This newsletter is published by the Mystical Order of the White Rose, a multi-faith devotional and spiritual support organization. We support-- and share information about-- mystical, monastic, contemplative and creative ways of living. We encourage prayer, the reading of sacred scripture(s), lectio divina, meditation, journaling, solitude, fasting, silence, sacred movement (dance, mudras, yoga), kindness, hospitality, worship, simplicity, creativity, active involvement in spiritual and religious communities, and loving service to others. You can view past issues here and you can subscribe to it here.
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Theme: Celtic Christianity: Ancient and Modern
Table of Contents
-- A Spring Update by Cynthia Kiteley Lee
-- Poem: "I Arise Today..." by St. Patrict
-- A Brief Definition of Celtic Christianity
-- Notes: "Features of Celtic Christianity" by Dennis Doyle
-- A Traditional Celtic Prayer
-- Article: Celtic Christianity and the Postmodern Spiritual Quest by Tom Power
-- Blog Post: Post Modern Monastery by R. Elena Tabachnik
-- Profiles: Modern Celtic Christian Communities
-- Links of Interest
-- Multifaith, Multi-Media Devotionals for March 2011
A Spring Update
Spring corresponds to infancy, childhood and youth in the human life cycle. Summer is associated with maturity, adulthood, the prime of life. Autumn corresponds to middle age and winter to old age.
. Spring energies are busting out all over in my life. In addition to the bright yellow splashes of daffodiils and forsythia, and maginificent fleshy pink blossoms of magnolia trees, my husband Johnny and I have been blessed with the presence of young creatures. These are a new three month old puppy, who dances and prances and gambols like a lamb, and a sudden spate of visits from our 14-year old grandson, who now spends several days and nights a month with us and will continue to do so.
There are also other kinds of newness and growth. After the better part of a year, the new and improved website and automated membership processing system for the Christian Home Business Association, Inc. is finally done, live and launched. I founded this (now) registered nonprofit association in 2008. Naturally, we are still tweaking and refining things. But, it is finally up and running and all the payment options except Alertpay are operational. Alertpay should be good to go in a day or two.
This project has been massively time and labor intensive as well as very complex and high tech. It has taken me way out of my comfort zone. In some ways it feels like giving birth to a new being, although in this case the being is a business entity. This birthing took so much time and energy this month that I fell behind on my Mystical Order of the White Rose newsletter publication schedule and ask your forgiveness for the lateness of this issue.
I have also started a new and more structured spiritual practice as the result of my acceptance as a postulant in the Community of Transfiguration, a dispersed Celtic Christian monastic order. "Dispersed" means that it has no mother house or administrative office. The Community of Transfiguration embraces a stimulating mixture of modern and traditional monastic practices.
Another new undertaking is a Lenten 40-Day Intensive Program I'm doing with a group from my church. It supports group membes in seeking and achieving spiritual and personal transformation of the body, mind and soul and (ideally) includes: daily yoga and meditation practice; reading and reflecting on spiritual writings; conscious eating and much more.
Fortunately, one of our core practices is "instant forgiveness" of ourselves. I haven't got all these new structures, commitments and disciplines fully established yet, so self-forgiveness has been a big part of my experience thus far.
May this Spring be a time of growth, joy and blossoming for you,
Bright Blessings,
Cynthia Lee
Administrator, Mystical Order of the White Rose
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I arise today,
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of the sun, radiance of the moon.
Splendor of fire, speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind, depth of sea,
Stability of earth and firmness of rock.
I arise today,
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me.
From the snares of devils, from temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and near, alone and in a multitude
St. Patrick
A Brief Definition of Celtic Christianity
Celtic Christianity (also called Insular Christianity) refers to a distinct form of Christianity that developed in the British Isles during the fifth and sixth centuries among the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, and Manx (Isle of Man) peoples. It is distinguished by unique indigenous traditions of liturgy, ritual, and art, which were different from other Roman Catholics during the period. The term “Celtic Christianity” may also be used to describe later Christian practice beyond the seventh century in the British Isles; however, because the history of the Breton, Cornish, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh Churches diverges significantly after the eighth century, resulting in a great difference between even rival Irish traditions, historians generally avoid using the term beyond the seventh century.[1] Correspondingly, historians avoid using the term “Celtic Church,” since it entails a sense of a unified entity separated from the greater Latin Christendom which did not really exist.[2]
Finally, the term "Celtic Christianity" may also be used to designate the satellite monastic institutions founded by Celtic communities on the Continent, such as in Gaul (France).
Source: New World Encyclopedia
Features of Celtic Christianity:
by Dennis Doyle
--- Love of nature and a passion for the wild and elemental as a reminder of God's gift.
--- Love and respect for art and poetry.
--- Love and respect for the great stories and "higher learning".
--- Sense of God and the saints as a continuing, personal, helpful presence.
--- Theologically orthodox, yet with heavy emphasis on the Trinity, and a love and respect for Mary, the Incarnation of Christ, and Liturgy.
--- Religious practice characterized by a love for tough penitential acts, vigils, self-exile, pilgrimages, and resorting to holy wells, mountains, caves, ancient monastic sites, and other sacred locations.
--- No boundaries between the sacred and the secular
--- Unique Church structure:
---There were originally no towns, just nomadic settlements, hence the church was more monastic than diocesan, resulting in quite independent rules and liturgies.
--- Also, Ireland was very isolated and it was hard to impose outside central Roman authority.
--- They celebrated Easter and Lent according to the ancient calendar system.
--- Irish tonsure shaved the front of the head (like the druids).
--- Abbots had more power than the bishops.
--- Monasteries often huge theocratic villages often associated with a clan with the same kinship ties, along with their slaves, freemen, with celibate monks, married clergy, professed lay people, men and women living side by side. (Sometimes monasteries "raided" other monasteries, esp. during the period of the Anglo-Norman invasion.)
--- While some monasteries were in isolated places, many more were were at the crossroads of provincial territories.
--- Women had more equal footing in ancient Irish law, thus had more equal say in church government. (Did St. Bridget receive Holy Orders and act as an Abbot?)
--- Developed the idea of having a "soul friend" (anmchara) to help in spiritual direction.
--- invented personal confession.
--- Monks traveled as "Peregrinari Pro Christ" (White Martyrdom).
--- Many pagan practices were "Baptized" such as St.Stephen's Day, and the resorting to holy wells, and many monasteries were built on pagan sacred site (as evident in the names Derry, and Durrow).
Traditional Celtic Prayer
I weave a silence on my lips.
I weave a silence on my mind.
I weave a silence within my heart.
I close my ears to distractions.
I close my eyes to attentions.
I close my heart to temptations.
Calm me, o Lord,as you stilled the storm.
Still me, o Lord, keep me from harm.
Let all the tumult within me cease.
Enfold me Lord in your peace.
Source: http://reformedcelticchurch.blogspot.com/
Post-Modern Monastery
Another woman rejected by a Benedictine monastery suggested we need a "post-modern" community. That sounded good, or at least interesting, but what does it mean?
Wikipedia first notes that the term “post-modern” defies easy definition, then says post-modern expression:
* Is a reaction against grand, absolute values, & establishments.
* Accepts that all communication contains myth, metaphor, cultural bias and political content.
* Challenges the legitimacy of knowledge and identity.
* Is based on personal experience and individually created meaning.
* Often uses parody, satire, self-reference and wit.
* Replaces dominant power centers with cultural pluralism and profound interconnection.
* Denies absolute, original referents in favor of inter-referential representations.
Hmmmmmm…
What would a post-modern monasticism look like?
O.k. Here are some features of post-modern art and possible monastic community equivalents.
P-M Art
Dissolves distinctions between fine art and craft
P-M Monasticism
Dissolves distinctions between lay and professed. Realizes we are all ordinary schlepers in one and the same boat.
P-M Art
Uses any and all material as media
P-M Monasticism
Plays creatively with organizational & ritual forms... not to mention vows and promises, perhaps in the spirit of Rumi "Even if you have broken your vow a hundred times, come, yet again, come."
P-M Art
Both challenges and freely expresses cultural identity
P-M Monasticism
Equally honors multi-faith and tradition-centered practice
P-M Art
Holds a fearless and searching mirror to cultural norms
P-M Monasticism
Makes no assumptions on the “proper” interpretation of monastic practices, openly sharing personal experience and responses, without judgment.
copyright R. Elena Tabachnick, April 2007
Posted by R. Elena Tabachnick at 3:04 PM 2 comments Labels: Monastery of No Particular Religion Links to this post
http://seekerswanted.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html
Modern Celtic Christian Communities
Northumbria Community
'The renewal of the church will come from a new type of monasticism which only CuthbertsCaveEaster1has in common with the old an uncompromising allegiance to the Sermon on the Mount. It is high time men and women banded together to do this'
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in a letter to his brother
The Northumbria Community describes a network of hugely diverse people, from different backgrounds, streams and edges of the Christian faith. We are united in our desire to embrace and express an ongoing exploration into a new way for living Christianly - a way that offers hope in the changed and changing culture of today's world. Inspired by, drawing from, and living in the spiritual tradition of monasticism, the Community is geographically dispersed and strongly ecumenical but with an identity rooted in the history and spiritual heritage of Celtic Northumbria. In seeking God as the 'one thing necessary' our continuing quest for a 'new monasticism' is the heart of our life whether alone or together. It is this blending of 'a prayer that is quiet and contemplative and a faith that is active and contagious', lived out in the ordinariness of everyday life, which forms a foundational basis for our growth and development.
Iona Community
The Iona Community is a dispersed Christian ecumenical community working for peace and social justice, rebuilding of community and the renewal of worship. Although it maintains three island centres (Iona Abbey and the MacLeod Centre on Iona, one at Camas on the nearby island of Mull), the Iona Community has its mainland home in Glasgow, the base for:
* its work with young people,
* its publications houseWild Goose Publications, and its magazine, Coracle
* its work revitalising worship through the Wild Goose Resource Group
* its central administration
Video: Iona - Song: Here I Stand
Video: Iona Pilgrimage
The Lindisfarne Community
The Lindisfarne Community is a network of folk committed to the "new monasticism." A friend of the community described us as "A religious order with apostolic succession." Our mother house, the home of our abbess and abbot, is in Ithaca, NY. We have professed members from a number of nations: the USA, the UK, New Zealand, Germany, and South Africa.
Video about Lindisfarne Island; also called Holy Island.
Video: the Lindisfarne Gospels
Community of Transfiguration
Rooted in the spirit of ancient Celtic Monasticism, we are a present witness to the monastic character of the Celtic Church. We make no claims of being a "traditional monastic community, even though we may borrow some outward aspects and some spiritual aspects. We are an intentional and inclusive community, l/g/b/t or straight, partnered/ married/single/dating who are called to form a new monastic spirit, living in our own homes or with our families. Inspired by all the great Celtic and other monastic founders, in particular those who founded Iona and Lindisfarne, such reformers as Benedict and Francis, as well as newer communities such as the Jerusalem Community, we seek to witness to the world in a Monasticism that reflects today's spiritual needs and concerns. We seek to balance prayer with ministering to all in need in the deserts of our cities and towns, as witnesses to the transfiguring presence of Christ. In prayer we travel up the Mount of Tabor to meet the transfigured Christ and in our mission we seek to bring that experience back to those too weary to climb that mountain themselves. We do this through the practice compassionate presence. We invite all to join us in our journey together to Tabor and being transfigured in Christ, help renew the Church and our world.
Inclusive Celtic Curch
We are an Ecumenical and Inclusive Church that worships in adapted forms and contemporary expressions of the Celtic Christian Traditions. Our structure is less like a traditional denomination, but rather we are an association of clergy, laity and communities who hold in common: A desire to find expression in Contemporary Celtic Christian Communities and Spirituality. To worship in adapted forms of ancient ways that speak to today's realities.
The New Skellig Celtic Christian Community
A contemplative community in the Emerging Catholic tradition. New Skellig takes its name from the ancient monastic settlement, “Skellig Rock,” located twelve kilometers off the South West Coast of County Kerry, Ireland. The island, more formally known as “Skellig Michael,” served as a monastic outpost for Celtic Christian monks who built their monastery there in 588AD and remained until they were forced to abandon it – largely due to Viking raids – at the turn of the twelfth century. The island was chosen for its isolation, much as that sought after by the Egyptian monks (by whom the Celts were deeply influenced) who fled to the desert in the fourth century AD in search of contemplative solitude. As best as can be known, the community of Skellig was rarely larger than twelve to fifteen monks at any given time – and often smaller.
Saint Brendan's Celtic Community
A progressive, celtic, inter-spiritual community that is guided by a Celtic spirituality. By "Celtic spirituality" we refer to a spirituality resulting from the cross-fertilization of pagan Druidry and Christianity, and which is characterized by:
The Ark Community
They are an internet based, Inter-denominational Christian Convergent Community, drawing our spirituality from the “Early Church” (33-600AD), in particular, Celtic Christian spirituality. We consider our Community to be part of the “Ancient-Future” Church, blending the “old” with the “new”.
The Celtic Christian Church
It is an independent catholic and orthodox Church, living out its faith in the spirit of the ancient Celtic Church.
Christians from every denomination are welcome to worship with us. . The ancient and beautiful Celtic Christian spirituality embodied in the life of the Celtic Christian Church is drawing people to them from around the country. It can be particularly attractive to people of Celtic heritage. The Celtic Christian Church is composed of local small faith communities or parishes, frequently meeting as "house churches" or "cell communities," or in small chapels. Priesthood is open to both men and women, married or celibate. Apostolic orders are through the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht and the Catholic Apostolic Church in North America (both of which trace their Apostolic lineage to Rome). The Celtic Christian Church is a new Church and does not yet include any monastic or religious order.
The Celtic Episcopal Church
Western orthodoxy for the third millennium.
The Celtic Orthodox Christian Church
The Undivided Church still survives: the Celtic Orthodox Christian Church bears witness to the original, unchanged Christian Faith. They are a community united by Faith, called to love, worship and serve God and receive His Holy Sacraments. Their primary concern is the preservation and spreading of the Christian Faith and Sacraments for the spiritual health of others. They welcome all who wish to live and worship according to the teachings of Christ and the Holy Spirit. They are a church for all peoples and nations. They believe that they are the continuation of the churches who originally brought God's Word and Sacraments to people in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas before the year 1000. In the Latin used by the Celtic churches, the word Gallus means both a Celt and a rooster. This is important to understand us, because like the ancient Celtic Christians, they see themselves as being like the simple rooster who heralds the Dawn of the coming of Christ. Whether Jesus Christ returns today or a thousand years from now, all must be ready because we do not know the hour.
The Celtic Catholic Church
The Church traces its faith and succession to that historic apostolic Church which, according to tradition, sent St. Joseph of Arimathea to carry the faith to the "land of the Celt." In A.D. 36, only a few short years after Our Lord's death and Resurrection, on land given to him by the pagan king, Ariviragus, St. Joseph built a little chapel of twisted wattles and daub on the hills of Glastonbury in southern England. The tiny church stood on the same spot until Cromwell had in torn down in 1665. Christianity grew under Roman occupation, and continued when the Romans left Britain, whence it took on the character of the native Celtic people. It was during this time that Patrick, a Briton, went as a missionary to Ireland. He wasn't the first missionary to go there, but he was by far the most important. With the bloody invasions and disruptions caused by the pagan Anglo-Saxons, the Celtic Church was forced to the fringes of the Celtic Britain, hiding in caves and on small islands. But even in exile the faith never died.
The Holy Celtic Church http://celticmysteryschool.com/celticholidays.html
http://www.celticsynod.org/abbey.htm
http://celticsaints.org/2011/201103.html
The Ecumenical Order of St. Columba -- A Member of the Celtic Christian Communion
The Celtic Christian Communion’s Ministries and Communities all worship by means of liturgical ceremonies. The word "liturgy" is based on a Greek word meaning, "the work of the people." Liturgical worship takes in the form of set ceremonies, which contain such elements as prayers, readings, and gestures, which are sometimes spoken by the celebrant, sometimes by the people, and sometimes by all. Sometimes liturgical elements are chanted or sung rather than spoken. Sometimes these chants are accompanied by musical instruments-other times the voices themselves are the only instruments. Liturgical worship enables all the participants to be on the same page, and to truly direct their hearts and minds in the same direction, as one collective. Currently our liturgies are undergoing revision and review to insure that they reflect a Celtic Christian style of prayer and are simple, yet rich in spirituality and meaning. Until they are finalized it is acceptable to use the resources available through other denominations such as either the 1928 or 1979 Book oCommon Prayer from the Episcopal Church or The Book of Worship from the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Currach Celtic Community of Batesville, Arkansas
This is a developing Celtic Christian+Buddhist Community under the jurisdiction of the Reformed Celtic Church
Anam Cara Fellowship
A religious order, an ecumenical endeavor, a Celtic spirit. Founded in the tradition of the Episcopal Church, with a Celtic spirit. the Anamchara fellowship has received canonical recognition by the House of Bishops' Committee on the Religious Life. It is an inclusive community, welcoming men and women, clergy and lay, married, single, or partners in a committed relationship. Members of the fellowship may live in their own homes or in groups as the ability for that arises. Each member must be self supporting, and we are bound to each other by common ideals and a commitment to prayer and service. Our primary ministries focus on catechesis, pastoral care and spiritual direction.
Community of Aidan and Hilda - USA
They seek to cradle a 21st century Way to follow Christ, inspired by the early Celtic saints. The Order of St. Aidan (The Community of Aidan and Hilda) is an evangelistic community for Christians who wish to live wholeheartedly as disciples of Jesus Christ, and to express this in a distinctive way that draws inspiration from the lives of Aidan, Hilda and other Celtic saints. Members of the Community share the belief that God is once again calling us to the quality of life and commitment that was revealed in the lives of these Christians whose witness was so effective.
Community of Aidan and Hilda - UK
Community of St. Ita and St. Fillan
An International, ecumenical, non-residential Celtic Rite community offering a vibrant, living Celtic Spirituality
(daughter community of the Fellowship of the Holy Theotokos)
The Church of the Culdess and the Order of the Cross
In the early Culdee (Celtic and Anglo-Saxon) Church, nearly all establishments were monastic, that is to say, that "parish" churches were usually associated with a monastery. Clergy were drawn from monastic ranks, and it was the monastery which served as the seminary for training candidates for Holy Orders.
In monasticism, as in so much else, the Culdee Church did things its own way. There were a number of "joint" monasteries of both men and women, the most famous being Kildare, founded by St. Brigid and ruled by an Abbess. Celibacy was not universal among monastics, even those in Holy Orders. Monasteries were viewed as a family or clan, in fact the most common name for a monastic group was the Familiae, and in Scotland, Abbots were entitled to wear an eagle feather in their bonnets, a sign of a clan chief.
The contemporary Church of the Culdees is guided and formed by this same style. The Order of the Celtic Cross is open to any man or woman, married or single, who is at least 18 years old and has been a regularly participating member of the Church for at least one year and pass an entrance exam. Members of the Order of the Celtic Cross vow: moral purity, apostolic poverty, obedience and stability.
Llan Dobhran
Llan Dobhran seeks to develop a new liturgy out of the interpenetration of Christian and Pagan traditions. A new liturgy that celebrates the wonder and awe of the creation of God. A new liturgy that lets go and lets be the pain we have suffered, that brings us to forgiveness and the healing of the wounds we have inflicted on one another. A new liturgy that affirms us as cocreators whose created art spirals beauty back into this tired world. A new liturgy that renews our energy so we can stand tall in the outer world and witness our Christianity by standing with the oppressed, so we can take back our voice from the rabid Fundamentalists, so we can serve as an example of the truth that a joyless Christian is a contradiction in terms.
Llan Dobhran develops and leads celebrations of the eight spokes of the year. These celebrations help us to become more in tune with the rhythms of the planet and reconnect us with both our Christian and pre-Christian ancestors. These celebrations combine pagan mythology and Biblical revelation. In the development of this liturgy we study the old feast days of the saints and learn what medieval Christians looked to in the Bible on these feast days. We are trying to recapture some of the energy of the medieval Christian "Age of Faith" through these studies, an age that produced such timeless mystics as Hildegard of Bingen, Francis of Assisi, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Meister Eckhart, Dante, Julian of Norwich, Nicholas of Cusa. As Matthew Fox notes in The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, "all these mystics display a rich theology of the Cosmic Christ. Perhaps the reason they do so is the Middle Ages represents the last time there was a living cosmology in the West. When a living cosmology is lost, as happened with the Enlightenment, there is no need of a Cosmic Christ. But when a living cosmology emerges again, as in our time, we depend on the wisdom of our ancestors in faith who developed an understanding and experience of the Cosmic Christ at the very heart of their mysticism."
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Links of Interest
Celtic Monasticism
New Monasticism
Monos: Centre for the Study of Monastic Culture and Spirituality
Esoteric & Exoteric Christianity
Celtic Christian Spirituality
The Meanings of Celtic Spiritual Symbols (Ancient & Modern)
Celtic Christian Music
Celtic MP3s Music Magazine
Celtic Radio
The Abbot's Blog
Anam Chara - The Website of Unknowing - Carl McColman
The Taize Community
Celtic Calendars & Holidays
Multi-Faith, Multi-Media Daily Devotionals for March 2011
Each day we should expose ourselves to the inspiration of others. Thousands of saints and wise men and women have left us messages of hope and encouragement. Read what is honest. Read the scriptures and the commentaries. Read great literature and poetry. Read the psalms. Read that which expresses the anguish and the exhilaration of experience, and teaches us that we are not alone.
- John McQuiston II, p. 88, Always We Begin Again--The Benedictine Way of Living
These devotionals also serve as excellent "journaling prompts" for written reflections.
Additional resources:
Moon Phases for March 2011 Daily Celebrations Living In Season Astronomy Picture of the Day
The Gnostic Calendar--A Mandala of Wholeness
The Writer's Almanac:-- Poems, prose, and literary history every morning from Garrison Keillor direct to your inbox. Delivered daily.
Orthodox Calendar from Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Celtic Wheel of the Year Druidic Holy Days
Esoteric Christo-Pagan Calendar of Events and Observances The Liturgical Calendar of the Celtic Catholic Church
Pagan Calendar The Goddess Lunar Calendar Islamic Holy Days & Calendar
Church of England Calendar of Saints Calendar of the Church Year According to the Episcopal Church
Celtic and Old English Saints Calendar
March 1 March 2 March 3 March 4 March 5 March 6 March 7
March 8 March 9 March 10 March 11 March 12 March 13 March 14
March 15 March 16 March 17 March 18 March 19 March 20 March 21
March 22 March 23 March 24 March 25 March 26 March 27 March 28
March 29 March 30 March 31
