pit, it devours like a
monster. Not such, however, is the kingdom which the saints
and the righteous strive after. It is a fair blossom for its
great purity, it is a course of an ocean for its great
beauty, it is a heaven full of candles[?] for its exceeding
brightness, it is a flame for its beauty, it is a harp for
its melodiousness, it is a banquet for its abundance of
wine.
He finally reached his peroration which consisted of an
ascription of praise to God for his goodness and mercy to all
mankind.
Blessed is he who shall reach the Kingdom where is God
Himself, a King, great, fair, powerful, strong, holy, pure,
righteous, keen, ... merciful, charitable, beneficent, old,
young, wise, noble, glorious, without beginning, without
end, without age, without decay. May we arrive at the
Kingdom of that King, may we merit it, may we inhabit it in
saecula saeculorum. Amen.
CELTIC ANALYSIS
No analysis of Celtic preaching has been attempted before. If
this is typical it reveals several interesting qualities. The
portions taken from the Scriptures were either read or cited from
memory from the Old Latin version, which, as is usual, contained
texts differing from the Vulgate. The quotations in this short
homily, nine in number, form a considerable part of the
discourse, since they were cited, and then translated, and
finally paraphrased. The preacher was ready to indulge in vivid
descriptions, allowing his imagination to suggest the qualities
of heaven and hell usually supplied in the Bible, and also the
attributes and activities of God; the items upon which the
blessings of God rested and the snares of the kingdom of this
world and the wonders of the kingdom of heaven. His introduction
was brief to the point of abruptness. His conclusion consisted of
both ascription to God and appeal to his fellows. The atmosphere
of the homily is quiet, simple, meditative, sincere, and
practical. It is easy to follow. It displays no interest in
theology as such, and is purely devotional.
Besides the homily, a question-and-answer method was common with
Celtic teachers, as even a cursory perusal of the sources will
reveal. The Irish catechist, as well as the hagiographer and
compiler of annals, would often, and abruptly, ask a question, to
which the response, psychologically suggestive, was generally
"the answer is not difficult". Simple biblical tests were also
employed. An eighth-century text, found in the monastery of St
Gall, is an
*Col. 2.11, TP t, 672: "Circumcision - -Question: What is the
circumcision of Christ? The answer is not difficult: It means his
death and burial; it is these that effect a circumcision from
vices."
ALI IV, 365: "Question: What is the penalty of wounding a virgin
bishop? Answer: Three victims to be hanged from every hand that
wounded him; half the debt of wounding is paid for insulting
him."
"example of medieval Bible study undertaken independently of the
Fathers:"
Who died but was never born? (Adam)
Who gave but did not receive? (Eve, milk)
Who was born but did not die? (Elias and Enoch)
Who was born twice and died once? (Jonas the prophet, who
for three days and three nights prayed in the belly of the
whale. He neither saw the heavens nor touched the earth)
How many languages are there? (Seventy-two)
Who spoke with a dog? (St Peter)
Who spoke with an ass? (Balaam the prophet)
Who was the first woman to commit adultery? (Eve with the
serpent)
How were the Apostles baptized? (The Saviour washed their
feet)
This series of questions might reflect "the academic method of
the day, though it may be nothing more than a parody on the
disputatio of the early medieval Bible schools". It obviously
reflects a time when precise knowledge of the facts of the Bible
was becoming blurred!
(Oh you bet the facts of the Bible were by this time becoming
blurred - truth was being overrun by error and false teachings
and ideas from the church of Rome - Keith Hunt)
TEN COMMANDMENTS
But while the Celtic theologian was keenly interested in the
whole of the Scriptures, his preoccupation with the Ten
Commandments was even deeper. The earliest Christian service
included a recitation of the Decalogue. It might well be that
Pliny's statement that Christians bound themselves by an oath not
to kill or steal reflected his understanding of the meaning of
the repetition of the Ten Commandments in the Christian liturgy.
If this be granted, then "this will explain both the sudden
decision of the Jewish authorities to omit the Decalogue from
their daily service and the great prominence accorded to it in
early Christian literature" The Christianity practised by
Patrick's parents and introduced by him into Ireland was
characterized by a profound respect for the Ten Commandments.
Antinomianism and anti-Semitism had not succeeded in banishing
the Decalogue from Britain. In his comment on the word "teachers"
the Old-Irish glossator observed: "That they might be engaged in
framing laws with kings". This was an allusion to the tradition
that the Brehon code of Ireland was revised under the direction
of Patrick. The introduction of the Senchus Mor contains a
prophecy of an early Irish sage which underlines the point of
view of Celtic Christians that the Decalogue was part of what
they regarded as their code of conduct:
They had foretold that the bright word of blessing would
come, i.e. the law of the letter; for it was the Holy Spirit
that spoke and prophesied through the mouths of the just men
who were formerly in the island of Erin, as he had
prophesied through the mouths of the chief prophets and
noble fathers in the patriarchal law; for the law of nature
had prevailed where the written law did not reach.
This introduction also contained the delightful statement that
Patrick was helped by Dubhthach Mac ua Lugair, who put "a thread
of poetry around" the laws. It would be a joy to the student of
all legal enactments were a Patrick to insist that in every
legislative assembly a poet do the same! The Brehon laws, at
least in their Christian aspects, were based on the Decalogue and
other parts of the Mosaic legislation, for the tradition is
preserved that:
What did not clash with the Word of God in the written law
and in the New Testament, and with the consciences of the
believers, was confirmed in the laws of the Brehons by
Patrick and by the ecclesiastics and the chieftains of Erin;
for the law of nature had been quite right, except the
faith, and its obligations and the harmony of the church and
the people. And this is the Senchus Mor.
Another clue to the pervasive influence of the Bible on the
OldIrish legislation is the echo of St Paul's declaration that
"the scripture hath concluded all under sin", and "now we know
that what things so-ever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God," which lie behind this explanation
in the Senchus Mor:
For all the world was at an equality, i.e. for all the world
was at an equality of ignorance or injustice until the great
"cas" of the seniors came to be established, i.e. "hand for
a hand, foot for a foot"; or, each person's right was
according to his might.
This synthesis, of the old Brehon Laws and the regulations of
the Old Testament, throws light on the practices of the ancient
Irish Christians, and hence of the Celtic Church. It probably
goes back for its inspiration to the old law book, Liber ex Lege
Moisi. Whereever Patrick established a church he was believed to
have left a copy of "the books of the Law and the Books of the
Gospel". The Liber ex Lege Moisi is the only work surviving from
Celtic sources which answers to the description, "books of the
Law". Each of the four extant manuscripts of this work has an
Irish provenance. The earliest has been dated about 800, and had
apparently been copied from an earlier manuscript. It commences
with the Decalogue and contains selections from the Books of
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which are filled
with citations from the Old Latin. Its interest lies not only in
the texts it contains, but also in the parts of the Mosaic
legislation it omits. In the Corpus Christi College Ms. 279 it
forms part of the Canones Hibernenses, which end with the
following sentences:
The people of Israel ought to have been ruled by the Ten
Commandments of the law, since for the sake of these God
smote the Egyptians with the ten plagues; therefore are
there ten commandments; while there are precepts in the law
which God did not command, but (for example) Jethro the
kinsman of Moses told Moses to choose seventy leading men
who would judge the people with Moses; and this is the
judgment, that if we find judgments of the heathen good,
which good Nature teaches them, and it is not displeasing to
God, let us keep them.
Not only were Patrick and the framers of the Senchus Mor
interested in the Decalogue, Brigit was also "a keeper of God's
commandments", and Columba was likewise credited with teaching
"the books of the Law completely", for "Christ's law they used to
chant, with mysteries they used to search it out, with their host
no heedlessness was found". As Fournier long ago pointed out,
this little book apparently played an important part in the
framing of the laws of Ina, and hence of those of Alfred the
Great and later legislators.
The significance of the Liber ex Lege Moisi has been overlooked
in studies of Celtic beliefs and practices. Not only were laws
modified by it, but also theological concepts and many practices
show direct dependence upon its regulations. The following pages
will demonstrate this relationship.
The Celtic Church cherished a deep love of the Bible, and from
the Epistles of St Paul developed their theology. The Psalms were
used in worship, and were the inspiration of poets and preachers.
Without the influence of the views of church fathers Celtic
theologians set about discovering what the Scriptures meant.
Their tenets and practices, based on this understanding, show the
eclecticism and pragmatism of exegete and layman. The legislation
of Moses pervaded social, economic, and legal relationships to an
extent seldom seen in the history of other branches of the
Church.
Unlike the theologians of Roman Christianity who appealed more
and more to the teachings of Church and councils, Celtic teachers
stressed the Bible. The role of the Scriptures in Celtic
Christianity was indeed a vital one, so much so that no thorough
study of the beliefs and practices of the Christians of Celtic
lands is possible without bearing this fact in mind.
..........
To be continued
Note:
We have seen how important the Scriptures were to the Celtic
church people. It was even more so in the first centuries AD
before the Roman church arrived in Britain. We still see the
stregth of Scripture for the Celtic people even during the 5th,
6th, 7th, century AD when the Roman church had arrived. But as
the prophecy of the book of Revelation gave "all nations have
become drunk on the wine of her fornication [spiritual]" and "she
is drunken with the blood of the saints" - so indeed the history
of the church of Rome and the world has become exactly what
Revelation said she would become. The church of Rome has shed the
blood of the saints, and she has made all nations spiritually
fornicate with her false teachings and false customs and wrong
traditions, i.e. the first of January is observed by nearly every
nation on earth; the Christ-mass season is in one way or another
being observed by more and more nations of the earth.
As Jesus said "Thy [God's] word is truth" (John 17:17) and as He
also said, finding that truth will make you free.
You need to keep your nose and eyes in the Bible. You can know
what the canon of the Old and New Testament books are. It is all
in detail explained to you in studies on this website.
By the study of the Scriptures you can know the truth of God from
all the errors of mankind. Then you can know the way to salvation
and the Kingdom of God.
Keith Hunt
The Celtic Church in Britain #5Basic Celtic Doctrinesby Leslie Hardinge (1972)
MAJOR DOCTRINES
The object of this chapter is to sketch the principal doctrines
of the Celts, beginning with the time of Patrick and ending at
the period when the last segment of the Celtic Church conformed
to Roman usages.
The Celtic Christian's devotion to the Scriptures has been
demonstrated from his writings and from the records of his
contemporaries. From the Bible Patrick derived his understanding
of what should be believed and practised. He took his duties as
the apostle of Ireland very seriously, affirming "that according
to the rule of faith in the Trinity, I should define doctrine,
and make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation,
without being held back by danger, and spread everywhere the name
of God without fear, confidently". And so he later came to be
regarded as "the father of teaching and faith for Irishmen"
Irish missionaries disseminated Patrick's teachings across
Britain and into the Continent. This chapter is partly based on
passages in the Lives and ancient laws and penitentials which
bear on theology, but its conclusions are derived mainly from the
almost twelve
.......
* No systematic study of Celtic doctrines has been carried out
from the sources. Since the topics covered in this chapter are so
wide, discussion of each doctrine is kept very brief in this
initial investigation.
.......
thousand Old-Irish glosses on passages from the Psalms, part of
the Gospels, and the Epistles of St Paul. These constitute a
remarkable window into the Celt's mind. J. F. Kenney assigns the
earliest comments to the seventh century, and the major portion
to the eighth. They seemingly reflect the views of the Irish
scholars uninfluenced by the dogmas of the Roman party, and,
although written by two or three hands, form a homogeneous body
of Celtic Christian thought.
(So we must remember that this history of Celtic theology is way
after true Christianity came to the Britain in the first century
AD - hence some truth had in part become lost - Keith Hunt)
DOCTRINE OF GOD
The Celtic view of Deity was trinitarian, but there was no
speculation, for as the commentator remarked, "we know little of
the mysteries of God". God was eternal, without beginning, and
omniscient. He upheld the universes and might predict events,
thus revealing his omnipotence," and worthiness to be adored.
Arianism was believed to have made inroads among early British
Christians. Evidence for this has been drawn from the fact that
mention of the names of the Father, Son, and Spirit were omitted
from the baptismal formula. But arguments based on silence form a
perilous platform. That the Celtic Christians were aware of
Arianism appears from the attempt to extract trinitarian meanings
from less obvious texts. Commenting on St Paul's statement: "Now
our Lord Jesus Christ, himself, and God, even our Father, ...
comfort your hearts", the Old-Irish theologian noted: "He
indicates the Trinity here: the Son, when he says, 'our Lord';
the Father, when he says, 'God'; and the Holy Ghost when he
speaks of 'a Comforter'." He evidently was on the lookout for
trinitarian passages!
(The "trinity" doctrine has many forms as I have explained
elewhere on this website. You have the "nothingness of God"
teaching by some - no form or shape, cannot be thought of as form
and shape; you have the "ONE but can be three or two or one, at
any time" teaching; you have the trinity of "three persons, with
form and shape - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" teaching. So the
word "trinity" means different things to different people.
Certain we know from the Bible, as clear as a coudless day, there
is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But understanding them
correctly....well that takes all of the Bible to understand,
which I have given you on this website in various studies - Keith
Hunt)
Columba, so the tradition goes, was reproved by Pope Gregory, to
whom he had sent a copy of "Altus Prosator", because it failed to
stress belief in the Trinity. But this is probably a comminatory
story to establish Roman connections. Disbelief in the Trinity,
however, is certainly not discernible from the sources. The gloss
on St Mark corrects a quaint view, mooted by some unknown student
The quaternity, i .e. that our belief should not be thus, that we
.......
* These have been conveniently collected and translated by W.
Stokes and J. Strachan in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus. In the
references which will be given the relevant Scripture will be
noted first, as the essential root from which the comment sprang.
For the Celtic baptismal practices see chapter 4 below,
.......
should deem different the Person of the Son of God and [that of]
the Son of Man, i.e. so that it should be a belief in four
persons with us, i.e. a Person of the Father, and of the Son of
God, and of the Son of Man, and of the Holy Ghost.
(Well of course Jesus did become man, but while retaining His
divinity. Hence I guess the argument, Father, Son of God, Son of
man, the Holy Spirit - Keith Hunt)
The supreme governmental authority of God, exhibited in
disciplining his people, was often noted. Punishment, it was
believed, was always administered in order to correct sin, and
never in spite or anger, because God gave his Son to justify and
not to condemn fallen man.
The Celt was absorbed in Christ's character and ministry and
produced a large and beautiful devotional literature on this
theme, but made no attempt to deal with the mystery of his
nature. Patrick affirmed that while Christ "always existed with
the Father", He was also "begotten before the beginning of
anything", suggesting that the saint had slight Arian leanings.
This tendency is also indicated by the gloss on St Paul's
statement, "Today have I begotten thee", that this referred to
"the day of the existence of God". Christ's coming into being was
thus definitely stated as following God's, and hence would fit in
with semi-Arian arguments. Yet the Deity "gives equal honour with
himself and with the Godhead of the Son to the Manhood of the
Son", for Christ was equal with the Father in might and majesty.
But with uncritical statements such as these the Celt ceased to
discuss the matter, terming it a "mystery"," and leaving it at
that.
(We see here some had as stated a leaning towards Christ Jesus
being created at some point by the Father. This is Arian
teaching. It is INCORRECT! The Bible gives both the Father and
the Son to be ETERNAL - all proved in other studies on this
website. The scriptural statement "Today have I begotten you" is
in regard to Christ becoming a human flesh and blood being -
Keith Hunt)
Christ's equality with God was unaffected by his humanity. There
evidently arose some discussion as to whether our Lord maintained
his own divine status as a man, or whether he received divinity
as a gift from his Father. The commentator sighed: "Whether it be
from the Godhead of the Son or from the Godhead of the Father
that the Manhood of the Son assumed that which he hath assumed,
it matters not." But then he noted tensions caused by wisps of
Arian heresy:
It is from the Father that the Son hath received power, i.e.
this is what the heretics say, that the Godhead of the Son
is less than the Godhead of the Father, for it is from the
Father that the Son hath received power; he then who
receives is less than he from whom it is received, and he
who is endowed than he who bestows it.
(Jesus said Himself that all He had as a human being was from the
Father - all in the gospel of John. But Jesus was still Immanuel
- God with us - an eternal member of the Godhead became flesh and
blood. Jesus was both human and divine. After His reusrrection he
was back in the eternal Godhead, but went to the Father's right
hand, not inside him, not on top of Him, but on His right hand.
The NT gives everything the Father so also is the Son, but only
in ONE area is there a difference; the Father has the ultimate
AUTHORITY over everyone and everything - see 1 Cor.11:1-3. Jesus
is on the Father's RIGHT HAND, hence the Father is on the throne
of heaven as the book of Revelation makes very clear - Keith
Hunt)
He was certain, however, that the Godhead was never subject to
the manhood of Christ. Christ was the true image of God , and
held to be eternal, manifesting fully the nature of God, having
"the same form and substance " as the Father. Regarding Christ as
very God, the glossator warned against those who maintain "that
the Godhead of the Son is less than the Godhead of the Father,
which, however, is a heresy". He failed to note that, when he
acknowledged that the Son's being followed that of the Father, he
was in a measure denying the strict coeternity of the two
Persons. However, he might counter in the words, God granted his
Son equality of honour with himself.
(However people want to argue, the Scriptures are clear on the
matter - the Son (Christ Jesus) is God. The Father is God. Both
are the Godhead, both have been from eternity. But the one we
know today as the Father is GREATER in AUTHORITY. He is the ONE
on the heaven throne, the Son is at His right hand - all
expounded in other studies on this website - Keith Hunt)
Appreciation for the great love Christ manifested in taking human
nature in order to die for the fallen race is often noted His
advent and his entire ministry of reconciliation fulfilled the
Old Testament predictions and types. But in the works of Patrick
and other Celtic writers, including the glossators, there is no
mention of the virgin birth, nor is there any conscious effort to
suppress the fact. Faith is simply expressed in his birth. But in
the Lives, written after union with the Roman party had been
achieved, there are many allusions to the virgin birth, and some
strangely superstitious notions: he was born through the crown of
the Virgin , while Mary was impregnated by the breath of the
Third Person.
(Obviously the Celts had lost the truth of the "virgin birth" as
they never mentioned it until falling in with the Roman church,
and then strange ideas from Rome came into the virgin birth -
Keith Hunt)
Because man's sin resulted in his condemnation and separation
from God, Christ went "to foreign parts" to help the human race,
and to rescue lost mankind by striking it from the grasp in which
the Devil held it, who was ready to mete "penal death" to the
finally unrepentant. This death, the Celt believed with Pelagius,
was different from the common death of mankind, which later, in
the context, seems to suggest final annihilation. There would
evidently be no eternally burning hell. Eternal life, lost to the
human race by Adam, could be restored to the victorious sinner
only through Christ, who suffered, not for one or two persons
only, but for all. This salvation was accomplished through
Christ's "material blood" which poured from his side as he hung
on Calvary, and became effective in the case of the individual
sinner through his faith.
(Interesting to note, the Celtic teaching was final annihilation,
and no eternally burning hell fire. Of course it was so, because
it was the Roman church that brought in the "immortal soul"
doctrine and the eternal burning hell fire teaching - Keith Hunt)
The resurrection of Christ is often alluded to in the glosses.
When he ascended to glory he was immortal and in the fullness of
Deity. A belief in this truth was regarded as of vital
consequence, for the commentator remarked: "it is manifest that
unless you believe the resurrectlon of Christ from among the
dead, your faith will not sanctify you in that wise, and will not
save you from your sins." Man's existence in that case would be
confined to this present world. When Christ was "received up" to
his Father, he was enthroned above all powers in heaven and
earth, and began his ministry as the mediator between "himself
and man". This was possible because Christ had procured the
atonement, which the glossator pleasantly defined as "peace with
God through faith in Christ". This relationship came about as the
result of no afterthought on the part of God, but sprang from
"the secret counsels of Deity", which brought about the
forgiveness of sine, and the restoration of the broken communion
between God and the sinner. There is no hint of any other
intermediary--angel, saint, or priest - between God and fallen
man in the writings of Patrick and for three centuries after his
day. Christ alone was regarded as making "intercession - he
mediates, i.e. the manhood which he received from us makes
supplication to the Deity that we may not die". For the Celt
faith laid hold on his resurrected Lord with the petition, "May
Christ prepare my pleadings". This view must be set against that
held in Roman Christianity with its many intercessors.
Celtic literature is pervaded by devotional expressions of
adoration. But perhaps the most beautiful invocation of the Lord
Jesus Christ, in all his attributes, is the magnificent prayer,
part of which now follows:
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught is all else to me, save that Thou art,
Thou my best thought, by day and by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord.
Thou my great Father, I Thy dear son;
Thou in me dwelling, I with Thee one....
With the High King of heaven, after victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, 0 Ruler of all.
The attitude of Celtic theologians to the problems connected with
the conflicts and tensions of Christology is reflected by the
terms in which they described aspects of the ministry of Christ:
the salvation of man was a mystery, as was the incarnation and
birth of Christ, and the cross on which he suffered. The theme of
Calvary, the glossator warned, would be obscured were the
preacher to indulge his eloquence; simplicity must be the way of
its presentation. Even then, the preacher should never forget
that he is proclaiming a mystery. The spirit of the glosses is
simple and sincere, with the purpose of stressing the practical
force of Christian teaching with no attempt at defining its
mysteries.
(The apostle Paul was inspired to tell is that the mysteries of
God hidden, were now revealed in the NT age. All that is
important to know about the Godhead, slavation, the age to come,
the judgment of the dead, and our eternal abode on the new earth,
is all now revealed to us in the Scriptures - both old and new -
Keith Hunt)
No question arose regarding the deity of the Spirit. Patrick and
the commentator both regarded him as one of the Trinity. But
while he breathes in the Father and the Son, Patrick noted that
it was Christ alone who shed on the believer the gift of the
Spirit as the earnest of salvation. The Nicene Creed, on the
other hand, affirmed that the Spirit proceeds from both the
Father and the Son. Patrick apparently did not know this formula,
or chose not to adhere to it.
(Patrick was right, that Christ gave the gift of the Spirit as the
earnest of salvation; but it is also correct that the Spirit does
indeed proceed from both the Father and the Son. The Spirit is
NOT a third literal form and shape being in the throne room of
heaven. The Spirit is the very nature and power that comes from
the Father and Son. All fully explained in other studies on this
website - Keith Hunt)
The Holy Spirit was believed to have spoken through the prophets
of the Old Testament and the writers of the New. This would, of
course, account for the veneration with which the two Testaments
were regarded in the Celtic Church. Not, only did the Spirit
manifest himself by inspiring the writers of the Bible, he also
poured "gifts" upon the faithful." Among these the glossator
mentioned the gift of healing, explaining this as power bestowed
upon the missioner to attend the sick as physicians do. This was
the notion of Pelagius also, and has nothing of the miraculous in
it. Another gift of the Spirit was teaching, a ministry, carried
out amazingly well by Celtic evangelists for many centuries.
The Spirit was also believed to inspire belief which resulted in
salvation, inducing men to obey the divine laws, and enabling
them to become sons of God and joint heirs with Christ. The
Spirit placed his sign on the faithful so that they might be
recorded as being in unity with Christ, through their drinking
great draughts of the grace of the Spirit. Thus the Spirit helped
to restore in man's fallen nature the divine ideal which he had
lost at the fall. Patrick noted the same thought, remarking that
it was the Spirit who dwelt in his heart and who had brought
about the change in his character. The Christian's mind was
termed "the guest-house of the Spirit", and with him abiding
within it was easy for the disciple to do what was good.
The Spirit also enables man to discover truth by illuminating his
mind through grace; and directing his prayers, which were held to
be ineffectual without the inspiration of the Spirit. This
illumination will bring about "the resurrection" or new birth
through baptism, (the new birth in actuality is at the time of
the resurrection, or being made immortal, at the last trump when
Jesus shall literally come back to earth - the new birth is fully
explained in a study on this website - Keith Hunt) which results
in the believer's possessing "the mind or desires of the Spirit",
for it is the Spirit who places holy aspirations in the soul of
man. An Old-Irish poem epitomized the longing for the in-dwelling
of the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit to inhabit our body and our souls, to
protect us speedily ...
O Jesus, may it sanctify us, May Thy Spirit free us!
From the fragmentary evidence which comes from the Old-Irish
period the semi-Arian view of Christ's birth and the single
procession of the Spirit from Christ alone are the peculiar
emphases of the Celtic doctrine of the Trinity.
(The Celtic teachers of this late date DID NOT have all the truth
that the first centuries of Christianity in Britain did - some truth
had become lost, and more and more truth would still become lost
as Celtic Christianity was taken over by the church of Rome -
Keith Hunt)
DOCTRINE OF CREATIONISM
Celtic cosmological views were based on a literal interpretation
of the story of Genesis. The elements which make up the material
universe came into being as the result of a fiat creation ,
through the agency of Jesus Christ and by his power. One of the
purposes, stressed by the commentators, for which the world was
brought into being, was that the character of God might be
learned through a study of it. For instance: "Not less does the
disposition of the elements set forth concerning God and manifest
Him than though it were a teacher who set forth and preached it
with his lips." While it is true that there was no spoken
language through which nature communicated with men, the Celtic
mystic felt that "without art of learning and practice by anyone,
it is understood in every nation the way in which the elements
sound and show forth the knowledge of God through the work that
they do and the alteration that is on them". It was probably this
appreciation of nature's revelation of the character of God that
led to the production of so much beautiful mystic nature poetry.
But following the time of the Danish invasions Celtic writers
more and more formulated running stories of Creation, the Fall,
and the working out of the plan of salvation based on
speculation. The "Salthair na Rann" appears to have anticipated
the plan of Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. In this ancient
poem the universe was pictured as consisting of seven heavens
surrounded by coloured and fettered winds, with the sun passing
through the open windows of the twelve divisions of the heavens.
This curious concept of the heavens was matched by an equally
interesting concept of the earth surrounded by a firmament, like
a shell around an egg, and constituting the centre of the
universe. These views are in marked contrast with the Old-Irish
records which hold to a literal interpretation of the scriptural
narrative. The later views were themselves modified into highly
speculative, poetic fantasies such as are contained in the "Ever
New Tongues"
(The Roman church was making inroads into the Celtic theology, as
that this earth was the center of the universe, just as was
taught for centuries that the sun travelled around this earth -
all Roman Catholic teaching through the so-called "dark ages" -
dark in many ways - Keith Hunt)
DOCTRINE OF MAN
As already noted, Celtic Christians accepted the story of the
beginnings of the human race as recorded in Genesis. Formed by
God, from whom all things have their origin, first created Adam
was put as ruler over birds, fish, and all beasts. Man himself
was understood to be constituted in the threefold designation of
the Apostle, body, soul, and spirit. The commentator has left
these two definitions: "The soul and spirit are one part, and the
flesh is another, but the division of them is understood by the
Word of God ... The soul itself is the animal life; the spirit is
the spiritual reason in the souls' Spirit - the primary part of
the soul, by which we understand." But by the term spirit he
appears to have understood the mind of man, while "it is the soul
that is ready to fulfil the law of God, and not the body".
(The Celtics were close to being correct here. We are in the soul
as is the animal, but we have a "spirit in man" that the Bible
talks about, which is far above the spirit of the beast. The
"spirit in man" is explained in a study on this website - Keith
Hunt)
Although created perfect, man's first parents, having been
attacked by the Devil and seduced, fell into sins. It is in his
body that man "sinned from Adam". His immortality, the Celt felt,
was contingent on his obedience to the law of God. This should be
stressed. Man was mortal and after punishment the sinner would be
annihilated. If he lived merely for pleasure, he resembled the
quadruped, but should he overcome, an immortal dwelling would be
set down around him from heaven, and the victor would be granted
eternal life when the deeds of the flesh had been mortified. Here
again stress upon the divine requirements should be noted, as
another instance in which Pelagius was followed. Man's nature is
immortal only on condition of his obedience to God's law.
(Interesting is the last sentance, for it reiterates Jesus' words
to the young rich man in Matthew 19. The keeping of the
commandments of God does not give you eternal life, but if you
are not willing to keep them, you will not be saved by grace. My
in-depth study called "Saved by Grace" puts it all together for
you; makes the salvation topic clear - Keith Hunt)
The Celtic Christian seems to have regarded himself as a part of
the divine scheme of things; his life was under the guidance of
God. Patrick, for instance, was confident that he had been
foreordained by providence: "I make no false claim. I have part
with those whom he called and predestinated to preach the Gospel
amidst no small persecutions, even unto the end of the earth."
The glossator attempted to explain this doctrine of
predestination in the context of God's dealings with the Jews and
the Gentiles: "God's purpose was the election of one [the Jew]
through mercy, and the condemnation of the other [the Gentile] by
a just judgment", but notwithstanding, being the one God over
all, he desires the salvation of all mankind. The commentator
equated adoption and election in his estimate of the meaning of
the Apostle's statement that God has predestinated man to be his
children, "sons by election, not by nature."
(The subject of "predestination" is fully covered in a study on
this website - Keith Hunt)
The Celt set out to find the solution of the age-old question,
Why, if God desires the salvation of all men, are not all men
saved?
The answer is not difficult: Because no one is constrained
against his will; or, a part is put for the whole, for there is
no race or language in the world, of which some one was not
saved; or, it was those only whom he desired to save that he did
save, i.e., "who will have all men to be saved", that is,
Augustine says, as much as to say, no one can be saved except him
whom he wills.
(Well for sure the NT teaches that none can come to the Father
unless the Father draws him with His Spirit. See my study called
"Called and Chosen - When?" and the study "The Great White Throne
Judgment" - Keith Hunt)
While he remarked that the answer was not difficult, the presence
of no fewer than five different explanations reflects the
existence of the grave difficulty which has confronted all
theologians in their discussions of the dealings of God with man.
The first answer was by Pelagius, who stressed man's free choice.
Later comments, showing dissatisfaction with this answer,
indicate a quest for others. In God's plan, the glossator noted,
all men were in the same state through their unbelief. This was
not because God arbitrarily decided to condemn mankind, but is
perfectly reasonable, since all men have sinned. No one has any
advantage over another, and "to boast of one's merits is of no
avail here, so that it was by God's mercy that they were saved".
The expression "a law of providence" recurs in the glosses. It
seems to mean an overruling divine purpose. Some argued that
there was no such providence, and that "might was right". Others
contended that, when the poor or weak were under the rich or
powerful, God was carrying out his plan to help them. Eventually
God will vindicate all who trust in him, for those who are
disciplined by tribulation are often much more ready to be
grateful for God's help, and become eager to pray for it. The
Pelagian point of view is here manifest. Man's freedom of will,
modified by trials, should be exercised in choosing God's way.
Thus the operation of grace would bring about man's ultimate
well-being. But nowhere was there any peculiarly Celtic view
stated.
(Much truth did the Celtic Christian have here - Keith Hunt)
Secondus' concept of man's human nature was an exalted one.
Nowhere in the commentaries of Old-Irish writers was there any
stress on the worthlessness of the body. Secundus sang of
Patrick: His "flesh he hath prepared as a temple for the Holy
Spirit; by whom, in pure activities, it is continually possessed;
and he doth offer it to God as a living and acceptable
sacrifice". But Patrick himself was all too aware of his own
human weaknesses:
I do not trust myself as long as I am in the body of this
death, because he is strong who daily endeavours to turn me
away from the faith, and from that chastity of unfeigned
religion which I have purposed to keep to the end of my life
for Christ my Lord. But the flesh, the enemy, is ever
dragging us unto death, that is, to do that which is
forbidden.
Only God's empowering grace, he felt, would turn this impotence
into victory, but final glorification of man would be attained
only after the resurrection at the last day:
Most surely I deem that if this should happen to me, I have
gained my soul as well as my body, because without any doubt
we shall rise on that day, in the clear shining of the sun,
that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as sons
of the living God, and joint heirs with Christ, and
conformed to his image, that will be; since of him and
through him and in him we shall reign.
But besides this notion of the resurrection of the body in the
last days, other views were also mooted. Some wondered whether by
the idea of the resurrection was meant "sons succeeding their
fathers", or even the coming out of bondage and tribulation of
God's people.
But whatever the road, the goal of godly living was eternal life
in future glory, to the attaining of which the Celtic preacher
constantly urged his hearers. Patrick, too, looked forward to
this ultimate consummation of life's hopes: "We, on the other
hand, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ - who will
never perish, nor will any one who doeth his will; but he will
abide for ever, as Christ will abide for ever, who reigneth with
God the Father Almighty, and with the Holy Spirit, before the
worlds, and now, and for ever and ever." While the belief was
held that the righteous will be resurrected on the last day, the
wicked would then be destroyed in hell. Patrick's declaration
illustrated this point regarding "those whom the devil grievously
ensnared. In everlasting punishment they will become slaves of
hell along with him; for verily whosoever committeth sin is a
bondservant of sin, and is called a son of the devil." The crux
of the relationship between fallen man and God's grace was human
choice. Placed on the side of divine providence it made possible
the outworking of God's purpose on behalf of the sinner. In the
emphasis placed on the need for man to exercise his will to do
right Pelagian overtones are detectable.
(As far as is given to us by Hardinge, we have seen the Celtic
teaching was immortal glory for the Christian and eternal death
for the unrepented sinner, and not a burning in hell-fire for all
eternity - Keith Hunt)
DOCTRINE OF DUTY
Celtic interest in the Decalogue has been noted. This section
considers the theological implications of this attitude. The term
law, loosely applied by Celtic writers to the entire message of
God, meant:
These four laws are recognized in judicature. The law of
nature, i.e. the rule which Adam had. The patriarchal law,
i.e. this was the rule which his Pater, his Father, spoke to
Moses. Law of the prophets, i.e. Isaias, &c.; The law of the
New Testament, i.e. this is the rule of the testament from
the birth of Christ to the present day.'
But more specifically the word law pointed to the Decalogue.
Through the law of Moses sin was defined to the believer, who
discovered that it ultimately brought about death. Sin cannot be
discerned without law, and the very Decalogue is called the "law
of sin because it makes sins manifest". To those who see sin
through the ministry of law, and who then purpose to carry out
its requirements, all the rewards which God has promised will be
granted, and the very law itself will prove to be a delight. This
enjoyment of the commandments by the Christian himself
constitutes a proof that it is good. In these emphases on the
function of law further Pelagian overtones are to be seen.
All who disobey will be condemned by the Decalogue which they
have outraged, and suffer the vengeance which has been
threatened. Those, on the other hand, who fulfil all its
requirements will attain to all the blessedness promised in the
Bible. In none of the writings of Celtic theologians is any
antinomian view to be found. But there is indication that this
enthusiasm for the Decalogue was deprecated by detractors who
"used to count as a reproach to us that we should be subject to
Law". But in spite of a high regard for the law the commentator
was well aware of its limitation in not being able to "completely
accomplish justification"; since it was obvious the law could
make no one perfect. Its weaknesses were shadowed forth by the
ritual of the ancient Hebrews, and yet these very transitory
ceremonies of the law adumbrated Christ's sacrifice and
mediation: "for it is he that hath been figured in the Law and
declared in the Gospel; to bring you from the gospel into the ten
commandments of the Law". This is an interesting point of view:
the Old Testament laws with their ritual and sacrifices pointed
to Christ as the fulfilment of their hopes; Christ and the gospel
turned the Christian back to the Old Testament Decalogue to find
out why his Lord needed to die. Having discovered this the
Christian is more ready to accept what his Saviour has done for
him. In exposing sin the law drives the penitent to Christ, who
empowers him to live according to the divine standard, and then
the Christian comes back to the Ten Commandments to check his own
progress in righteousness. Prohibition clarifies sin, and
underlines guilt. The knowledge of the law then increases
responsibility.
(Ah so far the Celtic theology was right on the button - Keith
Hunt)
The role of the Decalogue in the life of the Celtic Christian was
of great importance. It modified the old tribal regulations and
made the sentences for crimes less barbarous. It was reflected in
the observances of many of the Old Testament regulations, and
moulded theological attitudes towards sin and righteousness.
(Yes, it was for them as Jesus said, man was not to live by
physical bread alone, but by every word that came from the mouth
of God - Keith Hunt)
DOCTRINE OF SALVATION
Since the human race was ungodly because of the Fall, man was
believed to be helpless until he became a follower of Christ.
Left to his own resources he could not serve God. Only by the
empowering of divine grace could man accomplish any good. Patrick
was conscious of the working of this heavenly impulse in his
life: "The Lord opened the understanding of my unbelief that,
even though late, I might call my faults to remembrance, and that
I might turn with all my heart to the Lord my God", and it is
thus that God "makes those who believe and obey to become
children of God the Father and joint heirs with Christ". So man
is saved, not by the merits of his deeds, "but by God and His
grace." This Celtic viewpoint was again stressed by the
Reformers.
The merits of Christ were felt by Celtic theologians to be vital
to salvation. Imputed by the Saviour to the believer, they
procured his acceptance by God. The sinner could claim no other
goodness, his own or the works of the law, as the basis of his
salvation. Through belief in his heart the sinner was regarded as
righteous. By his confession of faith he was made "safe".
"Through these two means a man becomes righteous, and is saved,
so that he may be so forever." By an act of will the penitent
places himself on the side of Christ and righteousness. The sin
he served he regards as dead. He then is about to cry exultantly,
"I am only alive because Christ is in me." So man is justified,
the glossator noted, "by faith only, i.e. by faith on belief in
Jesus Christ".
(Again, they had it correct! - Keith Hunt)
The question evidently arose, Does grace abrogate law? To this
the commentator responded, "We establish it [the law] while we
prove the truth of God's promise." The Christian must rest his
faith in God in the same way in which Abraham did, for even in
the Christian era "it is the righteousness of Christ that
justifies, and not the righteousness of the law". Not only did
faith justify, it was the sole basis for sanctification of the
Christian's life which followed his justification. As the
repentant sinner day by day seeks to carry out the will of God as
revealed in his law, he becomes sanctified through empowering
grace. So Patrick affirmed, "Most surely I deem that from God I
have received what I am", adding, "I am only worth what he
himself has given to me." There is no stress in the glosses, as
there is none in the writings of Patrick and other writers of the
Celtic period, on works of merit. The basis of salvation is the
grace of Christ accepted by faith on the part of the Christian,
and operating in his life to bring about conformity to the will
of God as revealed in his law.
(My oh yes, they had it CORRECT! - Keith Hunt)
The commentator appears to have been confused regarding the
nature of the sin inherited by man. St Paul's term, "the old
man", he defined as "the mass of old sins: or, Adam with his
deed." Explaining the Apostle's statement that humanity was "sold
under sin", he noted that it is "Adam; or, my carnal will sold me
so that I am under bondage to sin". Then, on the implications of
Adam's transgression, he observed, "I say it was not imputed."
This was the view of Pelagius, who understood that each man was
condemned because of his personal sin, and not through any
inherited guilt. There was no such thing as "original sin." But
there was a question whether Adam's guilt was "imputed" to man.
Some argued that if Adam's sin infected all men, then Christ's
righteousness should benefit all men also. But this view was
regarded as heretical. The doctrine of sin was simply left with
the remark that upon humanity "judgment is through one sin by
Adam; grace of many offences, by Jesus Christ, unto me". But
there was an important proviso in the mind of the commentator,
who declared that we have sinned not "from the nature of original
creation, but it is from our sinful nature that we have
transgressed since Adam". This is significant as indicating that
some felt that Adam's sinful nature had passed to his posterity,
while others considered that each man sinned through his own
volition without reference to any potential to sin through his
heredity.
(The latter is the correct understanding. We sin not by
inheriting sins from others of the past. We sin, because we have
sinned - missed the mark, broken at some point in our time, the
commandments of God. We all have human nature, and sooner or
later our human nature leads us to sin. The Bible teaches only
Christ Jesus NEVER sinned. Everyone else has sinned - Keith Hunt)
Because of Adam's transgression death passed on all. With
Pelagius the Celt differentiated between two kinds of death.
Natural death was "the separation of body and soul". This was the
common death," of all humanity. "Penal death", on the other hand,
would overtake the wicked only. It was this death which Christ
suffered on Calvary, bearing the punishment which should have
been meted to the sinner. But the commentator was unable to
decide whether the view of Pelagius was correct: that sin
resulted in the individual by the exercise of his choice, and did
not originate from Adam's sin through an hereditary succession.
But of the fact that Celtic views on sin were affected by
Pelagius there would seem little doubt.
(Pelagius was correct, the other one was the way the Roman church
came to teach it - Keith Hunt)
Prayer was a marked and vital characteristic of the Celt. Patrick
used to pray as many as one hundred prayers each night. A spirit
of reverent devotion breathes through the brief, epigrammatical
petitions of the Old-Irish glossators:
I dare to entreat thee that thou hear me. I bind my thoughts
to thee, I pray that thou forgive me what I pray for to
thee. I am compelled to pray for them to thee.
It is best grateful in thy eyes, O God, to offer to thee the
service of well-doing, for it is that which thou deemest the
best that is offered to thee.
Every praise wherewith I have been praised, O God, has been
wrought through thee.
My purification is lacking, if thou purify me not, O God.
Scores of these petitions exist. It was evidently a predilection
of Celtic clerics to improvise prayers. Later they were accused
of spoiling the Divine Office with too many! Petitions were
addressed to God, and to Christ, with the understanding that what
was contrary to salvation would be denied by God, in spite of
many prayers. The Christian was warned against a mere repetition
of empty words. "Whosoever, therefore, merely prays with his lips
and belies his prayers by his conduct, procures scorn for
himself; nay, renders himself hateful rather than pleasing to the
Lord. Therefore, they only are wont to be heard by the Lord who
seek a thing by prayer and ensure it by good conduct." To this
careful intention to pray with sincerity must be added diligence,
for prayers from "slothful and sleepy" petitioners are powerless.
Christians were also recommended to pray for each other, for
"mutual intercession" is a necessary part of the life of piety.
The ideas regarding prayer, held in the community in which the
glossator lived at the end of the eighth century, are of
considerable interest in showing his attitude towards the
canonical hours
Question: What is prayer without ceasing? The answer is not
difficult. Some say it is celebrating the canonical hours,
but this is not the true meaning. But it is when all the
members (of the body) are inclined to good deeds, and evil
deeds are put away from them. Then, when doing good, they
are praying to God, that is, they incline their eyes to see
what is good, as Job says, "I made a covenant with mine
eyes"
There are traces in the writings of Columbanus and Adamnan that
set hours for prayer were observed, but there is no evidence that
the same practices were followed in other localities by all
Celtic Christians. In fact, one of the reforms achieved by
Malachy was the establishment of the regular canonical hours,
"for there was not such thing before, not even in the city" of
Armagh prior to the twelfth centnry.
There is no indication that Patrick, or Celtic Christians for two
centuries after him, invoked saints or angels. As was seen above,
Christ was regarded as the only Mediator. But following the
acceptance of the Roman Easter and other eighth-century Western
Christian views, hagiographers recorded many petitions addressed
to various saints, angels, martyrs, and the Virgin. Comminatory
stories were told to establish this belief, and later litanies
were fathered on early Celtic saints, including Adamnan, to gain
authority for these changes. Some traces of petitions on behalf
of the dead are found as early as the sixth century, but they
consist of single invocations carved on grave-stones.
Notwithstanding this, a canon attributed to Patrick sought to
show the futility of prayer for the dead:
Of offering for the dead - Hearken unto the Apostle when he
saith: "There is a sin unto death, for that I say not that
any man ask." And to the Lord: "Give not that which is holy
to dogs." For he who did not in his life deserve to receive
the sacrifice, how shall it be able to help him after death.
But the Old-Irish Penitential (c. eighth century), reflecting a
Roman influence, represents a modification of this point of view:
Anyone who kills himself while insane, prayers are said for
him, and alms are given for his soul, if he was previously
pious. If he has killed himself in despair or for any other
reason, he must be left to the judgement of God, for men
dare not offer prayers for him - that is, a Mass - unless it
be some other prayer, and almsgiving to the poor and
miserable.
This simple philosophy of prayer was later changed when the
doctrine of an intermediary state between heaven and hell was
accepted by Celtic Christians, and an involved technique for
rescuing the dead devised.
(Ah yes, when Celtic Christianity was overcome and infiltrated by
the false teachings of the Roman church - Keith Hunt)
DOCTRINE OF ANGELS
From Patrick's simple allusions to angels, their position and
function became more prominent and complex in later writers who
accepted the views of the Romans. Every reference by Patrick to
the functioning of angels was a biblical quotation. The Wurtzburg
glossator gave his view thus: "It is the angels of God who will
be engaged in guarding the righteous man, and their substance is
nobler, and their creation is prior to men, and therefore they
guard him, that the trials of the Devil may not reach him." The
later hagiographers frequently refer to the nine orders of angels
who did not rebel with the Devi1, and who constitute the quire of
the household of heaven. But some of the loyal angels, who make
up the "household of heaven", rebelled and became "fugitive". The
Altus Prosator paints a vivid picture of this concept:
From the summit of the kingdom of heaven, of angelic rank
From the brightness of effulgence, from the loveliness of
beauty,
Lucifer, whom God had made, fell by being proud,
And the apostate angels, with the same mournful fall
Of the author of vain-glory, and of obstinate envy;
The rest remaining in their Principalities.
The Dragon, great, most foul, terrible and old, ...
Drew with him the third part of the stars,
Into the pit of infernal places, and of diverse prisons,
Deserters of the true Light, cast headlong by the parasite.
These evil angels were believed to be able even to "preach
another gospel" to the unwary. Fantastic stories were invented
after the tenth century to prove the prowess of angels. One
helped Patrick to clean his hearth; another was midwife to
Senan's mother; others assisted Ciaran to grind his corn; changed
oats into wheat; brought an epistle to Patrick's dictated "the
whole sacred ecclesiastical Rule" to Brenainn; showed Findian
where to build a church in Leinster; in the form of white virgins
fostered Brenainn;" and came for saints on their death-beds.
Comminatory stories using angels as authority for practices which
sprang up later were often told. Angels placed a veil over the
head of a consecrated virgin; taught Patrick and Secundus to sing
the hymn Sancti venite, Christi corpus; inaugurated funeral
wakes; and even became patron angels: "Because Michael was the
angel of the race of the Hebrews, so Victor was of the Irish.
Hence he cared for them by means of Patrick.
Patrick accepted the possibility of man's having personal
encounters with the Devil; he had had such himself:
Now on that same night, when I was sleeping, Satan assailed
me mightily, in such sort as I shall remember as long as I
am in this body. And he fell upon me as it were a huge rock,
and I had no power over my limbs ... I believe that I was
helped by Christ my Lord, and that his Spirit was even then
calling aloud on my behalf.
The glossator believed that the Devil rebelled, and, with his
followers, was cast out of heaven to this earth, and henceforward
ranged himself in opposition to Christ and his followers: "As
Christ works in the righteous, according to what St Paul says:
'God worketh in you,' so does the devil work in the children of
unbelief. Sons, then, are those by works, not by nature. The
children of unbelief or despair are they who despaired of their
salvation through Christ's passions." "Despair" was a concept of
Pelagius. Notwithstanding the power of evil, God always helps
those who cry to him, so that "we are not deceived, that is,
through despair, for he [Satan] is cunning in persuading the sin
so that it is complete; after its completion, he persuades the
sinner to despair". The Devil tempted Juliana in the shape of an
angel, but the advice of the commentator was, "Let him not come
into your heart instead of God". This simple dualism later
degenerated into fabulous tales of the work of the Devil, who
passed through the air to carry off the souls of the wicked.
Brigit was made to see "Satan beside the table, his head down and
his feet up, his smoke and his flame out of his gullet, and out
of his nose"; Brenainn was believed to have observed the Devil,
"awful, hideous, foul, hellish", "Squirting the waters from him,
and killing those who would drink them". Pagan and superstitious
views of angels were encrusted around the earlier, simpler
biblical ones by later hagiographers.
DOCTRINE OF LAST THINGS
Patrick and early Celtic Christians believed in the second advent
of Christ. The Apostle of Ireland declared: "We look for his
coming soon as the judge of the quick and the dead", to render
just rewards to all, after "his descent for the judgment of
Doom". Columba also looked for "Christ the Most High Lord coming
down from heaven". The commentator was of the opinion that
Christ's second advent would not be like his first, for Christ
would come the second time with the sound of the trumpet which
accompanied God, as on Mount Sinai. And faithful Christians who
recognized the first advent by the gospel would "know the second
advent by revelation".
The final event in history was believed to be the second advent
"at the last trump". This meant the last invitation to accept the
gospel, "for there will not be any sound of assembly after that".
Then Christ will pour out his judgements upon all sinners, for
"he protects neither those who never heard Him, nor those who
having heard transgress". But when Christ as the true Judge
pronounces the sentence on all, "none will be able to absent
himself", but will be compelled to give an account of even his
smallest sins before the judgement seat of Christ the Lord. The
glossator corroborated Patrick's view, remarking that "God the
Father shall execute judgement by Jesus Christ; that is, the Son
shall judge in the day of judgement, according to our Lord's
words (John 5.22)".
(We see here that the Celtic theology was correct in SOME of the
"last days" teachings, but was INCORRECT in ideas of judgment,
sins, and no salvation after Christ's return. The salvation plan
of God is expounded for you in detail on this website in many
studies - Keith Hunt)
Connected with the second advent was the resurrection of the
dead, not "to be examined, but resurrected in order to receive
the condemnation to which they have been sentenced." Evidently
there was some belief that judgement had preceded the advent, at
which time the sentence would be meted out. Then every man would
be compelled to answer for himself, for no excuse would be
tolerated by the divine tribunal: "If they reply, 'We did not
recognize him, for his human nature concealed his divinity', the
answer will be, 'You believed in the devil, though he also was
incarnate.' It is right, then, that they who are not admitted to
the glory of Christ share the condemnation of the devil."
(They had the final resurrection judgment and the final second
death mixed up and did not understand the two of them in the
correct light - which I correctly expound to you on this website
- Keith Hunt)
Patrick and the early Celtic Christians believed that the second
advent of Christ and the end of the world were near at hand. The
glossator remarked that "time is short - that is, the end of the
world". Patrick was certain that he had been called by God to
preach a vital message to the wicked so that they might prepare
for eternity. He believed, in fact, that he was actually living
"in the last days":
I ought to receive it with an equal mind, and ever render
thanks to God who showed me that I might trust him
endlessly, as one that cannot be doubted; and who heard me,
so that I, ignorant as I am, and in the last days, should be
bold to undertake this work so holy and so wonderful; so
that I might imitate in some degree those of whom the Lord
long ago foretold, when forshewing that his Gospel would be
for a witness unto all nations before the end of the world.
And accordingly, as we see, this has been so fulfilled.
Behold, we are witnesses that the Gospel has been preached
to the limit beyond which no man dwells.
(Patrick like so many after him, thought they were living in the
days when Jesus would return. The NT shows that from Christ
onward it can be regarded as the "last days" - yet we also have
the word of prophecy, both old and new Testaments, that show
there will be a last days of 42 months, and certain prophecy must
come to pass leading up to and during those last 42 months. Then
and only then will Christ literally return to this earth to
establish the Kingdom of God over all nations - Keith Hunt)
Patrick could therefore affirm, "We look for his coming soon to
be." Columbanus likewise believed that "the world is already in
its last days."
(And so it has been the mistake of so many down through the
centuries, who could not, or did not, understand the many
passages of prophecy, that need to come to pass before Jesus can
return. Those prophetic passages I have expounded to you in depth
on this website. Until those events come to pass, Jesus will not
return. We can see before our eyes the rise of a United Beast
Europe. We can see the freedom from dictators in the Arab world,
who are yet to form the united "king of the south" - it is all
taking shape, but it is still taking shape, and has not yet come
to pass as it will and must be. God the Father is in charge of
world events and He can shorten or lengthen the time as He
chooses, for end time prophecy to reach the last 42 months of
this age. Will end time events come to pass in the next 20, 30
years? Maybe they will. Maybe they will not. But what I have told
you about how the end time events WILL BE, WILL INDEED BE, AND
WILL EVENTUALLY COME TO PASS. You must keep watching world
events, for they will come to pass as you have been told in
studies on this website - Keith Hunt)
CELTIC TEACHINGS
A consideration of these Celtic doctrines reveals a significant
independence of thought and exegesis. There might be here and
there the echo of some phrase coined by a theologian of the West,
but for the most part the Celtic teacher phrased his
understanding of the meaning of the Bible in his own words,
seeking always to apply it to some practical need. Celtic
theology is biblical theology with no patristic emphases. A study
of the Deity was made to reveal qualities of benevolence working
toward the salvation of fallen man. Human redemption was procured
solely by the sacrificed merits of the Son of God without any
works on the part of man to earn his salvation. And yet man was
believed to be required to exercise his will in obeying the
Decalogue, albeit through the generously bestowed grace of God to
empower his efforts. Great stress was laid upon God's law in all
its bearings, especially in its function as the revealer of sin.
Man's personal responsibility for his own sinning, like the
stress laid on the law, is an echo of the teaching of Pelagius.
Angels were held to be celestial assistants to man, while a
simple dualism sets him against the Devil and evil angels. At the
end of human history Christ was believed to return to
re-establish man in that state for which he was originally
created. The reader in the sources of Celtic Christian theology
finds only a simple devotional study of the Scriptures, which,
taken in their most literal sense, form the basis of Celtic
beliefs.
There is no involvement in theological argumentation or in any
attempt to reach definitions of obscure and theoretical terms.
Aloof from the religious stresses of Mediterranean countries the
teachers of the Celtic west went their own ways, seeking to
understand the will of God for them as revealed in the
Scriptures.
..........
To be continued with "The Christian Year."
The Celtic Church in Britain #6
Sabbath and Festivals
by Leslie Hardinge (1972)
THE CELTIC CHRISTIAN YEAR
The book is fully of reference notes, which before I have not
retained. I do give the numbers in thism chapter. It is not my
intent to produce all the reference notes at the end of this
book, which covers about 50 pages - Keith Hunt
THE SABBATH AND SUNDAY
AND FAST DAYS
Particular days have been connected with acts of worship in
the Christian calendar. Some of these times of devotion recurred
weekly, while others fell annually.
Like other Christian bodies in both the East and West, the
Celtic Church set aside special days to fulfil its sacred
obligations. The Sabbath was ever carefully kept by the Hebrews,
and was observed by our Lord. 1 The first converts to the
Christian faith had been Jews. They continued to observe the
Sabbath. But several factors combined to induce Christians to
give up the observance of the Sabbath in favour of Sunday in
succeeding centuries. After the fall of Jerusalem in 70, and then
the crushing of the revolt led by Bar Cochbar in 135, the Jews
were scattered and their name and religion execrated. One of the
more obvious marks of a Jew was his observance of the Sabbath.
Christians, keeping the Sabbath, not because they were Jews but
in honour of creation and in obedience to the fourth commandment,
were, however, stigmatized as Jews. They were accused, especially
in Roman metropolitan areas, of practising an illegal religion.
Soon after the founding of the faith Gnosticism and
Mithraism raised tensions in Christian thinking. 2 Gnostics
"celebrated the Sunday of every week, not on account of its
reference to the resurrection of Christ, for that would have been
inconsistent with their Docetism, but as the day consecrated to
the sun, which was in fact their Christ". 3 The influence of
Mithraism tended in the same direction, for, as G. L. Laing
declared rightly: "Our observance of Sunday as the Lord's day is
apparently derived from Mithraism. The argument that has
sometimes been used against this claim, namely, that Sunday was
chosen because of the resurrection on that day, is not well
supported." 4 Those Christians who were looking for a way out of
their difficulty with Sabbath observance moved towards a greater
regard for the first clay of the week. But others on the
outskirts of the Empire, where anti-Semitism did not exist,
continued their veneration of the seventh clay Sabbath.
For two centuries the issue was undecided, but gradually
Sunday proved to be more popular. When, on 7 March 321,
Constantine decreed the observance of the "venerable day of the
Sun", 5 the extinction of Sabbath observance among the majority
of Christians became a foregone conclusion. But there are records
that both days, Saturdays and Sundays, were kept in Mediterranean
lands for at least two centuries after Constantine's edict. 6
The Council of Laodicea in 364 went so far as to rule that
the Sabbath should be deliberately desecrated: "Christians shall
not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, 7 but shall work on that
day: but thr Lord's day they shall especially honour, and, as
being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If,
however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from
Christ." 8 But these ecclesiastical legislators apparently spoke
only for a faction of Christians. At the beginning of the fifth
century Socrates (+ 445) wrote of the situation as it then
existed: "Although almost all churches throughout the world
celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet
the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some
ancient tradition, have ceased to do this." 9 He makes it plain
that Christians at Alexandria and Rome had once observed the
Sabbath but had moved to Sunday. In north Africa Augustine noted
to what purpose Saturday was devoted on his own age: "On this
day, which is the Sabbath, mostly those are accustomed to meet
who are desirous of the Word of God ... in some places the
communion takes place daily, in some only on the Sabbath and the
Lord's day, and in some only on the Lord's day." 10 Jerome (+
420) has left this picture of how Sunday was observed in his own
community: "On the Lord's day only they proceed to the church
beside which they lived, each company following its own
mother-superior. Returning home in the same order, they then
devoted themselves to their allotted tasks and made garments
either for themselves or else for others." 11 Seemingly after
divine worship on the morning of Sunday the rest of the day was
regarded as secular time in which work might be done. The
sabbatizing of Sunday had not yet begun.
Since Celtic practice received much of its inspiration from
the monachism of Egypt, it would be helpful to consider the
position of the Sabbath in Egypt during monasticism's formative
years. Palladius in the fifth century observed that the monks of
Nitria "occupy the church only on Saturday and Sunday", 12 at
which time they celebrate the Lord's Supper. 13 When Palladius
called on John of Lycopolis, he .....
found the vestibule of his cell closed; for the brethren
built on later a very large vestibule holding about 100 men,
and shutting it with a key they opened it on Saturday 14 and
Sunday. So, having learned the reason why it was closed, I
waited quietly till the Saturday. And having come at the
second hour for an interview I found him sitting by the
window, through which he seemed to be exhorting his
visitors. 15
John evidently conducted his spiritual counselling and
preaching on the Sabbath as well as on Sunday. Paesius and Isaias
decided to become monks on the death of their father. One
bestowed his fortune on the Church, and having learned a trade,
supported himself by his own labours. "But the other parted with
nothing, but making himself a monastery and getting together a
few brethren welcomed every stranger, every invalid, every old
man, every poor man, preparing three or four tables every Sunday
and Saturday." 16 In this way he spent his money." 17 Various
modes of monasticism were practised in Egypt: "For having divided
the property, they applied themselves each to his purpose of
pleasing God, but by different tactics." 18
Elpidius established his hermitage in a cave near Jericho.
"During his twenty-five years' life there he used to take food
only on Sunday and Saturday 19 and would spend the nights
standing up and singing the psalms." 20 Marcarius ate only on
Sunday. 21 The virgin Taor and her companions went to church for
communion on Sunday. 22 One of Nathaniel's visitors identified
himself thus: "I am so-and-so's little servant and I am carrying
loaves, for it is this brother's agape, and to-morrow when
Saturday 23 dawns offerings will be wanted." 24 Dom C. Butler
summed up the evidence 25 in these words:
The celebration of the Sabbath as well as the Lord's Day,
the Saturday as well as the Sunday, common throughout Egypt
and the East, is well illustrated in the 'Lausiac History.'
These were the only days on which the monks assembled at
church, took communion, received visitors, fed the needy,
and relaxed their fasts. 26
Accounts from the sources showing that both the Sabbath and
Sunday were kept throughout the early centuries of the Christian
era might be multiplied. Out of this background the Celts drew
their understanding of the days which should be observed.
Since the Celtic Church began when Sabbath observance had
not been relinquished by Christians at large, it would be
surprising, were the Sabbath not revered among them 27 The early
life of Patrick by Muirchu has two stories indicating Patrick's
attitude towards the seventh day. These traditions had persisted
for more than two centuries after the saint's death. His
biographer observed:
The angel was wont to come to him on every seventh day of
the week; and, as one man talks with another, so Patrick
enjoyed the angel's conversation. Moreover in the sixteenth
year of his age he was taken captive, and for six years he
was a slave, and throughout thirty changes of service the
angel used to come to him; he enjoyed angelic counsel and
conversation. 28
Muirchu identified Patrick's visitor: "Victor was the angel
who was wont often to visit Patrick." 29 The saint himself
referred to an acquaintance of his with this name. In his account
of his call to missionary service in Ireland he wrote:
I saw in the night visions a man whose name was Victoricus,
30 come as it were from Ireland with countless letters. And
he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the
letter, which was entitled, "The voice of the Irish"; and
while I was reading aloud the beginning of the letter, I
thought that at that very moment I heard the voice of them
who lived beside the Wood of Foclut which is nigh unto the
western sea. And thus they cried, as with one mouth, "We
beseech thee, holy youth, to come and walk among us once
more."31
Years ago Alfred Anscombe made an illuminating suggestion
identifying Victoricus. 32 Victricius (+ 407), bishop of Rouen,
paid a visit to Britain, possibly to help the Christians to
combat Arianism, but also to minister to believers from among the
Morini and Nervii who were serving in the Roman legions, encamped
near the Wall in Cumberland. Anscombe suggested that Victricius
probably penetrated as far as Cumbria, and that Patrick might
well have heard him preach, and that Victricius was changed to
Victoricus in later accounts. Traditions of Patrick's contacts
with Victoricus transformed him into an angel. Victricius might
well have been the inspiration for Patrick's missionary ambition.
Muirchu simply recorded that Patrick and Victricius met "every
seventh day of the week" for prayer and spiritual converse. 33
Worship on the seventh day is quite in keeping with the milieu
and the age in which Patrick lived.
Muirchu noted the method used by Patrick in working for the
conversion of pagans. This narrative also makes reference to the
seventh day. A young lady of royal birth (in eulogies converts of
the saints were frequently of royal birth!) named Moneisen,
contrary to her parents' wishes, desired to remain unmarried. In
their quandary her mother and father "having taken advice given
to them by God, heard of Patrick as a man who was visited by the
everlasting God every seventh day; and they sought the Scottic
country with their daughter, looking for Patrick". 34 And so the
legend grew. Patrick's sabbatic devotions, associated with
Victricius, became in course of time converse with an angel
Victor, and finally developed into Patrick's weekly visit by the
everlasting God on every seventh day! Patrick himself says
nothing of Sunday.
Almost five centuries later, when the movement to sabbatize
Sunday was under way, in accounts of Patrick's activities several
comminatory anecdotes for Sunday observance are fathered on the
saint. Patrick's journeys were occasionally terminated in the
records by the phrase "and he rested there on Sunday". 35 Then
stories were introduced into his activities as propaganda for
stricter Sunday observance. For instance, at Mag Reta, "Patrick
abode there through a Sunday. And on that Sunday they were
digging the foundation of Rath Baccain, the royal stronghold of
the district. Patrick went to forbid this. Nothing was done for
him." 36 So Patrick was recorded as cursing the building and its
builders. A storm vindicated the saint by destroying what had
been erected. Another anecdote was told to show how carefully the
saint kept Sunday and how heaven blessed him for this:
From vespers on Sunday night until the third [Roman] hour on
Monday, Patrick used not to go out of the place wherein he
was biding. [And] on a certain Sunday Patrick was afield at
the hour of evening, and a great rain poured on that earth,
but it poured not on the place wherein Patrick was staying,
as happened in the case of Gideon's shell and fleece. 37
Since the day was held by the Celtic Christians to begin at
sundown, Patrick is said to have commenced his devotions on
Saturday evening and to have continued them until dawn on Monday.
"These are among the earliest Irish attempts to persuade
Christians to observe Sunday as Sabbath" 38 is the correct
observation of A.O. Anderson.
In the Senchus Mor, ancient Irish laws believed to have been
framed with the help of Patrick, the relationship between the
"tribe of the church" and the "tribe of the people" is carefully
spelled out. These Christianized Brehon laws required that.
"every seventh day of the year" should be devoted to the service
of God. 39 The first section of the paragraph in which this
directive occurs dealt with the Christian's goods, defining the
tithes and offerings which he should dedicate to God. Next, the
time which the Christian should spend on sacred duties was
regulated. That the later legal glossator understood the
expression "every seventh day" as applying to the weekly rest day
is proved by his comment, "he puts Sunday in the reckoning" 40
This, of course, would be a natural conclusion for him to draw
after Sunday had superseded the Sabbath in the Celtic Church.
Skene rightly observed on this point: "It is very characteristic
of the spirit of these laws that the day of rest - the seventh
day - should form one of the demands of the Church upon the lay
tribe, which its members were bound to render for the service of
God with their other dues." 41 When all regard for the seventh
day had finally disappeared from the calendar of Celtic
Christians, the tradition still persisted that Patrick had
believed that there was some special significance attached to the
Sabbath. In a propaganda story to establish the virtue of
Secundus' "Hymn in Praise of St Patrick" is a conversation
between the saint and an angel:
"Is there aught else that he granted to me beside that?" saith
Patrick. "There is", saith the angel. "Seven persons on every
Saturday till Doom [are] to be taken out of Hell's pains." ...
"Is there aught else, then, that will be given me?" said Patrick.
"There is", saith the angel. "Thou shalt have out of [Hell's]
pains seven every Thursday and twelve every Saturday." 42
Thursday and Saturday were evidently days of devotion, in
which special blessings might be claimed from God.
A record of David's regard for the Sabbath was preserved in
the Second Life of St David:
From the eve of the Sabbath, until the light shines in the
first hour, after the break of day on the Sabbath, they
employ themselves in watchings, prayers, and genuflections,
except one hour after morning service on the Sabbath; they
make known their thoughts to the father, and obtain his
leave with respect to what was asked. 43
The "eve of the Sabbath" was Friday at sunset. David evidently
began his sabbatic devotions then 44 and continued them until
dawn of Sunday.
In later Roman and Western Church usage Saturday was made a
fast while Sunday always was a festival. In the Book of David (c.
500-25) Sunday and Saturday were put on equal footing as far as
the prohibition of fasting was concerned: "A bishop who wilfully
commits murder, or any kind of fornication or fraud, shall do
penance for thirteen years; but a presbyter seven years on bread
and water, and a repast on Sunday or Saturday." 45 That fasting
and abstinence from baths were not part of the ritual of Celtic
Christians for Sabbath observance is illustrated by this
anecdote: "A certain rich neighbour having prepared himself to
bathe on the Sabbath day, as was his custom, saw them coming,
weary from their journey and voyage; and seeing them, he would
not bathe until the strangers, who were more worthy of bathing,
had first bathed." 46 David observed Sunday as well as the
Sabbath. His biographer recorded that "on Sunday, David sang
mass, and preached to the people"; 47 and that on one occasion
"on the intervening Sunday, a great multitude heard him preach a
most excellent sermon". 48
This Welsh church leader, David, once called a synod in the
absence of Cadoc, who was away on pilgrimage. The story records
that on his return Cadoc was very incensed, but was admonished by
a celestial messenger to be patient because "the irregularity of
this business was allowed to blessed David by angelic
intervention". 49 Cadoc was mollified and rewarded by the angel
in these words:
Because thou hast obeyed my voice, and at my entreaty hast
forgiven what was committed against thee, the Lord my God
will deliver thy castle full of the souls of men from
eternal punishment, in the day of judgement; and as many
shaggy hairs as are in thy cloak (a kind of garment which
the Irish wear out of doors, full of prominent shaggy hairs,
woven into a kind of plush), so many will be delivered by
thee from eternal punishment. And also on every Sabbath,
from this night for ever, one soul will be delivered from
eternal torments for thy love. 50
(We should be able to see that by this time in church history and
Celtic church history in Britain, truth of the Sabbath and other
truths of the Bible were being perverted and falling into the
hands of the church of Rome, or even before Rome entered Britain,
Satan was working to corrupt the original truth of the word of
God that had arrived in Britain in the first century AD. - Keith
Hunt)
The Sabbath was held to be a day of blessing in Wales as
well as in Ireland and other Celtic lands.
Columba was also vitally concerned with the Sabbath. In the
story of the monastery of Tallaght the old point of view was
preserved that there was little difference between the sacredness
of the Sabbath and Sunday: "In the Rule of Columcille, Saturday's
allowance of food and Sunday's allowance are equal amounts,
because of the reverence that was paid to the Sabbath in the Old
Testament. It differs from Sunday in work only. And in other
rules there is similarity of allowances on Sabbath and on
Sunday." 51 The Sabbath was revered by those who lived by the
Rule of Columcille, and other monastic rules as well, and
evidently, as in the case of Jerome's nunnery noted above, work
might be performed by Columba's followers on Sunday after
attendance at morning worship. But with the shift away from
Sabbath observance after the Romanizing of the Celtic Church the
regulation regarding the Sabbath was dropped, for, as A. O.
Anderson points out, "The surviving 'Rule of Columcille' does not
contain this item, but no authentic Rule of Columcille has
survived." 52 Against the Celtic Sabbath observance the
penitential of Theodore inveighs in no uncertain tone. 53 There
does not appear to be any direct evidence from his own works that
Columbanus observed the Sabbath. But there does exist an epistle
which has been attributed to him in which the topic is mentioned.
This letter, which Walker included in his appendix to the works
of Columbanus, has been variously attributed. Its title page has
been lost, and so both the name of the author and that of the
recipient are missing. On linguistic ground it is believed to
have been composed by Columbanus, but "the authorship of the
letter can only be left an open question" for the present. 54 The
epistle, however, is held to be contemporaneous with Columbanus,
and might well have been written by someone close to that saint.
It dealt with the Hebrew festivals as well as with the Sabbath,
and shows an affinity with early Celtic practice in quoting
solely from the Scriptures, except for a possible allusion to an
epigram by Jerome. The third section of the letter runs like
this:
We are bidden to work on six days, but on the seventh, which
is the Sabbath, we are restrained from every servile labour.
Now by the number six the completeness of our work is meant,
since it was in six days that the Lord made heaven and
earth. Yet on the Sabbath we are forbidden to labour at any
servile work, that is sin, since he who commits sin is a
slave to sin, so that, when in this present age we have
completely fulfilled our works, not hardening our hearts, we
may deserve to reach that true rest, which is denied to the
unruly, as the Lord says through David, If they shall enter
into my rest. 55
This passage reveals that the writer believed that Saturday
has been the Sabbath, but that in his segment of the Church it
was esteemed only in a spiritual sense as a type of resting from
sin. This is borne out by a previous statement in the epistle:
"And also in the Gospel the Lord Jesus declared the ending of the
Sabbath, when he bade the cripple, Take up thy bed, which is
clearly forbidden in the law, I mean the bearing of burdens on
the Sabbath." 56 The significance of this letter lies in the
light it throws on the controversy which was apparently going on
regarding the Sabbath and other festivals of the Hebrews. This
tension is understandable in a Celtic Christian setting with its
overtones of stress on the validity of the Old Testament.
Adamnan made several references to the Sabbath in his life
of Columba. He told of a Sabbath service in which Columba blessed
a barn. 57 Adamnan invariably employed the original biblical
name, Sabbath, for the seventh day of the week, and spoke of it
in a manner betokening a respect which is not detected in writers
two centuries later. In discussing this matter with Diormit
Columba is reported as declaring:
This day is called in the sacred books "Sabbath", which is
interpreted "rest". And truly this day is for me a sabbath,
because it is my last day of this present laborious life. In
it after my toilsome labour I keep Sabbath; 58 and at
midnight of this following venerated Lord's day, in the
language of the Scriptures I shall go the way of the
fathers. For now my Lord Jesus Christ deigns to invite me."
59
From this and other passages it is true that Columba had
some regard also for the first day of the week. 60 But a
sabbatical Sunday had not yet been accepted in Iona at the time
when Adamnan wrote. 61
This respect for both days is illustrated also from the
canons of various penitential books. Finnian ruled that "married
people, then, must mutually abstain ... on Sunday night or
Saturday night ..." 62 So from sunset on Friday until after the
hours of Sunday has passed reverence for both days had to be
shown. There are traces that the earliest settlers on the Faroes
and Iceland probably observed the Sabbath, and so were accused of
Judaizing:
these islands were first inhabited by the Picts and papae
... the papae had been named from their white robes, which
they wore like priests; whence priests are all called papae
in the Teutonic tongue. An island is still called, after
them, Papey. But, as is observed from their habit and the
writings of their books abandoned there, they were Africans,
adhering to Judaism. 63
This is perhaps the earliest record of Celtic Christian
settlers who were stigmatized as Judaizing. The statement that
they were Africans is most baffling. It might indicate that their
Scriptures had affinity with the African version, as had already
been pointed out. But this is only a guess.
But with the acceptance of the Roman Easter and other rules
the movement to sabbatize Sunday gained momentum. Pope Gregory (+
604), as champion of Roman usages, had upheld the careful
observance of Sunday, and had stigmatized any respect for the
Sabbath as Judaizing. In a letter to the Roman people he wrote:
It has come to my ears that certain men of perverse spirit
have sown among you some things that are wrong and opposed
to the holy faith, so as to forbid any work being done on
the Sabbath day. What else can I call these but preachers of
Antichrist, who, when he comes, will cause the Sabbath day
as well as the Lord's day to be kept free from all work. 64
It is not at all surprising, then, with the coming of
Theodore of Tarsus (+ 690), the most successful protagonist of
the Roman Church Britain had yet seen, to note a mounting
emphasis on the observance of Sunday to the exclusion of all
regard for Saturday. In his first book of Penitentials, Theodore
drew up seven canons to deal with the keeping of Sunday, and in
his second book he added a further four. 65 In fact a whole
section was entitled "Those who despise the Lord's day, and
neglect the appointed feasts of the church of God". Theodore
prohibited all labour on the Lord's day, and forbade all fasting
on it. One canon ruled: "If he fast out of contempt for the day,
he shall be abhorred as a Jew by all the Catholic churches." 66
In marked contrast with what has been noted regarding the
attitude of Patrick and Columba to the observance of the Sabbath
and the Lord's day is the directive in the later Old-Irish
Penitential (c. 800): "Anyone who fasts on a Sunday through
carelessness or austerity does a week's penance on bread and
water." 67
But the long debate continued among the Christians of
Britain, and especially in Ireland, between those who advocated
the observance of the Sabbath, and those who wished to keep both
the Sabbath and Sunday, and those who pressed for a sabbatizing
of Sunday only. A protagonist of Sunday observance went so far as
to substitute "Lord's day" for "Sabbath" in the Ten Commandments
as recorded in Exod. 20:8-11 in a sermon preserved in the
Leabhar Breac. 68
Columbanus allowed his monks to wash their hair or feet on
Sunday 69 This was, of course, contrary to a strict sabbatarian
view of Sunday, and also went counter to Hebrew Sabbath
regulations.
Columba made journeys on Sunday, 70 and Adamnan mentioned
quite casually that pilgrims reached Iona who had travelled on
Sunday. 71 In his description of the last night of Columba, a
Sunday night, Adamnan tells of men who were fishing. Among them
was a future holy monk and pilgrim for God. 72 So even at the end
of the seventh century the washing of hair, travelling, or the
gathering of food by fishing were not regarded as infractions of
the laws of Sunday observance as they were understood by Celtic
Christians.
But during the next two centuries the Romanizing of Celtic
Christianity continued apace and the attitude towards Sunday
altered greatly. Travelling was condemned in a comminatory story
describing the arrival of Cronan's relatives with food for his
monastery for the feast of Easter. When the visitors were still
some distance away, they heard Cronan's vesper bell on Saturday
evening. Immediately they camped by the river until Monday
morning. 73
But it would seem that, the advocates for the secularization
of the Sabbath and the rigidly sabbatic observance of Sunday
found their progress too slow. They therefore fabricated
propaganda to impress the rude masses of the people. An "Epistle
of Christ" was said to have fallen from heaven in Rome 74 on the
altar of St Peter. Its opening paragraph consisted of a catalogue
of pseudo-biblical episodes which the author averred had occurred
on Sunday, and so enhanced the sacredness of that day. But most
of the stories are not to be found in the Scriptures. This would
suggest that the rank and file of the Christians in Ireland
during the later decades of the ninth and tenth centuries, had
become ignorant of the contents of the Bible. The introduction to
the "Epistle of Christ" concluded: "Therefore, it is through
these commands that God has enjoined Sunday to be kept holy, for
God's own hand has written that command to men, lest they should
do either work or servile labour on Sunday." 75 The ancient
annalist recorded for 886: "An Epistle came with the pilgrim to
Ireland, with the Cain Domnaig, and other good instructions." 76
The following paragraphs present some of the arguments contained
in the "Epistle" and give its flavour:
Here begins the Epistle of the Saviour our Lord Jesus Christ
concerning the Lord's Day, which his own hand wrote in the
presence of the men of Heaven, and which was placed upon the
altar of Peter the Apostle in Rome of Latium, to make Sunday
holy for all time. When this Epistle was brought from
Heaven, the whole earth trembled from the rising unto the
setting of the sun; and the earth cast its stones and trees
on high, for dread of their Creator and for joy also at the
attendance of the angels who had come with the Epistle; and
so great was the din at that time, that the place opened
where the body of Peter the Apostle lay buried in Rome. When
the abbot of Rome was at Mass, he saw the Epistle on the
altar. 77
The "Epistle" having listed many fabulous calamities which
had visited mankind as a result of the transgression of Sunday,
then anathematizes all desecrators of this day: "'Whoever shall
not keep Sunday', said the heavenly Father, 'within its proper
boundaries, his soul shall not attain Heaven, neither shall he
see me in the Kingdom of Heaven, nor the Archangels, nor the
Apostles.'" 78 After tabulating further dreadful misfortunes
which would follow the breaking of Sunday, the writer added this
strange piece of reasoning: "Now, even if this wonderful command
for keeping Sunday holy had not come from Jesus Christ himself
out of Heaven, the day should be sacred, venerable, perfect, and
honoured, on account of all the many miracles that have happened
thereon." 79 The Irish pilgrim Conall MacCoelmaine was believed
to have been in Rome when the letter arrived and made a
transcript of it: "Conall then wrote with his own hand the
Epistle of Sunday from the Epistle which was sent from Heaven
unto the altar of Peter the Apostle in Rome. When it was time to
lift the shrine, the saint revealed it in a vision to the priest
who was at the altar." 80 Now Conall MacCoelmaine died about 590.
The fact that the bringing of the "Epistle" to Ireland had been
fathered on one who had gone to his rest three centuries before
its actual arrival (886) indicates the doubts which must have
filled the minds of many regarding its authenticity and
acceptability.
(And those who know their Bible and the truth of the Lord know we
do not go to heaven at death, or at any other time. The truth is
heaven is coming to us, as expounded in many other studies on
this website. What we are reading is clever, deceitful made up
false teachings by the church of Rome - Keith Hunt)
The "Epistle" presented a detailed list of what might not be
done on Sunday, and then stipulated that:
Whosoever shall do this on Sunday, unless he shall perform
great penance for it, his soul shall not attain Heaven. "I
swear," saith the abbot of Rome, "by the might of God the
Father, and by Christ's Cross, that this is no invention of
mine, and no fiction or fable; but it is from God the Father
this Epistle was sent unto the altar of Peter in Rome of
Latium to make Sunday holy." 81
(Oh it may have indeed been sent, maybe even a miracle, but not
from the Father or Christ, but by the working of the miracles of
Satan the Devil - Keith Hunt)
Even baptism was prohibited on Sunday. What was permitted
was the "seeking a person in orders for the sake of Communion;
but baptism is not sought unless it is likely that the infant
shall be dead". 82 The "Epistle" ended with this recommendation
to all duly constituted legal organizations to enforce Sunday
legislation: "There is a further enactment of this law:
whatsoever meeting and whatsoever assembly in which tribes or
kings meet, that it be the law of Sunday which is first passed
therein. It is enacted: The curse of every person on all who
shall break this law of Sunday. 83
That the Cain Domnaig, or the Law of Sunday, was actually
brought with the "Epistle of Christ" from Rome is to be doubted.
The Cain Domnaig appears to be a Christianized Brehon law tract
based on the "Epistle". It has a definitely Irish flavour, and
was probably devised as part of the movement to sabbatize the
observance of Sunday. It was the first ecclesiastical Sunday law
in Ireland. Not only did it regulate the keeping of the day, but
it also pronounced the most terrible curses on any who failed to
observe Sunday. 84
Following the arrival of the "Epistle of Christ" and the
formulation of the "Cain Domnaig, the Lives of the Saints" are
filled with comminatory anecdotes showing how they enforced
Sunday observance. Aed was cross with a woman for washing her
hair on the Lord's day. If women persisted in doing this, he
fumed, they would become bald. If later they repented, their hair
would grow back 85 Colman was averse to chopping wood on Sunday.
A man who persisted found that his axe was caught in the log and
he himself could not let go of its handle. 86 Cellach passed
Guaire in silence, insulting him. On being invited to make things
right, he retorted, "I will not go, 'tis vesper-time, and no
transgression of the Lord's day do I." 87 The sons of Ua Corra,
becoming lepers, went on a pilgrimage to a distant island. They
there saw a man digging with a spade, the handle of which was on
fire. Asked the cause, he confessed that he had worked on the
Lord's day, and now this had happened to him! Another unfortunate
was discovered riding on a horse of fire. 88 An Irish sage used
to wander round a cemetery periodically meditating on death. One
Sunday he inadvertently flicked a chip of wood from the path with
the end of his staff. Because of this he was deprived of the
visit which an angel used regularly to pay to him. 89 And the
list of stories like these might be multiplied. They portray a
very obvious and rustic desire to influence what would seem to be
a primitive and quasi-pagan Christian populace towards a more
pharisaical observance of Sunday. 90
Gradually, concurrently with the Romanizing of the Celtic
Church, the observance of Sunday became more and more sabbatical,
and the observance of the Sabbath fell into disuse. When Queen
Margaret of Scotland (+ 1093) summoned the remnants of Celtic
Christian clerics to her synods to discuss doctrine with a view
to their uniting with the Roman Church, she found that:
They were accustomed also to neglect reverence for the
Lord's days; and thus to continue upon them as upon other
days all the labours of earthly work. But she showed, both
by reason and by authority, that this was not permitted. She
said: "Let us hold the Lord's day in veneration because of
the Lord's resurrection, which took place upon it; and let
us not do servile labours upon [the day] in which we know
that we were redeemed from the devil's servitude." 91
After due pressure the ancient Celts capitulated, for "none
dared on those days to carry any burdens, or to compel another to
do so" 92
There is a hint that, when the Romanizing party sought to
bring the remnants of Celtic Christians into the orthodox fold in
Iceland, one of the points necessary was the regularization of
the observance of the Lord's day. "Thorgeir then dealt with the
observance of the Lord's Day and fast days, Christmas and Easter,
and all the important feast days." 93 All these records of the
secularization of Saturday, coupled with earlier traces of
sabbatizing strongly suggest that in Celtic lands, as was also
the case in other countries, there was a gradual shift from the
keeping of Saturday, the seventh day Sabbath, to the observance
of both Saturday and Sunday and then to the celebration of Sunday
exclusively.
(And indeed so it was as recorded in all church history records,
also brought out by one of the greatest Sabbath/Sunday scholars
of the 20th century - Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi and his many books
on the subjest of the 7th day Sabbath and Sunday, which can be
found on this website - Keith Hunt)
The time at which the Celtic Christians commenced their
Sabbath and Sunday observance is of interest. The Hebrews began
their day with sunset. 94 The early Christians also started their
Sabbaths at sunset on Friday and concluded worship at sundown on
Sabbath. As has been stated, Celtic Christians likewise commenced
their day with sunset, but might end it at dawn on the following
clay. When Sunday took on a religious character, it too was so
observed. The Cain Domnaig stipulated that "the sanctity of the
Lord's day is from vespers on Saturday till after matins on
Monday". 95 But apparently, as in many points of Celtic belief
and practice, there were no set rules which were observed by
every section, and the sacred hours might end at sunset or at
dawn the next morning according to choice.
As ascetic practices became widespread, fasting on specified
days of the week grew more common. This custom was also a
survival of Jewish custom, being endorsed by the example of John
the Baptist and the precept of our Lord. Fasting was observed by
the Apostles, and, as the Christian community became more
thoroughly organized, Wednesdays and Fridays are mentioned as
days of abstinence by the church fathers. Fasting on these two
days each week is also noted by Celtic writers. In the monastery
of Iona Wednesday was regularly a day of abstinence:
On a third day of the week, the saint thus addressed the
brothers: "On the fourth day of the week, tomorrow, we
propose to fast; but nevertheless a disturbing guest will
arrive, and the customary fast will be relaxed." ... For on
the same fourth clay of the week, in the morning, another
stranger shouted across the strait: a very religious man, by
name Aidan, Fergno's son, who (it is said) for twelve years
attended upon Brenden mocu-Alti. He, when he arrived,
relaxed that day's fast, as the saint had said. 96
Evidently the rules for fasting might be waived in honour of
guests. Adamnan does not mention that Friday was a fast day on
Iona. But the Old-Irish glossator, Diarmait, called this the "day
of the last fast". 97
Aidan, the Celtic missionary to Northumbria, fasted "on
Wednesdays and Fridays", 98 and this custom was imitated by "many
devout men and women who were inspired to follow his example". 99
The penitential of Cummean (c. 650) required fasting "on the two
appointed week days", 100 without, however, specifying which.
Theodore regulated that those who had been baptized a second time
should fast on Wednesdays and Fridays for seven years. 101 This
suggests that fasting on those days was not obligatory upon other
members of the Christian community. He imposed fasting "on
Wednesdays and Fridays during the three forty-day periods", 102
for those who had been married twice or more times. While there
is this dubiety in the early Anglo-Saxon Church, the Celtic
Christian sources leave no doubt that these two days were devoted
to fasting and prayer from the earliest times. 103
(We again should be seeing how man made traditions, with no
Scriptural authority, was coming into the Celtic church, albeit,
influenced by the church of Rome at this time in Celtic church
history - Keith Hunt)
The Amra Coluimb Chille recorded of Columba that "knowledge
of the Godhead ... used to be sent to him, for every Thursday he
used to go ad Dominum". 104 What this weekly act of worship was
is not clear, but, as has been noted, 105 Patrick was believed to
have regarded Thursday as possessing something of a religious
character. Thursday might have been a primitive Celtic Christian
day of minor devotion.
ANNUAL FEASTS
EASTER/PASSOVER
Besides weekly celebrations Christians also had regular
annual feasts. The earliest one was the observance of Easter.
This festival attracted a great amount of attention through the
centuries, and during the seventh proved to be one of the major
bones of contention between the Celtic and Roman Christian
parties. There are also references in later Celtic literature to
the observance of three fortyday periods of special fasting, the
celebration of Pentecost and Christmas, and later, the observance
of various saints' days.
(Again, the false influence of Rome had come into the Celtic
church in Britain - Keith Hunt)
The Easter controversy between the Celts and the
missionaries led by Augustine and later advocates of the Roman
party was concerned with the date on which the festival should be
celebrated. Its overtones finally embraced the question of
ecclesiastical authority. The Hebrew year was lunar. Each month
commenced with the crescent moon. The lunar year is approximately
eleven days short of the solar, so Nisan, the first Hebrew month,
moved nearer to winter by eleven days each year. To keep the
Hebrew calendar synchronous with the seasons an extra month was
occasionally added, seven during each nineteen-year period. When
this month was to be intercalated was determined by the Sanhedrin
by means of a simple rule. The precipitating factor was the
offering, with the Passover lambs, of "the first fruits" of the
barley harvest on the sixteenth of the month. 106 According to
the law, the Passover had to be sacrificed on the fourteenth or
full moon, and from the fifteenth the feast of unleavened bread
continued for a week. Two ripe sheaves of barley were to be
presented on the sixteenth. During the closing days of the
preceding month, Adar, the barley, in a secluded field near
Jerusalem, was carefully observed. Should it appear impossible
for it to ripen in time for the presentation on the sixteenth, an
extra month, Ve-Adar, was added. The Passover was, therefore, a
moveable feast which occurred during the spring on any day of the
week, but it had to fall on the full moon. It came earlier when
the spring was warm, later in colder weather.
(The writer does not know the full range of the movable Hebrew
calendar, nor the many reasons for adding a 13th month. The
calendar in detail, the questions regarding it and etc. are fully
expounded on this website under "The Calendar Question" studies -
Keith Hunt)
Nisan, the first Jewish month, generally contained the
vernal equinox. It was possible, however, for the full moon, that
is, the Passover, to occur prior to the equinox. Christ was a Jew
and lived according to Hebrew ceremonial regulations. He died
during the Hebrew Passover. The earliest Christians, converts
from Judaism, also followed Hebrew customs. They early recognized
that Christ had fulfilled the Paschal types by his death. 107 His
resurrection, they believed, was typified by the wave sheaf of
barley. 108 These Christians looked upon the fourteenth of Nisan
as the anniversary of the crucifixion and carefully kept it in
remembrance of Christ's death. With the spread of Christianity
among the Gentile peoples and the rise of anti-Semitism the
Paschal season lost much of its flavour. Emphasis moved from an
honouring of the crucifixion to a celebration of the
resurrection. Those Christians who continued to observe Easter at
the same time as the Passover were stigmatized as
"Quartodecimans". But others in some places, with Socrates, held
that:
The aim of the apostles was not to appoint festival days,
but to teach a religious life and piety. And it seems to me
that just as many other customs have been established in
individual localities according to usage. So also the feast
of Easter came to be observed in each place according to the
individual peculiarities of the people inasmuch as none of
the apostles legislated on the matter. And that the
observance originated not by legislation, but as a custom,
the facts themselves indicate. In Asia Minor most people
kept the fourteenth day of the moon, disregarding the
sabbath: yet they never separated from those who did
otherwise, until Victor, bishop of Rome, influenced by too
ardent a zeal, fulminated a sentence of excommunication
against the Quartodecimans in Asia ...109
(The aim of the apostles WAS to teach the correct Feasts of the
Lord to be observed, which God had given way back in Leviticus
23. The NT church observed those Festivals. They were never "done
away with." History does record that the two church leaders of
Asia Minor in the 2nd century AD - Polycarp and Polycrates - did
debate with the bishop of Rome over the Easter/Passover
observance. The churches of Asia Minor did at that time still
embrase the church of Rome as "brothers in Christ" - but brothers
who were now beginning to move away from each other in the
theology of God. The great falling away was beginning to take
place as spoken about by Paul in 2 Thes.2. And the anti-christs
were by now indeed MANY, as noted by John [in his epistles]
before he fell asleep in death - Keith Hunt)
In the same way as the Jewish Sabbath gave place before the
pagan Sunday, the Passover was displaced by the feast of the
resurrection, Easter. Not satisfied with this partial departure
from Jewish usages, a party in the Church sought to arrange that
Easter should never fall on the same day as the Jewish Passover,
even once in seven years. This change was attributed to Pius (+
c. 154), Eleuther, and Victor. 110 But this sixth-century record
smacks of pious fraud. An angel was said to have informed Hermas,
the brother of Pius, that Easter should be observed only on the
Lord's day." 111 The story was regarded as fiction by the Eastern
Church leaders, who strenuously objected to the Bishop of Rome's
assumption of growing authority. 112 There followed a period of
considerable disagreement and dissension, as Epiphanius (+ 403)
summarized:
For even from the earliest times various controversies and
dissensions were in the church concerning this solemnity,
which used yearly to bring laughter and mockery. For some,
in a certain ardour of contention, began it before the week,
some at the beginning, some in the middle, some at the end.
To say in a word, there was a wonderful and laborious
confusion. 113
While a discussion of the details of the controversy during
the first six centuries of the Christian era is beyond the scope
of this chapter, a short summary of the final stages is necessary
to clarify the relationship of the Celtic Church to the paschal
dissensions.
With the coming of the peace of the Church the Emperor
Constantine, determined to bring about unanimity, entered the
controversy. The Council of Arles (314) ruled that Easter should
be observed on the same day by all Christians, but there was no
mention as to which day was intended. The paschal cycle then
accepted was probably the nineteen-year one, and this would
probably have been carried back to Britain by the British
delegates. Some ten years later, by the decision of Nicaea in
325, the observance of Easter on Sunday became a legal necessity.
But the Council laid down no rule for determining on which Sunday
Easter should be kept.
But while the Council of Nicaea might legislate, and the
Emperor, with his mastery for compromise, might decide that
Alexandria should calculate the date of Easter and Rome should
promulgate it, the results, as far as unity was concerned, were
far from satisfactory. The original fourth-century cycle was
probably closely related to the Hebrew nineteen-year period
attributed to Meton (c. 423 B.C.). The decree of Nicaea lasted
uneasily until 342. Clerical mathematicians produced several
short-lived and unpopular cycles, until the mode of reckoning
Easter was altered into the eighty-fouryear cycle traditionally
attributed to Sulpicius Severus (+ 420-5) but in use in different
areas at an earlier date. In 457 Victor of Aquitaine produced a
532-year table which continued in popular use till 525, when the
nineteen-year cycle of Dionysius Exiguus (+ 550) was adopted.
This in turn was modified in Rome before 664. 114 But there was
no unanimity about any of these cycles. Scattered sections of
Christians followed quite different modes of reckoning. The point
on which this controversy finally focused was a discussion of
authority: Whose cycle should be followed? East was against West,
and there were factions within the larger groups.
The Christianity into which Patrick was born quite possibly
followed the eighty-four-year cycle of Sulpicius Severus,
although this is by no means settled." 115 Bury suggested that
Celtic Easter computations were based on the very earliest of the
Christian cycles, that is, on the nineteen-year unit, discarded
before 343. 116 Whatever may be the truth, the fact remains that
when Augustine and his mission encountered the British
ecclesiastics, the cycle and method of calculating Easter used by
the Celts differed radically from those employed by the visitors
from Italy. As had been the case in the Mediterranean lands, the
bishop of Rome regarded the settlement of the Easter question
according to his solution a matter of supreme importance.
The sources dealing with Celtic Easter observances are
contradictory. It is possible to select some statements and form
a picture which is oversimplified. But a study of the details
presents a view which is true to type: there existed among Celtic
Christians many factions with differing observances.
The Celtic Church reckoned Easter week from the fourteenth
to the twentieth of the month. 117 When the fourteenth, or full
moon, fell on Sunday some apparently celebrated Easter on it.
This is what seems to have happened in the home of King Oswy. 118
Rome had moved away from this to avoid holding Easter on the same
day as the Jewish Passover. The Celts reckoned their equinox on
25 March, but Rome had adopted 21 March as the more accurate
date. Wilfrid alluded to the nineteen-year cycle, which he
attributed to Anatolius, 119 but Bede recorded that the Britons
held to the eighty-four-year cycle, 120 and that they observed
Easter day on Sunday only, 121 although Eddius affirmed that they
did not 122 The Celts themselves declared that they followed
John, 123 and this would make them Quartodecimans. Apparently the
same confusion was also existent in Ireland. The ancient annalist
for 704 recorded a most significant paragraph, noting that:
In this year the men of Erin consented to receive one
jurisdiction and the rule from Adamnan, respecting the
celebration of Easter, on Sunday, the fourteenth of the moon
of April, and respecting the tonsuring of all the clerks in
Erin after the manner of St Peter, for there had been great
dissension in Erin up to that time; i.e. some of the clergy
of Erin celebrated Easter on the Sunday (next after) the
fourteenth of the moon of April, and had the tonsure of
Peter the Apostle, after the example of Patrick, but others,
following the example of Columhkille, celebrated Easter on
the fourteenth of the moon of April, on whatever day of the
week the fourteenth should happen to fall, and had the
tonsure of Simon Magus. A third party did not agree with the
followers of Patrick, or with the followers of Columkille;
so that the clergy of Erin used to hold many synods, and
these clergy used to come to the synods accompanied by the
laity, so that battles and deaths occurred between them; and
many evils resulted in Erin in consequence ... They were
thus for a long time, i.e. to the time of Adamnan, who was
the ninth abbot that took [the government of] la after
Columbkille. 124
This long quotation is given to demonstrate that even at the
opening of the eighth century there still existed many different
points of view on the celebration of Easter. That there were some
who were genuinely Quartodecimans it would seem unreasonable to
doubt.
(Once more we see that by this date in Celtic church history in
Britain, much truth had been lost or muddled or confused. Some no
doubt, the few, retained the truth of the matter, and knew when
the Lord's death should be observed - the Passover on the 14th of
the first Hebrew month in the Hebrew calendar, and that the
Easter of the church of Rome was plain and simple - paganism
adopted and adapted to the pleasure of Rome and to accomadate the
influx of pagans into the church of Rome who still wanted to keep
many of their pagan traditions and customs - Keith Hunt)
The third order of Irish saints "had different rules and ...
a different Paschal festival. For some celebrated the
resurrection on the fourteenth moon, or the sixteenth ... These
continued to that great mortality in the year 666." 125 Theodore
inveighed against the heretic, who was obviously a Celtic
Christian, who "flouts the Council of Nicaea and keeps Easter
with the Jews on the fourteenth of the moon, he shall be driven
out of every church unless he does penance before his death".
126 These Christians he also called "Quartodecimans". 127 Half a
century before, Columbanus, writing to Gregory the Great
regarding the question of the celebration of Easter; had stated:
"For you must know that Victorius has not been accepted by our
teachers, by the former scholars of Ireland, by the
mathematicians most skilled in reckoning chronology, but has
earned ridicule or indulgence rather than authority." 128 It was
not merely a blind adherence to tradition which induced the Celts
to adhere to their views; they believed that their Easter
calculations were more accurate and authoritative than those of
Rome. The details of this conflict, violent at times and long
continuing, are confused and, at this date, theoretical. What is
significant is their outcome. While Rome and the Western Church
had altered its reckoning from century to century, the Celtic
Christians had failed to follow.
The result of the conflict has often been traced. The
settlement of the dating of Easter appears to have been the major
plank for the establishment of the authority of the bishop of
Rome in Celtic lands. Whether the Celtic Christians were right or
wrong is of little consequence now. They believed they were
right. When they eventually relinquished their adherence to this
point in favour of Rome, they surrendered their independence on
all points and soon became fused with Roman Christianity.
SAINT DAYS
Before the period of the Danish invasions there was
apparently little veneration of saints, or observance of their
feast days, although there are traces that the cult of the saints
was commencing in the thinking of Celtic Christians at an earlier
date. In the tenth and following centuries, however, the
festivals of saints were a marked feature of the Christian year,
and were celebrated with homilies based on the traditional lives
of the saints.
In the "Life of Samson of Dot" there is a very early
reference to this practice:
Therefore, my brothers, to honour the festivals of the
saints is nothing else than to adjust lovingly our mind to
their good qualities, of which we are fully cognisant; [so
that] by imitating them we may be able to follow the same
men, under God's guidance, by the straightest course to that
unspeakable and heavenly kingdom to which they have happily
attained, not rivalling them in great deeds, but sharing
their difficult tasks, which by abstinence, prolonged and
incredible, so to speak, to the untried, with whom all
things are not thought possible to him that believeth, they
engaged in until the happy close of this life. 129
But there is nothing suggesting the invocation of saints in
this paragraph. The example of the departed was held up as an
encouragement to the living to emulate his life and deeds.
While it is impossible from the meagre sources which have
survived to reconstruct a complete list of the saints who were
eventually celebrated each day of the Christian year, some
picture is possible. The festival of the return of the Holy
Family from Egypt was celebrated on 11 January, "Out of Egypt-
-splendid gladness! came Mary's great Son." 130 The feast of the
circumcision of Christ occurred on 2 February, "the reception of
Mary's Son in the Temple, sure inestimable". 131 On 27 March fell
the feast of the conception and crucifixion of our Lord, "Jesus'
Conception on the same day as his crucifixion without respect".
132 Holy Thursday, 24 March, was devoted to cleansing ceremonies,
the washing of the head and cutting of the hair, and the washing
of the feet. The old record declares: "At the washing of the feet
the Beati are recited as long as the washing lasts. After that
comes the sermon on the washing." 133 On Holy Saturday a
peculiarly Irish rite was followed, the lighting of the sacred
fire. This practice might well have been survival of a
pre-Christian ceremony:
They left their vessel in the estuary and went along the
land till they came to Ferta Fer Feicc [the Graves of
Fiacc's Men], and Patrick's tent was pitched in that place,
and he struck the paschal fire. It happened, then, that that
was the time at which was celebrated the high-tide of the
heathen, to wit, the Feast of Tara. The kings and the lords
and the chiefs used to come to Tara, to Loegaire sone of
Niall, to celebrate that festival therein. The wizards,
also, and the augurs would come so that they were
prophesying to them. On that night, then, the fire of every
hearth in Ireland was quenched, and it was proclaimed by the
King that no fire should be kindled in Ireland before the
fire of Tara, and that neither gold nor silver should be
taken (as compensation) from him who should kindle it, but
that he should go to death for his crime. 134
Having lighted his fire before the king lighted his, Patrick
was believed to have struck a death blow against this heathen
practice. From this event the Irish Easter fire ceremony probably
arose. This later developed into the ritual of the blessing of
the Irish Easter candle which is found in no other liturgy. 135
But it might very well be traced to the Hebrew typical service.
The transfiguration was celebrated on 26 July. 136 As time went
by more and more festivals were added, and with the final merging
of the Celtic and the Western Churches the regular Christian year
came to be observed. At each solemnity it was customary to read a
homily or eulogy, based on the biography of the holy man. This
practice resulted in the innumerable "Lives" which later
panegyrists prepared with so much imagination.
Besides these regular feasts Celtic Christians also observed
three special fasts of forty days each, 137 occasionally called
the three Lents. Great Lent occurred during the forty days before
Easter. Another occupied the forty days prior to Christmas, and
might be compared with Advent of the Eastern Churches. The third
was observed during the forty days following Whitsun. 138 The
Celtic clerics who worked as missionaries to Northumbria observed
these fasts. Egbert, an English nobleman, having learnt from his
Irish teachers, "ate only one meal a day during Lent ... He
practised a similar abstinence for forty days before Christmas,
and as many after the Feast of Pentecost." 139 When this third
practice began is not known, "but no traces of it can be
discovered in the sixth century", 140 in Celtic lands. That the
Celtic method of observing the fast of Lent was different from
the way in which it was celebrated by the Roman Church is
suggested by Queen Margaret's reaction to the Scottish
Christians:
They did not legally keep the fast of Lent; because they
were accustomed to begin it, not (with the holy church
universally upon the fourth day of the week) on the
beginning of the fast (Ash Wednesday, beginning on the
evening of Shrove Tuesday), but on the second day of the
[following] week. They said in reply: "The fast that we
hold, we keep for six weeks, according to the authority of
the Gospel, which describes the fast of Christ." She
replied: "You differ in this widely from the Gospel: for we
read there that the Lord fasted for forty days, and it is
obvious that you do not. Since six Sundays are deducted
during the six weeks, it is clear that only thirty-six days
remain for the fast. Therefore it is clear that you do not
keep the fast by authority of the Gospel, for forty days;
but for thirty-six days. It remains for you therefore to
begin to fast with us four days before the beginning of
Lent, if you wish to preserve abstinence for the number of
forty days, according to the Lord's example; otherwise you
alone resist the authority of the Lord himself, and the
tradition of the entire holy church." 141
That it was the custom of the Celtic Church to fast for
forty days excluding Sundays is also vouched for by the Lenten
experience of Cedd: "During this time he fasted until evening
every day except Sunday according to custom. Even then, he took
no food but a morsel of bread, an egg, and a little watered milk.
He explained that it was the custom of those who had trained him
in the rule of regular discipline." 142 When the two lesser Lents
died out the records fail to indicate. The Old-Irish Penitential
mentioned periods of fasting "between the two Christmases and
between the two Easters and at Pentecost, and such persons have
relaxation on the high festivals of the year, and on Sundays and
on the fifty nights between Easter and Pentecost". 143
The day of our Lord's nativity was observed with the same
regulations as was Sunday. The "Epistle of Christ" mentioned this
fact:
On whatsoever day Great Christmas 144 falls, or Little
Christmas, it counts as Sunday, and none shall travel
thereon. It is on the conscience of each one to whom God has
given sense and reason, though others violate the law of
Sunday that his neighbours should not take as an evil
example from him; for it is of himself he shall endure his
pain, and it is for him who shall fulfil it that his rewards
shall endure. 145
There are traces of other festivals, derived from the Old
Testament, to be found in the laws and penitentials. In
discussing the length of time Patrick spent in servitude in
Ireland, his biographer remarked: "He abode in his bondage six
years after the manner of the Little Jubilee of the Hebrews." 146
There is a defective law regarding land tenure which reads:
"It is forfeit unless it be claimed to the end of the seven
years." 147 This seems to go back to the Pentateuch and applied
to Irish land tenure regulated by the Liber ex Lege Moisi.
Closely connected with the Sabbatical Year, or the Little
Jubilee, as the Irish writer pleasantly called it, was the Great
jubilee, also based on the Liber ex Lege Moisi, or the fifty-year
release, when "the enslaved shall be freed, and plebeians shall
be exalted by receiving church grades, and by performing
penitential service to God". 148 The penitential canons
attributed to Patrick recorded: "Truly the laws of the jubilee
are to be observed, that is, the fifty years, that a doubtful
method be not established in the change of time." 149
Light on this obscure and probably garbled penitential is
thrown by a comment from the ancient laws to the effect that
"there are with the Feine seven prescriptions which transfer
perpetual right according to the customs of their merits; land
which is offered to a church on behalf of a soul ... land which
has been away fifty years ... it is upon fifty years it goes into
utter bondage." 150 Whether all these rules were ever practised
or not is unknown. These regulations, however, underline the
interest of the early Celtic Church in following Old Testament
laws, and is still further evidence of the pervasive influence of
the Liber ex Lege Moisi.
As we conclude this chapter it would be well to summarize
the facts. Celtic Christians differed from their Roman brethren,
not only in their computation of Easter, but also in the
observance of lesser feasts and fasts, and of course in the
observance of the Sabbath. They held a religious service on
Sunday to honour the resurrection and then spent the rest of the
day on their chores or pleasures.
..........
NOTE:
WE SEE PRETTY CLEARLY THE FACT THAT THE ORIGINAL TRUTH
OF THE WORD AND COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD HAD ONCE BEEN
THE NORM IN THE LIFE OF THE CELTIC CHRISTIANS, BUT IN
TIME THAT TRUTH HAD BECOME PERVERTED IN MANY WAYS. AND
IT WAS FURTHER PERVERTED BY THE CHURCH OF ROME AS SHE
INVADED BRITAIN ABOUT 600 AD, AND AS SHE GAINED FURTHER GROUND
OF DECEPTION OVER THE CENTURIES THAT FOLLOWED.
Keith Hunt
To be continued with "Divine Services"
The Celtic Church in Britain #7
Divine Services
by Leslie Hardinge (1972)
DIVINE SERVICES
From the beginning of Christianity its ministry has
conducted religious services to meet the needs of its members. In
the old Hebrew economy rituals were connected with birth and
death, mourning and rejoicing, and at set seasons of the year.
The New Testament Church carried over some of these ceremonies
modified to fit in with the changed conditions.
At his initiation into the Church the catechumen died to his
past and was born to a new life, through baptism. Connected with
baptism was the act of laying on of hands. When infant baptism
eventually became the regular practice of the Church this rite of
confirmation took on a different connotation. In some areas
Christian worship also included a little baptism or foot-washing.
Initially occasionally, then weekly, finally daily, "the Lord's
supper" was celebrated, for the living and for the dying.
BAPTISM BY IMMERSION
In the New Testament baptism was carried out by immersion,
and was so practised by Christians for centuries. As performed by
the Celtic Church baptism was also by immersion. The glossator
saw in it a symbolic fulfilment of Christ's burial. "When we
[pass under] baptism," he said, "it is the likeness of his burial
and death to us."
There would seem to be little doubt from the sources that
triple immersion was the mode practised in the section of Celtic
Christianity represented by the Old-Irish glossator. On St Paul's
teaching that there was "one baptism" he carefully noted, "though
the immersion is triple". By the Apostle's observation to the
Colossians that Christians should be "buried with him", the Irish
theologian understood that "three waves pass over us in baptism,
because he was three days in the sepulchre". This was the reason
generally assigned by the Greek writers for triple immersion,
while Augustine and the fathers of the West felt that this
threefold act symbolized the Trinity.
The question whether there should be one or three immersions
was a subject of controversy in the Western Church even as late
as the seventh century, particularly in Spain. Single immersion
apparently was practised in Brittany even after the seventh
century. A. W. Haddan conjectured that single immersion was a
Scottish or British practice. It would appear from the glosses,
however, that single immersion was not in use by the Celtic
Church in Ireland.
(Yes it is an historic fact that even the Roman Catholic church
for centuries practiced baptism by immersion. This can be found
on any deep study into the subject of baptism. The triple
immersion is purely man made invention and tradition, that just
about nobody practices today, as it cannot be found in Scripture.
If the Celtic church in Britain [other than Ireland] practiced
single immersion, they were correct - Keith Hunt)
ADULT BAPTISM
Since instruction was invariably given before baptism, it
would seem that adults alone were required to comply with this
rite during the early period of the Celtic Church. This would be
the only way possible in a missionary movement dealing with
pagans. The glossator explained that St Paul's use of the term
"prophesying" indicated "preaching; the stirring up of every one
to belief, that he may be ready for baptism". Another comment
pointing to adult baptism is found in this sentence: "As
catechumens are at first taught by a priest, and are baptized,
and as they are then anointed by a bishop, so then John had begun
to teach men and to baptize them at first, and they have been
anointed by Christ, i.e. the work which John had begun has been
perfected by Christ and has been completed."
The earlier penitentials corroborated this practice of
careful instruction. A canon of the Synod of Patrick discussed
another method of "preparation for baptism" in these terms "If
anyone of the brothers wishes to receive the grace of God [i.e.
baptism] he shall not be baptized until he has done [penance for)
a period of forty days." Even then instruction was to be
continued for the baptized catechumen, since the glossator
observed: "Teaching every one after baptism".
Following careful indoctrination the proselyte's belief in
God was deemed necessary before his acceptance for membership.
This is suggested in Patrick's contact with Sescnech, who, after
hearing the saint preach, believe in God and was baptized.
Cairthenn, simply "believed in the Lord. And Patrick baptized him
in Saingil." Dichu, on the other hand, showed contrition. When he
was about to kill Patrick, the priest prayed for him, "and grief
of heart seized Dichu, and he believed, and Patrick baptized him
after that". Findchua was called "a perfect child" at the time of
his baptism." That this "belief" was considered necessary by
Patrick is underlined by the anecdote of Cathboth's seven sons
who "went to him [Patrick]; he preached to them, and they
believed and were baptized".
Instruction, belief in God, repentance, grief of heart, and
penance, were prerequisites of baptism. On the Apostle's
declaration, "by grace are ye saved and that through faith", the
commentator noted an allusion to "the faith which they confessed
in baptism". This faith springs from the preaching of "baptism of
repentance for remission of sins", and further brings "men into
faith, the forgiveness of their sins to them through baptism".
The instructor's role is that of "the bridesman, i.e. John.
He had prepared the nuptials, i.e. he had wooed the Church for
Christ." The catechumen was united in fellowship with the
believers through his baptism. The Old-Irish theologian summed up
his understanding of the significance of this ceremony in the
comment: "Though Christ be in you through confession of faith in
baptism, and the soul is alive thereby, yet the body is dead
through the old sins, and, though it has been cleansed through
baptism, it is unable to do good works until the Holy Spirit
awakes it." The ministry of the Spirit's awakening was signified
by the anointing with oil or chrism before actual baptism in
water. The candidate was also required to declare his acceptance
of the faith "through the creed which was recited at baptism".
A legend is preserved of the encounter of Patrick with the
two princesses, Ethene the Fair and Feidelem the Rosy, daughters
of the high king Loegaire. A dialogue ensued which might be
arranged in the form of a catechism something like this. The
girls (G) questioned the saint (P) regarding the faith, and he
answered them:
G Whence hast thou come, and where is thy home?
P It were better for you to believe in the true God whom we
worship than to ask questions about our race.
G Who is God? Of whom is he God?
P Our God is the God of all men.
G Where is God? Where is God's dwelling?
P He has his dwelling around heaven and earth and sea and all
that in them is. He inspired all, he quickens all, he dominates
all, he supports all. He lights the light of the sun. He
furnishes the light of the night. He has made springs in the dry
land. He has set stars to minister to the greater lights.
G Is he fair? Has he sons and daughters, thy God, and has he gold
and silver?
P He has a Son coeternal with himself, and like unto himself.
G Is he immortal?
P The Son is not younger than the Father, nor the Father older
than the Son.
G Has the Son been fostered by many?
P The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not divided.
G Is he in heaven or in earth? In the sea, in the rivers, in the
hill places, in the valleys?
P He is the God of heaven and earth, of sea and rivers, of sun
and moon and stars, of the lofty mountain and the lowly valley,
the God above heaven and in heaven and under heaven.
G Tell us how we may know him, in what wise he will appear?
P I wish to unite you with the heavenly King, as ye are daughters
of an earthly king.
G How is he discovered? Is he found in youth or in old age?
P Believe!
G Tell us with all diligence how we may believe in the heavenly
King that we may see him face to face.
P Believe !
G How may we be prepared to meet him?
P Do you believe that by baptism you can cast away the sin of
your father and mother?
G We believe!
P Do you believe in life after death?
G We believe
P Do you believe in the resurrection in the day of judgement?
G We believe!
P Will you be baptized?
G We will do as thou sayest.
And Patrick baptized them and placed a white veil on their heads.
G How may we behold the face of Christ?
P You cannot see the face of Christ until you shall taste of
death.
G How may we taste of death?
P You taste of death when you receive the sacrifice.
G Give us the sacrifice that we may see the Son, our bridegroom.
And they received the Eucharist, and fell asleep in death.**
This credal catechism was probably based on an early formula used
at services of baptism, and later incorporated into an
interesting story.
(The truth of God the Father and His Son Christ was well
understood by Patrick, and the basic rules for baptism. Note **
the comment below on "fell asleep in death" - Keith Hunt)
The use of a white veil on the candidates after baptism is
also found in the narrative of the captives of Coroticus.
Following the immersion, Communion was administered to the
catechumens. This ritual is preserved in the baptismal service of
the Stowe Missal. In this rite the feet of the neophites were
washed after the baptism and before the Communion was received.
Through baptism the candidate was "born again in Christ", Sinners
were thus brought into one family, "massed into one body by
baptism", and thus "united in Christ". Only after their baptism
were they allowed to join in religious exercises among Celtic
Christians. Considering the Pauline teaching on "benefit or
grace" the glossator asked: "What is the first grace? The answer
is not difficult. The grace of forgiveness of sins through
baptism. The second grace is the forgiveness of sins through
repentance." Applying the allegorical significance of Christ's
baptism, the commentator observed that the sinner should be
"baptized, i.e. after the likeness of his death in the mortal
body, from which he parted in his passion. He does not return to
that body, but is now in a spiritual resurrection body, without
expectation of death or decay. Let us therefore not return to the
mortal body of sins." Another belief, voiced by Finnian,
regarding the effect of this ceremony was that "the sins of all
are indeed remitted in baptism".
(**This statement is often interpreted to mean that the young
women were martyred. The truth probably lies nearer to an
allegorical interpretation of the case. They died to sin and to
the world and were baptized by Patrick in the symbol of burial.
The original story is published in Analecta Bollandiana 11. 49,
and is translated by J. B. Bury, Life of St Patrick, 138-40.)
(The practice of the Eucharist after baptism was a move in the
wrong direction by the Celtic church by Patricks day. There is
nothing in the Bible to show or teach that having some
"eucharist" or "Lord's supper" - bread and fruit of the vine -
was required after baptism; indeed the NT is fully silent on that
matter, and in fact in the passages on baptism would prove that
tradition wrong and was an invention of men - Keith Hunt)
F. E. Warren noted that the baptismal formula invoking the
names of the Persons of the Trinity has been left out of the
service found in the Stowe Missal. He pointed out the similarity
between this and the Gelasian Sacramentary. F. C. Conybeare
argued that it was this omission which rendered baptism by Celtic
clerics invalid in the eyes of the Western Church. Pope Gregory
11 replied to Boniface in 726 to the effect that:
You have informed me that certain persons have been baptized
by adulterous and unworthy priests without their having been
interrogated about the symbol or creed. In such cases you
shall adhere to the ancient custom of the church, which is
that one who has been baptized in the name of the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, must on no account be
rebaptized, for the gift of grace is not received in the
name of the baptizer, but in the name of the Trinity.
(Jesus' instructions in Matthew are clear that the person is to
be baptized in the "name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit" - and in "Jesus' name" as other passages would teach,
would mean by the authority of Jesus, hence I baptize people by
saying..."By the authority of Jesus Christ I baptize you into
(Greek "en" can mean "into") the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit " - Keith Hunt)
The expression "adulterous priests" probably referred to
married Celtic clergy, who were regarded as being even more
unworthy because they had not been consecrated by bishops duly
authorized by the Roman Church. Notwithstanding these
considerations, Gregory recommended that should any Christian
have been baptized in the name of the Trinity his baptism was
valid. But, in spite of the arguments which Conybeare summoned,
it would seem to be still true that "the precise defect intended
[by Bede] is left to conjecture. Single immersion seems most
probable." But this can hardly be the case in view of the
references to triune immersion in the glosses. The criticism
might have arisen in connection with the pedilavium which
followed baptism in the Celtic ritual.
Later Celtic Christian writers recorded other ceremonies
connected with baptism. The Stowe Missal noted that the breast
and shoulders of the candidate should be chrismated before
baptism. Here is an example from the life of Brigit: There
appeared "clerics in shining garments, who poured oil on the
girl's head; and they completed the order of baptism in the usual
manner. Those were three angels."
It seems that baptism was believed, on occasion, to have
been performed in milk:
But on the morrow, when the bondmaid went at sunrise with a
vessel full of milk in her hand, and when she put one of her
two footsteps over the threshold of the house, the other
foot being inside, then she brought forth the daughter, even
St Brigit. The maidservants washed St Brigit with the milk
that was still in her mother's hand.
(We are now seeing how man made customs and traditions had crept
into the Celtic church over time. It is the way the true body of
Christ goes over a time space of centuries - solid truth becomes
corrupted and distorted and the ways of man, the ideas of man,
come into the true church and corruption and false teachings come
to pass. This is very evident by reading the 7 churches of
Revelation chapters 2 and 3 - Keith Hunt)
PAYMENT FOR BAPTISM
While the earlier Celtic clerics accepted no fees from those
for whom they performed this service, in later centuries it
became quite normal for payments to be made to them. When
Findchua was baptized, his parents presented "a scruple, that is
seven pennies of gold, ... to [Ailbe of Imlech Ibair] for
baptizing the child". On the occasion of the baptism of Ciaran of
Clonmacnoise "a vessel of choice honey was given to deacon Justus
as his fee for baptizing Ciaran". And Bishop Eirc received "three
purple wethers ... out of the well as the fees for baptizing
Brenainn".
Not only were fees presented for baptism, but, when Ciaran
was receiving his last Communion, he also gave "the scruple of
his communion" to Coimgen the priest. There seems to be some
connection between baptizing for fees and the ruling of a canon
of the penitential of Finnian: "Monks, however, are not to
baptize, nor to receive alms; if, then, they do receive alms, why
shall they not baptize?"
MUCH WATER
Since baptism was carried out by immersion, it obviously
required a substantial quantity of water. In Celtic lands the
rite was often performed in a well. It was recorded that on one
of Patrick's trips "the site of his tent is in the green of the
fort, ... and to the north of the fort is his well wherein he
baptized Dunling's two sons". Findian "was baptized out of the
well named Bal, as was meet for his merits". Another anecdote
suggested a ceremony which Patrick was believed to have used in
this service:
Thereafter Patrick went in his chariot, so that every one
might see him, and that they might hear from him his voice,
and the preaching of God's word by him. And then they
believed in God and in Patrick. So Patrick repeats the order
of baptism to them on the river, which was near them, and
all the hosts are baptized therein.
Here the baptismal service was conducted in a river, after
"the order of baptism", whatever that might have been, had been
recited. Apparently any place with sufficient water for immersion
was considered satisfactory.
ADULT BAPTISM TO INFANT BAPTISM
Adult baptism appears to have been the practice of early
Celtic Christians. It is not known when infant baptism was
introduced among them. The penitential of Cummean proves that it
was already in existence in the ruling that "one who instead of
baptism blesses a little infant shall do penance for a year". It
added the warning that "if the infant dies having had such a
blessing only, that homicide shall do penance according to the
judgement of a council". This is very interesting as it indicates
that blessing a little infant was an early Celtic Christian rite
which was no longer to be tolerated. It is well within the realms
of possibility that the original practice of the Celts had been
the simple blessing of infants in following the example of our
Lord. Patrick was believed to have baptized pregnant women and
their unborn infants, but this is very likely a comminatory story
to authorize an innovation of the author's time. But that infant
baptism finally became the regular practice among Celtic
Christians there is no doubt, as is witnessed by this story in
the life of Columba: "At that time when Saint Columba passed some
days in the province of the Picts, a certain layman with his
whole household heard and believed the word of life, through an
interpreter, at the preaching of the holy man; and believing, was
baptized, the husband, with his wife and children, and his
servants." But the age of these children is not specified. The
penitential of Finnian ruled that "If a cleric does not receive a
child [to baptism], if it is a child of the same parish, he shall
do penance for a year on bread and water."
WHITE VEIL
It was a custom for a white veil or white napkin to be
placed on the catechumen's head during the baptismal service.
Patrick put a veil upon the heads of the daughters of Leoghaire.
When the saint baptized the infant daughters of Maine, he draped
"a veil on their heads"." The Old-Irish glosses mention the veil
or mantle used during the service of baptism. The placing of this
veil followed the anointing of the candidate with oil or chrism.
When Patrick upbraided Coroticus for his inhuman massacre of
Irish Christians, he recalled that this oil was still seen
shining upon the brows of the newly baptized persons on whom the
white veils had just been placed.
(Again a man-made tradition - Keith Hunt)
ANOINTING WITH OIL
So, immediately following the baptism, it appears that the
head of the candidate was anointed. The Old-Irish commentator
remarked that after Christians have been baptized "they are then
anointed by a bishop". Other references to this custom have been
noted above. The drawing on page 101 above illustrates this
pouring oil from a spoon on his head while the candidate remains
standing in the water.
(Again a man-made tradition - Keith Hunt)
From the Stowe Missal it is possible to reconstruct what was
probably the sequence of the ritual of baptism among the Irish
Christians of the ninth century. Here is a summary: the service
opened with a prayer followed by a special petition that God
would exorcize the devil from each organ of the body and reign
within the candidate. This detailed enumeration points to the
fact that the expected catechumen would be an adult and most
likely a pagan. The consecration of the salt, the exorcism of the
water, and a prayer then follow.
The candidate was then asked to renounce the devil and his
works, and the confession of the Creed began. The administrator
breathed upon him, a symbol of the infilling of the Holy Spirit,
and proceeded to anoint his breast and shoulders with oil and
chrism in the name of the Trinity, finally asking him a second
time whether he wished to renounce the devil and his works. After
a response in the affirmative, a prayer followed. Salt was then
placed in the mouth of the catechumen and a benediction spoken.
The neophite was once more anointed and sections of the Psalms
were recited and prayers said. After the font had been blessed by
means of a sign of the cross made of chrism placed on the water,
those present were sprinkled with the consecrated water and a
deacon interrogated them on their belief in God, after which the
candidate entered the font and was baptized. While he remained
standing in the water, oil was poured upon his head in the name
of the Trinity and a deacon placed a white veil upon him as the
priest prayed for the forgiveness of the penitent's sins and
invoked the blessings of God.
(Much man-made traditions had entered the basic simple practice
of baptism by immersion - Keith Hunt)
The candidate was clothed in a white robe by the deacon
while he was being asked whether he would accept the robe of
Christ's righteousness in preparation for his final judgement
before the tribunal of God. Oil was then put on the catechumen's
right hand with a prayer that his activities might be dedicated
unto life eternal. Next, there followed the washing of the
candidate's feet while appropriate passages were read from the
Psalms, such as "Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light unto
my path", and the reading of St John's account of Christ's
washing the apostles' feet. This part of the ceremony ended with
the directive that, as the Lord had washed the disciples' feet,
"You, clad in splendid white linen, must also wash".
The concluding rite of the baptismal service, immediately
following the pedilavium, was the first Communion of the newly
baptized. Possibly because of this, an altar, at which the
Communion was to be celebrated, was often erected close to the
baptistery, as is suggested by the account of Patrick: "A church,
moreover, was founded on that well in which Patrick was baptized,
and there stands the well by the altar." Another comment is that
Patrick's "well is in front of the church". Was this the position
of the altar too? Both the bread and wine were received and the
service ended with prayers, thanksgiving, and petitions for
cleansing and dedication on behalf of the candidate.
(This shows by the time of Patrick much false ideas and
traditions had entered the Celtic church concerning the rite of
baptism - Keith Hunt)
But the Stowe Missal baptismal service is not pure Celtic,
it contains an admixture of Western Christian usages, introduced
after the process of Romanizing the Celts had begun. The sources
which are available are so meagre that the reconstruction of a
genuine early Celtic service is impossible. T. Thompson summed up
his analysis:
The Irish rite appears to have borne a strong resemblance to
the Gallican, as for instance in the matter of the washing
of the feet of the neophites. The effeta and the unction
just before baptism, to judge from Bobbio and the fragments
of the Stowe, had some peculiarities ... The Gallican books
were superseded by Roman books. ... nor did the Irish books
succeed any better in maintaining their position against the
aggression of the dominant Roman influence.
CONFIRMATION
It seems impossible to say when the service of confirmation
was introduced as a regular part of the Celtic ritual. There is a
hint that it was held to be theologically necessary in the
Old-Irish comment: "Though Christ be in you through confession of
faith in baptism, and the soul is alive thereby, yet the body is
dead through the old sins, and, though it has been cleansed
through baptism, it is unable to do good works until the Holy
Spirit awakes it." The glossator evidently felt that the rite of
baptism alone was not completely efficacious for the convert
until the Holy Spirit had empowered him to live as a Christian,
This dynamic was believed to be imparted to him by the ceremony
of the laying on of hands.
LAYING ON OF HANDS
The "Rule of Patrick", a late composition, also stipulated
that "the perfection of the Holy Spirit comes not, however
fervently a person is baptized, unless he 'goes under the hand'
of a bishop after baptism". Cuthbert likewise laid his hands on
those who "had been lately baptized ... when his hands and feet
had been washed in accordance with the custom ..." But this kind
of "confirmation" had nothing to do with endorsing infant
baptism. It was a service performed immediately after the baptism
of adults, at which time the impartation of the Holy Spirit was
believed to occur. The later Lives contain several references to
confirmation of a different sort. Patrick was described as
confirming, consecrating, or blessing. Cormac's Glossary defined
caplait or Maundy Thursday as "a name for the chief day of
Easter, i.e. 'head washing', i.e. since every one is tonsured
then, and his head is washed, in preparation for his confirmation
on the Easter Sunday".
After the practice of infant baptism had been established,
confirmation took on added meaning. The faith of the child, which
had been affirmed by his godparents, needed to be certified by
the child himself, grown to the use of reason. Theodore evidently
had this Celtic rite in mind when he ruled: "We believe no one is
complete in baptism without the confirmation of a bishop; yet we
do not despair." And he further remarked: "Chrism was established
in the Nicene Synod. It is not a breach of order if the chrismal
napkin is laid again upon another who is baptized." So this
ancient British custom was a recognized part of the ritual of the
Christians in these islands whom Theodore was seeking to absorb
into his own organization.
FEET WASHING
The history of feet washing as a ceremony of the Christian
Church is tantalizingly elusive. That pedilavium was practised by
the first Christians in response to our Lord's directive, "This
do as I have done unto you", is most probable. There are passing
references to this rite in the first centuries. Continued for
many years by the Eastern Church, feet washing eventually fell
from favour in the West. But it was carried out long enough to be
introduced among the earliest Celtic Christian. The practice of
washing the feet of those newly baptized was noted by Augustine,
but he denied the pedilavium was vital to their baptism.
Augustine remarked:
Now, regarding feet washing: this was commanded by the Lord
as a form of humility, which he came to teach and
appropriately demonstrated himself, electing the best time
to inculcate a religious truth. But many, lest it appear to
be tied to the sacrament of baptism, do not admit feet
washing into their ritual. Some deny its usefulness
altogether. Still others celebrate it at some appointed
sacred time, perhaps on the third of the octave, carefully
distinguishing it from the sacrament of baptism.
Sir Edwyn Hoskyns, in his excursus on "The Liturgical use of
the Pedilavium" rightly explained the implications:
There are indications in the ancient liturgies of the Church
that the pedilavium once formed an integral part of the
baptismal office. Saint Ambrose reminds the newly baptized
of the Gospel lesson which had been read at the washing of
their feet, when they had "gone up from the font." The
author of the closely related treatise De Sacramentis adds
that "the high priest was girt up (for though the presbyters
also carried it out, yet the ministry is begun by the high
priest) and washed thy feet." He also states that the Church
in Rome did not have this custom, and suggests that this was
"on account of the numbers". Presumably the ceremony took
too much time.
The rite seems to have persisted in certain areas in spite
of the ruling of the Synod of Elvira (306), which forbade priests
and clerics to wash the feet of those who had just been baptized,
and is found in the Gallic and Gothic services. The Missale
Gothicum, as its seventh item, included the rite: Dum pedes ejus
lavas, dicis, "Ego tibi lavo pedes; sicut Dominus noster Jesus
Christus fecit discipulis suis, to facias hospitibus et
peregrinis, tit habeas vitam aeternam." There were similar
rubrics in the Gallic service book, and also in the Bobbio
Missal.
That interest in pedilavium continued in the Spanish Church
is borne out by the ruling of the Council of Toledo (694) that it
should be performed only on Maundy Thursday. While its use
continued in the East, in Rome feet washing lapsed, but was for
some time practised by the congregation at Milan. But in Spain,
Gaul, and Germany and the various Celtic lands, feet washing long
persisted, as is abundantly attested by the sources.
F. E. Warren suggested that the Italian Augustine's demand
that the Celtic ecclesiastics should conform to the Roman method
of administering baptism was, in fact, a demand that they abolish
pedilavium. But in spite of this, feet washing was carried out in
several other connections in Celtic lands.
(Feet washing at baptism is nowhere taught in the Bible - it is
therefore a man-made tradition - Keith Hunt)
FEET WASHING FOR VISITORS
As a gesture of hospitality pedilavium was used to make
guests comfortable. From his isolated retreat at Lindisfarne
Cuthbert used often to go forth to meet the brethren who came to
visit him for counsel, and, "when he had devoutly washed their
feet in warm water, he was sometimes compelled by them to take
off his shoes and to allow them to wash his feet". Even earlier
in Ireland, Brigit was reputed to have been accustomed to wash
the feet of her guests: "For she used to say that Christ was in
the person of every faithful guest ... The wizard and his wife,
... went to the dairy ... Brigit made them welcome, and washed
their feet, and gave them food". The same practice was followed
by the brethren on Iona, On one occasion Columba had a
presentiment that pilgrims were about to land on the island.
Calling one of the brothers he said, "Prepare the guesthouse
quickly, and draw water for washing the feet of guests."
(And in those days of sandle type footwear and dusty roads such a
custom was accept, no religious meaning was meant by it, except
as good Christian service - Keith Hunt)
FEET WASHING AND MIRACLES
Feet washing was held to produce miraculous results. The
length to which this belief was carried by later hagiographers is
shown by this anecdote:
When Brigit's fame had sounded through Teffia, there was a
certain devout virgin in Fir Tethbai, even Brig, daughter of
Coimloch, who sent a message that Brigit should come and
commune with her. So Brigit went, and Brig herself rose up
to wash her [Brigit's] feet. At that time a devout woman lay
in sickness. When they were washing Brigit's feet, she sent
for the sick person who was in the girl's house, to bring
her out of the tub some of the water which was put over
Brigit's feet. It was brought to her accordingly, and she
put it on her face, and straightway she was every whit
whole, and after having been in sickness for a year she was
on that night one of the attendants.
On another occasion Brigit "washed the feet of the nuns of
Cuil Fobair, and at that washing healed four nuns, to wit, a lame
one, and a blind, and a leper, and an insane". Cairan of Saigir
was also a believer in feet washing. When Crichid of Cluain,
Ciaran's farmer, went to Saigir to see his master, wolves killed
him. Ciaran went to the place where he lay and washed his feet.
As a result of this ceremony Crichid was restored to life. It may
well be that these comminatory stories were used to support a
practice which was falling into disuse? In the following stories
the miraculous is introduced to add authority to the waning
practice of pedilavium.
Sometimes Cuthbert acted as guest-master in his own
establishment. On one occasion this saint, "having received him
[a guest] kindly in accordance with his wont, still thinking him
to be a man and not an angel, he washed his hands and feet and
wiped them with towels, and having in his humility rubbed his
guest's feet with his own hands to warm them on account of the
cold" was miraculously given spiritual insight to discern that he
was a visitor from heaven. Iona and its monks, too, witnessed
miracles in connection with pedilavium. A well had been cursed by
magicians, so Columba "first raising his holy hand in invocation
of the name of Christ, washed his hands and feet; and after that,
with those that accompanied him, drank of the same water, which
he had blessed. And from that day, the demons withdrew from that
well."
(Doing a humble service as hand and foot washing could be honored
by the Father with miracles. God can perform miracles when and
how and to whom He pleases - a humble attitude of service the
Almighty can respect with miracles if He so chooses - Keith Hunt)
Another use for pedilavium was the fostering of humility and
penitence. This is illustrated by a story concerning Patrick, who
went into the district of Mag Luirg, and his horses were
forcibly taken by the tribe of the Sons of Erc, and he
cursed the people of that country. But bishop Maine of the
Hui-Ailella besought Pattrick to forgive his brethren, and
Patrick weakened the malediction. And Maine washed Patrick's
feet with his hair and with his tears, and he drove the
horses into a meadow and cleansed their hoofs in honour of
Patrick.
Even the "feet" of horses were washed as a gesture of
humility and repentance. Brigit demonstrated her devotion and
meekness by washing the feet even of lepers:
Once upon a time two lepers came to Brigit to be healed of
the leprosy. Brigit bade one of the two lepers to wash the
other. He did so. "Do thou", said Brigit to the other leper,
"tend and wash thy comrade even as he hath ministered unto
thee." "Save the time that we have seen," saith he, "we will
not see one another. What, O nun, dost thou deem it just
that I, a healthy man, with my fresh limbs and my fresh
raiment, should wash that loathsome leper there, with his
livid limbs falling from him? A custom like that is not fit
for me." So Brigit washed the lowly miserable leper.
Evidently the initial washing had healed the first leper,
who then did not wish to recontaminate himself with his leprous
companion. The saint showed her humility by washing his feet.
"Great indeed was the humility of Colum Cille, for it was he
himself that used to take their shoes off his monks, and that
used to wash their feet for them." Other stories might be added,
but one more will suffice. "In the miraculous legend of St
Brendon (+ 578) it is related that he sailed with his monks to
the island of Sheep [Faeroe], and on sherethursdays, after
souper, he wesshe theyr feet and hyssed them tyke as our Lorde
dyd to his dyscuples." As this story portrays, it was on Maundy
Thursdays that this ceremony was popularly practised among Celtic
Christians. It was carried out by Brigit, following the example
of Christ and the disciples in the upper room:
Brigit went to a certain church in the land of Teffia to
celebrate Easter. The prioress of the church said to her
maidens that on Maundy Thursday one of them should minister
unto the old men and to the weak and feeble persons who were
biding in the church. Not one of them was found for
ministering. Said Brigit: "I to-day will minister unto
them." [There were] four of the sick persons who were biding
in the church, even a consumptive man, and a lunatic, and a
blind man, and a leper. And Brigit did service to these
four, and they were healed from every disease that lay upon
them.
Apparently no impropriety attached to a woman's washing the
saints' feet, as in New Testament times. Other details of the
story, the unwillingness of anyone to perfonn the act and the
uncleanness of some who were present hark back to the initial
narrative of the institution of this Christian custom by our
Lord." Bede noted that Cuthbert sometimes would not remove his
shoes of animal skin from one Easter to the next; and, the
historian added, "then only for the washing of the feet which
takes place on Maundy Thursday".
(By this time we also note that the false Easter had taken root
and hence Thursday was considered the evening before the Friday
crucifixion of Christ - Keith Hunt)
As may readily be concluded, Maundy Thursday was specially
devoted to the caring for the needs of the body in preparation
for Easter among later Celtic Christians. The hair of the monks
was then shorn. The brethren also washed their heads in honour of
the season. In the north of England Maundy Thursday was called
Skyre Thursday, probably from Old Norse, shira, to purify. In the
south of England it was known as Shere Thursday, and so
mistakenly its etymology has been traced to the cutting of hair
on that day.
On one occasion Brendan reached the island of Procurator,
who prepared a bath for the voyager and his disciples, for it was
the day of the Lord's Supper, on another Kentigern is reported to
have washed the feet of lepers on the Saturday before Palm
Sunday.
(And so the Celtic church had been corrupted by the church of
Rome with Easter and the rest of the corrupt traditions of the
Easter season - Keith Hunt)
As has already been mentioned in connection with the
ceremonies carried out in the ritual of baptism, pedilavium
followed the immersion and preceded Communion in the Celtic rite.
It is said of Cuthbert, that he laid "his hand on those who had
been lately baptized ... when his hands and feet had been washed
in accordance with the custom of hospitality ..." The import of
this appears to be that the catechumen, after being immersed, was
blessed by the laying on of the cleric's hand. Then his own hands
and feet were washed as he was accepted into full fellowship with
his brethren. Feet washing following immersion is also found in
the Gothic, Gallic, Bobbio, and Stowe orders of service for
baptism.
(Again a custom of men - the traditions of men - Keith Hunt)
Pedilavium seems to have been employed in connection with
the Communion service. In the Stowe Missal it preceded the first
Communion which the recently baptized celebrated. In the
penitential of Columbanus it was ruled that "he who unwashed
receives the Holy Bread, [should receive] twelve strokes". It has
been suggested that this "holy bread" referred to the "Eulogia,"
a loaf of ordinary bread, which was cut up into small pieces and
distributed to the poor after the celebration of Communion. It is
possible, however, that this regulation, influenced by Celtic
Christians in Ireland, actually had reference to the washing of
hands and feet before the Communion service, as is illustrated by
the usage in the Stowe Missal. The Celt's adherence to a literal
interpretation of the Scriptures seems to have led him to follow
the procedure of the upper room exactly. For in that service
Christ washed the feet of his disciples before he distributed the
bread and wine to his followers.
(Not so, when the true chronology of that evening is understood,
but the main point, the foot washing should be on the evening of
the Passover night - once a year - see my many studies on the
Passover - Keith Hunt)
In a narrative recorded to show the power of Columba over
wind and storm an incident is embedded which throws light on one
use of feet washing at Iona. By God's protection, Adamnan wrote,
"we arrived at the harbour of the island of Io, after the third
hour of the day; and later, after the washing of hands and feet,
we entered the church with the brothers, and at the sixth hour we
celebrated with them the holy ceremonies of the mass." This, too,
suggests that at Iona a recognized preparation for the
celebration of Communion was the washing of hands and feet. L.
Gougaud inquired, "Was it a ritual ablution?" The travellers
arrived by boat, and hence would not be so footsore and dirty. If
it be granted that this was a ritual washing of feet, and like
the pedilavium, preceded the Communion, an interesting feature of
the Celtic service emerges. In the ninth century and later the
Irish and Scottish Christian reformers, the Culdees, continued
pedilavium: "At the washing of feet the Beati is recited as long
as the washing lasts. After that comes the sermon on the
Washing."
In the penitential of Theodore is a ruling that "washing the
feet of laymen is also within the liberty of the monastery". In
spite of the indifference of the fathers and the proscriptions of
the councils Theodore evidently decided, when he framed his
penitentials, that pedilavium was too deeply rooted in Britain to
eradicate at the sweep of the pen. He therefore left each
ecclesiastical community free to decide whether it should be
carried out.
(The foot-washing was obviously felt connected to some Christian
rite - baptism or the so-called "Lord's supper" service. It
became confused by many as to when it should be done by the
saints of God. Some no doubt still held to the correct time to
observe it - Passover evening on the 14th of the first month in
God's calendar - Keith Hunt)
THE LORD'S SUPPER
The most important and frequently repeated service of the
Christian Church has been the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
Through the centuries it has been given many names, each
suggestive of some aspect of its significance. That there ever
was a peculiarly Celtic liturgy has been doubted by H. Leclercq.
The later Celtic Christians travelled widely, he felt, and
incorporated into their celebration a variety of rites and
ceremonies. The result was a conspicuous difference between
Celtic and Roman usages. Gildas (+ 570) asserted that a variation
existed between the British and Roman liturgies: "The Britons are
at variance with the whole world, and are opposed to Roman
customs, not only in the Mass, but also in their tonsure." The
Council of Clovesho (747), in its thirteenth canon, ordered the
adoption of the Roman sacramental usages throughout England,
stressing particularly "in Baptismi officio, in Missarum
celebrations". These differences were also noted by Bede. The
"Catalogue of the Saints of Ireland" likewise recorded that the
Christians of that island differed in their usages. While the
first order "observed one mass, one celebration", the second
"celebrated different masses, and had different rules", and the
third still "different rules and masses". This statement reflects
the various parties among Celtic Christians. Some evidently were
slower at accepting the changes the Romanizing party used.
When Queen Margaret came to Scotland, one of the first
points she noted, according to her biographer, was that there
were some of the remnants of the early Celtic Christians "in
certain districts of the Scots, who were wont to celebrate mass
contrary to the custom of the whole church; with I know not what
barbarous rite. This the queen, fired with the zeal for God, so
sought to destroy and uproot, that henceforth none appeared in
the whole Scottish nation who dared do such a thing." Could this
"barbarous rite" be pedilavium?
The available evidence has been sifted by F. E. Warren, A.
A. King, H. Leclercq, L. Gougaud, and others. A detailed study of
the liturgy is outside the scope of this chapter, and only
essential differences between the Celtic usages and other forms
must suffice for this sketch.
Warren called attention to "a peculiar feature of the Celtic
Liturgy, at least in its Irish form". It was "a multiplicity of
collects", the Lord's Prayer, and Scripture lections. There was
seemingly no use made of incense. A unique ceremony is
illustrated by a practice at the island of Iona:
At another time, there came to the saint from the province
of the men of Mumu a stranger who humbly kept himself out of
sight, as much as he could, so that none knew that he was a
bishop. But yet that could not remain hidden from the saint.
For on the next Lord's day, when he was bidden by the saint
to prepare, according to custom, the body of Christ, he
called the saint to assist; him, so that they should as two
presbyters together break the Lord's bread. Thereupon the
saint, going to the altar, suddenly looked upon his face,
and thus addressed him: "Christ bless you, brother; break
this bread alone, according to the episcopal rite."
Evidently it was the custom for two priests or one bishop to
celebrate at the same time. There have survived no Celtic
consecration prayers, but that they were probably said audibly is
witnessed by an incident in which Columba "heard a certain priest
consecrating the sacred elements of the Eucharist".
Communion consisted of both kinds. In one of his addresses
Columbanus recommended: "If you thirst, drink the Fountain of
life; if hunger, eat the Bread of life. Blessed are they who
hunger for this Bread and thirst for this Fountain; for ever
eating and drinking they still long to eat and drink." But
stronger than this evidence, which might be interpreted
metaphorically, is the warning Columbanus gave to any who injured
the chalice with his teeth! In Secundus' Hymn eulogizing Patrick,
that saint is described as one "who draws heavenly wine in
heavenly cups, and gives drink to the people of God from a
spiritual chalice". The two daughters of Loegaire asked how they
might see Christ face to face. Patrick replied, "Ye cannot see
Christ unless ye first taste of death, and unless ye receive
Christ's Body and his Blood." This was also the practice at the
time the Antiphonary of Bangor was compiled. A hymn preserved in
it, sung while the people were communicating began, "Come, ye
saints, take the body of Christ, drinking his holy blood, by
which you were redeemed." Moiling of Luachair once administered
the chalice to a person who was a leper. The Wfrtzburg glossator,
in his exposition of the Christian concept of salvation through
Christ, recorded that eternal life came "through the material
blood which poured from his side when he was on the cross, and
through the spiritual blood which is offered every clay upon the
altar." There is no evidence in the sources that the actual
Presence at Communion was believed by Celtic Christians.
The custom of the primitive Church was to mix water with the
wine of the eucharistic cup. Twice Columba is reputed to have
changed water into wine miraculously. A later comminatory story
informs us that on one occasion Patrick baptized an unborn
infant, and the commentator remarked, "aqua baptismi filii, ipsa
est aqua communionis mulieris." Stokes suggested that this phrase
indicates that the water which had been used for the baptism of
the infant provided water for administering Communion to the
dying mother. A rubric in the Stowe directed, "Wine then on water
into the chalice", and an old poem read:
When a shower of gore had speckled
The breast of Diamait's steed
The water wherewith Grip (the horse's name] is washed
Is not clear for the Sacrifice.
Some form of service was performed, whenever possible, to
provide Communion for the dying. For instance, "When Patrick had
completed his victorious career in the present world, ... he
received from bishop Tassach communion and sacrifice." Stories to
the same effect are preserved of Brendan. For example, he
resurrected a mermaid, and "after the girl had received the Body
of Christ and his Blood she died without anxiety"; and another:
"The old man pointed out to them the land of which they were in
search, i.e. the Land of Promise, and having received the Body of
Christ and his Blood he went to heaven." Cuthbert sent a priest
to the dying queen of King Egfrid of Northumberland to administer
"the sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord". On his own
deathbed Cuthbert received the Blessed Sacrament in both kinds
from the hands of Herefrith, abbot of Lindisfame. The Annals
record that Maelseachlainn More, the "pillar of the dignity and
nobility of the west of the world died ... after intense penance
for his sins and transgressions, after receiving the body of
Christ and his blood, after being anointed by the hands of
Amhalghaidh, successor of Patrick".
(And so we see once more how true practices of the Passover -
bread and fruit of the vine, foot-washing, had got all mixed up
by various parts of the Celtic church as the centuries moved on
and as the Roman church entered Britain, bringing with it the
false teachings of Easter and all the other man-made trappings of
the Easter season as taught and practiced by Rome - Keith Hunt)
HEALING SERVICE
That a service of healing, similar to the injunction of St
James, was carried out among Celtic Christians is suggested by
this narrative in the life of Samson:
And it came to pass when he had entered within the palace,
God as we may suppose, exercising power on his behalf, he
found a certain great chief harassed by suffering at the
hands of a demon; and, when he was aware of this, St Samson
came to him and, having taken oil, blessed it and fully
anointed him on the head, face and breast while many watched
him; and, with God's help, he who had been sick was made
perfectly whole.
An office of visiting the sick of later date has survived
but no service books of the time of Patrick or Columba are to be
found in their original form. But J. F. Kenney has well noted:
Of the importance of the Antiphonary of Bangor there is no
question. It may be the oldest extant Irish manuscript: it
is the oldest to which precise dates can - with probability
- be assigned. Apart from some fragments it is the only
record surviving of the old Irish church services unaffected
by the Romanizing movement of the seventh and eighth
centuries, and is one of the very few western liturgical
books of the seventh century which we possess ... Through
its pages the general student can receive the voice of the
daily worship of God carried across twelve centuries from
those famous, but shadowy, monasteries of ancient Ireland.
With the help of this book, the Bible, and a book of
whatever hymns might have been composed by the day of the
Antiphonary, "the abbot would be in a position to direct all the
offices and devotions, habitual or special, of the monastery."
Included in it were suggestions for conducting the Divine Office
during Easter and on Easter day; on Sabbaths and Sunday in
Easter-tide; on Sabbaths and Sundays through the year; and on the
Feasts of the Martyrs.
The general picture emerges, from a study of the sources
available, which portrays Celtic Christian services tending to
resemble earliest Christian practice, and as having an
individuality of their own, and characteristics which marked them
out as singular. Each differed from other Celtic rites. This
complete lack of uniformity, this apparent improvisation of order
and content, of prayers and blessings, probably contributed to
the weakening of the position of the Celtic Church and eased its
absorption into the flood tide of general Western Christianity.
..........
To be continued with "Ministry"
NOTE:
YES WITH NO UNIFORM CELTIC CHRISTIANITY, BUT INDIVIDUAL
CELTIC GROUPS RETAINING OR NOT RETAINING BIBLE TRUTH AS
THE CENTURIES MOVED ON, THAT SITUATION MADE IT EASIER
FOR THE ROMAN CHURCH TO DOMINATE AND FINALLY WIN OUT
OVER THE CELTIC CHURCH OF BRITAIN. IT TOOK A NUMBER OF
CENTURIES BUT THE CHURCH OF ROME FINALLY DID WIPE OUT
ALL AND ANY TRUTH OF PRACTICES LIKE THE 7TH DAY SABBATH
AND PASSOVER ON THE 14TH OF THE FIRST MONTH OF GOD'S
CALENDAR. BY THE 11TH CENTURY AD ROME HAD ESTABLISHED
ITS FALSE TEACHINGS AND PRACTICES IN BRITAIN.
Keith Hunt
The Celtic Church in Britain #8
Ministry
by Leslie Hardinge (1972)
THE CELTIC CHURCH IN BRITAIN
MINISTRY
Organization developed in the Church out of necessity. It
was Christ who appointed the apostles to promulgate the
principles of his kingdom, and they immediately set about winning
converts. After Pentecost the numbers of Christians multiplied,
They met for devotion in the porticoes of Herod's temple and held
seasons of fellowship in the larger homes of the more wealthy.
The poor were helped with material necessities, but only in a
haphazard sort of way. When murmuring arose because of supposed
inequalities, the Christian community authorized a special group
of persons to serve the business needs of the Church, while the
apostles were free to minister in prayer and preaching. This
picture of the primitive church is filled in by St Paul. Writing
both to Timothy and Titus he advised them to appoint leaders in
every church they established, with other subordinate helpers
called deacons and deaconesses. As the number of groups of
believers increased in a locality a leader was probably chosen to
superintend the affairs of several churches, as St Paul himself
had done. In the early Church this overseer was elected from
among the elders of the Christian communities, and, because of
the lack of available evidence, it must be concluded, apparently
received no special consecration. He was seemingly first among
equals.
(Paul was over a number of churches ONLY in the sense that he had
raised up those churches and was a spiritual "father" to them.
There is no evidence he was dictatorial overlord over those
churches, as became popular within the Roman church as centuries
moved on - Keith Hunt)
The title bishop meant overseer, or one who supervised the
affairs of the Church; it stressed authority. The term presbyter,
with its shortened form, priest, indicated a man who was older in
experience; its emphasis was seniority, maturity, and a sense of
responsibility. The terms bishop and presbyter were used
interchangeably in the New Testament, and for centuries later.
With modifications in ecclesiastical organization gradually
coming about, the functions of bishop and priest grew to be
different;* but for a long time this difference was not clearly
defined. The two categories of church official, the
bishop-priest-elder on the one hand, and the deacon and deaconess
on the other, were the only functionaries in Pauline and later
church life.
The evolution of the simple presbyter into a monarchical
bishop was a gradual one. In some areas of the Church the bishop
ruled over presbyters at an early date, possibly from the middle
of the second century, while in other localities the movement
progressed more slowly. When Celtic Christianity was carried to
Ireland by Patrick, this clearly marked differentiation between
bishop and priest appears not to have existed in the section of
Christianity in which he had been brought up. In the writings of
Patrick references are found to his ordaining only bishops. Later
records present a picture of the earliest Celtic church
organization simply swarming with bishops! There are fewer
problems in understanding why this is so if it be granted that
bishop and priest were still apparently different names for the
same office, and that these Patrician bishops were the ministers
of the various groups of believers, without any of the authority
or functions which are associated with the accepted meaning of
the title bishop. The catalogue of the saints of Ireland
according to their different periods is perfectly intelligible in
this light: "The first order of Catholic saints was in the time
of Patrick, and then they were all bishops, famous and holy and
full of the Holy Ghost; 350 in number, founders of churches. They
had one head, Christ, and one chief Patrick." This order
continued to the year 534. Taken at its face value this record
presents a view of the organization of the primitive Celtic
Church in Ireland which would be quite natural in the
circumstances. Neither episcopacy nor monasticism had de-
(*A full discussion of the rise of episcopacy from the primitive
New Testament church organization is outside the scope of this
chapter)
(I have done all this in my many studies on Church Government on
this website - Keith Hunt)
veloped beyond the experimental stages, even in Gaul, by 400. In
Ireland, at the remote extremity of the west, and in a semi-pagan
land, many of the later refinements of both systems were lacking
in the opening decades of the fifth century.
In this catalogue Patrick was the "chief" of the Church.
There is no hint of dependence on any organization or authority
outside of the Celtic Christian community. While the believers
looked to Patrick as their leader, Christ was regarded as the
"head" of his people. Each bishop was apparently the pastor of
his congregation, appointed so by Patrick when the believers
were grouped together. The Pauline practice of placing a bishop
or presbyter in charge of each community seems to have been
carried out by Patrick in Ireland. The Celtic glossator
presented a remarkable picture of what he regarded as the ideal
bishop, It was based on his understanding of St Paul's teaching.
(All this would be in line with New Testament teaching on church
government - Keith Hunt)
The bishop was to be a man of probity, acknowedged as such
by those who were not even members of his community. He should
show that he was able to control his is family before his
ordination, and most certainly after it. His fellow Christians
should be unanimous in their estimate of his fitness for office.
He must never become intoxicated, nor must he even be fond of
drink. He should be free from avarice, have no quarrel with any
person. He of course, must be a baptized Christian, and his life
should be characterized by good works. He should be inclined to
hospitality and ready at all times to receive Eccsort of person
in need.
Ecclesiastical authorities should not confer orders on him
unless they have weighed his reputation and character. Checking
his fitness for his responsibilities most carefully, to see that
his personal life was above reproach, for if he had failed to
correct his family when not a bishop, he was hardly likely to be
an effective leader of a multitude. His ability as a preacher
should be reviewed to see whether he was a suitable person to
teach the flock of God, since he should be studious, skilled in
knowledge, and wise in his exhortation, exemplifying in his own
life the principles he sought to propound.
(All correct, but I've gone into detail on the matter in studies
on church government on this website - Keith Hunt)
MARRIED MINISTERS
In the fifth century clerical celibacy had not yet been
enforced in all parts of the Christian Church, nor had it reached
Celtic lands. Patrick's great-grandfather was a deacon, his
grandfather was a priest, and his father was a deacon. Patrick
wrote these facts without embarrassment. He evidently had no
notion that his readers would regard them as anomalous. That
bishop-priests and deacons were married in the Patrician period
of the Celtic Church is also attested by other sources. The Book
of Armagh, written about 807, preserved a record of the type of
bishop Patrick was believed to have sought. The saint once asked
Domnach Mac Criathar of Leinster to recommend a suitable
candidate, one who must be "a man free, of good kin, without
defect, without blemish, whose wealth would not be over little
nor over great; 'I desire a man of one wife, unto whom hath been
born only one child.' When Fiacc the Fair had been found to
possess all these characteristics, he was ordained as a bishop by
Patrick, the first man so consecrated in Leinster. It was
evidently not necessary to have to pass through any lower grades
in church office as a prerequisite to installation as a bishop.
Patrick was only seeking to carry out the New Testament
regulation, and was so followed by the later leaders of the
Celtic Church. This is vouched for by the remark of the Old-Irish
glossator on the Pauline stipulation that the bishop should be
married to one wife only, "before ordination and after baptism:
needless to say 'afterward' then." His children should be
examples of a well-disciplined family.
It will be noted that inside the monastic "familia" marriage
was permitted to the bishop, priest, or any other Christian who
might so desire. The same is apparently true of bishops who were
not within monastic jurisdiction, for the law tracts recognized
the son of a bishop without any opprobrium. The later homilists
also regarded marriage in a bishop as not censurable: "Patrick
himself went and founded Ath Truimm, twenty-five years before the
founding of Armagh; ... Now [these are] the progeny that belongs
to Patrick by consanguinity and by faith and by baptism and by
doctrine; and all that they obtained by land and of churches they
offered to Patrick for ever." Does this statement mean that
Patrick had "progeny by consanguinity", or does it indicate that
his successors did? It might possibly point to the episcopal
succession which remained in the family. Whatever its
significance, an intriguing story has been preserved of the
marriage of Patrick: "Now when Milluic considered how he should
retain Patrick, he bought a handmaid for him, and when the feast
was prepared on their wedding-night they were put together in a
house apart." Another account, which sought to establish the
point that Patrick and his bride never actually consummated their
marriage, noted that "Patrick preached to the bondmaid, and they
spent the whole night in prayer". Patrick was then supposed to
have recognized his bride as his sister whom he had not seen for
six years. "Then they gave thanks to God, and go into the
wilderness. Now, when Patrick was biding in the wilderness, he
heard the voice of the angel, saying to him, 'Ready is the ship
..."
The knowledge of Patrick's marriage and family must have
persisted for centuries for these later comminatory stories to be
thought necessary. Their point seems to have been, not that
Patrick was not married, but that his wife lived with him "in the
wilderness" as a spiritual spouse or sister. Stories like this
are frequently met in Irish sources. Here is one which fathered
on Patrick the rule that men and women should not continue to
live in this "spiritual" relationship, but should separate one
from the other:
At a certain time Patrick was told, through the error of the
rabble, that bishop Mel had sinned with his kinswoman, for
they used to be in one habitation a-praying to the Lord.
When bishop Mel saw Patrick coming to him, to Archachad, in
order to reproach him, bishop Mel went to angle in the
furrows whereon rain had poured ... Then bishop Mel's
kinswoman came having fire with her in her chasuble. And her
raiment was not injured. Then Patrick knew that there was no
sin between them, saying, "Let men and woman be apart, so
that we may not be found to give opportunity to the weak,
and so that by us the Lord's name be not blasphemed.
These tenth and eleventh-century narratives were used to
establish clerical celibacy and reinforce the penitential canons.
But even a canon attributed to Patrick acknowledges a married
clergy:
If any clergy, from sexton to priest, is seen without a
tunic, and does not cover the shame and nakedness of his
body; and if his hair is not shaven according to the Roman*
custom, and if his
(*This canon has caused a great deal of discussion. Parts of it
must be of a later date. A married clergy and "the Roman custom"
seem mutually exclusive. The ministry of sextons would also
appear to require a later dating of that portion. Todd and Bury
have both tried to deal with the problem at length. It would seem
that later writers have corrupted the original canon for
propaganda purposes)
wife goes with her head unveiled, he shall be alike despised
by laymen and separated from the church.
(AGAIN WE NOTICE by this time the false teachings have come into
the Christianity of Britain - Keith Hunt)
At the beginning of the seventh century Gregory had
recognized that there were clerics in Britain who did "not wish
to remain single", and recommended to Augustine that he permit
them to marry and draw their stipends separately. And at the time
the penitential of Finnian was written the pressure towards
establishing a celibate clergy was mounting:
If anyone, who formerly was a layman, has become a cleric, a
deacon, or one of any rank, and if he lives with his sons
and daughters and with his own concubine, and if he returns
to carnal desire and begets a son with his concubine, or
says he has, let him know that he has fallen to the depths
of ruin, his sin is not less than it would be if he had been
a cleric from his youth and sinned with a strange girl.
Yet even Finnian dedicated his penitential book "to the sons
of his bowels". But the implication of the Old-Irish Penitential
is that celibacy was optional with priests or deacons, but
mandatory for bishops:
Anyone holding the rank of bishop, who transgresses in
respect of a woman, is degraded and does penance twelve
years on water diet, or seven years on bread and water.
If he be a priest, or a deacon who has taken a vow of
perpetual celibacy, he spends three and a half years on
bread and water.
(The man-made laws and traditions of the Roman church were taking
hold in parts of Britain - Keith Hunt)
There were, as has been noted, priests and deacons who had
not taken vows of perpetual celibacy. The Burgundian and
so-called Roman penitentials also prescribe penances in case "any
cleric or his wife overlays a baby, he (or she) shall do penance
for three years, one of these on bread and water". The baby was
obviously their own.
The attitude against a married priesthood hardened through
the years as the result of the idea that he was a holy receptacle
of sacramental grace. In later centuries it was declared that "a
priest, practising coition, small is his profit in baptizing;
[i.e. he cannot baptize] baptism comes not from him, after
visiting his nun".
That this most probably referred to married priests is
suggested by the word "coition" and not adultery or fornication
which would be the case were he celibate. This Irish sentiment is
also met with in penitentials other than Celtic. As noted above,
married clergy were also accepted in England and Wales.
Commenting on the Pauline qualifications of a bishop, Gildas
observed:
Well governing his house, saith the apostle, having his
children subjected with all chastity ... Imperfect therefore
is the chastity of the parents, [i.e. the bishop and his
wife] if the children be not also endued with the same. But
how shall it be, where neither the father [i.e. the bishop]
nor the son, depraved by the example of his evil parent, is
found to be chaste?
Gildas was not censuring bishops who were married; what he
was deploring was episcopal promiscuity and lasciviousness in the
sons of bishops. Nennius dedicated his History "to Samuel, the
son of Benlanus, the priest", his master, regarding it as an
honour, rather than any kind of disparagement to him, to be
esteemed the son of a learned presbyter.
That married bishops continued in Ireland until the tenth
century is established by the story of Cormac Mac Cuilennain,
king of Munster, who is called "bishop and martyr". The story
went:
He was always a virgin, and he used to sleep in a very thin
tunic, which he wore at matins also, and he used to sing his
psalms frequently immersed in water. Now Gormlaith, daughter
to Flann, son of Maelsechlainn, son of Domhnall, was his
wife, and he never sinned with her except by one kiss after
matins; and he sang thrice fifty psalms as penance for it in
the fountain of Loch Tarbh. He was seven years king.
This pious king-bishop was also a bandit and marauder, for
the annals record "the plundering of Osraighe by Cormac, King of
the Deisi, and many [secular] churches and monastic churches were
destroyed by him". He was eventually slain in the battle of
Ballymoon near Carlow, in 903 (?). His widow Gormlaith married
Cormac's conqueror in 909, and on his death, Neill, king of
Ireland.
When Malachi became archbishop of Armagh he set about
correcting the practice which had been going on for about two
centuries, that the bishops of Armagh were married men who passed
on their bishoprics to their sons. His biographer, Bernard,
recorded in horror that:
A very wicked custom grew up through the diabolical ambition
of some powerful persons to obtain the holy see [Armagh] by
hereditary succession. Neither would they suffer any persons
to perform episcopal duties unless they were of their own
tribe and family ... Finally eight married men held the
office before Celsus.
The Old-Irish glossator reflected the tensions in his
community regarding the values of celibacy as against matrimony
among the clergy in his comment on the Apostle's expression "a
sister" "These are the women who attend on us, and are not for
any other purpose." But he added: "It is not enough for thee to
be without a wife, unless thou do good works (or live a
right-acting life); whatever the condition in which one is,
whether it be celibacy or matrimony, it is necessary to fulfil
God's commandments therein."
So evidently when he wrote, celibacy of the clergy,
discussed by all and accepted by some had not yet become
mandatory.
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH
The organization of the Celtic Church, as will be noted (in
another chapter) was originally tribal. Communities of Christians
lived in settlements with a presbyter-bishop to conduct their
religious services. With the spread of Christianity and the
moulding influence of the teachings of the gospel the dangers
from pagans probably grew less. As the popularity of monasticism
increased in the West, the divisions between the ordinary
Christians and those who entered the religious life grew wider.
The picture which the Celtic sources present is most confused,
and a clear understanding of the relationships involved seems
impossible to gain. But, at the risk of oversimplification, a
tentative solution may be suggested, and is here submitted.
There were evidently monastic bishops and bishops who were free
from community restraints. Some of the original Celtic
presbyterbishops founded monasteries, in the later definition of
the term, that is, celibate men and woman banded together to live
a life of devotion apart from the world. But even all these monks
did not renounce possessions nor were they averse to labour.
Their communities were presided over by abbots who might be
bishops or priests. Gradually rules were formulated to govern
their lives. But all this took centuries to develop.
(Yes centuries, as the Roman church grew in power and influence
in Britain - Keith Hunt)
But the presbyter-bishops who did not live in monasteries
evidently acted as spiritual helpers to Christians whom they
served as counsellors and whom they led in worship. These bishops
seem to have been tied neither to locality nor to congregation,
and were free to perform the functions of the office wherever
Christian people might desire it. Under the jurisdiction of no
authority, they were found wandering throughout all Celtic lands,
much to the disgust of later metropolitans who wished for the
discipline and organization of diocesan authority.
Because of the power vested in him by his clan the abbot of
a tribal monastery was also its chief. Under him the bishop
functioned in spiritual matters only. But with the Romanizing of
the Celtic Church the authority of the bishop increased while
that of the abbot decreased. The prestige of the bishop-priests
was always high. The laws and penitentials ascribe special honour
to them, comparing them with chiefs or kings. In case of injury
compensation was to be paid to them, while any misdemeanour on
their part was punished by heavier penalties than those imposed
on the people. They possessed power to grant clerical letters of
introduction to any Christians who might be journeying to other
parts of the country or to foreign lands. They were exempted from
taxes and were freed from military service. Like Celtic chiefs,
the clergy evidently wore special clothes, which appeared
"austere, and should be unusual". Another gloss called these
garments "his badge of office".
(Once more man-made traditions and ideas were forming within the
Celtic church in Britain as the Roman church gained influence -
Keith Hunt)
PENALTIES
The penitentials contain abundant data indicating the
failings and foibles of clergymen, and the way in which they were
disciplined and rehabilitated. The penalties meted to them varied
with their rank and dignity, and the sort of crime or misconduct
which they had committed. As with the monastic clerics, penances
consisted of corporal punishment, such as fasting and other
austerities, prayers and vigils, peregrinations and exile, and
fines of various kinds.
ORDINATION TO MINISTER
The authority of the clergy came to Celtic lands with
Christianity. Patrick had apparently been ordained in the first
place by clerics who had set his father apart as a deacon.
Patrick consecrated the first bishops in Ireland of whom we have
some kind of certain record, and these clerics passed on their
authority through a simple service of ordination. When a layman
or a deacon who showed potential abilities was considered to be a
suitable candidate for the position of presbyter or bishop, he
was consecrated immediately.
No order of service has been preserved to show the way an
ordination was conducted in early Celtic Christian times. Gild as
has left a record of the "lections of Scripture" used in the
ordinal of his day. These lessons, different from those in use in
other Western services, were read as the candidate stood by the
altar, possibly awaiting a Communion service. Gildas also noted
the custom of anointing the hands of deacons and priests at the
time orders were conferred. F. E. Warren pointed out that this
"anointing of the hands at the ordination of deacons is not found
in any form of the Roman Ordinal, ancient or modern, nor in any
Gallican Ordinal". A single bishop was permitted to consecrate
another bishop. Warren has tried a reconstruction of the
ceremony, but all that may be said regarding the service is
guesswork. He also conjectures that it is likely that the giving
of the stole to deacons at their ordination, the delivering of
the book of the Gospel to them, and also the investing of priests
with a stole were all probably of Celtic origin. In later times
two or more bishops co-operated in carrying out the Ordinal. The
candidate might feel his need for episcopal authority and request
ordination. He might be chosen by his fellows and have the
dignity conferred on him. This seems to have been the way of
Aidan's consecration, when the brethren of Iona in conference
(conventu seniorum) decided to set him apart to preach. The
seniors might have called for a bishop to carry this out, or
there might even have been one present. But there is no record by
Adamnan that there was a bishop at Iona before 654. It certainly
appears that the joint resolution by the elders of Iona to honour
Aidan for the gospel ministry was similar to the decision of the
brethren at Antioch at the consecration of Barnabas and Saul for
their sacred functions.
(I COVER ALL THIS IN MY STUDIES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT - Keith
Hunt)
But with the final absorption of the Celtic Christian
organization into that of Rome monarchical episcopacy became the
practice. In 1609 a jury of inquisition was set up in Ireland to
investigate the state of the Church. Here is part of their
report:
The said jurors doe, upon their oathes, finde and say, that
Donnel Mc. Hugh O'Neale, kinge of Ireland, did, longe before
any bushopps were made in the said kingdome of Ireland, give
upon certaine holy men, whom they call sancti patrrs,
severall portions of land ... and that the said portion of
land, and third parte of the tiethes soe contynued free unto
the corbe or herenagh, for many yeres, untill the church of
Rome established bushopps in this kingdome, and decreed that
everie corbe or herenagh should give unto the bushoppe
(within whose dioces he lived) a yerely pension, more or
less, accordinge to his proportion out of his entire
erenachie.
TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION
In the Celtic Church there was no territorial jurisdiction
or predia endowment which later bishoprics possessed. The
introduction of bishops by the Church of Rome, spoken of above,
refers most probably to the Synod of Rathbreasil (1118) when, for
the first time, a papal legate presided in an Irish council. The
initial item on the agenda was to decide upon the regular bounds
of the dioceses and settle the endowments for the bishops. It
would seem, then, that episcopal government, as it is understood
in the Western Church, did not exist in Celtic Ireland until
after the Norse invasions, and came about as part of the process
of Romanization.
But the early Celtic bishop-priest had many varied duties to
perform. Preaching and presiding at the altar were his regular
tasks. Teaching the Scriptures to the young, and baptizing
catechumens he carried out as opportunity occurred. He acted for
the believers in conferring church orders, ordaining deacons and
priests, and, later, other bishops, when the episcopal dignity
grew in stature. He also possessed the authority of "binding and
loosing". He provided for the circulation of the law books, the
Gospels, and the Psalms, by writing out the Scriptures, and he
officiated at the consecration of houses of worship. Occasionally
a bishop might even become the chief of his tribe and lead his
people to battle. A bishop might also act as a champion, farmer,
or blacksmith, and might even be a physician to the sick and
dying.
(So once more we see here some truth and some error. The Celtic
church was being influenced by the church of Rome, or simply by
man-made ideas and traditions - Keith Hunt)
Through the centuries, and with the increasing influence of
Roman Christianity upon Celtic polity, the position of the bishop
grew in power. The process was very gradual and may be noted by
little hints. Columba recognized a visitor at Iona and deferred
to him the privilege of celebrating the Communion. But is this a
comminatory story to underline a state desired by the Romanizer
Adamnan?
DEACONS
The student of the Celtic sources notices mention of
deacons, here and there. The glossator has also left a picture of
the qualifications for the diaconate, basing his views on the
writings of St Paul. Deacons, like bishops, should be married to
"one wife before ordination", and should "have corrected their
households". The commentator advised, "Let testimony concerning
them be given before they are ordained", for they, too, "are
teachers of the faith", and therefore they must not be "double
tongued", i.e. "let not what they say and what they think be
different"; neither must they "sell the divine gifts for worldy
gain". For on a faithful deacon of this kind "it is proper to
confer a bishop's rank".
In the post-Viking period the number of functionaries in the
Celtic Church grew. There are records of readers, singers,
door-keepers, bell-ringers, stewards, catechists, treasurers,
scribes, teachers, or doctors. A man might fill one or more of
these functions. Probably in deference to the use of the number
in the Apocalypse, the organization was occasionally termed "the
seven-graded church" to suggest perfection. Deacons are
mentioned, but not much is indicated about their actual duties.
The glossator, in his comments on St Paul's statements regarding
the offices of bishop and deacon in his letters to Timothy and
Titus, indicates that these offices were similar in the Celtic
Church to what they were in New Testament times.
..........
To be continued with "Discipline"
NOTE:
SO IT IS CLEAR TO SEE THAT THE CELTIC CHURCH IN
BRITAIN HAD TRUTH AND ERROR IN ITS PRACTICE AND
UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH'S ORDAINED MINISTRY.
ALL THE TRUTH ON THE SUBJECT I HAVE EXPOUNDED IN MY
MANY STUDIES ON "CHURCH GOVERNMENT" ON THIS WEBSITE -
Keith Hunt
The Celtic Church in Britain #9
Discipline
by Leslie Hardinge (1972)
DISCIPLINE
Discipline in the early Church was concerned with the
conduct of its members so as to maintain purity of life. As the
Church grew in popularity its adherents were sometimes such in
name only. Persecution shook out those who were fearful or weak.
Eventually, when peace returned, some desired to be reunited with
their brethren.
The problem of how to treat lapsed or fallen Christians was
always a grave one. While privileges were withheld from those who
had sinned grievously, the Church was always reluctant to cast
off any who might be reclaimed. Some clerical leaders were lax
while others were rigid. To cope with this uncertainty a system
of penance gradually evolved.
Great differences in the practice of discipline may be noted
among early Christians compared with later developments; for
example, primitive confession was public. Numbers were few, and
the sinner was reinstated as he would be within a family. This
procedure continued for centuries in the Western Church. It was
recommended: "In church thou shalt confess thy transgressions and
shalt not betake thyself to prayer with an evil conscience."
Another directive was: "Every Lord's day gather yourselves
together and give thanks, first confessing your transgressions,
that your sacrifice may be pure." The apostolic advice, "Confess
your faults one to another", was evidently carried out literally.
Little consideration was shown to the sensitivity of the
penitent's feelings, for his humiliating experience was regarded
as a salutary base on which his later stability might be built.
At the close of the fourth century, in Rome at least, both
secret and open sins required public penance. Ambrose could well
report: "I have seen penitents whose tears had hollowed a furrow
on their faces, and who prostrated themselves on the ground to be
trampled upon by the feet of every one; their pale faces, worn by
fasts, exhibited the image of death in a living body." But he
recommended that after the sinner had confessed "to a man" he
ought also to make a public acknowledgment. It seems that by this
time some leaders were advocating private and others public
confession. Sometime towards the end of the fourth century,
presbyter-penitentiaries were appointed to rehabilitate those who
had lapsed. Through scandals which arose, however, this office
was eventually abolished. But the idea that a kindly pastor
should counsel penitents was not a new one, nor did it perish. In
470 Pope Simplicius appointed a special week in which confession,
penance, and baptism would be administered by priests in three
churches in Rome. This developed into the annual reconciliation
on Maundy Thursday.
SACRAMENT PENANCE
When penance came to be regarded as a sacrament is not
known. The gesture of absolution seems to have been the laying on
of hands, but even its "use was by no means universal". Nor have
formularies of penance and absolution been preserved. For
centuries the reinstatement of the penitent to Communion
"probably took the form of a deprecatory prayer" only. "No verbal
absolution in any form but that of prayer is known to have been
preserved", nor is there any early statement on sacramental
penance.
The question soon arose whether penance might be repeated
for the same sin. "As one baptism," Ambrose ruled, "so one
penance." The rigour of this order often caused penance to be
postponed until the hour of death. In the West the administration
of this discipline eventually attained a formal methodology. The
priest heard confession privately and assigned penance. For
serious sins the penitent was not allowed to partake of
Communion. On Maundy Thursday the bishop brought the sinner back
into the fold in a public service of reconciliation. Exceptions
were made for persons involved in accidents or sicknesses in
which there was the possibility of immediate death.
With the break-up of Roman society, morals rapidly
deteriorated. This had its effect upon the Church. "How changed
is the Christian people now from its former character" sighed
Salvian of Marseilles about the middle of the fifth century. This
ancient historian drew so graphic a picture of the depravity of
his age that it has hardly been paralleled. All seemed bent on
committing the basest crimes even into old age. "Some of them, I
suppose," Salvian said, "are relying on a foolish assurance of a
long life or the intention of eventual penitence." Because it
could not be repeated, "in the fifth century penance in time of
health was nearly lost in the West as in the East". This is one
aspect of the background of the Christianity introduced by
Patrick.
The penitential discipline of the Celtic Church was of Irish
origin. When and by whom it was started cannot at present be
determined. The rules seem to be a synthesis of Christianized
Brehon laws and prescriptions being developed by Cassian and
others for dealing with sin-sick souls. While the church fathers
discussed capital crimes, no logical, formalized catalogue of
human frailties is to be found before John Cassian's list. As
physicians studied the diseases of the body, their causes and
cure, so progressive monastic leaders sought to classify sins,
and to find their motives and their remedies. Under each of eight
heads families of sins were eventually arranged. From these
origins Celtic penitential books seem to have sprung.
SOUL-FRIEND
While the Celtic Christians were in the flood of their
missionary zeal virtue was probably at is peak. With the passing
years and increasing complexity in organization coupled with
independence in views among the different Celtic communities, it
soon became apparent that some help was needed for both priest
and layman, to enable each to decide what should be done with the
various classes of sinners. It is probable that in some such way
the Celtic penitential books came to be. At first these slim
volumes contained simple rules. They gradually took on a
systematized form which finally covered every exigency which a
priest might meet in the confessional.
It appears from the ancient Celtic laws that a "soul-friend"
functioned even before the arrival of Christianity. The Irish
word anmchara has been rendered "spiritual guide", or "spiritual
direcfor". The glossator felt that "pastors and teachers",
expressions used by the apostle Paul, referred to "soul-friends",
remarking, "good is my soul-friend", that is, Jesus Christ. Every
Celtic chief had a counsellor or druid at his court. While little
is actually known about them, Caesar has left a description of
their position and authority in Gaul:
They judge in almost all controversies, public and private,
and if any crime has been committed, or slaying done, or if
there is a controversy over inheritance or boundaries, they
determine rewards and adjudge penalties. Whoever, whether a
private person or a tribe of people, does not recognize the
award, they interdict from the sacrifices. This penalty is
with them, most grave. Those who come under this interdict
are looked upon as in the number of the impious and the
criminal; these all persons shun, avoiding their touch or
speech, lest they should be hurt by the contagion. Nor to
these is justice given if they seek it, nor is any honour
shared with them.
DRUIDS
Druids were married, and frequently passed their offices to
their sons. Incantations, fortune-telling, and magical spells
were part of their stock-in-trade. They were the genealogists and
annalists of their tribes, and also acted as leeches.
Druids were powerful not only in Ireland, but also in
Scotland and Wales. When Columba arrived in Iona, he was believed
to have ousted two druids, who, in the guise of bishops, disputed
his presence. In fact, Iona is still known to some highlanders by
its old name Inis Druineach or Nan Druiliean, i.e. Druid's Isle.
The ancient Welsh laws included the procedure which was to
be followed in druidical excommunications or banishments. The
outcast was known as a "kinwrecked" man. After the murderer had
been sentenced, the old law required "every one of every sex and
age within hearing of the horn to follow that exile and to keep
up the barking of dogs to the time of his putting to sea, until
he shall have passed three score hours out of sight". Caesar
noted that these banished criminals were so numerous in Gaul that
they were recruited into companies to oppose him. Druids were
understood to have practised sorcery. Commenting on the coming of
Antichrist the glossator remarked, "He will perform false marvels
and false signs, as wizards have done through him." The druids or
wizards fulfilled the prophetic picture for the commentator.
In their social position and political influence the
powerful saints were, on occasion, seemingly the successors of
the druids. Druidism and Christianity were superficially similar.
Both had seasons in which fires were ceremonially extinguished,
and were then relighted from a symbolic flame. Both baptized
infants, at which time the child's name was bestowed upon it.
Both claimed to work magical cures to predict events, and to
transfer diseases from human beings to plants or other objects.
Both were teachers of youth and counsellors of kings. Like the
druid, the Christian soul-friend might banish a sinner. Both
cursed their enemies, and, as Senan once exclaimed, "Stronger is
the spell that I have brought with me, and better is my lore."
Christian religious leaders apparently took over some lands
which had been sacred to the druids. They, too, organized ordeals
by fire and water; they circumambulated sacred places, and taught
the pagans to regard their deities as devils. Patrick was
believed to have been anmchara to King Loegaire after he became a
Christian, as Columba was to Aidan, king of Dalriada and Adamnan
to Finnsnechta Fledach, king of Ireland. In short, the evidence
seems to point to the fact that "the cleric supplants the druid
as the king's chief adviser, under the title anmchara,
soul-friend".
On one occasion Columba declined the request to become the
soulfriend to Donnan of Eig. It was evidently optional for a
cleric to accept this office, and it was the privilege of the one
so refused to select another. This would suggest that confession
was by no means obligatory, neither in making nor in hearing it.
The position of the soul-friend was an important one; the saying,
attributed both to Brigit and Comgall, Columba's teacher at
Bangor, "anyone without a soul-friend is a body without a head",
became a proverb.
In early Celtic Christianity, women occasionally filled the
position of soul-friend. Women brought up foster children, and
these, grown to maturity, might return to their "spiritual
mothers" for help and counsel. Ita of Cluain Credill was
confessor to Brendan. Brigit acted in this capacity. Columbanus
confessed to a woman, but later in life he seems to have felt
that this was not the wisest practice, and appointed priests only
for this function.
CELTIC VERSES ROMAN
J. T. McNeill maintained that the Celtic Christian always
confessed in private in contradistinction to the Roman practice
of public confession. But among Celtic Christians exceptions
abound. There is evidence that both public and private confession
were used. The penitential of Finnian (c. 525-50) suggested that
anyone who sinned in secret should "seek pardon from God and make
satisfaction, that he may be Whole". He further recommended that,
"if one of the clerics or ministers of God makes strife, he shall
do penance for a week with bread and water and seek pardon from
God and his neighbour, with full confession and humility; and
thus can he be reconciled to God and his neighbour". In the
canons attributed to Patrick, of uncertain date but with parts
which very probably go back before Finnian, there was provision
for public confession and retribution: "At the completion of a
year of penance he shall come with witnesses and afterwards he
shall be absolved by the priest." A slanderer was also treated
like the murderer or adulterer covered in the above ruling:
A Christian who believes that there is a vampire in the
world, that is to say, a witch, is to be anathematized;
whoever lays that reputation upon a living being, shall not
be received into the Church until he revokes with his own
voice the crime that he has committed and accordingly does
penance with all diligence.
Even in the Anglo-Saxon Church, when Cuthbert's preaching
turned men and women to Christ, the record observes that "they
all made open confession of what they had done, because they
thought that these things could certainly never be hidden from
him; and they cleansed themselves from the sins they had
confessed by 'fruits worthy of repentance', as he commanded".
But, on the other hand, the Old-Irish Penitential (c. 800)
laid down a definite directive for private confession: "Anyone
who is himself conscious of any falsehood or unlawful gains let
him confess privately ..."; while the Irish Canons (c. 675) ruled
that certain works were to be performed "after confession of sins
in the presence of priest and people", and others "after
confession of sins to the priest". An episode in the life of
Samson preserves the belief that public confession was
permissible on occasion. "When Samson visited his dying father,
the old man was conscience-stricken. And forthwith, having turned
them all out of doors, his mother only remained with those there.
There were Samson himself and his deacon and his father and
mother. Without more ado Amon himself, craving their indulgence,
in the presence of the three already mentioned, confessed in
their midst a principal mortal sin, which he had kept hidden
within himself, and vowed that, from that very day until his
death, he would serve God with all his heart, his wife especially
supporting him in his resolve. He found strength to shave his
head that same hour, his wife, as I have said, very strongly
urging him."
It would appear that J. T. McNeill's statement that
"according to the penitentials penance is to be administered
privately at every stage; confession is to be made in secret to a
qualified person, who is regularly, of course, a priest", did
not apply to all sections of the Celtic Church. The evidence of
the penitential books suggests that confession could be made in
public before witnesses or before the church, to an abbot, or
even to a woman.
CONFESSING TO A PRIEST
While all this is so, the practice of confessing to a priest
was by no means infrequent among Celtic Christians. The Old-Irish
Penitential recommended both private confession to God, and also
confession to a suitable cleric: "Anyone who is himself conscious
of any falsehood or unlawful gains let him confess privately to a
confessor, or to an elder who may be set over him. If there be
none such, let him make his own confession to God, in whose
presence the evil was done, so that He shall be his confessor."
So that even at the beginning of the ninth century auricular
confession was not yet mandatory. Advantages were recognized in
both methods. But the work of the confessor was still only to
admonish, advise, and pray for his charge. The discussion as to
whether it was necessary to confess to God only, or to a priest,
went on for many years, and was not settled in the Celtic Church
until the ordinances of the Roman party ultimately prevailed.
(Again it was Rome that finally won out when the Celtic church
was overcome by Rome - Keith Hunt)
There is no mention in the penitential books of any
sacramental quality to confession and absolution. The priest or
soul-friend served as a counsellor only. The glossator
recommended that the penitent should "purify himself through
repentance, so that there is nothing in him which his conscience
may 'reprehend', for 'the Lord will be with him provided he
cleanse himself by repentance'". The Irish commentator
Malgairmrid noted; "My confession will not be in vain to me, for
whatever I shall pray for, God will give it". Confession to God
and cleansing from sin by repentance through his grace are
stressed in these comments. That there was therefore no ritual
absolution in the Celtic Church is suggested by the OldIrish
comment on the story of Nathan's dealings with David's sin in
connection with Bathsheba: "It was said to David that his sins
were forgiven him, it is not, however, said to us, when our sins
are forgiven us." In his note on the psalmist's assurance that
God will answer their prayer for pardon is this advice: "Pray for
forgiveness and make repentance, even as Hezekiah did. That is,
when any man sins, that he seek the forgiveness of God at that
time." And explaining the psalmist's petition, "Deliver me in thy
righteousness", he noted that it was a request to "God, to
forgive him his sins".
J. T. McNeill also believed that "public reconciliation was
not in use" But the fourteenth canon attributed to Patrick, of
later date, as noted above, prescribed that "at the completion of
a year of penance he shall come with witnesses and afterwards be
absolved by the priest". This must have been some sort of public
ceremony, but it might also be a local exception. Finnian, on the
other hand, ruled that "sins are to be absolved in secret by
penance and by every diligent devotion of heart and body". It
thus seems clear that there were no fixed rules.
AND IF THE SAME SIN?
In the Western Church, as already noticed, penance was
mainly non-recurring, and hence was often postponed till the hour
of death. But there is no hint in any of the Celtic penitential
books that penance could not be received frequently for the same
sin. It might be prescribed as often as it was needed.
Several interesting points, which later had far-reaching
effects on discipline in the whole Western Church, had their
roots in the penitential books of Irish Christians. Penance was
described as medicine for sin. This concept originated long
before the origin of the Celtic Church. It grew out of an old
philosophy that "contraries are cured by contraries". The sinner
was regarded as a sick soul needing to be cured. The earliest
reference to the application of this philosophy in the Irish
Church is found in the penitential of Finnian:
If a cleric is wrathful or envious or backbiting, gloomy or
greedy, great and capital sins are these ... But by
contraries, as we said, let us make haste to cure contraries
and to cleanse away the faults from our hearts and introduce
virtues in their places. Patience must arise for
wrathfulness; kindness, or the love of God and of one's
neighbour, for envy; for detraction, restraint of heart and
tongue; for dejection, spiritual joy; for greed, liberality.
Columbanus also accepted this principle. The talkative
person, he maintained, "is to be sentenced to silence; the
disturber to gentleness; the gluttonous to fasting; the sleepy
fellow to watchfulness". Cummean added, "The idler shall be taxed
with an extraordinary work, and the slothful with a lengthened
vigil."
Those whose positions were high and whose knowledge was
great were judged to have deeper guilt. This was very different
from the legal views of the time, which often permitted a king to
go free while his slave would be slain for the same crime.
Equality of sexes was another feature of penitential
discipline, at any rate following the law promulgated by Adamnan.
Another characteristic was composition. This indicated the
kind of satisfaction which should be made to the injured party or
his family by the offender or his relatives. In the old laws of
Ireland and Wales composition had particular reference to
homicide: "At this day ... no one is put to death for his
intentional crimes so long as erec is obtained." If the culprit
fled, his relatives were obliged to pay, or, if the murderer had
not absconded, he was to be handed over, together with his cattle
and land. The erec fine consisted of two parts. The first was the
body-fine for the murdered person, which amounted to seven female
slaves, the usual unit of value. The second was the honour-price
for the insult. This was graded according to the rank of the
injured person, the higher his position, the greater was the
honour-price.
On these points some provisions of the early Celtic
penitentials were based. According to the Irish Canons penalties
were to be calculated with the rank of the injured and that of
the criminal carefully taken into consideration: "The blood of a
bishop, a superior prince, or a scribe which is poured out upon
the ground, if the wound requires a dressing, wise men judge that
he who shed the blood be crucified or pay [the value of] seven
female slaves." This kind of payment had its parallel in the
Anglo-Saxon laws.
Examples of composition might be multiplied, suggesting
their debt to ancient Celtic usage. But the citation from the
influential penitential of Finnian will suffice:
If any cleric commits murder and kills his neighbour and he
is dead, he must become an exile for ten years and do
penance seven years in another region. He shall do penance
for three years of this time on an allowance of bread and
water, and he shall fast three forty-day periods on an
allowance of bread and water and for four years abstain from
wine and meats; and having thus completed the ten years, if
he has done well and is approved by testimonial of the abbot
or priest to whom he was committed, he shall be received
into his own country and make satisfaction to the friends of
him whom he slew, and he shall render to his father or
mother, if they are still in the flesh, compensation for the
filial piety and obedience [of the murdered man] and say:
'Lo, I will do for you whatever you ask, in the place of
your son.' But if he has not done enough he shall not be
received back forever.
The penitential of Columbanus also ordered the murderer to
accept a penance almost exactly like the above.
Another characteristic of the penitentials was called
"commutation"." This meant the substitution of one form of
penalty for another. Penitents who possessed property or who
could obtain help from their relatives were allowed to pay fines
in place of exile or long penanncs. This idea went wild in the
Irish Table of Commutations some time in the eighth century. The
principle is well illustrated from the Irish Collection o f
Canons:
He who has stolen treasure either from a holy church or
within the city where martyrs and the bodies of the saints
sleep - the lot shall be cast on three things: either his
hand or his foot be cut off; or he shall be committed to
prison, to fast for such time as the seniors shall determine
and restore entire what he carried off; or he shall be sent
forth on pilgrimage and restore double, and shall swear that
he will not return until he has completed the penance and
[that] after the penance he will be a monk.
There seems to have been little logic in the substitution of
one penalty for another. The Irish Canons suggested:
The equivalent of a special fast, one hundred psalms and one
hundred genuflections, or the three fifties and seven
canticles. The equivalent of a year, three days with a dead
saint in a tomb without food or drink and without sleep, but
with a garment about him and with the chanting of psalms and
with the prayer of the hours, after confession of sins to
the priest and after the monastic vow.
Crucifixion was the equivalent of a fine of seven female
slaves. There is no record that the fine could not be raised.
Since the penitentials varied so much, it is impossible to
say that any penance was imposed in all the books or in all
places or at all times. The general tendency of the handbooks
may, however, be noted. The earlier the book, the more severe the
penance; commutations there were none, but they came into use in
later books to a degree not originally envisaged. The penalties
prescribed varied greatly. In the early penitentials it was
insisted that sorrow for sin be exhibited,
with weeping and lamentations and garment of grief, under
control, a short penance [is more desirable] than a long
one, and a penance relaxed with moderation.
There is required of them also remorse and lamentation for
their sins, and that they should desire their brethren to
pray God for them that their sins may be remitted by means
of penance and penitence.
In other penances the cries of the repentant sinner were put
to better use, he sang psalms and sacred songs. The number of
songs he was obliged to render varied all the way from three or
six or eight or twelve or fifteen or thirty or fifty to one
hundred and fifty. In the Lives of the saints, the record of the
singing of the entire Psalter is not uncommon. Since most of the
monks would be performing penances, this singing might have given
rise to the idea of "perpetual praise" for which some monasteries
grew famous. On occasion the penitent was ordered to sing the
Psalms in uncomfortable positions, such as "kneeling at the end
of each", or in "cross-vigil", with his arms outstretched, and
"without lowering of arms". At other times saints might spend
entire nights standing in water, or in a tomb with a corpse,
or in a cold church, or even lying on nutshells. An anchorite of
Clonard made 700 genuflections a day and became a cripple "by
reason of the excessive number he had formerly made". Findchu sat
suspended by a sickle in each armpit. Ite kept a stag-beetle
under her clothes to nip her flesh. The list of such bizarre
penances might be enlarged greatly.
Blows with a rod or lash are frequently mentioned A sinner
might be sentenced to "one hundred lively blows"; another to "365
blows with a scourge on every day to the end of a year"; or to
"one hundred blows with a thong on the hand"; or even to "seven
hundred palm thumpings", or beating the palms on the hard ground.
Columbanus fervently believed in the use of the rod or lash.
Flagellation might have been self-inflicted, but the Irish
penitentials give no evidence on this point.
Banishment was part of the ancient legal code of the Celts.
For the more serious offences, particularly homicide, the culprit
was exiled from his country. In the Lives and the penitentials
this was called a "pilgrimage". Banishment might be for "seven
years", or "ten years". The exile might roam as did Cain, "a
vagabond and a fugitive upon the earth'", or he might be required
to spend his time in "a monastery of another country"; or even
"in the yoke of exile under another abbot". Judging by the number
of Irish pilgrims who wandered about England and on the Continent
this must have been a popular form of penance.
It might happen that the pilgrim, sent on a trip for the
good of his soul, was loth to leave. The homilete in the
introduction to the life of Colum Cille declared:
For when one leaves his fatherland in body only, and his
mind doth not sever from sins and vices, and yearneth not to
practise virtues or good deeds of the pilgrimage, then, that
is made in that wise there groweth neither fruit nor profit
to the soul, but labour and motion of the body idly. For it
little profiteth any one to leave his fatherland unless he
do good away from it.
By far the commonest of punishments were fasts of various
durations and degrees of intensity. Sometimes the diet was merely
restricted, and certain luxuries excluded. At other times the
sinner went "without supper" only for refusing to bow to his
superior. For another sin he might be required to spend as long
as a year on bread and water, while on occasion a fast for two
days or forty days or any duration might be administered. The
amount and kind of food which might be eaten during a fast also
varied. A modifying recommendation was laid down:
It is established that after the coming of Christ the
Bridegroom, he shall set forth no fixed laws of fasting. But
the difference between the Novationists and the Christians
is that whereas a Novationist abstains continually, a
Christian does so for a time only, that place, time, and
person should in all things be regarded.
In the preface to the writings of Gildas on penance a very
detailed list of dietary items was given. It is interesting also
as an index of the Celtic bill of fare:
He shall seek pardon every hour and keep a special fast once
every week except during the fifty days following the
Passion. He shall have bread without limitation and a
refection with some butter spread over it on Sunday. On the
other days his allowance of bread shall be a loaf of dry
bread and a dish enriched with a little fat, garden
vegetables, a few eggs, British cheese, a Roman half-pint of
milk in considerat?on of the weakness of the body in this
age, also a Roman pint of whey or buttermilk for his thirst,
and enough water if he is a worker. Let him have his bed
meagrely supplied with hay. For the three forty-day periods
let him add something as far as his strength permits.
He might be required to "abstain from wine and meats for a
whole year"; or for "two days in each week on bread and water,
and two days at the end of each month"; or just for "seven days".
For murder the penance might be "twelve years on bread and
water". David stipulated "another penance is for three years, but
with a half pint of beer or milk with bread and salt every second
night with the ration of dinner".
On the other hand so severe might fasts become that death
would result. "A great gathering of the saints of Ireland"
convened because "they were grieved that penitents died on bread
and water in the days of the elders who lived before them. Then
they fasted against God for this." The advice given by the Rule
of Tallaght was that fasting should not be continued to the
endangering of life. An angel was said to have come with a
special message to this effect:
Wonder not if the bread and the water cannot sustain the
penitents today. The fruits and plants of the earth have
been devastated so that there is neither strength nor force
in them today to support anyone. The falsehood and sin and
injustice of men have robbed the earth with its fruits of
their strength and force. When men were obedient to God's
will the plants of the earth retained their proper strength.
At that time water was no worse for sustaining anyone than
milk is today. Then the angel told them to mix some meal
with their butter to make gruel, so that the penitents
should not perish upon their hands [?], because the water
and the bread did not suffice to support them.
MONSTROUS PENANCES
Monstrous penances were sometimes imposed. "Crucifixion",
amputation of hand or foot or both, perpetual slavery, going
without sleep, repaying twofold or fourfold of what had been
stolen, and periods of silence, This list is illuminated by an
amusing anecdote. Two clerics went into the wilderness together
under a vow of silence. After a year one observed, "'Tis a good
life we lead." After the lapse of another year in silence his
companion exclaimed, "If I cannot have peace and quiet here, I'll
go back to the world!"
(Well now that is a good one - joke that is - Keith Hunt)
With the collapse of law and order which followed the
invasions of Europe by the barbarians during the fifth and
following centuries, the Irish penitential books played an
increasingly important role on the Continent. Their influence
tended in the direction of order and discipline, exercising a not
inconsiderable influence towards civilizing the rude pagans with
whom the Celtic missionaries laboured. These little books,
however, marked a departure from previous practice. They formed
convenient handbooks to help confessors in their tasks. They
might also have been permitted to laymen, to teach them the
degrees of guilt and the kinds of redress which ought to be made
to the injured.
The penitentials were moulded by many of the social and
legal practices of the pagans. J. T. McNeill concluded that "we
may feel confident that the rise and success of the penitentials
as a basis of discipline was aided by the accommodations they
made to pre-Christian elements in the life of the Goidels, or
Irish Scots, and of their close relatives, the Britons of Wales".
And so the little books grew popular among the Anglo-Saxon
Christians as well as those on the Continent, and were
extensively used. But they rendered the priest to some extent
independent of the bishop, and hence were regarded as suspect by
well-organized mettopolitans. Celtic penitentials were not
written by any ecclesiastical body. They were the product of
individual clerics, and differed among themselves, even the names
of their authors being sometimes lacking. Several of them were
fathered on early saints to add some measure of authority. After
years of miscopying and adaptation they became confused and
inaccurate. Commutations tended to neutralize any sense of guilt
which sins might engender in the conscience.
NINTH CENTURY
At the beginning of the ninth century the Synod of
Chalonssur-Saone (813) angrily decreed that the "libelli called
penitentials, of which the errors were certain, the authors
uncertain" should be abolished. The Synod of Paris (813) ordered
the bishops to look for these "booklets written in opposition to
canonical authority" and to burn all they could find, "that
through them unskilled priests may no longer deceive men". But
although sentence to extinction might be passed by synodical
decree and carried out by episcopal authority, the penitentials
were too useful to be destroyed so easily. A compromise seems to
have been unconsciously reached. The materials and methods of the
penitentials were rearranged with sufficient modifications and
corrections, and brought into harmony with canon law. H. S. Lea
thus succinctly observed:
Crude and contradictory as were the penitentials in many
things, taken as a whole their influence cannot have been
but salutary. They inculcated in the still barbarian
populations lessons of charity and loving kindness, of
forgiveness of injitries and of helpfulness to the poor and
to the stranger as part of the discipline whereby the sinner
could redeem his sins. Besides this, the very vagueness of
the boundary between secular and spiritual matters enabled
them to instil ideas of order and decency and cleanliness
and hygiene among the rude inhabitants of northern Europe.
They were not confined to the repression of violence and
sexual immorality and the grosser offences, but treated as
subjects for penance excess in eating and drinking, the
consumption of animals dying a natural death or of liquids
contaminated by animals falling into them; the promiscuous
bathing of men and women was prohibited, and in many ways
the physical nature of man was sought to be subordinated to
the moral and spiritual. It was no small matter that the
uncultured barbarians should be taught that evil thoughts
and desires were punishable as well as evil acts. Such were
their tendencies, and though at the present day it is
impossible to trace directly what civilizing influence they
may have exercised on the peoples subject to them, ... they
exercised [such] influence.
The penitential books were designed specifically for
Christians. The presence in them of warnings against heathen
practices shows to what extent these customs were still followed
by the believers. In some areas, Christianity in Celtic lands was
grafted on to heathenism. When the chiefs accepted the message of
salvation from the first missionaries to Ireland the people
followed their example. Such mass influxes were bound to include
pagan people only nominally subscribing to the principles of
Christ. It would seem logical to think that, the earlier the
penitential book, the more references there would be to the sins
which the new Christians had been used to committing as pagans.
But this is not so. It is the later books which contain more
references to heathen practices. This probably reflects a lapse
into heathen ways of some who were descended from the early
converts. The very hagiographers are the writers who have clothed
their heroes in many of the trappings of paganism, as they try to
outmagic their heathen opponents!
The First Synod of Patrick warned against any cleric who
"becomes surety for a pagan", and any "Christian who believes
that there is a vampire in the world, that is to say. a witch".
The Old-Irish Penitential made rules regarding "anyone who gives
drugs or makes a bogey". There are several warnings against
making lamentations or dirges for the dead. Generally chanted by
women, these songs of grief evidently were so hard to eradicate
that they were eventually carried over into the modern Christian
wake.
The penitential of Theodore contained an entire section on
the worship of idols and other heathen practices such as
sacrificing to devils, exposing children on roofs or placing them
in ovens to cure fevers, burning grains of wheat where a person
had died, incantations, divinations, and other magical practices.
The eating of horse flesh, drinking of blood or semen, and other
items which are all part of the customs of the pagans, are
expressly forbidden in the penitentials. The clue which indicates
the depth to which these heathen customs had penetrated among
Christians is the expression, "if they belong to the clergy",
found in the penitentials.
But while these little books acted their part in combating
paganism and helping to establish discipline among Christians who
were converts from heathenism, they were also contributory to
grave evils. C. Plummer long ago gave his sober verdict of what
the penitential books eventually became:
The penitential literature is in truth a deplorable feature
of the medieval Church. Evil deeds, the imagination of which
may perhaps have dimly floated through our minds in our
darkest moments, are here tabulated and reduced to system.
It is hard to see how any one could busy himself with such
literature and not be the worse for it.
Another evil of the penitentials was the corrupting effect
of commutations in money, which seem incredible to a present-day
moralist. Vicarious penance, by means of which the wealthy and
powerful were able to go free, was a further ill effect. It is
possible that this was a feature of medieval theology which led
to the invocation of saints and angels, and the substitution of
their merit for the sinner's guilt. Devised by earnest
religionists eager to uphold high standards of conduct, the
penitential books eventually caused more problems than they
solved, and were ultimately given up entirely.
..........
To be continued with "Monasticism"
NOTE:
WE SEE HERE HOW SOME OLD TESTAMENT PUNISHMENTS WERE
BROUGHT INTO THE BRITISH CHRISTIAN CELTIC CHURCH. AND
HOW OTHERS WERE INVENTED. ROME, AS IT GAINED INFLUENCE
AND POWER ALSO BROUGHT ITS FORM OF DISCIPLE AND PENANCE.
EVENTUALLY THE CONFESSIONAL BOOTH AND THE PRAYING AND
PAYING TO GET DEPARTED SOULS OUT OF THE MIDDLE GROUND
OF PURGATORY INTO HEAVEN.
SOMETIMES IT IS NATURAL FOR US TO HAVE A SOUL-PARTNER,
OR SOMEONE WE CAN TALK TO IN THE DEEPEST AND MOST OPEN
WAY. THAT THOUGH SHOULD BE NOT PRESCRIBED BUT A NATURAL
FORMING OF A SPECIAL CHRISTIAN FRIENDSHIP.
FOR THE STUDY ON HOW A CHURCH CONGRAGATION IS TO WORK
IN THE SITUATION OF OPEN DEEP SIN WITHIN ITS CONFINES,
IS FULLY EXPOUNDED UPON IN MY STUDY "CHURCH
DISFELLOWSHIPPING" ON THIS WEBSITE.
Keith Hunt
The Celtic Church in Britain #10Monasticism
by Leslie Hardinge (1972)
MONASTICISM
Monasticism did not originate in the Celtic west, nor was it
devised fully developed. It evolved through centuries of
experimentation and adaptation. Anthony founded Christian
monachism in the opening decade of the fourth century. He
stressed the semi-eremitical life. The cenobitic community was
launched into the Church by Pachomius (c. 315), who also made
southern Egypt the centre of his work. A house for women was
first established by the sister of Pachomius. Palladius, the
chronicler of monachism, left a vivid picture of Egyptian
monasticism in 390. Some toiled in garden and field, sowing and
tending the vineyards; others worked at building, cutting logs
and shaping stones; still others went quietly about the tasks of
weaving, cooking, and maintaining the machinery of the
settlement. Then at three o'clock each afternoon, Palladius
reported, one might "stand and hear how the strains of psalmody
arise from each habitation, so that one believes that one is high
above the world in Paradise. They occupy the church only on
Saturday and Sunday."
(Interesting to note Saturday was a "church day" also - yes the
7th day was observed as well as the 1st day, the resurrection of
Christ day - Keith Hunt)
WHY MONACHISM
Several factors encouraged the practice of monachism. The
attempt to escape the Decian persecution drove some Christians
into the desert. A desire to live in piety far from a pagan
society led others to seek solitude. While Gnostics regarded the
flesh as intrinsically evil, orthodox Christians considered its
weaknesses to be incitements to sin. Some ardent souls resolved
that its passions should be subjected to the will, and the
distracting images of the mind destroyed.
Many expedients were used. Some practices had their
inspiration in Brahminism, while others were devised by
quasi-Jewish sects. Across the centuries Christians borrowed
these techniques for selfmastery and modified them. Celibacy was
increasingly regarded as an important attainment. At first
embraced by few, asceticism gradually came to be a way of life
for more and more men and women. When asked why he acted as he
did, Macarius, the desert brother replied, "Tell them, 'For
Christ's sake, I am guarding the walls.'" Severe fasts were
endured by some desert monks. Dorotheus, for instance, ate only a
few ounces of bread and a handful of herbs each day. The motto of
the masochist in subduing his body was epitomized, "It kills me,
I kill it."
(It was all wrong self-flagation - the beating of the physical
body in various ways - it had already been brought in by the
church of Rome, and hence came into the Celtic church - Keith
Hunt)
The abandonment of all possessions was adopted to break the
hold of the world upon the soul. Some lived as recluses. The
hermit Serapion the Sidonite had only a cloth to cover himself;
others went naked; and a few attempted to rest without bedding.
Occasionally the ascentic went without sleep for days, while he
spent his time in prayer. By curious ways the saints sought to
slay the flesh. Macarius, in penance for having killed a
mosquito, sat nude in the marshes for six months to be stung.
Pachon slept naked in a hyena's lair. Unable to endure their
self-inflicted ordeals a few even went insane.
(What the mind of man invents to supposedly be "more religious"
or to think it is more Christ like if the physical body is
punished in various ways - so was and is, the false Christian
religions of this world - Keith Hunt)
John Cassian was the propagandist of the ideas and ideals of
monachism. He wrote his "Institutes" for those who would war
against the passions of the flesh, and his "Conferences" to
encourage a life of contemplation. His writings had a wide and
profound influence. But in spite of all this even by the fifth
century there were no orders of monks; standards of cenobitism
and asceticism were not fixed, as witness Sulpicius Severus'
remark, "Overeating in Greece is gluttony; in Gaul it is a matter
of course." Each monastery was autonomous. The abbot regulated
the affairs of his colony as he and the brethren agreed. Even the
monk within the settlement might act as he wished regarding his
personal property and the form of austerity he practised. As late
as 420 Palladius remarked that he considered it was indeed better
to live freely as a monk than to have to submit to the constraint
of a vow.
THE START
About 350 Martin is believed to have founded the first
monastery in the west, near Tours. Caesarius established his
community at Arles. Fifty years later Honorius and his friends
chose to live at Lerins. It was here that Eucherius built a hut
for himself and his wife. No rules have survived to depict life
in these settlements. Each community in Gaul was independent.
Martin lived in a wooden hut by himself, while some eighty of his
followers chose caves in the hill near by. Each pursued his own
road to holiness.
Athanasius (+ 373), writing to a monk named Draconitius to
persuade him to accept a bishopric, left a description of the
stage to which the philosophy of monasticism had developed in his
part of Christendom:
You may still, after you are made a bishop, hunger and
thirst with Paul, and abstain from wine with Timothy, and
fast frequently, as St Paul was wont to do. Let not
therefore your counsellors throw such objections in your
way. For we know bishops that drink no wine, and monks that
do; we know bishops that work miracles, and monks that work
none. Many bishops are not married; and on the other hand
many monks are fathers of children, and monks that are not
so; clergy that eat and drink, and monks that fast. For
these things are at liberty, and no prohibition laid upon
them. Every one exercises himself as he pleases; for it is
not men's stations, but their actions, for which they shall
be crowned.
This picture of the family life of "monks" and "bishops"
suggests that celibacy for either was optional in the East before
373. Augustine (+ 430), disturbed by the attitude of a group
calling themselves "Apostolics," charged that "they arrogantly
assumed to themselves that name, because they rejected all from
their communion, who had either wives or estates, of which sort
the Catholic Church had many, both monks and clergy". In the West
also, during the fifth century, there were "monks" who still
exercised their liberty to enjoy family life with their wives and
children, and who continued to hold possessions and property.
These married monks and clerics were members of the universal
Church, but were seeking to live in greater discipline in their
own homes. Augustine vindicated their orthodoxy.
(There is nothing in the NT that teaches we are to punish the
physical body or to be single and never marry - Keith Hunt)
Now this sort of monk lived side by side with those who had
renounced everything. Some ascetics remained with their families
while others fled into solitude. Still others banded together in
colonies for mutual comfort. In Gaul there are no records that
monks endured the hardships practised in Egypt. Martin was
probably the inspiration for Celtic monasticism. The bee-hive
huts of Ireland have their counterpart in southern Gaul. Out of
this background the monachism of the British Isles probably
developed.
The earliest reference to "monks and nuns" in Ireland is
found in the writings of Patrick. Vindicating his mission he
noted: "Wherefore then in Ireland they who never had the
knowledge of God, but until now only worshipped idols and
abominations - how has there been lately prepared a people of the
Lord, and they are called children of God? Sons and daughters of
Scottic chieftains are seen to become monks and virgins of
Christ." Patrick wrote this some time during the middle of the
fifth century. If he held ideas of monastic practice then
prevalent in the West, he probably meant that many young persons
had accepted the Christian challenge of virtuous living. He left
no word of monasteries in which renunciation or asceticism was
followed.
WHEN MONASTICISM IN BRITAIN?
When the first actual monastic foundation was laid in Celtic
Britain is not known. Ardmore started by Declan and Arran settled
by Enda might have preceded the traditional establishment of
Armagh by Patrick in 445, but the sources are vague. The first
community for which any definite evidence is available was that
which Finnian began at Clonard about 530. During the next fifty
years his disciples, the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland", set up
centres, but the dates are approximate. In 541 Ciaran founded
Clonmacnoise; in 546 Columba established Derry; in 552 Brendan
settled Clonfert in Longford; in 554 or 558 Comgell started
Bangor in Ulster; in 560 Columba began Durrow, and in 563 sailed
away to Iona.
MONASTIC RULE
Finnian was believed by the hagiographers to have been the
first to have devised some sort of monastic rule, but this has
not survived. Before his time monasteries apparently resembled
Christian missionary village compounds, walled off from the
hostile populace, in which a cross-section of Christian society
lived.
Western Christian ecclesiastical government, moulded by
Roman civil organization, gradually grew to be metropolitan and
imperial - a central leader with authority over the affairs of
the Churches in his area. Its logical end was the papacy. Celtic
monasticism, on the other hand, was uninfluenced by Roman civil
organization. The Celts lived in a society in which there were no
cities. The Christians were part of innumerable splintered
agrarian tribes. Some consisted of a few dozen persons, while
others were large. Each tribe was ruled by a chief, whose status
depended upon the wealth and size of his clan. In Ireland there
were generally seven grades of chiefs. Occasionally a tribal
leader became a high chief and dominated several septs.
Into this tribal social structure Christianity penetrated,
and its organization developed along tribal patterns. Eastern
desert monasticism was modified in Gaul, from where it was
probably adapted to the temperament and environment of the far
western Celts, and blended with their tribal form of life.
The dependence of the Celtic Christians upon Old Testament
legislation has already been noted. From the background of Mosaic
laws they drew their philosophy of community arrangement,
regarding themselves as a tribal theocracy similar to Israel. The
glossator remarked: "Confirm us to thyself, O Lord; we shall say
that we are thy folk, the nation, of God and the people of God."
WHERE MONASTERIES
Most of the founders of Celtic monasteries chose the sites
for their settlements purposefully. Some were placed in wide and
fertile plains, as was the monastery of Brigit at Kildare, by the
river Liffey. Here flocks and herds grazed and agriculture was
practised. So, too, were situated the settlements of Clonard and
Bangor. The story is told of the concern of Cronan for the
position of his house. On one occasion a royal visitor had been
unable to find him in Sean Ross. Cronan, therefore, moved his
whole establishment to Roscrea, saying, "I shall not remain in a
desert place where strangers and poor folk are unable to find me
readily. But here, by the public highway, I shall live, where
they are able to reach me easily."
This urge to dispense hospitality to the wayfarer and the
indigent led to the founding of Christian settlements along the
main roads of Ireland. Derry, Kells, Fore in Westmeath,
Clonmacnoise, and Durrow, for instance, were all easily
accessible. This facilitated travelling from one monastic house
to another, and provided shelter and food for pilgrims. Celtic
monastic communities were placed along the main roads of south
Wales also, and in later centuries, all over the Continent.
Sometimes the monastery was built within the walls of an old
fort. Aedh, the chief of a section of Donegal, gave his cousin
Columba such a location for his church in Derry, and Columbanus
was granted the site of Annergray. But some Celtic religious had
a predilection for islands. Arran early had a Christian
community, probably started in the early sixth century by Enda.
Inisboffin, Inismurray, and Lindisfarne, and many other islands
were so occupied. Illtyd, some time at the close of the fifth
century, was believed to have been the first to settle on Caldy
Island, off the Welsh Pembroke coast. This house enjoyed a wide
reputation because David had been a scholar there.
Skellig Michael was at once "the most westerly of Christ's
fortresses in the western world", and perhaps the most
dangerously situated. Twelve miles off the south-western tip of
the Kerry coast, perched almost at the top of perpendicular
cliffs some eight hundred feet high, the settlement was located
on a forty-five degree slope about one hundred and eighty feet
long by a hundred wide. The path led up about one hundred feet,
and then six hundred and twenty hand-cut steps, "the way of the
cross", led to the top. The community consisted of the church of
St Michael, oratories, and dwelling huts. There were two wells
and burial grounds in five different places. Margaret Stokes long
ago wrote this moving description of the place:
The scene is one so solemn and so sad that none should enter
here but the pilgrim and the penitent. The sense of
solitude, the vast heaven above and the sublime monotonous
motions of the sea beneath, would but oppress the spirit,
were not that spirit brought into harmony with all that is
most sacred and most grand in nature, by experience.
The six dwellings of stone, bee-hive shaped, are still
water-proof. The two smaller oratories of corbelled stone are
rectangular inside, but with the outsides rounded. They each have
an east window, and the entry necessitated that the worshipper
stooped to enter. The wall which protected the settlement on the
cliff-side stands on the edge of a sheer precipice. The courage
and skill of its builders fill the beholder with amazement. Some
nine thousand pairs of gannets have nested on the island from
antiquity, so the monks very probably used the eggs and meat they
had to hand. These island locations reveal the Celtic Christian's
love of isolation and his great hardihood and courage.
The picture of the Celtic monk fleeing from the world to
some secluded place where he might join battle with the devil has
given rise to the idea that monastic settlements were always
placed in desolate and uninhabited places. But, while there were
such locations, this kind of site was in the minority. Dangerous
and inaccessible regions like Ardillaun or the Skelligs, or
country districts like Glendalough, were chosen, but most of the
settlements were in friendlier, rural places, with trees and
fields and birds' songs for company, as the Celtic Christians
loved the things of nature, and through them gained a sense of
the nearness of God.
Sometimes, as at Glendalough, the huts were built along the
side of a valley. Here Kevan lived in a cave overhanging the
upper lake of Glendalough. His but could be approached only by a
boat. At other times the huts were ranged around a central green,
while in forested areas the trees were cleared and farm land
cultivated. The Norsemen found these settlements, but no cities,
and attacked and burned them continually. A ninth-century poem
catches the joyous desire of the Celtic Christians for peace and
seclusion:
I wish, O Son of the living God, O ancient, eternal King,
For a hidden but in the wilderness that it may be my
dwelling. An all-grey lithe little lark to be by its side,
A clear pool to wash away sins through the grace of the Holy
Spirit.
Quite near, a beautiful wood around it on every side, ... To
nurse many-voiced birds, hiding it with its shelter.
A southern aspect for warmth, a little brook across its
floor,
A choice land with many gracious gifts such as be good for
every plant.
A few men of sense - we will tell their number
Humble and obedient, to pray to the King:Four times three,
three times four, fit for every need, Twice six in the
church, both north and south
Six pairs besides myself,
Praying for ever the King who makes the sunshine.
A pleasant church and with the linen altar cloth a dwelling
for God from heaven;
Then, shining candles above the pure white Scriptures. A
house for all to go to care for the body,
Without ribaldry, without boasting, without thought of evil.
This is the husbandry I would take, I would choose, and will
not hide it,
Fragrant leek, hens, salmon, trout, bees.
Raiment and food enough for me from the King of fair fame,
And I to be sitting for a while praying God in every place
Just as in biblical times the cities were allocated to the
priests and Levites scattered throughout the territories of the
twelve tribes of Israel, so Celtic monastic founders followed the
teaching of the Liber ex Lege Moisi. Wherever they chose to
settle, the Celtic missionaries obtained grants of lands from the
people. This was true not only in Ireland but also in Celtic
communities in Wales, Scotland, north England, and on the
Continent. Many stories furnish evidence for this. Soon after
Patrick came to Ireland, his disciple Lomman converted Feidlimid,
the grandson of Niall. How Lomman obtained a grant of land for
his community was thus chronicled:
In the morning Fortchern son of Feidlimid went and found
Lomman with his gospel before him. A marvel to him
[Fortchern] was the doctrine which he heard. He believed,
and was baptized by Lomman, ... Feidlimid himself came to
have speech of Lomman, and he believed, and offered Ath
Triumm to God, and to Patrick, and to Lomman, and to
Fortchern.
The founding of Armagh was on a site donated by Dare. These
lands remained in the hands of the successors of the original
patrons for centuries. The English inquisitors reported at
Lymmavadon in 1609, upon oath, that these lands were handed down
from generation to generation to the successors of these original
recipients.
This plan was also used by Columba in Scotland, for Brude
"granted Iona to Columba"." Iona, in turn, later responded to the
invitation of King Oswald of Northumbria to send a missioner to
evangelize his subjects. On Aidan's arrival, "the king appointed
the island of Lindisfarne to be his see as he asked". Columbanus
sought and found locations in this way on the Continent.
Following the Norse invasions and the later re-establishment
of the monastic domains, the new generation of clerics apparently
was hard put to to gain its rights. Tales were invented to
provide angelic authorization for these ancient claims
Donations of animals and furnishings were also presented to
Celtic settlements. The law tract "Heptads" mentions "a cow which
is given to God". A kitchen utensil or cauldron was donated by
Dare to Patrick, who also bestowed "on him the stead wherein
Armagh stands today". The same tract further notes "land which is
given to a church for one's soul", because of services which the
clerics might render to the people. Should the Church prove
remiss the gift was forfeit. And so by these various means the
wealth of a Celtic religious house increased from generation to
generation.
TITHING
Tithing was carried out in early times by the Hebrews. The
practice passed to the Celtic Christians from the Liber ex Lege
Moisi. Giraldus Cambrensis noted a current tradition of the
twelfth century that tithing had been introduced into Britain by
Germanus and Lupus about 445, as well as first-fruits and other
Hebrew offerings: "They give the first piece broken off from
every loaf of bread to the poor ... They give a tenth of all
their property, animals, cattle, and sheep, either when they
marry, or go on a pilgrimage, or, by the counsel of the Church,
are persuaded to amend their lives. This partition of their
effects they call tithe." Cadoc, abbot of Llancarvan, directed
how the tithes should be distributed: "Whoever shall decimate,
ought to divide the property into three parts, and give the first
to the confessor, the second to the altar, and the third to those
who pray for him." Eadbert, the successor of Cuthbert on
Lindisfarne, was "a man who was well known for his knowledge of
the Scriptures, [and] his obedience to God's Commandments ...
Each year, in accordance with the Law, he used to give a tenth of
all beasts, grain, fruit, and clothing to the poor." The Brehon
regulations appear to be an application of Malachi's message of a
blessing on those who were faithful in tithing. Celtic
legislators noted the antidote to "the three periods at which the
world is worthless: the time of a plague; the time of a general
war; the dissolution of express contracts"; and then pointed out
that "there are three things which remedy them: tithes, and
first-fruits, and alms; they prevent the occurrence of plague;
... war; and they confirm all in their good contracts." These
tithes and first-fruits and alms were carefully defined in the
laws: "Tithes, i.e. with limitations [the amount is limited or
specified]. Firstfruits, i.e. the first of the gathering of each
new fruit, i.e. every first calf, and every first lamb, and
everything that is first born to a man. Alms, i.e. without
limitation, or charity." These regulations of the law tracts,
which applied the teaching of the Liber ex Lege Moisi, were
reinforced by the penitential books. The Irish Canons present a
picture of the Celtic methods of payment: the tithes should be
presented annually from the fruits of the ground, "since they
spring up each year". This applied also to "animals and humans,
since we have the benefits of the same every year". Nothing was
exempt from tithing: the produce of flock and herd and garden and
field. Even the children in the family were tithed. When a father
had ten sons, he was required to present one to the Church. The
method used to determine which son should be given as tithe was a
curious Celtic one. After the presentation of his firstborn as
the first-fruits, nothing [is] due from him [the father]
afterwards until he has ten sons; and when he has, lots are to be
cast between the seven best sons of them, and the three worst are
to be set aside [exempted] from the lot-casting; and the reason
they are set aside is in order that the worst may not fall to the
church. And the son who is selected has become the tenth, or as
the firstborn to the church; he obtains as much of the legacy of
his father after the death of his father as every lawful son
which the mother has, and he is to be on his own land outside,
and he renders the service of a saer stock [free user of the
land] tenant to the church, and let the church teach him
learning, for he shall obtain more of a divine legacy than of a
legacy not divine.
Should the family grow very large the father was also
required to pay "every tenth birth afterwards, with a lot between
every two sevens". This rule greatly increased the wealth of the
monastic settlements.
FIRST-FRUITS
The dependence of the Celtic Church on the Liber ex Lege
Moisi is further illustrated by the way in which the first-fruits
were paid. "First-fruits are whatever is born of the flocks
before others are born" in a given year. All "these things ought
to be presented at the beginning of harvest, and they were
offered once in the year to the priests at Jerusalem", the
penitential, the Irish Canons, continued. "Nowadays, however,
each person [pays] to the monastery of which he is a monk." It
should be noted that it was to the custom of the Hebrews, and not
to the church traditions, that this appeal to authority was made.
The laws required that a man's property be divided carefully, and
"one-third of every legacy" be presented to the Church at his
death." Besides these regular contributions to those who
ministered, later practices enlarged the offering made by the
"tribe of the people" to the "tribe of the church":
Any church in which there is no service to manach tenants
for baptism and communion and the singing of the
intercession; it is not entitled to tithes or to the heriot
cow or to a third of each bequest.
But even more than all this was required of the people for
the support of those who ministered to them in the Church:
Any church in which there is an ordained man of the small
churches of the tribe apart from the great churches, he is
entitled to the wage of his order, that is, house, and
enclosure and bed and clothing, and his ration that is
sufficient for him, without exemption, without neglect of
all that is in the power of the church, that is, a sack with
its "kitchen", and a milch cow each quarter, and the food
for festivals.
While the tribe was responsible for these items, each member
was required to make his personal contribution: "These are his"
reciprocal duties to the ordained man: a proper day's ploughing
each year, and with its seed and its arable land, and half of
clothes for mantle or for shirt or for tunic. Dinner for four at
Christmas and Easter and Pentecost." This comparatively late
"rule" fathered on Patrick some practices which evidently had
grown up following the Norse raids.
Celtic laws, especially Irish laws, were half secular, half
ecclesiastical. Occasionally a monastic leader would formulate 2
code which would prove beneficial to the people. Irish writers
frequently allude to what they designate "the four laws of
Ireland": "These are the four cana of Ireland: Patrick's law not
to kill the clergy; and Adamnan's law, not to kill women; Daire's
law not to kill or steal cattle; and the law of Sunday, not to
transgress thereon."
(We notice here how Sunday had become a holy day. They did not
teach that the 4th commandment was "done away" but that it was
changed from Saturday to Sunday - Keith Hunt)
Besides these there are records of several other laws.
Evidently the populace showed their appreciation for the
results of these enactments by giving offerings to those who
framed them. The monastic settlement which inherited the rights
of the founder and legislator soon discovered that its revenues
might be augmented by reminding the people of these benefits.
There are many references in the Annals of tours made by the
heirs of saints to promulgate these "laws" again and again.
Occasionally the "relics" of the saints would then be taken
along if he had not framed a law, and these would be used for
raising revenue. The great fairs were special occasions on which
the people were persuaded to pay their dues. In fact the Irish
word "cain" made the double meaning of "law" as well as "tax" or
"tribute". By this means the wealth of the monastery was still
further augmented. The cemetery of a saint was considered a
privileged spot, and one who was buried in such a place would not
go to hell. The greater the reputation of the saint, the greater
wealth would thus accrue to his settlement through burial dues.
But these customs grew up after the times of the Norse
incursions.
FROM WHOM THEY ACCEPTED ARMS
The Celtic ecclesiastics had rigid views regarding those
from whom they might accept alms. These "shall not be accepted
from any Christian who has been excommunicated." It was further
stipulated that "it is not permitted to the Church to accept alms
from pagans". But these strict regulations were later modified
"Be content with thy clothing and food; reject other things that
are the gifts of the wicked since the lamp takes nothing but that
by which it is fed." Later legislators went farther. The gifts
which Nebuchadnezzar presented to Daniel were cited as precedent
for taking whatever a pagan might offer. J. Kenney observed that
this was the decision of the Roman party in the Celtic Church,
and paralleled Theodore's attempts to reverse the rulings of the
strictly Celtic penitential requirements.
The Old-Irish glossator left comments suggesting opposition
to mendicancy. On St Paul's words, "Do your own business", he re-
marked "that ye be not a-begging", adding: "These are other
things now which he blames here, namely, unsteadiness and
indolence and mendicancy; he beseeches them, then, that these
sins may not be with them", continuing, "we have not been
restless in begging from you". Commenting on the Apostle's phrase
"slow bellies", the Irishman deprecated clerics who were sluggish
at service, and who were constantly begging for dinners. The
penitential of Finnian went as far as to stipulate that monks who
baptized should not receive alms for their services.
GROWING WEALTHY
It is not difficult to see that from all these sources of
income some settlements might grow enormously wealthy. Here is a
picture of the status of one saint which gives an idea of the
position of a church leader in his locality:
In the days of Lent, Saint Cadoc was accustomed to reside in
two islands, Barreu and Echni. On Palm Sunday, he came to
Nantcarvan, and there remained, performing Paschal service,
feeding daily one hundred clergymen, and one hundred
soldiers, and one hundred workmen, and one hundred poor
persons, with the same number of widows. This was the number
of his family, besides serving attendants and esquires and
well-dressed guests, the number of which was uncertain, a
multitude of whom frequently came to him. Nor is it to be
wondered at, for being rich he was able to feed so many,
being an Abbot and a Prince over the territory of his
progenitor; from Fynnon Hen, that is, from the Old Fountain,
as far as the river Rhymny; and he possessed all the
territory from the river Gulich to the river Nadauan, from
Pentyrch direct to the valley of Nantcarvan; and from that
valley to the Gurimi, that is the Lesser Rhymny, toward the
sea.
He certainly was wealthy and generous, a prince of people
and Church. The impression left by the records is that during the
early centuries Celtic clerics kept aloof from pagans, not even
accepting their alms. Only after pagans became believers would
they receive gifts of land or produce from them. In later
centuries, however, they not only solicited alms, but often even
"cursed" any who refused. The pious, hard working missionary
finally gave way to the wandering mendicant, who, repudiating the
earlier philosophy of his Church, begged in place of toiling for
food and lodging.
(And so today we have "ministries" that have become physically
wealthy, and whose ministers often live the physical life that we
think only millionaires can live - Keith Hunt)
THE PHYSICAL BUILDINGS
No monastic settlement had all the buildings which are here
to be described. The larger colonies probably had most, while in
the smaller ones the buildings were greatly limited. Celtic
monasteries had no communal dormitories. Each person, or perhaps
each family on occasion, had an individual cell, which was made
of wattles and plastered. The shape of the cell was round, and of
the simplest form. The monk lived, worked, wrote, and studied in
his hut. Sometimes caves were chosen in place of buildings. The
Christian hung up his bag containing his books. His bed was the
most rudimentary, the more ascetic preferring to sleep on the
ground with a stone pillow, in imitation of Jacob. Skins helped
to keep him warm on a floor carpeted with straw.
In larger monasteries there was a separate refectory in
which the family of religious ate communal meals. These were also
built of wattles and poles or planks. Stone was used when the
more easily worked materials were not at hand. Hospitality was
shared generously, Ciaran's case being typical of the larger
places:
Full fifty and a hundred Ciaran's Dun used to feed, Both
guests, and weaklings, And folk of the refectory and upper
room."
W. Stokes suggested that the word translated "upper room" is
derived from the Irish term for sun, and might indicate a
solarium. He could not find this word used elsewhere, and felt
that it probably indicated a flat roof on which meals might be
taken during good weather. The older brethren dined below, and
hence two categories were mentioned in the poem. During
mealtimes, at least on more solemn occasions, some member of the
society might read a sermon or a portion oú the Scriptures to
those who "eat when preached unto".
Near the refectory was a kitchen, where a fire was kept
burning constantly. This had been blessed and was held to be
sacred, and was never to be extinguished. One of Ciaran's
disciples failed in his duty and allowed the fire to go out. The
Devil was believed to have instigated this lapse. "Ciaran of
Saigir said that he would not partake of food until guests should
come and bring him fire." Presently fire was brought down from
heaven, and all was well! Close to the kitchen was generally a
supply of water, a spring or stream, or even a well. On occasion
there might also be a pool in which the monks might refresh
themselves by washing their hands and feet after toiling in the
fields. Once King Lugaid demanded taxes from Senan, who had
refused. The king, wishing to get even with the recalcitrant holy
man, ordered his horse to be maintained by the saint in lieu of
the levy: "'Take ye my racehorse to the cleric, and let it be fed
on corn with him.' Thereafter the horse was brought to Senan and
he was put into the pool of the refectory to be washed, and the
horse was immediately drowned in the pool." Cattle evidently were
permitted to refresh themselves at such pools.
As the size of the monastic community increased, the need
for a guest-house became imperative. The Rule of Ailbe
recommended "a clean house for the guests and big fire, washing
and bathing for them, and a couch without sorrow". What a
charming picture of simple hospitality. At the end of a long
journey, foot-sore, cold, and dirty, what more would the simple
pilgrim need? Hospitality was an inflexible rule of all Celtic
settlements. Dire penalties were to be inflicted on those who
failed to supply the wants of the needy.
HOUSE OF WORSHIP
The Celtic house of worship was a very small structure. The
dying Ciaran was carried to his "little church". Its shape was
generally round, although some oratories were rectangular. There
was at least one church to each Christian settlement, but there
might be two or even seven. Like the huts of the people, churches
were constructed of stakes driven into the ground. Between these
were fixed woven wattle screens. The interstices were plastered,
and with Celtic artistry were probably decorated. No traces of
these buildings survive. Where large trees were available,
churches were made of planks. Finian sent his monks "into the
wood to cut trees for the church". At Iona "oak timbers" were
hauled in for this purpose. The oratory which the brethren from
Iona built on Lindisfarne was of "hewn oak thatched with reeds
after the Scots' manner". Straw might also be used for roofs, or
where unavailable, sods were substituted. Very rarely is a
"church built of stone" mentioned in the sources. One such was on
an island reached by Brendan. The wattle rods were "peeled" to
prevent termites lodging under the bark. Windows and doors must
have been of the most rudimentary sort.
Architects and craftsmen were employed whenever they were at
hand. When Cadoc was erecting a church, those who were felling
the trees for timber were joined by "a certain Irishman, named
Linguri, a stranger, but a skilful architect, being forced by
poverty, [he) came to him with his children, that by the practice
of his skill, he might procure food for himself and family, and
he was gladly received by the man of God, and engaging in the
work. . ." His assistance was appreciated by all.
PENANCE CELLS
Penitential cells also appear to have been provided in
certain monasteries. Those under conviction of sin might retire
to these either voluntarily or under the advice of a soul-friend.
The OldIrish Penitential declared that the habitually
ill-tempered reviler should be "expelled from the church to a
place of penance". While this does not specify a special cell,
this is probable. The penitential cell would in all likelihood be
situated in a secluded spot. The mention of "dark houses" might
also refer to them. De Arreis connects "hard penance" with a
"dark house or in some other place where no hindrance comes".
This retreat might also be called a "stone prison" for
prayer.
CELLS FOR THE SICK AND
FOSTER CHILDREN
The floors of churches appear to have been covered with
straw, hence great care was to be exercised not to drop any holy
thing, such as Communion bread, or any valuable thing into it.
The larger communities would also contain cells for anchorites,
infirmaries for the sick, and homes for the foster children who
were cared for by the monastery. There would also be a separate
school house in which pupils were taught in bad weather. At
Tallaght there was a "lecture room".
DEDICATION SERVICE
Before the church or settlement was occupied, it was always
piously and ceremoniously dedicated to the service of God. The
story illustrating one such ceremony of consecration has been
preserved: "Now after that Senan and the angels went
righthandwise round the island till they came again to the Height
of the Angels, after they had consecrated the island." Innis
Cathaigh was the monastic settlement of Senan. The survival of
this pagan practice in Celtic Christian ritual is evidence of the
pervasive and persistent influence of heathenism. This, however,
was not the usual method. A fast of forty days, with earnest
prayer for divine blessings, was the more common way. Bede
described how Lastingham was dedicated to God by just such a
ceremony. Another way was for a high ecclesiastical official to
come and carry out the solemnity. An early penitential, that
attributed to Patrick, ruled that "if anyone of the presbyters
builds a church, he shall not offer [the sacrifice in it] before
he brings his bishop that he may consecrate it; for this is
proper". At the time of its dedication the place of worship was
probably given a name. This, in the early Celtic period, was the
name of its founder, and not that of some honoured personage. J.
Haly pointed out that, with a great deal of probability,
it is at present easy to tell by the name whether a church
has been founded before or after the Anglo-Norman invasion.
If it be a church of Patrick, Columba, Kevin, or any Irish
saint, it is almost certainly pre-Norman, and it is so
called because the saint named founded, or is supposed to
have founded, a church on that spot. But if it bear the name
of St Mary, or St Peter, or any saint not associated with
Ireland itself, there need be no hesitation in deciding that
its origin is to be overlooked for in that period when the
combined influence of Rome and England was changing the old
institutions.
Of course there would be exceptions to this distinction in
modern times, but it seems to have been true for the Celtic
period.
CALLED CITIES
These Christian walled settlements were called "cities".
Brigit's Kildare was called "the city of Brigit", and
Clonmacnoise was known as "the city of Ciaran". This procedure
recalls an Old Testament custom: Jerusalem was known as the "city
of David". These settlements had no cloistered court and no
common refectory or sleeping room. Each monk, as has been noted,
had his separate cell or cottage, where he might live with his
family if he chose. The whole group of separate buildings was
surrounded by a wall or cashel. It was this which imparted a kind
of coenobitic touch to the encampment. The absence of one large
church is another notable feature. The foundation was in the
nature of a laura or separate huts in which each provided for
himself, rather than a coenobium in which the familia had all
things in common, sleeping, eating accommodations, and with joint
ownership of property.
The limits of these "cities" or estates which had been given
for ecclesiastical purposes were carefully and clearly marked.
This Celtic practice, with its ramifications, may be traced to
the Liber ex Lege Moisi. The Old Testament legislation which had
to do with the cities of the priests and Levites, contained this
directive:
Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the
Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to
dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs
for the cities round about them ... from the wall of the
city and outward a thousand cubits round about ... (Num.
35.2-5).
The old law tract Precincts reads almost like a paraphrase
of this Old Testament statement, the cubit giving place to the
pace: "One thousand paces is the extent of the precinct of a
saint, or a bishop, or a hermit, or a pilgrim, if it be in the
plain, and two thousand paces from the precinct of every noble
cathedral." While the general principle holds good in the cases
for which records exist, the exact extent of land which belonged
to a church varied from place to place. For instance: "Then did
Conall measure out a church for God and for Patrick with sixty
feet of his feet. And Patrick said: 'Whosoever of thy offspring
shall take from this church, his reign will not be long and will
not be firm.' Then he measured Rath Airthir with (?) his crozier.
Instead of the cubit the Celtic ecclesiastic here used his pace.
Patrick was also believed to have measured Ferta with his feet:
The way in which Patrick measured the rath was this-the
angel before him and Patrick behind the angel; with his
household and with Ireland's elders, and Jesu's staff in
Patrick's hand; and he said that great would be the crime of
him who should sin therein, even as great would be the
guerdon of him who should do God's will therein.
In this wise, then, Patrick measured the Ferta, namely seven
score feet in the enclosure, and seven and twenty feet in
the greathouse, and seventeen feet in the kitchen, seven
feet in the oratory; and in that wise it was that he used to
found the cloisters always.
But these comminatory stories probably sought to establish a
custom which had grown up later and needed Patrician
authorization. Only one dimension is given for each edifice,
probably because the buildings and their enclosure were circular.
While Patrick was said to have measured his settlements in this
way, neither archaeological nor written records corroborate this
fact. However, at Ardoilean, an island off the Galway coast, the
area within the walls was roughly rectangular, approximately 115
feet by 70 feet. Other monastic ruins have been found enclosed
within irregularly shaped walls.
WALLS
The nature of these walls varied with the purpose for the
barriers. The simplest was a hedge or fence to keep the cattle
belonging to the tribe of the church from straying, and to
prevent the animals of the tribe of the people trespassing. There
were many variants. At Lindisfarne the rampart was of stones held
together by sods. Becan also built a stone wall around his
settlement. At Neendrum the palisades are very considerable,
consisting of three concentric walls, roughly circular. They
apparently date from pre-Christian times, and were used by later
Christian occupants of the site. The walls of Tara present a
similar view. The bounds of a Christian steading at Dundesert,
County Antrim, consisted of a trench around the walls that used
to be about
the breadth of a moderate road; and the earth which had been
cleared out of it was banked up inside as a ditch, carrying
up the slope to about the height of sixteen or twenty feet
from the bottom. The whole face of the slope was covered
with large stones, embedded in the earth. Concentric with
this enclosure, and at about the interval of seven yards,
was another fosse, having a rampart on the inner side,
similarly constructed, and on the area enclosed by this
stood the church, east and west, 90 feet long and 30 wide.
The ruined walls were about six feet high and five thick.
The burial ground was principally at the east end of the
building, and the whole space outside the walls was covered
with loose stones. The two entrances were of about the same
breadth as the fosse, and were paved with large flat stones,
but they had no remains of a gateway.
This structure was obviously built for defence. Ditches,
walls, and palisades, all speak of purposes other than worship.
When need arose, the enclosure was used as a place of sanctuary
for the fugitive and for the safety of its regular inhabitants.
The walls were sometimes built by the saints themselves. On one
occasion when visitors "arrived, thus they found Becan, building
a stone wall, with a wet sheet around him, and praying at the
same time".
GATES OR ENTRIES
Within the walls the property was sacrosanct. Originally
granted as the home of the patron saint the law stipulated that
the refuge was to extend "on every side, that is their inviolable
precinct", that is, there was not to be unauthorized "entry into
a church over its mound". The number of gateways varied. Into the
monastery court of Ardoilean there were no fewer than four
entries. Frequently crosses were placed directly at the entrances
as reminders that the area was sacred. At the west gate of
Monasterboice stood a magnificant cross; in fact three Celtic
crosses survive there to this day. Often, however, only a stone
pillar, marked with a rude carving of a cross, indicated the way
into the holy place, as on Skellig Michael. It was an Old
Testament custom to set up a pillar to mark a boundary between
two parties, and to indicate a holy place. The monastic "cities"
were evidently regarded as fulfilments of the Hebrew "cities of
refuge" through which God's will might be carried out for all
peoples.
..........
NOTE:
WE SEE HERE THE IDEAS OF MEN AS THEY TOOK SHAPE UNDER
THE NOW INFLUENCE OF THE ROMAN CHURCH AS IT ARRIVED
INTO BRITAIN.
THE NT AND THE BOOK OF ACTS GIVES NO EXAMPLE OR
TEACHING THAT SUCH MONASTIC TOWNS OR CITIES SHOULD BE
BUILT BY CHRISTIANS. THE TEACHING OF THE NT IS THAT
CHRISTIANS ARE ***IN THE WORLD*** BUT ***NOT A PART OF
THE WORLD*** AND WE ARE TO LET OUR LIGHT SHINE SO ALL
AROUND US CAN SEE THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IN US. THAT
LIGHT CANNOT SHINE TO THE WORLD IF CHRISTIANS ARE
ENCLOSED WITHIN THE WALLS OF TOWNS OR CITIES OR
MONASTERIES.
Keith Hunt
To be continued with "Monasteries"
The Celtic Church in Britain #11Monasteries
by Leslie Hardinge (1972)
MONASTERIES
CITIES OF REFUGE
High priority must be given to the role played by the
monastery during the Celtic period. It was more vital than that
of an average community a thousand years later. Its functions and
responsibilities were pervasive in the life of the people. The
laws of Ireland carefully defined the relationships which the
"tribe of the people" were to sustain to the "tribe of the
church". The sanctuary which the monastery provided for offenders
in need was jealously guarded. The laws and customs which
supported the idea of protection were richly flavoured by
regulations taken from the Liber ex Lege Moisi. The Old Testament
contained these provisions regarding asylum:
Ye shall appoint unto you cities to be cities of refuge for
you: that the slayer may flee thither, ... and the
congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the
revenger (Num. 35.10-12,25).
The law tract Precincts laid down the Irish monastic concept
of the asylum which the Christian Church provided: "The church
protects sinners, so that they come out of it free or bond, as
they entered it, ... it shelters the trespassers ... so that
fines are accepted from them where death was deserved ... And she
is exempt for entertaining and advising at all times." This
privilege of refuge was granted not only to the fugitive who
entered the sacred enclosure of the monastic settlement, but it
was also given by the patron saint himself to any who might place
himself under his protection. An illustration of this is the
story of Curan and Columba whose sanctuary was violated and the
young man Curan slain by Diarmid. In terrible indignation Columba
was represented as cursing the murderer. As a result a battle
ensued in which the northern prince Hugh O'Neill defeated and
slew Diarmid at Culdremhe.
Adamnan has preserved a story of a young girl who fled to
Columba, when he was studying with German in Leinster, while
still a young man. Her pursuer, ignoring the holy man and the
young disciple Columba, slew the girl before them. "Then the old
man in great affliction, turning to Columba, said, 'For how long,
holy boy Columba, will God, the just judge, suffer this crime,
and our dishonour to go unavenged?" He then pronounced a
terrible curse on the murderer, who immediately fell dead before
them.
A declaratory story was told of Diarmait's son Bresal, who
grabbed a cow from the nun Luchair of Kells "in the sanctuary".
His own father sentenced him to death for his crime. Bresal was
later restored to life by Becan, and all ended well after the
principle of asylum had been firmly underlined.
This concept not only afforded protection to persecuted and
afflicted Christians living among heathen peoples, it also worked
to enhance the prestige, power, and influence of the monastic
settlements themselves.
CHILDREN
Children were often entrusted to the members of the various
Christian communities to be brought up in the faith, in imitation
of the way Samuel was "lent to the Lord", and to be educated as
useful members of society. The laws and penitentials contain
several regulations covering the relationship of the child to the
monastic school and the school to the child. The Old-Irish
Penitential gives rules governing "boys of ten years old". The
penitential of Cummean also deals with the sins of little boys.
Even infants and very young children were thrust upon the
monasteries. This is strong circumstantial evidence of the
presence of women in some monasteries, because it would seem to
be highly improbable that men would tend the smallest babies.
Explaining St Paul's illustration of a "nurse cherishing her
children", the glossator remarked that "she makes every sound to
instruct her fosterling ... of us instructing fosterlings".
Brigit, Ira, and Bee, Hilda and the daughters of King Cualann,
were all educators of the smallest children.
Cadoc received Elli as his foster-son when he was only a
little boy of three, and "loved him above the love of father and
mother". Colman, chief of Leinster, sent his baby son to be
reared by Coemgen. Rich and poor mingled freely. They all lived
in huts or in the outlying community. After their training had
been completed, the young people either continued in the
settlement or went out into the "tribe of the people" to fend for
themselves. The parents of the foster children were required by
law to provide clothes and payments to those who looked after
them. But there was also "fostering for affection" in which
relationship the foster parent supplied all the child's needs. If
the father failed to offer his son to the Church, he was obliged
to pay all the expenses of his education. If the son who had been
pledged to the Church by a pious father later decided to leave
its service, the parent was under obligation to pay only
two-thirds of the cost and the Christian settlement made up the
rest. Parents were encouraged to present their boys for
education, and were provided with lists of the fees, just as in
the Brehon schools.
MINISTER SUPPORT
In commenting on the principle which the apostle Paul laid
down for Timothy: "For the Scripture saith, 'Thou shalt not
muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn', and, 'The labourer is
worthy of his reward'", the Old-Irish glossator remarked: "This
is an example from the Old Law to confirm the principle that it
is right to supply food and clothing to the clergy and students."
The implication seems to be that the students made
contributions of labour to the running of the ecclesiastical
seminaries, and, in consequence, should be supported.
WAYFARER, PAUPER, WIDOW, ORPHAN
The care of the wayfarer and pauper, the widow and orphan,
was regarded as a most important part of the practice of the
Celtic Christian. The Liber ex Lege Moisi provided for the
stranger, the foreigner, and the homeless, and the Celt obeyed.
No call for help was ever denied. Even to those from abroad who
desired an education, the Irish monasteries provided free board,
lodgings, books, and tuition. The ancient laws condemned
inhospitality as a crime, while the penitentials inveighed
against it as a sin.
Lasair gave food away even during a famine so that he might
escape from the insults and reproaches of the poet-band. But the
Celt was hospitable because he loved people. His feelings may
well be crystalized in these lines:
0 king of Stars!
Whether my house be dark or bright,
Never shall it be closed against any one,
Lest Christ close his house against me.
If there be a guest in your house
And you conceal aught from him,
'Tis not the guest that will be without it,
But Jesus, Mary's Son.
Brigit is represented as making a feast for Jesus in her
heart. Finnian of Clonard had 3000 whom he supported in his
settlement. Cadoc's generous hospitality has already been noted.
The founder or holy man to whom the original grant of land had
been made was called the patron saint of the monastery or
Christian community. The importance of his position can hardly be
exaggerated. A gloss of the law tract "Succession" thus eulogized
his person and office. He is one 24 who is the noblest; who is
the highest; who is the wealthiest; the shrewdest; the wisest;
who is popular as to compurgation; who is most powerful to sue;
the most firm to sue for profits and losses. And: every body
defends its members, if a goodly body, well-deeded, wel-moralled,
affluent, capable. The body of each is his tribe. There is no
body without a head.
THE LEADERS
That this description applies with equal force to the leader
of "the tribe of the church" is corroborated by the Cain
Aigillne.
The leader of the Christian settlement originally possessed
the land, buildings, and the right of succession, which depended
upon him and the tribe to which he belonged. Not only in Ireland
but also in Wales abbatal tenancy was hereditary. This tribal and
hereditary occupancy was not solely of Celtic origin among Celtic
Christians, it also had its authorization in the Liber ex Lege
Moisi. Priests were chosen only from the tribe of Levi, and
especially from the family of Aaron, and succeeded their fathers
to holy office, and also to the possession of the sacred cities
with their suburbs. This certainly looks like the authority for
the Celtic Christians to continue the hereditary succession of
druid and Brehon in their own Christian communities. But while
hereditary laws applied, this did not preclude the aspiring
Brehon's fitting himself for his task through study. The
Christianized laws provided for almost every eventuality to
ensure that a suitable successor be selected for the leadership
of each community.
The simplest application of this regulation of hereditary
succession was to a suitable son of the original founder-abbot,
as is evidenced by this couplet from the law tracts:
The successor should be
The son of the abbot in the pleasant church
A fact established by sense.
This successor was called a "coarb". Later hagiographers
went to great lengths to establish him as the "heir" of the
founders.
This enabled all the wealth and prestige of the monastery to
remain in the property of the heir. After the Viking period he
was called the "erenach" or airchinnech. Giraldus Cambrensis
noted that "the sons, after the deaths of their fathers,
succeeded to the ecclesiastical benefice, not by election, but by
hereditary right".
Should the abbot have no son, or be a "virgin abbot", a
suitable person was to be chosen from "the tribe of the patron
saint who shall succeed to the church as long as there shall be a
person fit to be an abbot of the said tribe of the patron saint;
even though there should be but a psalm-singer of them, it is he
that will obtain the abbacy". Coemgen "ordained that the erenagh
in his church should be habitually of the children and posterity
of Dimma". But should neither the son of the abbot nor a suitable
person from the tribe of the saint be forthcoming, the law
provided for a third source:
Whenever there is not one of that tribe fit to be an abbot,
it [the abbacy] is to be given to the tribe to whom the land
belongs, until a person fit to be an abbot of the tribe of
the patron saint, shall be qualified; and when he is, it
[the abbacy] is to be given to him, if he be better than the
abbot of the tribe to whom the land belongs, and who has
taken it. If he [the former] is not better, it is only in
his turn he shall succeed.
It occasionally happened that junior members of "the tribe
of the church" obtained grants of land on their own behalf in the
neighbourhood, and set up subsidiary communities of Christian
believers. These were regarded as extensions of the original
church or monastery. On some occasions a foster-son of the Church
settled with a few companions at a little distance, or perhaps
even across the sea. All these ancillary houses were regarded as
being legally bound to the original settlement of the patron
saint and were under the jurisdiction of his "heirs". The law
provided that:
If a person fit to be an abbot has not come of the tribe of
the patron saint, or of the tribe to whom the land belongs,
the abbacy is to be given to one of the fine-manach class
until a person fit to be an abbot, of the tribe of the
patron saint, or of the tribe to whom the land belongs,
should be qualified; and when there is such a person, the
abbacy is to be given to him in case he is better.
The term fine-manach grade described an inferior member of
the "tribe of the church" who was a tenant on the ecclesiastical
lands; or it might also indicate members of the Church who had
established places for themselves, or it might even include the
"people who give the church valuable goods". The law took care of
all eventualities thus:
If a person fit to be an abbot has not come of the tribe of
the patron saint, or of the tribe of the grantor of the
land, or of the manach class, the "anoint" church shall
receive it, in the fourth place; a dalta church shall
receive it in the fifth place; a compairche church shall
obtain it in the sixth place; a neighbouring till church
shall obtain it in the seventh place.
The "anoint" church was the one in which the patron saint
had been educated, or in which he had been buried. The dalta
church was one established by a foster-son or pupil in the
monastic settlement. A compairche church was one under the
jurisdiction of the patron saint, but situated at some distance.
A neighbouring church was one which, though not under the
authority of the patron saint, was simply located at a not too
great distance from it.
Should all these sources prove unavailing, the monks were to
select a suitable person from among the "pilgrims" who had
sought sanctuary or hospitality among them, or even a responsible
layman might temporarily rule until he found some one more
suitable. This practice gave rise to many anomalies through the
centuries. The coarbs were not always bishops nor even priests.
In Kildare they were always females. There is also a record
of a female coarb of St Patrick at Armagh. The one who inherited
the rights of the patron saint was a chieftain of considerable
power in the ecclesiastical community. The Annals contain a
nearly complete list of the abbots or coarbs, but do not indicate
successive bishops, who were more often than not in subjection to
the coarb-abbot, and who did not succeed one another. The names
in the Annals of the successors of Patrick are often called
abbots, while some are called bishops as well as abbots, and
others are styled simply bishops, and still others merely coarbs
of St Patrick. Nothing in this last title shows whether he was a
bishop or not. It is therefore well nigh impossible to trace
episcopal succession in Armagh. The coarbs of Patrick might be
bishop, priest, layman, or even a woman. In the eleventh century
this anomalous situation still existed in Ireland. Bernard wrote
that:
There had been introduced by the diabolical ambition of
certain people of rank a scandalous usage whereby the Holy
See [Armagh] came to be obtained by heritary succession. For
they would allow no person to be promoted to the bishoprick
except such as were of their own tribe and family. Nor was
it for any short period that this succession had continued,
nearly fifteen generations having been already exhausted in
this course of iniquity.
Before the time of Celsus eight of these coarbs had been
married men. After Malachy had been elected to office by the
Roman party, he strove to bring Armagh and its succession into
line with canonical practice.
MEN, WOMEN, FAMILIES
The composition of the early Celtic monastic household may
be discovered from the sources. The Catalogue of the Saints of
Ireland recorded that the original Christians, who were drawn to
the faith by Patrick and his successors, were "all bishops, ...
founders of churches ... They rejected not the services and
society of women, because, founded on the rock Christ, they
feared not the blast of temptation. This order of saints
continued for four reigns, that is, to 5. T. Olden long ago
strove to establish that this introduction of women into monastic
households was as consorts or spiritual wives. It would seem
less far-fetched to suggest that at the initial stage celibacy
was not enforced. Communities of men and women living together as
families were more likely in vogue. S. H. Sayce pointed this out
when he wrote: "As in Egypt so in the Celtic Church the
monasterium or collegium was an assemblage of huts in which the
monks, both cleric and lay, lived with their wives and families."
In the Irish laws provisions covering the various members of
the monastic family are found. They recognized "virgin" and
married clerics of all grades, even lay recluses:
There is a virgin bishop ... the virgin priest ... a bishop
of one wife ... a virgin clerical student ... a clerical
student of one wife ... a lay recluse ... of virginity ...
lay recluses who are without virginity, if they be beloved
of God, and their works great, if their miracles are as
numerous, or if they are more numerous, in the same way that
Peter and Paul were to John, and in the same way Anthony and
Martin were.
So there were evidently in Irish ecclesiastical
organizations
"virgin bishops", "virgin priests", "virgin abbots", and "virgin
clerical students", besides "virgin lay recluses". There were
also apparently married bishops, priests, abbots, clerical
students, and lay recluses. A comparison of the status enjoyed by
the "virgin" and married persons shows that virginity was held to
be superior. But being the "husband of one wife" did not debar a
man from any clerical office, not even that of recluse. In fact
the law goes out of its way to protect from censure or contempt
"lay recluses who are without virginity if they be beloved of
God". And so the writers of the "Lives" noted that the steward of
Cadoc had a daughter's, while Cadoc himself had a "son-in-law",
and his father a "monastery". The laws deplored "the son of a
religious without an hour for his order".
THE OLD AND INFIRM
The old and infirm often found shelter in the Christian
settlements. Even kings and queens entered these communities to
gain peace in their declining years. The old woman of Beare, on
the other hand, finding herself left behind by the march of life,
sadly lamented her change of fortune:
I had my day with kings!
We drank the brimming mead, the ruddy wine,
Where now I drink whey-water; for company more fine
Than shrivelled hags, hag though I am, I pine.
MONASTIC FAMILY
The biographers of the saints had recorded the traditional
make-up of Patrick's monastic "family":
The family of Patrick of the prayers, who had good Latin, I
remember; no feeble court (were they], their order, and
their names.
Sechnall, his bishop without fault;
Mochta after him his priest;
Bishop Erc his sweet-spoken judge; his champion,
Bishop Maccaerthinn; Benen, his psalmist; and Coemhan, his
chamberlain; Sinell his bell-ringer, and Aitchen his true
cook; The priest Mescan, without evil, his friend and his
brewer; The priest Bescna, sweet his verses, the chaplain of
the son of Alprann.
His three smiths, "expert at shaping, Macecht, Laebhan, and
Fortchern.
His three artificers, of great endowment, Aesbuite, Tairill,
and Tasach.
His three embroiderers, not despicable, Lupaid, Erca, and
Cruimthiris.
Odhran, his charioteer, without blemish, Rodan, son of
Braga, his shepherd.
Ippis, Tigris, and Erca, and Liamhain, with Eibeachta:
For them Patrick excelled in wonders, for them he was truly
miraculous.
Carniuch was the priest that baptized him; German his tutor,
without blemish.
The priest Manach, of great endowment, was his man for
supplying wood.
His sister's son was Banban, of fame; Martin his mother's
brother. Most sapient was the youth Mochonnoc, his
hospitaller; Cribri and Larsa, of mantles, beautiful
daughters of Gleaghrann.
Macraith the wise, and Erc, he prophesied in his three
wills.
Brogan, the scribe of his school; the priest Logha, his
helmsman, It is not a thing unsung, and Machui his true
foster-son.
Good the man whose great family they were, to whom God gave
a crozier without sorrow.
Chiefs with whom the bells are heard, a good family was the
family of Patrick.
May the Trinity, which is powerful over all, distribute to
us the boon of great love;
The King who, moved by soft Latin, redeemed by Patrick's
prayer.
If this list is taken as even partially historical as to the
various categories of helpers in a Celtic monastery of the time
of its writer, possibly the eighth century, the picture emerges
of a well-organized Christian "city" consisting of many workers,
and sharing the products of their skill with each other.
The chief was the abbot, who had under him a vice-abbot. The
religious duties, conducting services and ordaining clergy, were
carried out by the bishop or bishops. Then there were seniors,
the aged members of the society, who were consulted in matters of
importance. The rank and file of the city consisted of farmers
who tended the fields and orchards, the flocks and herds;
carpenters who kept the houses in repair or built new ones;
smiths who made bells and other objects of iron; jewellers who
fashioned brooches, buckles, and decorative cases for books or
the furnishings for the Communion service, and croziers; masons
who fabricated stone altars or constructed any stone building
that might be made. The baker prepared bread and other delicacies
with flour provided by the miller. The tanner took care of the
skins of animals killed for food, and turned them into leather
for sandals, cloaks, or writing materials, satchels and bags for
books and other uses. The embroideresses prepared the more
decorative clothes for the abbot and other clerics, and the
cloths for the altars, out of materials prepared by carders,
spinners, and weavers. At the gate the porter functioned, with
the help of the guard or the strong man, called the champion,
while the gardener provided fruit and vegetables and herbs for
the cooks in the kitchen; and the cellarer or steward was
responsible for the meal services. On the islands fishermen
procured food from the sea. The guestmaster dispensed
hospitality, while nurses took care of the fosterchildren and the
sick and infirm. Teachers instructed in the schools, and scribes
prepared books in the scriptoria, which the librarians carefully
tended. Everyone had his work to do. Even when a British king
left his realm and came to Ireland on a pilgrimage in order to
gain heaven, "he gave himself to manual labour like any monk
aserving God". But, on the other hand, and typical of Celtic
selfcontradiction, Finan protested to Mochuda: "It is a wretched
thing to make your monks into brute beasts; for it were better to
have oxen for ploughing and draught, than to put such torture on
the disciples of God." To which Mochuda replied with a chuckle,
"Well, O Cleric, 'tis the sweat of his own tonsure that heals
every one."
SIZE OF MONASTIC CITY
The size of the monastic "city" varied considerably. Finnian of
Clonard is said to have ruled over no fewer than three thousand
saints, while at the other end of the scale there are records
of communities of only a dozen men. Bearing in mind the
comparatively small population of the British Isles, and the
recurrent charge that Celtic Christians were few in number, the
average settlement could hardly have been very large, consisting
possibly of a few score persons.
UNIVERSAL LAWS
The individuality, which is characteristic of Celtic
philosophy of life, made the formulation of rules which were
universally acceptable in all communities impossible. The first
authenticated list of regulations which has survived was framed
by Columbanus.
He left Ireland and established various communities on the
Continent. Here his regulae proved so severe that none but the
hardiest and most determined were able to live by them. When
Columbanus was banished from Gaul, he was very loth to return
home. Could a reason for this be that his way of living was not
the usual Celtic way of laissez-faire? It has been taken for
granted, without enough evidence, that the rules of Columbanus
were typical of the programme of the usual Irish monastic house.
There were possibly communities which lived in a manner suggested
by the rules of Columbanus, but they would represent one phase
only of many different kinds of Celtic monachism.
Columba's "rules", like other Celtic monastic regular, were
of a much later date than Columba. They were fathered on earlier
saints to give them some measure of antiquity and authority. Even
at the late date when these rules were devised there were still
great differences between them. Each monastery went its own way.
This divergence in practice is humorously underlined by the
discussion between two monastic heads on the relative merits of
abstinence and wine drinking. One said, in effect, My disciples
are better than yours. They do not drink! To which the other
retorted, Mine will get to heaven anyway.
(WE AGAIN MUST REMEMBER THAT by this time many truths had been
lost.....going to heaven had come in, probably from the Roman
church. The truth is heaven is coming to us, to this earth, as I
prove in many studies on this website - Keith Hunt)
DOUBLE MONASTERIES
BUT ROME DID NOT LIKE IT
Celtic Christians permitted "double monasteries",
settlements in which both men and women lived in the same or in
adjacent buildings, and generally were presided over by a woman.
Palladius, in the opening years of the fifth century, described
how the virgin Asella ruled over many religious persons,
including husbands and wives, in a building in Rome, and taught
them to live as monks and ascetics while still in their own
homes. Martin admitted a husband and wife to his community at
Marmoutier, and, as has been noted, a couple lived in the
monastery at Lerins. Double monasteries were founded in Gaul and
also in Britain, and continued in existence for centuries.
The Council of Agade (5o6) on the Mediterranean, at which Caesar
of Arles was probably present, prohibited the building of
nunneries near abbeys. justinian (529) forbade all who dwelt in
monasteries with nuns even to converse with them. Double
monasteries in England were permitted but deprecated by Theodore,
who none the less ruled that "it is not permissible for men to
have monastic women, nor women, men; nevertheless, we shall not
overthrow that which is the custom in this region". He evidently
felt that double monasteries were too strongly entrenched to be
overthrown immediately. Hilda ruled over what was perhaps the
most famous double monastery of her day at Whitby. Cogitosus'
"Life of Brigit" professed to describe a sixth-century monastery
at Kildare:
The number of the faithful of both sexes increasing, the
church was enlarged, having within, three oratories, large,
and separated by partitions of planks, under one roof of the
greater house, wherein one partition extended along the
breadth in the eastern part of the church, from the one
party wall to the other, which partition has at its
extremities two doors; through the one in the right side the
chief prelate enters the sanctuary, accompanied by his
regular school and the ministrants of the altar; through the
other, the abbess and nuns, when they communicate. Another
partition divides the pavement of the house into two equal
parts. There are two main doors-one for men, one for the
women.
Brigit invited a holy man from his solitary life to join her
in governing her settlement in episcopal dignity. She did not
hesitate to call her men-servants to dine with her. Ira (+
569) and Kieran (+ 520) also associated men with their
settlements, while Mochuda (+ 637) was beloved of thirty girls
who became nuns. Evidently the hagiographers had no doubt that
men and women lived together in the same establishments, and
their readers appear to have taken this state of affairs for
granted.
The same story may be repeated for double monasteries in
England. Aebbe was abbess of Coldingham. On one occasion "one of
the brethren of the same monastery" spied on Cuthbert's vigils as
the holy man was standing all night in the sea and singing
psalms, and noted that otters dried and warmed the saint's feet.
Verca was abbess of a monastery at the mouth of the Tyne. She had
a "priest of the same monastery" living with the sisters," as did
Aelfflaed in her mixed monastery. And so the evidence might be
increased to point to the stage of monastic practice wherein men
and women lived in the same establishment. This was transitional,
between communities of families and the final separation between
the sexes. An insight into the actual practice of this kind of
monachism is given by this Old-Irish story of Laisran the
anchorite of Clonmacnoise. Clerical students used to take turns
at inviting him to their homes for entertainment:
One night a certain clerical student took him to his house.
He put a mantle under him. Laisran slept on his mantle. He
sees a carnal vision, and he had not seen it from his birth
till that night. He rises then. He began to weep and lament
(?). "Woe to me ..." saith he. Then he began to pray, and
recited the three fifties in prayer. Then a numbness came
upon his lips. Then came an angel to him and said, "Be not
sorrowful, what you have seen this night you have never seen
before, and what caused even this is because the mantle on
which thou hast slept (?) is a mantle which has not been
washed since the married couple had it. A demon has ... it
then because it has not been washed, for every garment that
is taken from ... folk, a demon accompanies it as long as it
is not washed.
This anecdote reveals curious facts, evidently accepted by
its writer and its intended audience. The cloak which the
clerical student lent the anchorite had been slept in by "the
married couple," obviously the student and his wife. While the
hagiographer was intent on showing the ascetic prowess of Laisran
he unconsciously recorded the fact that married couples lived in
the same monastic settlement side by side with the most rigid
celibate.
Because of the presence of such records in the sources the
role of women in Celtic monastic practice is difficult to define.
Confusion and prejudice often fog the discussion of the evidence
which exists. The task of the historian is complicated because
stories have been devised as propaganda for celibacy. In the Old
Testament women occupied positions of honour. They could even
become prophetesses. Children were regarded as guarantees of
God's blessing. When the Christian Church began, the role of
women was simple and obvious. But with the rise of the ascetic
movement attitudes towards marriage gradually changed. What were
those who were already married to do about the religio-social
pressures towards celibacy? Some decided to maintain their family
existence for the sake of the children, but to live as brother
and sister. Single men determined to maintain a woman merely as a
housekeeper. But it soon became apparent that "spiritual
wifehood" of whatever kind was impracticable. In the end separate
establishments for the unmarried, both men and women, were
founded. Like the Western Church in general Celtic Christians
seem to have passed through the stages of development between 450
and 1150.
(THE ROMAN CHURCH WAS TAKING OVER AND INFLUENCING THE CELTIC
CHURCH - Keith Hunt)
For Celtic hagiographers of the tenth and later centuries,
who probably knew little of the history and evolution of clerical
celibacy, the thought that saints of previous ages had been
married men with families appeared extremely anomalous. They
invented stories of these early Christians as explanations. Two
such fictitious anecdotes follow, quoted though long to
illustrate this tendency. The point of the first narrative,
written probably early in the ninth century, was that Scothin
lived with the ladies concerned merely as a "brother":
Now two maidens with pointed breasts used to lie with him
every night that the battle with the Devil might be the
greater for him. And it was proposed to accuse him on that
account. So Brenainn came to test him, and Scothin said:
"Let the cleric lie in my bed tonight", saith he. So when he
reached the hour of resting the girls came into the house
wherein was Brenainn, with their lapfuls of glowing embers
in their chasubles; and the fire burnt them not, and they
spill [the embers] in front of Brenainn, and go into the bed
with him. "What is this?" asks Brenainn. "Thus is it is that
we do every night", say the girls. They lie down with
Brenainn, and nowise could he sleep for longing. "That is
imperfect, O cleric," say the girls, "he who is here every
night feels nothing at all. Why goest thou not, O cleric,
into the tub [of cold water] if it be easier for thee? 'Tis
often that the cleric, even Scothin, visits it." "Well,"
says Brenainn, "it is wrong for us to make this test, for he
is better than we are.
Thereafter they make their union and their covenant, and
they part feliciter.
A similar story is told of Ciaran. He was once on his way to
the mill to seek for oats:
Then comes the daughter of the master of the mill, and she
was seeking Ciaran, and he found favour in her eyes, for his
form was more beautiful than that of anyone of his own age.
"That is most hard for thee", said Ciaran. "Is it not this
whereof thou shouldst take heed - the perishableness of the
world, and Doomsday, and the pains of hell, in order to
obtain them?" When the girl had gone home, she tells those
tidings to her father and to her mother. These came and
offered the girl to Ciaran. "If she offers her maidenhood to
God," said Ciaran, "and if she serves him, I will be at
union with her." So the girl offered her maidenhood to
God and to Ciaran, and all her household their continual
service, and the permanent ownership of them to Ciaran, from
that time forward.
Dare's daughter loved Benen. She was punished and died, but
after the performance of a miracle she was restored and "she
loved him spiritually. She is Ercnat." Of another liaison between
Benen and Cruimtheris the record goes: "Benen used to carry her
ration to her every night from Patrick." Cruimtheris was one of
the seamstresses in Patrick's familia. The very fact that a
cleric might visit a woman every night suggests a state of
affairs which would certainly be highly suspect in later ages of
monastic development. In the traditional story of later date
concerning Columba's prowess light is shed on the presence of men
and women in a community over which he presided:
so long as the Devil heard Columba's voice at celebration he
durst not stir rill Columba completed celebration, and till
the news were asked of him afterwards by Columba. And it was
a halter for the Devil who dwelt with a student at Armagh,
who used to go there to another cleric's wife, i.e. when
celebration and offering were made he used to visit her,
until Columba once upon a time perceived the Devil beckoning
to the student, and Columba forbade the student to go forth.
So Columba's celebration was a halter to the Devil.
This narrative was not directed against the clerical student
and his wife, but was told as a warning against the irregularity
of still another clerical student who visited a married woman.
There evidently arose no question about regular marriage among
clerics, but there was a feeling against affairs with married
women.
The later hagiographers appear to have taken it for granted
that women at one time lived on Iona, for "Erenat a virginal nun,
... was cook and robe-maker to Columcille". In another connection
the story goes that Columba "went round the graveyard in Iona and
he saw an old woman cutting nettles to make broth thereof". He
then decided that his cook should make him "nettle broth without
butter or milk" daily. Stories like these might be multiplied.
They were evidently devised to suggest that the old Celtic
saints, who according to persistent records were married, were in
fact living celibate lives in spite of their relationship with
women. A tenth-century poem puts the cruder narratives into
poetic form:
Crinog, melodious is your song.
Though young no more you are still bashful.
We two grew up together in Niall's northern land,
When we used to sleep together in tranquil slumber.
That was my age when you slept with me,
A peerless lady of pleasant wisdom:
A pure-hearted youth, lovely without a flaw,
A gentle boy of seven sweet years.
We lived in the great world of Banva,
Without sullying soul or body,
My flashing eye full of love for you,
Like a poor innocent untempted by evil....
Since then you have slept with four men after me,
Without folly or falling away:
I know, I hear it on all sides,
You are pure, without sin from man.
At last, after weary wanderings,
You have come to me again,
Darkness of age has settled on your face:
Sinless your life draws near its end.
You are still dear to me, faultless one,
You shall have welcome from me without stint:
You will not let us be drowned in torment:
We will earnestly practise devotion with you....
Then may God grant us peace and happiness!
May the countenance of the King
Shine brightly upon us
When we leave behind us our withered bodies.
After Mel had been accused of misdemeanours and had finally
been exonerated by Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland was reputed to
have ruled: "A monk and a virgin, the one from one place, the
other from another, shall not dwell together in the same inn, nor
travel in the same carriage from village to village, nor
continually hold conversation with each other." Olden
thought that these stories represented the actual practice of
having women in their lodgings as consorts. This practice had
been condemned by the Council of Nicaea (325), in its third
canon. While it is possible that this state of things went on in
some Celtic settlements, it would appear much more likely that
these later stories were told as propaganda for celibacy, and to
try to explain the condition of married monks and priests and
bishops in earlier times. The evidence that marriage was openly
practised by these Christians appears to be overwhelming.
(AH INDEED ROME WAS POURING OUT ITS IMMORAL TEACHING THAT PRIESTS
ETC. SHOULD BE NOT MARRIED BUT SHOULD BE SINGLE - Keith Hunt)
WOMEN MINISTERS
The question whether or not women fulfilled any clerical
functions in the Celtic Church is an interesting one. When Theo-
lore set about regularizing the practices of the Christians, the
question of the status of women in England was one with which he
dealt:
It is permissible for women, that is, the handmaidens of
Christ, to read the lections and to perform the ministries
which appertain to the confession of the sacred altar,
except those which are the special functions of priests and
deacons. Women shall not cover the altar with the corporal
nor place on the altar the offerings, nor the cup, nor stand
among ordained men in the Church, not sit at a feast among
priests.
According to the canons it is the function of the bishops
and priests to prescribe penance. No woman may adjudge penance
for anyone, since in the canons no one may do this except the
priests alone.
Women may receive the host under a black veil, as Basil
decided. According to the Greeks a woman can make offerings
[facere oblationes], but not according to the Romans.
It would seem that these canons were designed to meet what
Theodore considered abuses among the Celtic Christians whom he
encountered.
There is a reference to the consecration of Brigit as a
bishop. On one occasion a discussion took place:
"Why have the nuns come?" asked Bishop Mel. "To have the
orders of penitence conferred on Brigit", says Mac Caille.
Thereafter the orders were read out over Brigit, and bishop
Mel bestowed episcopal order upon her, it is then that Mac
Caille set a veil on [her] head. Hence Brigit's successor is
entitled to have episcopal orders conferred upon her.
There is another reference to this. Nadfraech, of the men of
Tuibhi, was Brigit's lector and her preacher, "for, she said,
after she had received orders from Bishop Mel, that she would not
take food without being previously preached unto". These
comminatory stories were probably told to establish the prestige
of the successors of Brigit's monastic holdings at a later date.
They point to the fact that their readers were very credulous, or
that in some few communities women were ordained to clerical, or
even to episcopal, functions in the Irish segment of the Celtic
Church.
(AGAIN TRUTH AND FALSE IDEAS WERE CREEPING IN HERE AND THERE INTO
THE CELTIC CHURCH. I have uploaded Dr.Sammuele Bacchiocchi's book
"The Role of Women in the Church" for an in-depth study on the
subject of women being "ordained" to the ministry - Keith Hunt)
EDUCATION
Samuel Johnson wrote to Charles O'Connor to the effect that
"the ages which deserve an exact inquiry are those times (for
such they were) when Ireland was the school of the West, the
quiet habitation of sanctity and literature". From the days of
Bede, and for two centuries after, the Irish educational system
was the attraction which drew multitudes to study in that island.
The purpose of Celtic education was twofold. It sought to train
clerics and to educate the lay people. Attendance at school was
not compulsory, but the people were urged to send their children.
Visitors from abroad were welcome. Irish schools influenced
England, Scotland, and the Continent, and Irish teachers were
among the most highly respected educators in the court of
Charlemagne. The curriculum, while including some secular
studies, was mainly religious. "Comgal took Mochua with him to
Bangor, where he read the canon of the Old Law and the New
Testament, and the ecclesiastical order." The "Lives" speak
exclusively of religious texts, the Scriptures, particularly the
Psalms, and monastic rules. L. Gougaud listed works which had
been noted in monastic libraries founded by Celts on the
Continent: Gospel books, psalters, hymn books, liturgical works,
poems, rules, penitentials, martyrologies, some patristic
writings, commentaries on the Gospels and Epistles and Psalms,
annals, and church histories. M. Esposito noted that "as far as
our evidence goes, the Latin literature current in Ireland at the
end of the sixth century was biblical and ecclesiastical, not
classical". Perhaps this is going a little too far, for Jonas
recorded that Columbanus spent "much labour on grammar, rhetoric,
geometry and the Holy Scriptures", and became "distinguished
among his countrymen for his unusual piety and knowledge of the
Holy Scriptures".
A legend is told of Cummine, who was once asked what he
would like most in his church. "I should like it full of books",
he said, "for them to go to students, and to sow God's word in
the ears of every one, [so as] to bring him to heaven out of the
track of the Devil." In the "Lives" books are often associated
with the saints. On the day of his death Columba was depicted as
transscribing a book.
Besides religious studies it would seem most likely, because
of the excellent products which have survived, that grammar,
poetry, art, and illumination, art metal work, mathematics,
geometry and astronomy were also considered. There must have been
some five divisions: vernacular studies, Irish legends, grammar,
poetry, and history; in Christian studies, theology placed
paramount emphasis upon the Bible; perhaps a slight consideration
of classical studies or what ever ancient authors might be
obtainable; aesthetic studies of art, poetry, and music; and
scientific studies, geography and astronomy and mathematics, all
received attention.
EDUCATION IN THE OPEN
Because of the smallness of the buildings instruction would
most likely be given in the open air, as far as possible. Small
groups of students would learn from one teacher, and then move on
to another. The age at which children commenced their education
was seven. A pleasant atmosphere probably reigned to give rise
to the Old-Irish comment: "It is the custom of good teachers to
praise the understanding of their pupils that they may love what
they hear." That oral teaching methods were used is also
suggested by the sources. The earliest textbooks for teaching
the alphabet were seemingly made up of simple passages from the
Scriptures, for we read of saints reading the alphabet when they
were actually studying the Bible. Columba, so the legend goes,
ate the cake on which the alphabet had been written, the Bible
being the bread of life, and so learned it all at once!
There must have been an extensive vernacular study. The glosses
to the Epistles of St Paul, the Psalms, and parts of the Gospels,
were in Old-Irish. The scribe would hardly have written in
Old-Irish if he planned to preach in Latin. Adamnan told of the
singing of Irish hymns in honour of Columba as though this were a
regular practice. The "Amra Choluimb Chille" is probably a
ninth-century edition of a seventh-century text written in
Old-Irish. The "Vita Tripartita" is the earliest hagiographical
work in the Irish Church. E. MacNeill felt that it was written in
Irish with a mixture of Latin at the latest early in the eighth
century. The "Life of Cuana" contains a statement to the effect
that a blessing is invoked on the head of the scribe who
translated this biography from Irish into Latin. It would
appear, therefore, that there must have been a study of the
vernacular as well as of Latin in the Irish monastic schools.
THE SCRIPTORIUM
One of the most important and far-reaching of the activities
of the Celtic monastery was the work carried out in the
scriptorium.
This was attached to the school in which the pupils were
taught. Before the invention of vellum the ancient Celtic
scribes evidently used wooden slats covered with wax. These
were carried in leather cases for protection, and a sharp stylus
was used for writing on them. A picture of conditions in which
this work was sometimes carried on is pleasantly revealed in the
story of Ciaran of Clonmacnoise and the tame fox which carried
his psalter. While Ciaran taught, the fox would sit "humbly
attending the lesson till the writing on wax came to an end. And
he then would take it with him to Ciaran. But once the natural
malice broke through the fox, and he began to eat his book, for
he was greedy about the leather bands that were about it on the
outside." Skins were prepared and later made into vellum. Now
the scribe could gloat over his "white book", as he used quill
pens while he supported the manuscript on his knees or on a desk
of some kind. Books were often borrowed to be transcribed, and
the story of Columba's battle as a result of copying without
permission illustrates how jealously these manuscripts were
guarded. The ink was made of carbon, lamp-black, or fish bone
black, or the "green skinned holly" juice. The quills were from
geese, swans, crows, and other large birds.
WORK OF THE SCRIBE
The work of the scribe was an honoured one. The deaths of
sixtyone scribes before 900 are noted, and forty of them lie
between 700 and 800. They were highly skilled artists and held a
respected position. Abbots and bishops also often filled the role
of scribe. But these scribes could also be very human and down to
earth. E. Hull has collected some personal expressions of the
feelings of Irish scribes recorded in the Lebhar Breac:
I am weary today from head to foot!
Twenty days from today to Easter Monday,
and I am cold and tired without fire or shelter.
I shall remember, O Christ, that I am writing to thee,
because I am fatigued today.
It is now Sunday evening.
(AGAIN WE SEE THAT THE CHURCH OF ROME HAD HAD GREAT INFLUENCE ON
THE CELTIC CHURCH BY THIS TIME, AS THEY WERE NOW OBSERVING EASTER
- Keith Hunt)
An unnamed scribe wrote a note to his companion: "Ochone,
dost thou still serve for ink? I am Cormac, son of Cosnamach,
trying it at Dun Daigre, the place of the writing, and I am
afraid we have got too much of the mischief in this ink.
And yet another scribe recorded his sentiments thus: "A
prayer for the students; and it is a hard little story, and do
not reproach me concerning the letters, and the ink is bad, and
the parchment scanty, and the day is dark."
It was evidently just one of those days when nothing would
come out right. In still another context a young scribe boasted:
"Had I wished, I could have written the whole commentary like
this!" But the happiness of the scribe is also reflected in the
poems which were written from time to time. Here is a typical
one:
Over my head the woodland wall Rises;
the ousel sings to me.
Above my booklet lined for words
The woodland birds shake out their glee.
There's the blithe cuckoo chanting clear
In mantle grey from bough to bough!
God keep me still! For here I write
A scripture bright in great woods now.
Each scriptorium had its own library. The books were kept in
satchels, and hung from the rafters in the scribe's hut. The
satchels were of leather, and tooled and decorated. The more
valuable the book the more elaborate was the case in which it was
stored. Sometimes the container was made of metal, and
embellished with precious stones. The library of Bobbio, at the
end of the tenth century, contained no fewer than seven hundred
volumes.
TONSURE
A great amount of study has been devoted to a consideration
of the Celtic tonsure. The clearest description has been left by
Bede:
As for the tonsure that Simon the magician is said to have
worn, I ask what faithful Christian will not instantly
detest it and reject it together with all his magic. On the
forehead it has indeed a superficial resemblance to a crown,
but when you look at the back, you will find the apparent
crown cut short, so that you may fairly regard this custom
as characteristic of simoniacs, and not of Christians.
"Monks and clerics", Bede noted, differed not at all in
their tonsures. J. Dowden appears to have hit upon the most
feasible solution of the problem. Noting that the Celtic tonsure
had a superficial resemblance to a crown on the forehead, he
concluded that there was probably a tuft or fringe of hair left
in the front. The side view would suggest that the hair had been
shaved "from ear to ear". Whatever the mode of cutting the hair
the issue of the tonsure raised two questions. Firstly, the
Celtic hair-cut was slurringly called the tonsure of Simon Magus,
probably because the druids (magi) had cut their hair in that
fashion. It seems likely that, when the Christian cleric took
the place of the druid in Celtic life, he not only adopted the
right of hereditary succession, laws, and education from the
druids and adapted them to his own Christian usages, but he
apparently also dressed and cut his hair in a similar manner. In
Celtic lands a tonsure was a badge of office or status. There
were different kinds of tonsure. W. Stokes long ago pointed out
that there were two sorts of tonsure at least, and possibly
three, which were mentioned in the "Lives." There were the
clerical or monachal tonsure, the tonsure of the slave, and
the druidical tonsure, if different.
Columbanus required his monks to "wash their heads ... on
every fifteenth day, or certainly on account of the growth of the
flowing hair. From the monuments, de Paor noted that
ecclesiastics often appear clean shaven, while laymen and
soldiers have drooping moustaches, and sometimes have forked and
pointed beard. S.Salvian described the tonsure of monks in his
age and locale as being simply a "close crop". Perhaps the short
haircut was originally selected as a badge to distinguish the
Christian from the "barbarian", and later became encrusted with
fictitious associations of sanctity. It would seem that at
different times and in different sections of the Celtic Church
tonsures varied.
But, like the Easter controversy, the tonsure controversy
took on overtones of authority. The Romanizing party required all
the clerics to submit to the rulings of the Western Church. At
this distance the question arises, Why did such a simple thing as
a haircut rouse the feelings it did over a thousand years ago? A
parallel might be found in the case of the veil and the fez in
modern Turkey. Such inconsequential things distinguished the
older order of tradition and religion from the new order. The
veil and fez were symbols of the authority of the past. The power
that imposed its way and forced its symbols on the populace was
dictatorial. So was the Roman tonsure eventually imposed upon the
Celtic Christians.
(YES, MANY THINGS WERE IMPOSED ON CELTIC CHRISTIANITY BY THE
CHURCH OF ROME, THAT WENT FORTH TO CONQUER THE WORLD, AS IT STILL
DOES TODAY - Keith Hunt)
It apparently took some time after the Easter controversy
had been settled for the tonsure controversy to be resolved. As
late as 887 there still existed differences, for in that year
"Anealoen the pilgrim came to Ireland, and the wearing of the
hair long was abolished by him, and tonsure was accepted."
Although general acceptance of Roman practices came about in
695 in northern Ireland, there evidently were pockets of
resistance in certain parts of the independent Celtic Church. But
there was a ruling in an early Welsh law against the practice of
allowing the hair to grow long, which the new mode of hair-cut
ignored:
"If any Catholic lets his hair grow in the fashion of the
barbarians, he shall be held an alien from the Church of God and
from the table of every Christian until he mends his fault."
(THEY DID KNOW THAT AS THE APOSTLE PAUL WAS INSPIRED TO SAY, IT
IS A SHAME FOR A MAN TO HAVE LONG HAIR - Keith Hunt)
FOOD
Another Celtic practice had to do with food. Besides the
restriction of diet which strict asceticism imposed, other
factors affected the Celtic Christian's choice of food. The Old
Testament regulations on the use of "unclean" flesh has been
noted already. There is evidence that some saints were
vegetarians and teetotalers for health reasons, which had nothing
to do with ascetic practice. Samson of DoL was very particular
about his own diet: "To be sure he was one who never, throughout
his whole life, tasted such a thing as the flesh of any beast or
winged creature; no one ever saw him drunk; never through change
of mind, or halting indecision, nor even in the least degree did
any kind of drink injure him in any way." The reason for this
careful consideration of what he ate was health:
Moreover, it was a custom in the consitutions of this
monastery to bruise herbs from the garden, such as were
beneficial for the health, in a vessel and to serve it out in
small quantities to the several brothers in their porringers by
means of a small siphon for their health's sake, so that when
they came in from saying Terce they found the mixing vessel
already prepared with garden herbs.
Evidently the brethren had stumbled on the benefits of
vitamins and minerals from raw vegetables and herbs.
The "Amhra Chulimb Chille" preserved an ancient tradition of
the dietary habits of Columba. He "used not to drink ale". He was
just as strict on diet as Samson, for "he used to avoid flesh or
the beef or condiment". He went so far as to resolve that "he
would not eat fish lest disease should take him". The Old-Irish
"Life of Columba" contained a similar account of his way of life.
And he used not to drink ale, and used not to eat meat, and used
not to eat savoury things, as Dallan Forguill said in the Amra:
He drank not ale; he loved not satiety; He avoided flesh.
The glossator remarked on the Apostle's warning "that he may
regulate foods, that is, to forbid lust, for if gluttony were
not, lust would not be". This connection between diet and lust is
most interesting. He also noted on St Paul's remark regarding
"meat and drink" that it "is not this that will bring you to
heaven, though it may be proper food". The impression left by
the few sources which touch on this point is that some of the
leading early Celtic Christians had a high regard for the place
of healthful living in maintaining Christian character.
The regulations of Adamnan were based, in part, on the Liber
ex Lege Moisi. The law stipulated that swine should not be eaten
because they were unclean. Adamnan modified this directive:
"Swine's flesh that has become thick or fat on carrion is to
be rejected like the carrion by which it grows fat. When,
however, the swine has grown smaller and returned to its
original thinness, it is to be taken."
Should any animal with horns push and kill a man, it should
be slain, and its flesh cast out as carrion, so stipulated the
Hebrew law. Adamnan, on the other hand, ruled thus: "Swine that
taste the flesh or blood of men are always forbidden. For in the
Law any animal that pushes with the horn. if it kills a man, is
forbidden; how much more those that eat man." The Mosaic law
stipulated that only those creatures which had been slaughtered
so that the blood flowed freely from the body might be taken as
food:
Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of
fow or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul
it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall
be cut off from his people (Lev. 7.26-7).
Adamnan clearly declared that he followed this regulation.
The flesh must be treated as carrion if not slaughtered
correctly:
For the fact that the higher blood had not flowed, which is
the guardian and seat of life, but was clotted within the
flesh ... he who eats this flesh shall know that he has
eaten the flesh with the blood; since the Lord has forbidden
this, it is not the cooking of the flesh but the shedding of
the blood that is lacking ... Nevertheless, the fat and the
hides we shall have for divers uses.
(WE SEE SOME TRUTHS THE CELTIC CHURCH RETAINED, BUT SOME WERE
MERE PERSONAL CHOICE, NOT TO EAT MEAT, AS IN ROMANS 14 - Keith
Hunt)
MONEY
Another Mosaic regulation had to do with the use of money,
and prohibited the receiving of usury: "If thou lend money to any
of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an
usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury." The "Excerpts
from the Book of David" incorporated this Mosaic legislation into
the Celtic penitential canons: "He who receives usury shall give
up those things that he had received." The Old Testament
certainly was pervasive in Celtic thinking.
FEMININE HYGIENE
Still another Old Testament regulation dealt with feminine
hygiene. Couples were to abstain from intercourse "during the
entire menstrual period". This was in compliance with the rule of
the Liber ex Lege Moisi which stipulated that a woman in this
condition was "unclean". Another penitential regulated a mother's
uncleanness after childbirth: "After the birth he shall abstain,
if it is a son, for thirty-three days; if a daughter, for
sixty-six days." This is an application of the Mosaic law also.
SECOND WIFE
The position of a secondary wife or adaltrach was carefully
defined by the Senchus Mor, with stipulations which appear to
have grown out of the relationship of Abraham with Hagar and
Sarah.
MATTYING A BROTHER'S WIFE
Among the charges which have been brought up against the
Celtic Christians on more than one occasion is that a man sinned
in marrying his deceased brother's widow. Giraldus Cambrensis
said:
"Nay, what is most detestable, and not only contrary to the
Gospel, but to everything that is right, in many parts of
Ireland, brothers (I will not say marry) seduce and debauch
the wives of their brothers deceased, and have incestuous
intercourse with them."
One of the points which Queen Margaret considered wrong in
the conduct of the Celtic Christian remnants in Scotland of
her day was "a surviving brother's marriage with the wife of a
brother who had died". This custom was a literal application
of the statute in the Old Testament known as the Levirate
marriage common among ancient Semitic peoples. Its purpose was
that the name of the deceased brother should not become extinct.
It was only carried out when the widow was childless, and only
until a male heir had been born. It was a misunderstanding of
this Celtic conscientious adherence to the letter of the Old
Testament which roused the censure of critics of its practices.
(SHOULD BE NO SURPRISE AS THE CELTIC CHURCH OBSERVED MANY OLD
TESTAMENT LAWS - Keith Hunt)
...........................
NOTE:
IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE CELTIC TOWN/CITY COMMUNITY WAS
THE SOCIAL/WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF THE POPULACE. AND WE
NOTE THE PRACTICE OF SOME TRUTHS BUT ALSO THE INFLUENCE
THAT THE ROMAN CHURCH WAS HAVING ON THE CELTIC CHURCH.
Keith Hunt
To be concluded with "Conclusions"
The Celtic Church in Britain #12ConclusionsTHE CLETIC CHURCH IN BRITAIN #12
by Leslie Hardinge (1972)
CONCLUSIONS
And so the end of this investigation of the beliefs and
practices of the Celtic Church in Britain has been reached. A
group of Christian people has been considered, who emerge into
history without a pedigree and disappear without posterity. As a
desert stream, gushing from a secret spring, for a while
irrigates the wilderness, bringing life and fragrance into being,
and then disappears, so Celtic Christians for more than two
centuries nourished Europe with the evangel of God. Carried
forward with enthusiasm and devotion, seasoned with individuality
and good will, the salutary message of grace crossed England and
Scotland into Europe. And when the ravages of war, and the almost
equally devastating arguments of angry factions, threatened the
ruin of the Church on the European mainland, Celtic Christians in
the far west preserved and brought again into the current of
European life the vital principles of the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
(The truth of the matter is that Celtic Christianity had been in
Britain since the first few years after the death and
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The author of this study
did not know that or did not research it or did not want to
believe it. For hundreds of years before the church of Rome came
to Britain about 500 AD, true Christianity reigned in those
special Isles of Great Britain. But as time went on like has so
often as happened pure truth became forgotten and corrupted. The
Celtic people were still hanging on to some truths when Rome
arrived, and called them Jewish heretics, and claimed they were
Judaizing. The truth of when the true Gospel came to Briatin is
on this website under this section of history - Keith Hunt)
The seventh and eighth centuries were a time of transition
and conformity for Celtic Christians. During these years their
ancient usages gave place to those of Rome. Had there actually
been regular intercourse between believers in the Celtic west and
their fellows on the Continent before 600, it would hardly have
been possible for each to be ignorant of the beliefs and
practices of the other.
(Britain was in many ways "cut off" from Europe - and so Celtic
Christianity did not go forth until centuries after the Gospel
came to Britain - Keith Hunt)
But when, following the gospel commission, Irish Christians
set out on their missionary enterprises and encountered their
continental brethren, problems appear to have arisen.
Co-operation finally resulted only when the Celts
surrendered their peculiar traditions. These are now to be
summarized.
SUMMARIZATION
The first had to do with authority. The Scriptures were
supreme. Literally interpreted, rigidly obeyed, biblical
regulations lay at the foundation of Celtic Christian belief and
life. No differences were made between the ethics and morality,
the legal system and theology of the Old and New Testaments. The
individual exegete felt himself competent to explain and apply
the message of the Bible, and he used his own rules to interpret
its words literally. Whatever he considered usable he
incorporated into the life and organization of the people. Any
belief or practice which was thought to be at variance with the
Scriptures was rejected. Hence patristic or papal notions and
judgements held little weight with Celtic theologians. No appeal
was made to the Apocrypha. The sole use to which it was put was
to supply phrases and imagery for expressing any thoughts the
Celtic writers desired. Various interpretations and differing
points of view among the Celtic theologians themselves finally
led to the weakening of their position and eased the conformity
of Celtic with Catholic usages, and contributed to the ultimate
disappearance of Celtic Christianity as such.
The rules of the Old Testament which shaped the theocracy of
Israel were followed by the Celts as a natural consequence of
their view of biblical authority. The role of the "Liber ex Lege
Moisi" was paramount. The laws defining clean and unclean animals
which might or might not be used as food, the methods of
slaughtering animals, the advice on hygiene applying to both men
and women, the Levirate marriage, the precepts modifying usury
and slavery, the treatment of widows and orphans, as well as the
payment of tithes and the offering of first-fruits, all were
thought necessary. Some Celtic teachers, including Columba
himself, went as far as to practise vegetarianism and teetotalism
on purely health grounds, regarding their bodies as temples of
the Holy Spirit. While fasting was extensively practised, it,
too, was carried out much more in the manner of the Old Testament
than in accordance with patristic traditions. Any time and any
manner was acceptable, provided the fasting was done with a
sincere desire to please God.
This emphasis on obedience grew, not only from the Celtic
attitude which held the Scriptures in the greatest veneration,
but also from the concept that sin was disobedience, and that
man's free will was actually capable of rendering obedience to
the laws which had been broken. This theory might have developed
in consequence of the teaching of Pelagius the Celt. The
philosophy which later came to be known as Pelagianism from its
most famous advocate, might have been the articulate exposition
of this Celtic point of view. While grace was held to be vital to
salvation, man also had his part to play in obeying God's
commandments, so that the atonement procured by Christ might
become effective in the Christian's personal experience.
The observance of the Sabbath of the Old Testament was a
natural outgrowth of this tenet. The seventh day was kept from
sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday, and even until dawn on
Sunday in some places. No work was done on it, as the laws in the
"Liber ex lege Moisi" stipulate. While Sunday was also held to
possess minor sanctity, and religious services were carried out
on it, the daily chores, the gathering of food, the washing of
hair and taking of baths, the going on journeys and carrying out
regular business transactions were all permitted upon the first
day. There was no Sabbatizing of Sunday during the Celtic period.
This eventually came about with the Romanizing of these
Christians of the far west. There are records that during the
transitional period in places, at least the period of devotion
commenced at sunset on Friday and continued until dawn on Monday.
Besides the weekly observance of the Sabbath, with minor
religious celebrations on Sundays and other days of minor
devotions, the Celts also observed the annual Easter. The
divergence of the date they set from the seventh-century Catholic
timing of this festival and the grave troubles which this
difference caused are well known. The Celts cited apostolic
authority for their practice and felt that the invitation to
change was tantamount to a request to surrender their
independence. The issue was one of authority as well as of
principle. They believed they were right. When they eventually
stepped into line with Western usages, they accepted the
sovereignty of Rome in all things. The same was true of their
attitude towards the tonsure. The Celtic cleric evidently wore
the hair style of a pre-Christian teacher in his country, and
regarded the giving up of this as a surrender of a symbol of very
great value.
The services conducted by the Celtic ministry were for
worship, but more especially for the instruction of each member.
To this end the preaching was probably conducted in the
vernacular. It was simple and practical. The Lord's Supper was
performed with the use of both bread and wine, partaken of by
all, as emblems of the body and blood of Christ. There is nothing
in the sources to suggest that anything of a mystical nature was
attached to them. Baptism of instructed and believing candidates
was carried out by triple immersion. This was followed by a
service of feet-washing and then of Communion, suggesting, from
the only records extant, that adult baptism was the practice
which was recognized. Pre-Communion feet-washing is also an
interesting Celtic usage.
(As I stated before, we see the simple truth being corrupted over
the centuries concerning baptism - Keith Hunt)
The penitential discipline of the Celts sprang from their
veneration of the Scriptures. Sin was disobedience to law, and
therefore further rules were devised to aid and define obedience,
and hence to assist in virtuous living. Penalties, modelled on
those of the Old Testament, exacted what was regarded as justly
due, and ranged all the way from "cutting off from the people",
banishment or separation from fellowship for life, to going
without supper for failure to respect a superior. By taking the
substitutionary exactions of the Old Testament to a logical
conclusion, all kinds of penalties were concocted by which
something might be done or given to compensate for the injury or
delinquency or crime. This practice eventually degenerated into
great abuses. Confession might be public or private, as might
also be the service or act of reconciliation.
The ministry of the early Celtic Christians grew out of New
Testament teachings. A bishop-presbyter ministered to each
congregation, and hence bishops are found in great numbers
scattered over Celtic lands. When a cleric ceased to minister to
a congregation, he was still known as a bishop, and hence bishops
turn up in the story of the Celtic Church in strange places doing
things which would be an outrage to a regularly enthroned
metropolitan of later centuries. The clergy were permitted to
marry - in fact, during the early Celtic period, marriage prior
to ordination was mandatory as it was in New Testament days, but
unmarried members of the ministry were tolerated. There is some
evidence that women exercised the highest ecclesiastical
functions and might even be consecrated as bishops.
(Again on the latter point a departure from the truth of the NT.
But so none misunderstand, the reader should study "The Role of
Women in the Church" by Dr.Samuele Bacchiocchi, on this website -
Keith Hunt)
The monasticism of the Celts can also be better understood
from the standpoint of Old Testament usages. Modelled on the
cities of refuge, the monastery consisted of a walled village in
which the mixed society of a Christian community lived lives of
virtue and devotion separated from the evils of their heathen
neighbours. The sacred place was marked by a pillar, and later by
a cross, upon which might be depicted scenes from the Bible.
These would be used as illustrations for teaching Scripture
stories as required by the Mosaic regulations. Within the walls
asylum was granted to those in need and hospitality was
dispensed. Men, women, and children, single and in families,
lived under the guidance of a leader who might be a clergyman or
a layman, and was called an abbot. As was the case among the
Hebrews, these "cities" were part of the inheritance of the
different tribes, and remained as a tribal possession handed down
by hereditary laws. Occasionally, as with Hulda the prophetess in
Old Testament times, women might preside over such communities.
Bishop-presbyters, functioning in religious and ceremonial
affairs, would occupy positions inferior to that of the
abbotchieftain. Marriage was permitted to all classes, although
celibacy later came to be regarded as the mark of deeper
devotion. Poverty was not insisted upon. Individuals and families
might grow wealthy. The community consisted, on occasion, of many
persons who pooled their abilities and resources for the common
good.
(Some truth and some error in all of this type of living, but the
main point to be taken was that the Celtic community was the
welfare system of the peoples of Britain - Keith Hunt)
Theologically Celtic Christians held ideas which were a
natural outgrowth of their view of the Scriptures. Theirs might
be called a biblical theology. It was essentially practical and
is characterized by a complete absence of discussion and
definition and speculation. The supreme authority was the Bible
as the revealed word of God. This revelation must be accepted and
obeyed in all its parts. God was held to be the supreme Creator
and Sustainer of the universe. The Godhead was made up of Three
Personages, the Father, his Son, and the Holy Spirit who was sent
forth by Christ.
(The "trinity" was not defined as "three persons" per se, but as
three in the Godhead - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The understanding of the Holy Spirit must be defined as from the
totality of the Bible, which I have given you on this website in
other studies - Keith Hunt)
Man was created by God and placed on probation on this earth
to live in obedience to the divine will. Endowed with freedom of
choice man was to exercise his will constantly on the side of
right. The fallen angel, Satan, had warred against God in heaven,
and continued his warfare against Christ through man whom he
seduced to his side. As an antidote God granted fallen man grace
through Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Third Person of the
Trinity, to help him to obey. The emphasis on the sovereignty of
the human will, and the pragmatic individuality to which it gave
rise in Celtic circles is a fact which must never be allowed to
become obscured. While man is left to choose what he should do in
all circumstances, he must remember that, should he prove
obdurate in sin, he will be punished in the lake of fire. The
righteous, on the other hand, witnessed by their life of
obedience, will be resurrected to dwell with Christ for ever.
There is no mention in Celtic sources of purgatory or any place
of intermediate reformation.
The position of Christ as the substitutionary sacrifice for
sin was stressed. He took man's place and died in his stead,
meeting the demands of justice, and granting to the penitent hope
of eternal life. Adam's sin and fall apparently did not infect
mankind with original sin. Each individual himself sinned through
the example of Adam by the exercise of his own choice, and was
not condemned because of inherent guilt which he had inherited
from his parents. As he could accept Christ's gracious life as an
example, so he might choose to follow Adam's rebellion in his own
personal sinning day by day. Having once made the right choice on
behalf of Christ's programme of righteous living, the Christian
was freely justified by Christ's righteousness imputed and
sanctified by our Lord's righteousness imparted. Both these
transactions became operative through faith and obedience on the
part of the man, and mercy and grace on the part of God.
Man had been created capable of death. Unending life was
conditional on his obedience. When man sinned he became subject
to death. This was a natural consequence of the fall, and had
nothing penal about it. But when the sinner was finally judged to
be guilty, he would be resurrected to receive his sentence and
punishment by the infliction of penal death, which would seem,
from the sources, to be annihilation. It was in the realm of his
body that man was to maintain virtue, for it was the temple of
the indwelling Christ. Hence he must guard it against sins and
weaknesses of all kinds by carefully disciplining everything he
did or thought. As sin resulted in death, so by the final
restoration through Christ, those who accepted him would be
privileged to live a life that had no end.
(It was indeed true that Celtic Christianity did not teach the
"immortal soul" doctrine; neither the error of eternal punishment
is a hell-fire, burning in pain forever - Keith Hunt)
To help man Christ provided the ministry not only of the
Holy Spirit but also of holy angels. These had themselves
resisted the seduction of Satan, and so could succour the needy.
There is no mention in the sources of help in any form gained
through the mediation of men who had become saints.
Celtic eschatological views were simple and concrete. The
Christian was commissioned by his Saviour to preach the gospel to
those who were ignorant of it. Then, all men having decided for
or against Christ, the Lord will descend to this earth in the
last days to judge all mankind. This second advent would be very
unlike the first, and might be paralleled with the spectacular
descent by God on Sinai to proclaim his law. Final sentence would
be given to both the righteous and sinners. The former would be
heirs of bliss with Christ, while the latter would be destroyed
with the devil and his evil angels. These final events were
believed to be near at hand.
(Some errors and just plain not fully understanding the whole
plan of God is here seen. The Celtic Christianity by 600 AD had
lost some truths, and corrupted other truths and was yet in need
of finding more truth, which it did not, as it became consumed by
the church of Rome - Keith Hunt)
There appears to have been no attempt to formulate any sort
of doctrine of the Church. There was a concept of Christianity
forming God's tribes on earth in contradistinction to the secular
septs of the pagans. God's clans were regulated according to Old
Testament theocratic ordinances adapted to the tribal
organization of the Celtic peoples generally. Each group seems to
have been dependent upon the founder and his tribe, but
independent of all others. The records note that representatives
of various sections met, under the aegis of some venerable saint,
to discuss points of controversy, particularly relationships with
the Western Church. But in all these discussions democratic
freedom seems to have prevailed. No church leader among the Celts
was held to be the spokesman of all. Even Adamnan could not
persuade those who were directly under his jurisdiction to do
what they considered was not according to the Scripture. There
was little unity of purpose. Had they presented a united front,
the Celtic Church might have lasted for centuries, but they were
absorbed into Catholic Christianity piece by piece, and the
remnants which withstood, weakened and alone, finally
disappeared.
And so passed the Celtic Christians in Britain. Here and
there marks of the old saints of these islands remain. Mouldering
and roofless shells, with ancient burying grounds hard by, tell
of a people who have gone. In some places there may be seen an
old stone cross, majestic in its indomitable thrust heavenward
even today. Books and artifacts which were beloved by Celtic
Christians, and on which they lavished all the skill of their
ardent souls are still cherished in museums. Each priceless
volume whispers of a culture sometime respected and of a faith
once victorious. Celtic bells no longer call the pious to pray,
their croziers have no flocks to guide into the the way of life.
Some Celtic saints are even now well known; most are records in
the annals of their people. Here and there a fountain or a
village recalls by its name, twisted by alien tongues, the Celtic
ecclesiastic whose memory it commemorates. But save to the
historian or antiquary, the Celtic Church has moved into the
shadowy legends of the ancient chroniclers. It awaits the loving
researches of investigators who will bring back to life the
Christian peoples and their ways and culture out of the welter of
tradition with which their story has become encrusted.
..........
NOTE:
WHAT WE CAN SEE FROM CELTIC HISTORY BESIDES THE FULL
HONOR TO THE BIBLE ONLY, AND NO HEAD APOSTLE, AS IN
THE CHURCH OF ROME, IS THE OBSERVANCE OF THE 7TH DAY
OF THE WEEK AND THE KEEPING OF THE PASSOVER/DEATH OF
CHRIST MEMORIAL WITH WHAT ROME CALLED THE QUARTODECIM
PEOPLE - THE 14TH OF THE FIRST MONTH. THESE TWO POINTS
OF PRACTICE HAD THE CHURCH OF ROME CALLING CELTIC
CHRISTIANS HERETICS AND JEWDAIZING. THEY WERE CORRECT IN
OBSERVING THE 7TH DAY SABBATH AND KEEPING THE MEMORIAL
OF CHRIST'S DEATH ON THE EVENING OF THE 14TH OF THE
FIRST MONTH IN THE JEWISH CALENDAR. THEY HAD OTHER
CORRECT TEACHINGS FROM THE BIBLE, BUT ALSO HAD LOST
TRUTH THROUGH THE CENTURIES. AS THE WRITER HAS SAID,
CELTIC CHRISTIANITY FINALLY WAS CRUSHED OUT BY THE CHURCH
OF ROME, WHO AS IT WAS FORETOLD IN THE BOOK OF
REVELATION, WAS TO MAKE ***ALL NATIONS*** DRUNK ON THE
WINE OF HER SPIRITUAL FORNICATION. AND SO IT HAS COME
TO PASS. BUT ROME WILL BE DASHED TO PIECES AND ALL OF
HER THEOLOGY WITH HER WHEN JESUS RETURNS TO DESTROY
MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, AND TO ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM
OF GOD ON EARTH.
Keith Hunt
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