From Volume 8, Number 1, Summer 2001

What is Celtic  Christianity?

 The Guardian's letter to Explorers and Voyagers is reprinted  from The Aidan Way, the magazine of the Community of Aidan and Hilda, May 2001,  Issue No. 26

Dear brothers and sisters,

Many of us are asked this question.  It is good if we are ready with a  thoughtful answer.  Here are some answers given by current writers.

"There is something peculiarly attractive about the Christianity of the early  Celtic-speaking peoples, which continues to exercise a considerable fascination  on many today ...  God was present to them in images and signs, in poetry and  art, in sacrament and liturgy; and their own response to God was no less direct,  for it was commonly a physical one, expressed at the level of the body in the  embrace of a life-transforming penance.  Indeed, it is these two themes, penance  and creativity, that are the guiding motifs of Celtic Christianity.  Both speak  of incarnation, and of the affirmation and transformation of life, since  creativity is the mark of the Spirit and penance is the gate of glory."  Oliver  Davies in Celtic Spirituality (Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist  Press)

Philip Newell draws out two main features of the Celtic tradition which  distinguish it from what in contrast he calls "The Mediterranean tradition":  "Celtic spirituality is marked by the belief that what is deepest in us is the  image of God. Sin has distorted and obscured that image but not erased it. The  Mediterranean tradition, on the other hand, in its doctrine of original sin has  taught that what is deepest in us is sinfulness. This has given rise to the  tendency to define ourselves in terms of the ugliness of our failings instead of  the beauty of our origins. The second major characteristic of the Celtic  tradition is a belief in the essential goodness of creation. It is regarded as  in essence an expression of God. The Mediterranean tradition, on the other hand,  has tended to separate spirit from matter and this has distanced the mystery of  God from the matter of creation."

One of our Community advisors, Ian Bradley, observes that the Christian  network founded by Columba had devotion based on prayer, psalms and poetry;  theology based on praise, protection and presence (of God); and churches that  were provisional, penitent and on pilgrimage.  (Columba: Pilgrim and  Penitent)

David Adam thinks the Celtic vision derives much of its insight from St.  John's Gospel, and the symbol of that Gospel is the eagle...  "The eagle's  vision was able to look deeper and see beyond others, to see what for others was  invisible ... The Celtic Church in its love for St. John's Gospel sought to have  this vision.  They prayed that their eyes might be opened, that all their senses  might be made alert to that which was invisible.  They prayed that they might  have the eagle's eyes to see Him who comes at all times ... Not only our vision  but all our senses need to be re-educated and re-tuned." (The Eye of the Eagle)

I myself have recently had to face a painful truth about another aspect of  the Celtic tradition: the leaders were spiritual fathers and mothers.  I have  spent a life time hardly knowing what this means.  In recent months some deep  lessons are being taught me by the Holy Spirit.

There have been profound sharings in person or by letter. I have felt  something new is being born in our hearts. Let us hold one another up in our  prayers.

God bless you,

Ray

(Ray Simpson has been the Guardian of the Community of Aidan  and Hilda since its inception in 1994. He resides at Lindisfarne Retreat on Holy  Island.)