Celtic Christianity: Ecology and Holiness

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

We do not know 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." There is in the Celtic tradition a continuity in cosmic process. For the Celts, Christ's death and resurrection was a healing that made possible a reconciliation of humanity and nature in God. In this sense, Christianity was always in Ireland, and we seek its historical beginning in vain.

If the Celtic Chrurch had survived, it is possible that the fissure between Christianity and nature, widened by the centuries, would not have cracked the unity of the Western attitude toward nature and the universe.