The early Celtic Christians were a strange mix of people. Royalty, peasants, farmers, women, men, children, rich, poor, rural. Many Irish Christians were brought to the faith through St. Patrick and St. Brigid. Because of the people's background in the Druid pagan faith, Patrick and Brigid had some pretty tall obstacles to overcome.
The positive aspect about this background is that the people were already used to wrapping their lives in their faith, whether it be pagan or Christian. So once God's word pricked their hearts, they immediately reflected their new faith in every aspect of daily life. It's this total embracing of faith and prayer that really inspired me to dig deeper.
Celtic Christians prayed over every little thing. The "Carmnia Gadelica" is a beautiful collection of Celtic prayers, blessings and traditions. Spending time in this amazing piece of literature helped me begin to realize the extent to which early Celtic Christians wrapped every movement, act of manual labor, season, step, bite of food....well everything in prayer and praise.
For example, here is a prayer when leaving on a journey.
THE JOURNEY PRAYER
God, bless to me this day,
God, bless to me this night ;
Bless, O bless. Thou God of grace,
Each day and hour of my life ;
Bless, O bless. Thou God of grace.
Each day and hour of my life.
God, bless the pathway on which I go,
God, bless the earth that is beneath my sole ;
Bless, O God, and give to me Thy love,
O God of gods, bless my rest and my repose ;
Bless, O God, and give to me Thy love,
And bless, O God of gods, my repose.
God, bless to me this night ;
Bless, O bless. Thou God of grace,
Each day and hour of my life ;
Bless, O bless. Thou God of grace.
Each day and hour of my life.
God, bless the pathway on which I go,
God, bless the earth that is beneath my sole ;
Bless, O God, and give to me Thy love,
O God of gods, bless my rest and my repose ;
Bless, O God, and give to me Thy love,
And bless, O God of gods, my repose.
This one is a favorite of mine. It's so sweet and innocent about the mundane task of milking a wee cow:
"The Milking Prayer"
Bless, O God, my little cow,
Bless, O God, my desire;
Bless Thou my partnership
And the milking of my hands, O God.
Bless, O God, my desire;
Bless Thou my partnership
And the milking of my hands, O God.
Bless, O God, each teat,
Bless, O God, each finger;
Bless thou each drop
That goes into my pitcher, O God!
Bless, O God, each finger;
Bless thou each drop
That goes into my pitcher, O God!
This made me wonder. How might my life be different if I wrapped myself in prayer?
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