REL 255: Spiritual Formation for Ministry

This volume offers translations of numerous texts from the Celtic tradition from the 6th through the 13th centuries, in a cross-section of genres and forms, including saints' lives, monastic texts, poetry, devotional texts, liturgical texts, apocrypha, exegetical texts and theological treatises.

The Ancient Paths of Northumbria in northeastern England have been trod by generations of men and women who loved God and followed Jesus, bringing faith, hope, and love to vast numbers of people. Today, the Northumbria Community remains a living expression of this monastic, contemplative stream of the faith, and the perennial need to make that faith relevant to the world. Celtic Daily Prayer is the fruit of the spiritual life of a remarkable community.

From birth to death, from dawn to dusk, from the dark of winter to the light of midsummer, for the Celtic peoples praying was part of the pattern of life. The prayers of household and farm and workplace were handed down from generation to generation in oral tradition. At the end of the nineteenth century, linguistic scholar and poet Alexander Carmichael collected and translated prayers from the highlands and islands of Scotland. Esther de Waal has brought together some of the most significant of these poems, blessings, prayers, and songs that enable us to touch the vivid sense of the presence of God that marks Celtic spirituality.

Esther de Waal, one of Celtic Christianity's preeminent scholars, shows how this tradition of worship draws on both the pre-Christian past and on the fullness of the Gospel. It is also an enlightening glimpse at the history, folklore, and liturgy of the Celtic people. Esther de Waal introduces readers to monastic prayer and praise (the foundation stone of Celtic Christianity), early Irish litanies, medieval Welsh praise poems, and the wealth of blessings derived from an oral tradition that made prayer a part of daily life.

This concise and clear introduction to Celtic spirituality provides an overview of all aspects of Celtic understandings. By providing readers not only with a narrative, but with the poetry and songs of the ancient Celts, she explores Celtic views of pilgrimage, solitude, creation, and healing. De Waal also looks at their understanding of core Christian concepts, such as sin, sorrow, salvation, and the cross. Written accessibly, this book is excellent for parish study as well as individual reading.