Welcome to Celtic Prayer

Celtic Prayer FAQ

Is this site dedicated to Celtic Christian Prayer?
Yes. This website explores Celtic Christian Prayer from its Catholic origins in St. Patrick all the way down to the present day.

Is Celtic Prayer different from regular prayer?
Check out the Eight Rules of Celtic Spirituality elsewhere on the site for distinctive characteristics. Basically, Celtic Prayer is method of living Christianity, not a different form of Christianity. The way it views prayer is unique and vibrant, but well within the experience of Christians around the world. That is what makes it so user friendly. You don't have to be Irish or a Notre Dame fan to enjoy it and have it deepen your own experience of God.

Why the connection with Catholicism?
Several reasons actually. First, Celtic Christianity from its earliest days was always linked with Rome. Some modern books postulate a Celtic Church separate from Roman Catholicism but that view just doesn't hold up to historical facts. Second, the early Celtic Church was essential to preserving Christianity during the Dark Ages in continental Europe . Celtic missionaries traveled throughout Europe bringing the Gospel, the Sacraments, and Christian values to many lands. The same Church of Rome that gave St. Patrick his authority welcomed these monks. Some scholars think the Synod of Whitby in 664 in Britain marks the death of the distinctive Celtic Church . That would be news to Celtic Christians who held fast to their traditions and unique way of looking at the faith all the way up to the present. And that's the third reason-the Celts had a unique perspective and insight into Christianity that is at one with orthodox Christian tradition. Fourth, with the exception of Pelagianism whose extreme form was condemned as a heresy, most of the sources of Celtic Christianity up to the Reformation are Catholic. The Protestant Reformation looked with intense skepticism and acted repressively against any form of Celtic spirituality. Only in the late 19 th and 20 th centuries did important Protestant preachers and scholars like Alexander Carmichael (who preserved much source material of the Celtic peasants) and Rev. George MacLeod (who helped restore St. Columba's island monastery and cathedral of Iona), begin to sense the importance of the Celtic spirituality in their midst. Lastly, the Catholic connection helps preserve this valuable form of Christian prayer from the tendency of some to twist this spirituality into some neo-pagan, New Age form of spirituality.

Is Celtic Spirituality liberal, conservative, new-age, progressive or what?
It's too bad that spiritual quests now have to be defined in political terms. Celtic Christian spirituality needs to be orthodox, yes. But since God is neither liberal nor conservative, progressive nor new age, the quest for him should be able to be open to anyone. But because it is Christian, it simply has to adhere to its historical and philosophical foundations. That means we can't mold it into our own image and likeness. Celtic Christian spirituality without the Trinity, without an orthodox view of Jesus, without angels and saints and Mary, without a concept of Church as a divine institution, just isn't in touch with its history and with the belief system that molded it.

If you could quickly summarize Celtic Prayer, how would you describe it? Dynamic. In touch with the Presence of God in my daily life. Powerful. Able to affect my daily life because it is used as a first resort in living rather than a last resort when everything else has failed. Able to martial God's heroes-Mary, the saints and angels-when danger threatens or help is needed. Infused with the power of Christ's Cross and Christ's Presence in the Sacraments and the Church. A truly personal experience of Christ as Savior and faith as essential to really being alive.