Talk 03 - Celtic Spirituality
You have to be enormously careful when looking for resources on Celtic spirituality. A lot of what is published is negative towards Catholicism, some of it is very influenced by new age thought, and some is downright pagan!
A rule of thumb would be that if the work you're looking at doesn't mention the importance of penance in the Celtic tradition then they're not too close to the early sources.
This article Celtic Spirituality: Just what does it mean? is a good balanced introduction to the subject by Fr Liam Tracey OSM.
St Patrick's own writings (the Confessio and the Letter to Coroticus) can be found online here.
If you're interested in buying a book with the original texts from the early Irish and Welsh Church then the "Celtic Spirituality" instalment from The Classics of Western Spirituality series is the place to go.
Jordan Aumann doesn't go into too much detail about this subject, but he does have a wee bit on Irish Monasticism on pp61-62 of "Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition"
In his series of audiences on the great spiritual figures of the Church, Pope Benedict XVI chose St Columbanus to represent the Irish tradition. You can read the text from 11 June 2008 here.
One of the treasures of the early Irish tradition is the world's oldest surviving Eucharistic hymn - Sancti Sumite Venite. This page tells the legend of how it came to be written down (and you can have a chuckle at how St Patrick responded to having his preaching criticised!)
There are two English versions of the hymn. The first is Draw Nigh and take the Body of the Lord which was translated by John Mason Neale in 1851 and is sadly better known in Anglican circles than in the Catholic Church. Here's a performance from St Anne's Cathedral choir:
The second translation is a more recent one by Donal Murray. It is set to the familiar Gartan tune (also used for Christ be Near at Either Hand). It is called Come and Take the Flesh of Christ and is eminently suitable to be sung in parishes. Wouldn't it be lovely to hear it more often?
Come and take the flesh of Christ
Which he gave to be our bread.
Drink the chalice of his blood
Which upon the cross he shed.
We who are redeemed and saved,
By his body and his blood,
Hail the saving sacred Host
Which he gave to be our food.
Giver of salvation,
Christ, the Son of God most high,
Sacrificed to save the world,
Raised with him, we will not die.
A rule of thumb would be that if the work you're looking at doesn't mention the importance of penance in the Celtic tradition then they're not too close to the early sources.
This article Celtic Spirituality: Just what does it mean? is a good balanced introduction to the subject by Fr Liam Tracey OSM.
St Patrick's own writings (the Confessio and the Letter to Coroticus) can be found online here.
If you're interested in buying a book with the original texts from the early Irish and Welsh Church then the "Celtic Spirituality" instalment from The Classics of Western Spirituality series is the place to go.
Jordan Aumann doesn't go into too much detail about this subject, but he does have a wee bit on Irish Monasticism on pp61-62 of "Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition"
In his series of audiences on the great spiritual figures of the Church, Pope Benedict XVI chose St Columbanus to represent the Irish tradition. You can read the text from 11 June 2008 here.
One of the treasures of the early Irish tradition is the world's oldest surviving Eucharistic hymn - Sancti Sumite Venite. This page tells the legend of how it came to be written down (and you can have a chuckle at how St Patrick responded to having his preaching criticised!)
There are two English versions of the hymn. The first is Draw Nigh and take the Body of the Lord which was translated by John Mason Neale in 1851 and is sadly better known in Anglican circles than in the Catholic Church. Here's a performance from St Anne's Cathedral choir:
The second translation is a more recent one by Donal Murray. It is set to the familiar Gartan tune (also used for Christ be Near at Either Hand). It is called Come and Take the Flesh of Christ and is eminently suitable to be sung in parishes. Wouldn't it be lovely to hear it more often?
Come and take the flesh of Christ
Which he gave to be our bread.
Drink the chalice of his blood
Which upon the cross he shed.
We who are redeemed and saved,
By his body and his blood,
Hail the saving sacred Host
Which he gave to be our food.
Giver of salvation,
Christ, the Son of God most high,
Sacrificed to save the world,
Raised with him, we will not die.
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