Celtic Christianity: Ecology and Holiness

by Christopher Bamford (Editor), William Parker Marsh (Editor)

Our God is the God of Heaven and Earth, of sea and river, of sun and moon and stars, of the lofty mountain and lowly valley. --St. Patrick

In this anthology, the stories of the Celtic saints are interspersed with verses, prayers, and sayings attributed to those ancient sages--from Patrick and Brigit, through Brandan and Columba, to Aidan and Cuthbert.

It is uncertain when or how Christianity first arrived at those westernmost reaches. It seems always to have been there. Legend tells us that Irish bards attended the events on Golgotha "in the spirit." In the Celtic tradition there is a continuity in cosmic process. For the Celt, Christ's death and resurrection was a healing that allows a reconciliation between humanity and nature in God. In this sense, Christianity was always in Ireland, and we seek its historical beginning in vain.

If the Celtic Church had survived, perhaps the fissure between Christianity and nature, widening through the centuries, would never have fragmented our Western attitude toward nature and the universe.

Genres: History, Christianity, Theology, Religion, Nonfiction

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Ali]

This slight little anthology seems designed for folks who already have a base-level knowledge of the Celtic saints and Irish history—I could have used many more notes/footnotes to help me place each person mentioned in their proper historical context. Still lovely to have these stories and poems collected in one place. Found it used in an San Francisco bookshop years ago and snatched it up without even cracking it open as soon as I saw it was blurbed by Madeleine L'Engle and Owen Barfield. (Love learning that the poem used as a rite of protection in L'Engle's A Swiftly Tilting Planet is, in fact, a variant of the ancient Lorica poem attributed to St. Patrick.)

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The text seems a nice introduction to the major names of Medieval saints from the British Ilse. The sampling of texts point to other resources that one can look into and read further. As a primer, this book is good.

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable anthology, which showed me there is much more to know about the Celtic saints. Time for further reading.

[Justin Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is a touch misleading because the book doesn't really tackle ecology or holiness within The Celtic church in any comprehensive way. However, it is a great anthology and introduction to the hagiographic mythology of the Celtic saints. I could imagine reading this aloud to children at bedtime.

[Jonna Higgins-Freese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this over and over when I bought it in 1993, finding in it something that intrigued me and seemed like it might help Christianity make sense or provide some kind of answers. i still find the period fascinating.