P.A.T.H.S.

in Celtic
Spirituality
An Eastertide Pilgrimage...

--“Psalms in Prayer”: Devotionally reading and praying a daily psalm

selection and a Gospel reading, five times a week;
--“Adventures in Blessing”: Engaging in one personally chosen,
intentional activity each week of giving “blessing” to another or others
outside the parish. This may take the form of service, outreach,
hospitality, an encouraging communication like a visit or a card, etc.
--“Three Prayers to the Trinitry a Day”: Offering three brief prayers in
the Celtic heritage (triadic and easy to remember) offered each day.
Prayers provided, or choose or compose your own.
--“Holiness in Creation”: A deliberate activity at least once each week, to
help rediscover the presence of the Holy God in God’s great creation.
--“Soul Friendships”: Regular meetings with a chosen partner for dis-
cussing your experience of the habits, praying and supporting one
another, as you are led by the Spirit. This will be a simplified version of
the Celtic Christian practice of anamchara. (A guide is on Page 1.)

For the Church of the Good Shepherd

© Rev. Chris McMullen, March 31, 2019.
 1

This guide assigns a Gospel and Psalm readings for five days a week,
along with some thoughts and a suggestion for prayer. Pick the best
time for you to do this! If you already enjoy a daily “Quiet-Time” simply
add this to your usual routine.
On the back cover you will find three prayers to the Trinity for each day
during the week. One is for when you first get up; the other for anytime
during the day; the third for the end of the day or when you go to bed.
Please note this special guidance for your “Soul-Friend” partnership:
“S” for a Partnership with a Soul-Friend
St. Bridget of Kildare (c.451-525 AD) said that a Christian without a soul-
friend is like a body without a head! Celtic Christians took this seriously.
They shared as mutual confessors, coaches, and cheer-leaders! Most
importantly, they prayed for each other. Anamchara (Gaelic for “soul-
friends”) even receiving intuitions of their spiritual partners being in
trouble and needing special prayer. At their next visit, they celebrated
the “tie that binds” and the answers God gave to their prayer.
This part of the P.A.T.H.S pilgrimage is to be informal, mutual and fun.
Always be positive with one another, though honest. Treat everything
you share as confidential! Pray for each other every day.
You should pick an anamchara that above all, you are comfortable with
and share the same “flavour” of faith. Your job is not to judge, or give
advice (unless asked), but to listen, encourage, and share. Yes, it can be
your spouse. Or pick someone of the same gender.
Confidentiality is the most important bond of your partnership.
The shape of your meetings is up to you, but here is one agenda:
--(1) Start with prayer together. You may want to use one or more
of the provided “Trinitarian” or other set prayers, or even read your
daily Gospel and Psalm together.
--(2) Then share around three topics:
(a.) How did your “Adventures in Blessing” go?
(b.) How did you experience the Holiness of God in creation?
(c.) Your learnings from the daily Gospels and Psalms.
--(3) Tell each other what you would like them to pray for, until
you are together again.
--(4) End by praying for each other –taking turns aloud or silently,
as is most comfortable for you. (Maybe hold hands, then
squeeze when done!) (You could say the Lord’s Prayer together.)
--(5)Make plans for the next meeting, and offer a parting blessing
to each other!
 2

“P.A.T.H.S.”
A Poem by Ngaire Nelson, January, 2019.

Praise and thanksgiving to God our Creator;

His mercy and grace give courage to all.
His love and forgiveness are there in His offering;
We acknowledge His presence – a wonderful call.

His Word through the Scriptures, both Old and New,

refresh and uplift, our heart to renew;
The Psalms offer praise to honour His presence;
Despite our neglect of His love and His truth.

We bear the Good News of His love to our neighbours

And pray through the Father, His Son and His Spirit
That our words and our actions reflect all His favours,
To strengthen, to love, to bring peace and comfort.

The paths in the forest, the waves on the seashore,

The flowers in their glory, the birds in their song,
Breath life of creation, a reflection of Eden,
For all who see beauty on their walk all day long.

Oh friends, we are part of God’s great designing –

His hands through His works are artful and strong;
His words are uplifting; our prayers are unending,
For we are His children, and to Him we belong.

(Used with permission of the author.)

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Introduction
This “Easter Pilgrimage” for April 21-June 9, 2019, is an invitation for
everyone in the parish to experience a simplified version of Rev. Chris’s
Doctor of Ministry Thesis project, undertaken by thirteen volunteer
parishioners in the autumn of 2018. During that time, the participants
grew in their “spiritual passion” by an average 6.6%. The measurement
was according to before-and-after “Spiritual Style Tests” created by
Natural Church Development. In some dimensions of spirituality, though,
their aggregate score growth was 9% or more. By “passion” we mean
enjoyable and delightful – in other words, their faith was more fun!

A more “user-friendly” version seems like a good activity to prolong

our celebration of Easter, and better prepare us to enjoy Pentecost.

The philosophy of the P.A.T.H.S. program will be presented during

the First Week of Easter: “Celtic Christian Spirituality” is a set of
disciplines or habits by which we may “train” or condition our human
spirits to be more open to the blessings of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives.

We may call such a set of disciplines a “Rule of Life”. See the

invitation and explanation for this on page 555 of the Book of Common
Prayer. The Celtic Christian love for such “Rules of Life” will be reviewed
during the Last Week of Eastertide, leading up to Pentecost.

...Here are a few hints to make this pilgrimage a blessing!

(1) Be flexible, and adapt things to your own preferences.

But do engage in some form of each of the five disciplines!

(2) If you miss a day (or two, or even a week),

just skip ahead to where you should be!
(Or use Saturday to catch up in the readings.)
(3) Make communicating with and spending time with your Soul-Friend a
priority. Thesis participants said this was the best part of the program.

(4) There will be weekly meetings to share, celebrate, question Rev.

Chris or offer your suggestions and comments about the program.
P.A.T.H.S. participants did not do this, and they recommended that
group sharings should have taken place.
 4

Monday in First Week of Easter:

“The Human Spirit and the Holy Spirit”
Luke 11: 9-13; Psalm 51: 6-12
Welcome to our Eastertide P.A.T.H.S. program! The Easter season is a
fifty-day time of joy, and prayer, as we follow Jesus’ first followers in
looking for a renewal of the Holy Spirit in our lives (which happened to
them at Pentecost). May we have God’s help in making real the Easter
promise and spreading the joy around in our own circles of life and love.
Each week has a theme. This week’s is the intimate, helping communion
between the Holy Spirit and our human spirits that Jesus has won for us.
Each week will have five devotionals. You will be given a Gospel reading
to reflect upon, and a short Psalm passage to pray. Suggestions will be
given for how to think over the Gospel, and pray the Psalm. There will
also be a prayer or teaching in the spirituality of our Anglican “Celtic
Christian” pioneers in faith. Each day these are to be read or prayed in a
different order ...so pay attention!
This Gaelic prayer for the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit in one’s
own spirit is from Mael Ísu Ua Brolcháin, of the Ninth Century Céli Dé
reform movement:
“O Holy Spirit of love
In us, round us, above:
Holy Spirit we pray
Send, Sweet Jesus, this day.
Holy Spirit, to win
Body and soul within,
To guide us that we may be
From ills and illness free.
From sin and demons’ snare,
From hell and evils there,
O Holy Spirit, come!
Hallow our heart, Thy home.” 1
First, read Luke 11:9-13. Note how confident Jesus is that the Father
will hear your prayers! Note how the most “good gift” of all is the help of
the Holy Spirit in your life. Don’t be shy in asking for Him!
When Jewish people pray Psalm 51:6-12 they think of the time David
repented after committing adultery with Bathsheba. But our prayer does
not need to be so guilt-ridden! Note how two prayers for our spirit
(verses 10,12) “sandwich” a prayer for the “Holy Spirit” (verse 11). Use
the psalm to pray for integrity and sincerity, with the help of God’s Spirit.

1
Translated by George Sigerson, Bards of the Gael and Gall (Dublin, 1925), in
Uinseann Ó Maidin, The Celtic Monk. Rules and Writings of Early Irish Monks
(Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1996), 200. , Mael Ísu died in 1086 AD.
 5

Tuesday in First Week of Easter

John 3: 1-10,31-34; Psalm 143: 1-10
Read John 3:1-10,31-34. Nicodemus was a good man, who continued
to care about Jesus even after the High Council he belonged to had
Jesus executed (John 19:39). But Jesus thinks Nicodemus’ faith is too
much about how he can obey all God’s laws (typical of Jewish faith in
those days), and not about being open to the “blowing” of God’s Spirit in
our lives. Are your Christian “habits” kind of like about “earning brownie
points” with God, so to speak; or being the kind of true, caring person
who can know and enjoy the Spirit’s presence and help in your life?
Next, pray Psalm 143:1-10. The psalmist has been victimized by evil
people or tragedies. It has discouraged his own spirit (verses 4,7). Have
there been times when you felt disheartened like that? His answer is to
ask for God’s help. Pray in a similar way for yourself, remembering a
time when you shared that despondent mood. Note how the psalmist
does pray, as we can, for the help of God’s Spirit in our spirit (verse 10)!
Perhaps you now need something a little more cheerful to offer in your
devotional time! Mugrόn, an abbot of Iona martyred by Danes in 986 AD,
provides a Tenth-Century example of the “Celtic Christian” understanding
of spirituality. This is part of the third stanza of a Gaelic litany to the
Holy Trinity attributed to him. End with this paean of prayer:
“Have mercy upon us, God Almighty, Holy Spirit.
Spirit who are highest of every spirit.
Finger of God...
Spirit of wisdom.
Spirit of understanding.
Spirit of counsel.
Spirit of strength.
Spirit of knowledge.
Spirit of fondness.
Spirit of awe.
Spirit of love.
Spirit of grace.
Spirit by whom every noble thing is ordered.
Spirit who burns up guilt.
Spirit who washes away sins.
Holy Spirit who rules all creation, visible and invisible.
Have mercy on me.”2

2
Mugrόn, “The Litany of the Trinity”, in Thomas Owen Clancy, ed., The Triumph
Tree: Scotland’s Earliest Poetry AD 550-1330 (Edinburgh: Canongate Classics,
1998), 162 f.
 6

Wednesday in First Week of Easter

John 7: 37-39; Psalm 78: 1-8
Why not begin today with this Irish prayer from the Eighth Century:
“O King enthroned on high
Thou comforter divine
Blest Spirit of all truth, be nigh
And make us thine.
Thou art the source of life,
Thou art our treasure-store;
Give us thy peace and end our strife
For evermore.
Descend, O heavenly dove,
Abide with us always;
And in the fullness of thy love
Cleanse us, we pray”. 3
We will pray Psalm 78:1-8 first today. This is not so much a prayer as
a recitation of Israel’s repeated disobedience, yet God’s constant
forgiveness and renewal. In these verses, though, it starts off on a note
of praise in God’s goodness and provision, and a caution that we should
not take his grace for granted! So as you pray the psalm, think about
what benefits you have received from God, and the people you would
want to pass your faith on to. At verse 8, ask God’s help so that your
“spirit”, or the spirits of those you find yourself praying for, may be as
“steadfast” (verse 8) for God’s goodness as God is faithfully good to us!
Second, In today’s Gospel, Jesus has been worshipping, teaching and
healing at the great Jerusalem temple during the “Festival of Booths” (or
“Tabernacles”) –a holiday (“holy day”) when the Jews recalled their
“honeymoon years” of living completely on God during their forty-year
journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Holy Land. One of the
climaxing rituals at the end of the feast, was for the Levites to pour
gallons of holy water all over the altar, so that it ran out of the temple,
through the crowd and into the city. Remember, the Jews were a desert
people who valued water much more preciously than we do!
Now read John 7:37-39. Jesus rarely spoke about the Holy Spirit in his
public ministry. But here he gives a hint about the refreshing renewal he
would die and rise again to bring to his people. It is so important to John
that we get the point, that he adds his own interpretive comment (verse
39). Do we get the point? When we think our days are “dry” and desert-
like, the real refreshment is to come not from changing outer circum-
stances, but from the Spirit of Jesus flowing out from within us to others.

3
Pat Robson, The Celtic Heart. An Anthology of Prayers and Poems in the Celtic
Tradition (London UK: SPCK, 2009), 159.
 7

Thursday in First Week of Easter

Luke 12: 4-12; Psalm 77: 1-13
Today you may start with a prayer:
Father, speak your thrilling Word to be.
Jesus, be God’s healing Word to me.
Spirit, pray God’s loving Word in me.
Jesus knew that his followers would experience difficult times after his
death. But they needed to keep their eye on God’s final purpose for
them, and not the trials of the moment. If they would but meditate upon
the simple miracle of a fragile sparrow, overcoming such odds to stay
alive and chirp God’s praise in birdsong, they would be able to be
courageous in testifying to who they knew is truly the Lord of life!
Read Luke 12:4-12. God will forgive anything we say, or do; but if we
turn on the very Spirit whom God gives to open our hearts and streng-
then our wills (Luke 12:10), then what else can God do to save us from
ourselves? For God will not take our freedom away. (Celtic Christians
were very big on human freedom and responsibility.) That Spirit is our
confidence. When the hour of testing comes, He will help (Luke 12:12)!
Patrick was one of the earliest “Celtic” missioners to have left us his own
testimony. His Fifth Century Confession tells of his being kidnapped from
Britain by Irish slavers, coming to faith under the cathedral sky of God’s
creation as a lonely but prayerful shepherd, escaping, and then returning
as a missionary to the very people who had enslaved him. This is one of
his mystical dream-like experiences during the fearful loneliness of the
night. He was aware of Something praying inside him. Thanks to
remembering Romans 8:26, he knew what this “Something” was:
“I wondered who it could be that was praying in me? But towards the
end of the prayer it became clear that it was the Spirit. Just then I
awoke and remembered what was said through the apostle: ‘Likewise
the Spirit helps the weakness of our prayers; for we do not know how
to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs
beyond what words can express.’”4
Think about a time when trouble made your spirit “faint” (Psalm 77:3),
or about a loved one who needs strength and encouragement. Search
the faith in your very spirit (Psalm 77:6): Hasn’t God given you lots of
reasons to have faith and hope? Now pray Psalm 77: 1-15. What has
changed –God (verse 10), or you? Let your wonder at the goodness of
God, evident in everything from sparrows (Luke 12:6) to the Exodus
(Psalm 77:15) bring you back to a positive outlook!

4
Patrick’s Confession, para. 25, in Thomas O’Loughlin, Saint Patrick: The Man and
His Works (London: SPCK Triangle, 1999), 67.
 8

Friday in First Week of Easter

John 14: 15-29; Psalm 32: 1-11
This advice comes at the conclusion of The Alphabet of Devotion, by
Colman mac Béognae, a companion of St. Columba, who died in 611 AD:
“Who is nearest God? The one who contemplates Him.
Whom does Christ assist? The one who does good.
In whom does the Holy Spirit dwell? In the one who is pure without sin.
It is then that a person is a vessel of the Holy Spirit,
when the virtues have come in place of the Vices.
It is then that desire for God grows in a person,
When worldly desire withers.”5
Note here that “doing good” is not for God’s sake (God could, if he
wanted that sort of world, do it better himself!), but for our sake: that
we might enjoyably be “vessels of the Holy Spirit”.
Jesus rarely spoke about the Holy Spirit during his public ministry. But in
his last great “pep-talk” with his intimate followers, just before his arrest,
he was eager to prepare them for the gift of the “Advocate”, “Comforter”
or “Helper”, who would be with them so personally and intimately, that
He would seem virtually invisible to those without faith (John 14:17).
Now read John 14:15-29. When Jesus said here he was going away,
but he would be coming back (John 14:28), he was not only speaking
about his “Second Coming” at the end of time and history (see John
14:3). He wss also speaking of a “third Advent” (Karl Barth), his advent
into our spirits by the power of the Holy Spirit.
How can we experience and know this helping Spirit in our daily lives?
Jesus gives “Judas (not Iscariot)” two answers to his similar question:
(1) when we choose and act for love for God (and those God loves, too),
our spirit will be open to the experience of the Triune God himself,
Father, Son and Spirit dwelling in us (John 14:23). (2) If we are
attentive, that same Spirit will “teach us” and bring God’s truths to mind
just when we need them (John 14:26).
Now you may pray Psalm 32! In fact this is more of an exhortation than
a prayer, but as feelings, ideas or questions come to mind offer them as
wordless thoughts to God as you say the words. That how the Celts
prayed the psalms: trusting the Spirit who inspired them in the first place
to make them into a two-way conversation. The truly “happy” (Psalm
32:1) or “blessed” are those whose spirit is honesty communing with
God’s spirit (Psalm 32:2). When you come to verse 11... really rejoice!

5
Colman mac Béognae, “The Alphabet of Devotion,” in Thomas Owen Clancy and
Gilbert Márkus. Iona: The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery (Edinburgh
University Press, 1995), 195-207, 207.
 9

Monday in Second Week of Easter:

“Soul Friends (Anamcharas)”
Matthew 18: 18-20; Psalm 133
For the first week of Easter we reviewed the Celtic “Christian” idea about
what true “spirituality” is: attending to the lifestyle and habits that open
our human spirits to the saving help of God’s Spirit in our lives. For the
next five weeks we will review one of the five P.A.T.H.S. practices each
week. We start with the “Soul-Friendship” or anamchara discipline, so
that you and your spiritual partner will have a good sense of the purpose
and possible delight of your weekly get-togethers or communications.
Robert Van De Weyer paraphrased some letters that have survived from
the “Scot” (meaning British or Irish) anamchara, Pelagius, who served as
what we today call a “spiritual director” in Rome. He died around 418 AD:
“How can we conquer the stubbornness in our hearts, ...soften those
hard areas? When a woman kneads dough to make bread, she finds
with her fingers the lumps of flour and breaks them down. This means
that we must be honest with ourselves, recognizing clearly those areas
of our lives which have not yielded to Christ.... Indeed, we each need
one special friend, who may be called a friend of the soul. We must
open our souls completely to this friend, hiding nothing and revealing
everything. And we must allow this friend to assess and judge what he
sees. At times we may feel angry and even hateful towards this soul-
friend; but to turn our backs on him would be to reject God himself.”6
Jesus said virtually nothing about his “church” as an institution or a
collection of buildings. But he did talk about the relationships his
followers would and should have with each other. Relationships are not
always easy. That’s why we must strive to make them personal, honest,
and respectful. And prayer can help! Indeed, it can have eternal
consequences for those we pray about. Read Matthew 18:15-20.
It is critical that we understand that the presence of Jesus with his
people (i.e. “church”) can only happen when at least “two or three are
gathered” in His name (Matthew 18:20). Indeed, the agreement of even
two people magnifies the power of prayer (Matthew 18:19). Celtic
Christians took this very seriously. St. Bridget (died 525 AD) taught that a
Christian without an anamchara would be like a body without a head!
Psalm 133 celebrates spiritual kinship. As you pay it, think about how
the fellowship of Christians who you trust can leave you with a special
feeling of belonging and special election –sort of like the feeling Aaron
had when his brother Moses anointed him as high priest of God’s people!

6
Pelagius, “To a Mature Christian,” in Robert Van de Weyer, Letters of Pelagius:
Celtic Soul Friend (Worchestershire UK: Arthur James Ltd., 1995), 58.
 10

Tuesday in Second Week of Easter

Luke 22: 47-53; Psalm 35: 11-18
“God of Love,
Light a flame of love in our hearts to You.
A flame of love to our families and friends,
A flame of love to our neighbours,
A flame of love to our enemies.
Son of the loveliest Mary,
Light a flame of love in our hearts to all,
From the lowliest thing that lives,
To the Name that is highest of all.”7
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus experiences the bitterness of betrayal by
someone who he thought would be a dear friend. Read Luke 22:47-53.
In Matthew’s account, Jesus even calls Judas his friend (Matthew 26:50).
We have all experienced betrayal by friends at some point. Or we have
felt judged by others. Or we have even honestly disappointed others
who we led to think we are different people than in fact we are.
In other words sin –especially the sins of dishonesty, disloyalty, or pride
(making ourselves judges in God’s place)– compromises relationships
and bruises us when we chose to care or share with others. We know we
should be loving brothers and sisters in the church. But realistically, we
cannot trust each other until we really get to know each other.
So is there no hope for us to fulfill the mandate Jesus gave us in
yesterday’s reading (Matthew 18: 18-20)? Celtic Christians taught that
we should each start with one other Christian, with whom we make a
prayerful covenant of praying daily for each other, listening without
judgement, and firstly being mutual “cheerleaders”; only acting as
“coaches” when we are asked by our soul-friends.
As we pray Psalm 35:11-18, we can remember before God those times
when we felt betrayed or abandoned. Then let us ask for God’s healing,
that we may praise God even in the midst of a “mighty throng” (35:18).
I hope Mary Earle provides a good conclusion to today’s thoughts:
“Each of us needs the counsel and friendship of someone who knows us
well, someone who can encourage us to notice behaviours that are
destructive to ourselves and one another. Each of us needs a soul
friend, an anam cara (Irish) or periglour (Welsh) who will guide us in
growing in the likeness of God.”8

7
From the “Fourth Morning Service” (Celtic tradition), The Church of Scotland,
Book of Common Order , John Bell, Convenor (St. Andrew’s Press 1994), 35.
8
Mary Earle and John Philip Newell, Celtic Christian Spirituality: Essential Writings
Annotated & Explained (Woodstock VT: Skylight Paths Publishing, 2011), 15.
 11

Wednesday in Second Week of Easter

Mark 6: 7-13; Psalm 122
Madonna Sophia Compton is adapted this poem from two different late
Nineteenth Century highland Scottish prayers preserved by Alexander
Carmichael in his famous cvollection, Carmina Gadelica:
“Christ as a light illumine and guide you
Christ as a shield overshadow you,
Christ under you,
Christ over you,
Christ on your left and on your right,
This day be within and without you,
Lonely and meek yet all powerful,
Be in the mouth of each to whom you shall speak,
In the mouth of each who shall speak to you,
Christ as a light illumine and guide you.”9
When Jesus sent out his disciples on a missionary apprenticeship, both
spreading the Word but also training them for their post-Easter vocations
as apostles, he called them to live by faith in God’s provision (Mark 6:8-
9), but he did not send them out alone. He sent them in partnerships,
“two by two”. Read Mark 6:7-13. What must have it been like, to live
by faith, with supernatural powers to heal, yet nothing on hand for the
next meal? How could being in pairs help with this adventure in mission?
One of the highlights of ancient Jewish faith was the experience of
travelling in pilgrimage together to their holy city, Jerusalem, in bands of
faith and prayer, for one of their great festivals. As they journeyed, the
pilgrims encouraged one-another with “Songs of Ascents” (The Hebrew
titles of Psalms 120-134). When Celtic Christians sang and prayed about
Jerusalem, they thought of three things. First, their church –meaning
their community, for Celtic Christians were not very interested in
buildings. What could beat worshipping the Lord in the outdoor beauty
of Ireland, Scotland or Wales? Second, the “New Jerusalem”, the eternal
destiny of their earthy pilgrimage, in heaven (Revelation 21:2). Third,
their own final resting place, following Jesus, of dying and rising again –
their personal “place of resurrection” as they called it. From there their
resurrected body would “ascend”, with others, to be with Jesus forever!
Now you have a sense of how you may now pray Psalm 122. Notice
how you are to pray for “peace”, not for your own sake, but for the sake
of all your kindred in faith. Having that one special companion to pray
for –your “soul-friend”– will help you to truly personalize your praises
and prayers, without being individualistic or selfish about them!

9
Madonna Sophia Compton, Meditations with Celtic Christians: Ancient Prayers and
Hymns of the Celtic Church (Berkley and Waco TX: The Raphael Group, 2017), 94.
 12

Thursday in Second Week of Easter

Luke 10: 1-9,17-20; Psalm 41
Luke records a second “sending” after that of the Twelve Apostles, no
doubt numbered twelve to hint at the spiritual renewal of all twelve
tribes of Israel (even though ten of them had vanished by Jesus’ day).
Seventy was the Biblical estimate of the number of all the Gentile ( i.e.
non-Jewish) nations. So Luke, the only Gentile to write books that got
into the Bible, probably took great comfort in this second missionary
sending by Jesus.10 At any rate, this wider crowd of witnesses are also to
live by faith –and travel and minister in partnerships of two (Luke 10:1).
Read Luke 10: 1-9,17-20. Once again, they are not to dwell on
apparent failures, but move on to the next “adventure in blessing”.
How would it be easier for these evangelists to grow in faith and even
“rejoice” that their “names are written in heaven”? How can you do the
same for your Christian sisters and brothers” For your anamchara?
Hugh Connolly writes in his Irish Penitentials that an anamchara is to be
understood “...above all as the fellow-traveller, fellow-pilgrim,” and
“fellow-sufferer” with their partner:
“Hence, the role of the anamchara who receives the weary pilgrim with
hospitality and restores him. Here the emphasis is placed, not so much
on the saving judgement or salutary medicine but on the fraternal
witness and compassion of the anamchara. The notion of Celtic or
green martyrdom is uppermost here; one must bear living witness to
the Gospel. And the trait par excellence of his testimony is spiritual
humility, paupertas (Patrick) or humilitas (Columbanus).”11
In today’s psalm, the petitioner celebrates the Lord’s blessing on those
who are kind to others... but then gets distracted and dismayed by his
own experience of betrayal and manipulation by people he thought he
could trust. If you are fortunate to not have to pray this way for yourself,
then you can think of others not so fortunate, and pray for them. People
you know; people you’ve heard about in the news; Christians persecuted
by their families and neighbours in so many lands. Read Psalm 41.
At the end of the psalm, the petitioner first turns his complaint into a
prayer, and then a celebration of his faith that God will look out for and
vindicate him (Psalm 41:10-13). How can you be God’s help to others?

10
Some Rabbinic estimates name “seventy-two” gentile nations (a nice six times
that of Israel’s original tribes). This alternative number is obligingly reflected in
alternate readings of some manuscripts of Luke’s Gospel! The point is the same.
11
Connolly, Hugh. The Irish Penitentials and their Significance for the Sacrament of
Penance Today (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1995), 178.
 13

Friday in Second Week of Easter

John 15: 10-17; Psalm 55: 12-22
Quakers are inspired by our Gospel reading today to call themselves the
“Society of Friends”. When they appeared, late in British Christianity
(they started about 1650), “church” had lost its older meaning of fellow-
ship and mutual love. They do not even call their buildings “churches”.
They call them “meeting places”. What does “church” mean to people
today? Ecclesia, the Greek New Testament word translated “church”,
originally meant “gathering” or “assembly”. As Jesus insisted, it is meant
to be about loving one-another in community. Read John 15:10-17.
It is hard for everyone in a typical church to be real “friends” with
everyone else. But Jesus makes us friends with him; and he gives us
special Christian sisters and brothers –“soul-friends” if you like (!) to help
knit a network of bonds of mutuality and caring in each parish. So your
particular anamchara partnership is not meant to cut you off from others
so much as to train and support you in reaching out beyond your
comfortable circle. Is your soul-friend doing that for you yet? Are you
providing that motivation and encouragement to them?
Many psalms have complaints about betrayal by someone thought to be
a friend. Sadly, this is a common human experience. Now pray Psalm
55: 12-22. If you need not pray it for yourself (bless you! Or does that
mean you have not tried to love an unlikeable person?), then please pray
it on behalf of someone you know, or have heard about, and hurt for.
This was written by a friend for the popular anamchara, the Rev. Ray
Simpson, founder of the contemporary “Celtic” Community of Aidan and
Hilda. When you next meet with your soul-friend, say it to each other:
“A Soul-Friend is Like:
“Water for a picked flower, or
gentle rain on seedlings;
The warmth of eiderdown, or
A fire to a cold hearth;
A lighthouse in the dark, or
An anchor to a blown ship;
Play after hours of toil,
And the lightness of thistledown...
Such friends are freeing as Love,
With the healing touch of Jesus.
So is Christ to you –
So may you be for many more.”12

12
Heulwen Carrier, “A Soul Friend Is Like”, 1998, quoted in Ray Simpson, Soul
Friendship: Celtic Insights into Spiritual Mentoring (London: Hodder & Stoughton
Ltd., 1999), 5.
 14

Monday in Third Week of Easter

“Praying the Psalms”
Matthew 22: 34-46; Psalm 110
The participants in my Doctor of Ministry P.A.T.H.S. observed both that
Praying the Psalms was the “heart” of the experiment, yet that it was
one of its two most challenging practices. For one thing, we are blessed
to live in safer times than David and their other composers! We (I hope!)
do not need to pray down curses on our enemies quite so often. For this
Easter pilgrimage to Pentecost, I have simplified the psalm readings, and
provided hints for prayer to try to make them more “user-friendly”.
The Jews of Jesus’ day assumed that their national hero, King David, had
written most of the Psalms. Actually some of them, like today’s, were
probably written by court musicians as a tribute to his successors in the
Davidic royal line. But they can become so extravagant, that no earthly
king could possibly fulfill their accolades! So the ancient Jews then took
them to be prophecies of their promised Messiah. Celtic Christians in turn
took them to be songs of praise to Jesus, who is the Messiah. So that is
how we can pray it: as an acclamation of praise to the “Christ” (The New
Testament Greek word for “messiah” or “Anointed One”).
So now read and pray Psalm 110.
As a Jew, Jesus knew the psalms by heart and prayed them regularly. As
he answered the questions of his jealous opponents, yet lovingly tried to
open their minds to God’s real truth, he quoted Psalm 110 to get them to
grow into a deeper hope for God’s Messiah than just a political leader.
Read Matthew 22:34-46. What does this teach you about the Lord?
This translation from an Eight to Tenth Century Irish manuscript is an
example of the central place of praying and singing the Psalms in “Celtic
spirituality”. Notice its connection with the sense of the intimate
closeness of God in creation that also defines the piety of the “Celtic
Christian” tradition:
Learned in music sings the lark,
I leave my cell to listen;
His open beak spells music, hark!
Where Heaven’s bright cloudlets glisten.
And so I’ll sing my morning psalm
That God bright Heaven may give me
And keep me in eternal calm
And from all sin relieve me. 13

13
Robin Fowler, Poems and Translations, (from the ancient Irish), ed. Patrick
Fowler (Dublin: Lilliput Press, 1994; first published, 1931), 118.
 15

Tuesday in Third Week of Easter

Matthew 21: 33-46; Psalm 118: 21-29
This comes from an anonymous Irish hermit in the mid-Eighth Century,
who penned an inspiring poem in Old Irish testifying that his spiritual
discipline was for the sake of training his spirit to be in communion with
God’s Spirit. Note his context in the beauty of creation, the singing of
psalms and days filled with prayer –three of the “P.A.T.H.S.” habits:
“Treading the paths of the Gospel,
Singing psalms every Hour;
an end of talking and long stories;
Constant bending of the knees.
My Creator to visit me,
My Lord, my King,
My spirit to seek Him
In the eternal kingdom where He is.”14
Parts of today’s psalm are offered by the Church every Palm Sunday and
Easter. Prayed personally, today’s assigned portion can be prayed as a
great celebration of Christ’s victory over evil and death for us, and our
destiny “in the eternal kingdom where He is” (Psalm 118:29). Think of
Christ’s Easter victory and pray Psalm 118:21-29.
It seems that various psalms were ringing in Jesus ears and spirit
throughout his fateful last week on earth. Knowing and praying the
Psalms helps our spirit become familiar with words and images of prayer
and praise that the Holy Spirit can then bring to mind in us, enhancing
our own prayers.
Now we are ready to reflect upon Matthew 21: 33-46. Jesus’ rejection
by his own people must have been hard on him. The image of Israel as
God’s vineyard is an important one in the Scriptures (Psalm 80:8-11;
Isaiah 5:1-7) and Jesus’ contemporaries would have gotten the point
right away (Matthew 21:45). But Psalm 118:22-23 gave Jesus insight
and perhaps even comfort, that things were yet unfolding as God
planned (Matthew 21:42).
For Jesus, the point of all this is that his Father may have “a people that
produces the fruits of the Kingdom.” (Matthew 21: 43) If this image
brings the “fruits of the spirit” to your mind (Galatians 5: 22-23; Matthew
3:8, 7:15-20, 12:33, 13:23), then this is an example of the Holy Spirit
using Scripture to inform your spirit and invite your heart to blossom in
God’s love! My “singing psalms” is one way for “My spirit to seek Him / in
the eternal kingdom where He is.”

14
K. H. Jackson, ed., A Celtic Miscellany, Revised Edition (London: Penguin Books,
1971), 281.
 16

Wednesday in Third Week of Easter

John 12: 9-19; Psalm 118: 1-14,20-27
This short tribute is to “Oengus the Culdee”, who produced an important
calendar of all the saints’ days. He died c. 830 AD:
’Tis in Clonenagh he was reared,
In Clonenagh he was buried:
In Clonenagh of many crosses
He first read his psalms.15
Celtic Christians first learned to read by using the Psalms. We think of
reading as necessary for many things in our lives. But the early Irish,
Scots and British Christians were in an illiterate culture that, at first, only
learned to read so that they could study and pray with the message of
God’s Word in the Bible. Other than that, they thought they got along
fine with only their oral traditions. Christians eventually created a
literate, educated society where knowledge could be preserved and
shared, leading to our rich culture and civilization where all can share in
wisdom and discovery. We are so blessed!
Think of a time when you felt overwhelmed by trouble, but then came
through it, feeling both pride in your own effort, and yet at the very
same time, thankfulness for help “from beyond”. That is a common
experience. When we have tried the hardest, we are paradoxically aware
of the most help! With your remembered success in mind, again I ask
you to pray some of the great victory song, Psalm 118: 1-14,20-26.
Think of the football players who “take a knee” after a touchdown.
Turning our exaltation into thankfulness both enriches our joy, and
brings glory to the only One whose glory will end up truly blessing us all!
According to all four Gospel writers, the crowd of Jesus’ followers sang
Psalm 118 as they accompanied Jesus to Jerusalem on the first Palm
Sunday. Read John 12: 9-19. Note how they quoted Psalm 118:26
(John 12:13 –“Hosanna” echoes Psalm 118:25 in Hebrew), and even,
with their palm branches, acted out Psalm 118:27. The psalms were part
of the very culture of the Jewish people. Where we might remember or
mimic commercial ditties and scenes, the Jews were formed by Holy
Scripture. Which, do you think, would be better for us?
What must have the crowd’s singing of Psalm 118 meant to Jesus? We
have seen that he quoted it soon afterwards during his discussions with
the Jewish leaders in the temple. Did it give him strength? Can it give
you strength?

15
The poem itself is probably from the Eleventh Century. Kuno Meyer, Selections
from Ancient Irish Poetry (London: Constable & Company, 1913), 88, and
accompanying Note, p. 114.
 17

Thursday in Third Week of Easter

Mark 15: 25-37; Psalm 22: 1-11,27-31
I know this is Eastertide and not Holy Week, but it is during this stressful
time for Jesus that his dependence on the psalms really comes through.
After the P.A.T.H.S. project, participants had lots to say about the many
negative experiences and emotions in their assigned psalms. We are
blessed to not need such prayers as much as the Jews did, surviving in a
“no-man’s land” between the great violent empires of that barbaric age.
An example of this is Jesus’ prayer of Psalm 22 from the cross. Now read
Mark 15: 25-37. I include quite a few verses in today’s Gospel because
that psalm is eerily prophetic of so much that happened to Jesus that
day. No wonder its words seemed appropriate to our Lord in his prayers!
Since the psalms are often ascribed to King David, the Celtic Christians
believed that in a sense, the Spirit of David’s great descendent was in
fact praying them in and through the author even when they were first
written and sung. That is why they could be so prophetic. For Celtic
Christians, the risen and ascended Jesus was free from earthly time as
well as geography. He can be in all places and at all times.
Now pray Psalm 22: 1-11, 27-31. Note how the psalmist takes refuge
from despair by thinking about God. So he can be upbeat at the end.
On a cheerier note, let us end with this prayer in the revived “Celtic”
tradition:
“Lord of life,
We celebrate Your countless gifts
In days and nights,
In rainbows and rain,
In touch, dream and smile,
In partners who love,
In kids who cuddle,
In grannies who listen,
In friends who care,
In dogs that lick,
In hands that sew,
In food on the table;
Yet above all,
In Your coming among us,
Walking our roads,
Calling our names,
Enfolding our lives,
Calling us home.”16

16
Peter Millar, An Iona Prayer Book (Norwich UK: Canterbury Press 1998), 98.
 18

Friday in Third Week of Easter

Luke 23: 44-49; Psalm 31: 1-5
I promise this is the last time we will be with Jesus on the cross –during
Eastertide! Yet such is our gutsy faith in the Risen Crucified One, that it
will always be true for us, in Bruce Cockburn’s words, “Tears can sing
and joy shed tears.”17
You will not need coaching to pray today’s psalm selection with all your
heart. Read Psalm 31:1-5. Such is our fragile human spirit, fortified by
God’s spirit yet still easily hurt, that we must pray “You are indeed my
rock of refuge,” and yet ask, “be a rock of refuge…to save me” all in the
same breath! Hopefully this paradox of strength yet weakness; faith yet
doubt, can be resolved for us also in a daily determination: “Into your
hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed my, O Lord, faithful God!”
Now please read Luke 23:44-49, and recall the Celtic teaching that as
we pray the psalms, we pray with Jesus, who’s Spirit is praying with us!
After his prayer of despair and abandonment (Psalm 22), Jesus prayed
Psalm 31:5 with his last breath (Luke 22:46). When there was little life in
him, his spirit was still able to comprehend and communicate with the
help of the psalms. I have noticed a similar thing with the elderly and
the dying: words of the Scriptures (or with Anglicans, the Prayer Book)
provide the thoughts and comforts that a distressed mind could never
invent on its own. As Patrick experienced (page 7 above), the Spirit
prays within our human spirit (Romans 8:26), not in some almighty
abstract way, but in and through the loving humanity of Jesus, by the
reality of his incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit, sharing our life
with us.
The Psalms can make this all the more tangible and vital, for our spirits.
Enjoy Mael Ísu’s celebration of “a tattered copy of the Psalter which he
had learned to read,” which he mischievously compared it to a long-lost
lover!
“You came and slept with me for that first time,
skilled wise amazon annihilating fears,
and I a fresh-faced boy, not bent as now,
a gentle lad of seven melodious years...
Your counsel is ever there to hand,
we choose it, following you in everything,
love of your word is the best of loves,
our gentle conversation with the king.” 18

17
Bruce Cockburn, from “Hills of Morning” (1979).
18
Esther De Wall, The Celtic Way of Prayer (New York: Doubleday, 1997), 208.
 19

Monday in Fourth Week of Easter:

“Adventures in Blessing”
Luke 12: 37-44; Psalm 37: 1-6,16-22
This week we will be reviewing the second P.A.T.H.S. discipline, which I
call “Adventures in Blessing”. Celtic Christians were famous for their
spirit of adventure for Christ, and for their tough determination to serve
God in spite of the odds. They travelled all over Europe, converting
barbarians, renewing a moribund and worldly Roman Church, and
teaching their converts to read and write, use sustainable agriculture,
and live lives of integrity and compassion.
George MacLeod (d. 1991), founder of the influential modern Iona
Community, used the image of the “Wild Goose” for the Holy Spirit’s
presence and power in the Celtic missioners and saints. So influential has
this been that many think the image goes back to the early days of the
Celtic mission. It doesn’t. But it is a powerful image for an understanding
of the exuberant and undomesticated activism of the Holy Spirit that
inspires proponents of a revived “Celtic Christianity” for today.
“Holy Spirit, Wild Goose
Great Spirit,
Wild Goose of the Almighty
Be my eye in the dark places;
Be my flight in the trapped places;
Be my host in the wild places;
Be my brood in the barren places;
Be my formation in the lost places.”19
First, pray Psalm 37:1-6,16-22 Turn the exhortations of the psalm into
petitions. Here is an example (Psalm 37:1): “Do not fret because of the
wicked... Lord, help me not to be intimidated or disheartened when the
wrong seems so strong. For they will soon fade like the grass… thank
you for your promise that all goodness is eternal, but all evil will come to
an end.” Pray for courage and creativity in doing good. Pray that the
“Wild Goose” of the Spirit inspire you to adventurous deeds of blessing!
Then reflect upon Luke 12:37-44. Notice how the unknown hour of the
“master’s” return prompts the “servants” not to bored waiting, but active
service. Maybe there’s one more blessing we can share before our time
is up!! The promise of Christ’s return in glory makes us eager, not lazy.
Goodness will triumph! We need not fret! But how much more our
service will be vindicated and glorified when Christ comes in glory!?

19
Ray Simpson, quoted in Duke Viperman, “Did Celts Call the Holy Spirit ‘Wild
Goose’?” Thursday, August 7, 2008. http://wildgoosedove.blogspot.com/2008/08/
chasing-documentation_5440.html.
 20

Tuesday in Fourth Week of Easter

Luke 6: 27-38; Psalm 37: 23-31
We often think of monks as very unworldly, perhaps even impractical.
That is not how the ancient Celtic Christians saw it! Their monks were
evangelists, healers and community organizers. Here are three quotes I
used in my doctoral thesis:
“In Christ’s eyes,” teaches the Irish Rule of Ciarán, “they are truly
clerics whose hands are calloused.”20 The Homily of Cambrai suggests
there are two ways to “carry the cross...both when we mortify the body
through fasting, and when, out of compassion for him we regard the
needs of our neighbour as our own. A person who has compassion for
the needs of the neighbour truly carries the cross in his heart, as St.
Paul says, ‘Bear one-another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.’21
‘When a person is full of charity,’ instructs the Alphabet of Devotion,
‘then he is holy.’”22
Jesus calls his followers to be proactive and generous in their kindness
and mercy for others. This was not just because he wanted a job done
and expected us to work our pants off for him. He knew this is how we
would be blessed, and be truly fulfilled and happy. Read Luke 6:27-38.
Note his promise that we will be living like “Children of the most high”
(Luke 6:35), and our “measure” will be overflowing (Luke 6:38).
Thank God, most Christians are genuinely kind and considerate people.
But this “Celtic” discipline is meant to encourage us to be more proactive
and creative in our Christian witness. Once a week we are to engage in a
deliberate “Adventure in Blessing” for someone, above and beyond our
usual (and often in the end really quite self-serving!) friendships and
favours (Luke 6:32-36). Next time you go to Tim’s, pay for the person in
front or behind you! Make a visit to a shut-in who would never dream of
seeing you! Tell someone very unlikely about a time when you knew God
was real and blessed you! And do this sort of thing at least once a week.
Today’s psalm is more of an “attestation” than a petition (!), so affirm it
to yourself in God’s presence, sort of like a creed! As you pray it, you
could even change the second person (“you”) parts to the first person
“I” or “me”) as well: Pray Psalm 37: 23-31. May I “Depart from evil,
and do good, so that I may abide forever!” “The law of the Lord is on my
heart; my steps will not slip!” (Psalm 37:27,31) By God’s adventuresome
grace, Amen!

20
“The Rule of Ciaran,” in Uinseann Ó Maidin, The Celtic Monk. Rules and Writings
of Early Irish Monks (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1996), 45. Sixth C.
21
“Homily of Cambrai Fragment”, Ó Maidin, The Celtic Monk, 139 f. Eighth C.
22
“The Alphabet of Devotion,” Ó Maidin, The Celtic Monk, 161. c. Seventh Century.
 21

Wednesday in Fourth Week of Easter

Matthew 5: 1-12; Psalm 112
Start by praying Psalm 112, understanding the words as the Holy Spirit
speaking directly to you (!). Even this psalm, so joyfully optimistic about
goodness, is utterly realistic that “blessings” come with difficult times.
St. Columbanus and his followers went from Ireland to the continent.
They founded over sixty “monasteries” in France, Germany and Italy. His
famous “Boat-Song” was probably composed as his missionary retinue
rowed up the Rhine River in 610 AD. It captures the Spirit-filled faith of
the adventurous Celts:
...The tempests howl, the storm dismay,
But manly strength can win the day,
Heave, lads, and let the echoes ring.
...Hold fast! Survive! And all is well,
God sent you worse; he’ll calm this swell,
Heave, lad, and let the echoes ring.
...Strong faith and zeal will win the prize
For him who wills, for him who tries,
Think, lad, of Christ, and echo him.23
We think of monasteries as places of retreat. “Celtic” monasteries were
more like busy community mission centres. A core of cenobitic clerics did
provide the daily seven offices of prayer and praise, as well as copy
manuscripts and act as anamchara for inquirers and new Christians. But
other members of the community, and their spouses and children, were
involved in all the trades and agriculture that would be necessary to
support the mission of the community, feed the poor, heal the sick, and
support the missionaries that went out to evangelize and teach in the
surrounding countryside.
Now read Jesus’ familiar “Beatitudes”: Matthew 5:1-12. At the same
time, this is reassuring to the “poor in spirit,” those who “mourn”, etc.,
and yet challenging and promising to those who are active for God’s
blessing in the world: the “peacemakers”, those who stand up for justice
(“righteousness”) and so on. Indeed, Jesus is utterly honest in
recognizing that those who are adventurous in blessing in the name of
the Lord will provoke trouble from those less loyal to him (Matthew
5:11). But that need not intimidate you! You will be in the very best of
company, and indeed you will be full of joy and gladness (Matthew 5:12)
–you will be heirs of the Kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10)! So get to
work! Be adventurous in blessing! That’s how you will be blessed.

23
Tomas O’Fiaich, Columbanus in His Own Words. New Edition (Dublin IR: Veritas
Publications, 2012), 98.
 22

Thursday in Fourth Week of Easter

Matthew 5: 13-16; Psalm 96
Remember the peregrine falcons, which almost went extinct until never-
say-never environmentalists grew the population back again? They were
named for the Irish peregrinatio, or Christian missionary pilgrims, who
went out to unknown places and peoples for the sake of God. Their spirit
was that we sing in the Celtic hymn, “I feel the winds of God today”:
“If hope but light the water’s crest,
And Christ, my bark will use;
I’ll seek the seas at His behest,
And brave another cruise!”24
Pray Psalm 96, as a paean of praise, to God. Though it is a hymn of
praise, it includes an invitation –or a divine command!– to make sure
that “the glory due His name” is shared with all people everywhere. It is
truly hard to pray this, with your spirit open to the Holy Spirit, without
immediately wanting to get out there and do something about it!
So what “Adventures in Blessing” is the Spirit putting into your heart?
Ian Bradley concludes his latest book, Following the Celtic Way:
“Following the Celtic way of peregrinatio means going out of our
comfort zones, being prepared to go to places and experience situations
which may make us easy and uncomfortable, taking the risk of wasting
time, getting lost, letting go and not being in control. That is what will
make us people on and of the Way, followers of the Son of Man who
has nowhere to lay his head.”25
Read Jesus’ magisterial conclusion to the Beatitudes, Matthew 5: 13-
16. This is where the phrase “he is the salt of the earth” originated. Do
you know people who could be described this way? What is it about
them that merits that epithet? What is the purpose of salt? How can
Christians fulfill such a role in society?
J. Adam’s hymn again:
“If ever I forget thy love
And how that love was shown,
Lift high the blood-red flag above;
It bears thy name alone.
Great Pilot of my onward way,
Thou wilt not let me drift;
I feel the winds of God to-day.
To-day my sail I lift.”

24
Jessie Adams, 1908; The Book of Common Praise (Toronto: Anglican Book
Centre, 1938), # 426.
25
Bradley, Following the Celtic Way: A New Assessment of Celtic Christianity
(London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2018), 156.
 23

Friday in Fourth Week of Easter

John 14: 10-14; Psalm 145: 1-13
This is a contemporary “Celtic” prayer by Philip Newell, a former Warden
of the Iona Community:
“O God, you brought me
from the rest of last night
to the new light of this day.
Bring me in the new light of this day
to the guiding light of the eternal.
Lead me, O God, on the journey of justice
Guide me O God, on the pathways of peace.
Renew me, O God, by the wellsprings of grace,
today, tonight, and forever.”26
Today’s psalm is another example of a hymn of praise which can be
prayed almost like a creed. As well as a determination to praise, the
Spirit moves its reciters to: tell the next generation about God; proclaim
the graciousness, mercy and love of the Creator; and join all the “works”
of creation itself in celebrating God’s goodness. So now pray Psalm 96.
God is powerful, yet God is gracious; God is mighty, yet God is full of
mercy and love. So one of the ways God communicates his character
and purposes to people, is through his creatures. Both natural, like the
energy and beauty of a chickadee dancing about a tree picking buds,
then singing to the day; and human, like the twinkle in a wise person’s
eye or kind words from another just when we need them, or surprising
acts of love and compassion during disheartening times.
The ancient Celtic Christians loved the paradox of God being the mighty
Creator of the universe; yet also the One who came as “Mary’s Son”, to
join them in the intimate humanity of everyday life. Imagine it: God
could come to us in glory, all energy and power, like when he descended
on Mount Sinai to inspire the Israelites to accept their calling to be his
people and receive the Ten Commandments. But God rarely chooses to
act that way. Supremely, and again in person, he came in a carpenter’s
son, to befriend, heal, teach, and suffer for us.
Now please reflect upon John 14:10-14. We are to believe in God
because we see something truly good and in fact truly everlasting in
Jesus’ acts of healing and helping. But more than that, notice John 14:12
–those who believe in Jesus will do even “greater works” than he did.
Wow! This is so important to the Lord, that he gives us the power of
prayer in his “name” (John 14:13-14) –i.e. according to his character and
purpose. God will bless the world –through us. What an “adventure”!

26
J. Philip Newell, Celtic Prayers from Iona (Mahwah NJ: Paulist Press, 1997), 73.
 24

Monday in Fifth Week of Easter:

“Three Prayers to the Trinity a Day”
Matthew 28: 16-20; Psalm 139: 1-14
As “Praying the Psalms” was one of the two most challenging P.A.T.H.S.
spiritual disciplines, the participants found “Trinitarian Prayer” to be the
other. They were asked to pray seven times, spaced throughout the day,
to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Few succeeded at it with any amount
of regularity. Most gave up! But a prayer at rising in the morning, and
before going to bed, became habitual for many. So for our P.A.T.H.S.
journey to Pentecost, we are trying a Trinitarian “Three” prayers a day!
“I bend my knee
in the sight of the Father who created me,
In the sight of the Son who redeemed me,
In the sight if the Spirit who purified me
In love and in mystery.”
This popular Irish prayer was also recorded by Carmichael in two
different locales in the Scottish Highlands in the Nineteenth Century. 27 It
is a testimony to the remarkable survival of a shared “Celtic” faith among
the common Gaelic people. That faith was and is fully Trinitarian:
“Three folds of the cloth, yet only one napkin is there;
Three joints in the finger, but still only one finger fair;
Three leaves to the shamrock, yet no more than one shamrock to wear.
Frost, snow-flakes and ice, all in water their origin share,
Three persons in God; to one God alone we make prayer.”28
Read the risen Jesus’ “Great Commission” in Matthew 28: 16-20. It
was from this text that the Church got its language to describe the “One
God in Three Persons” who is described throughout the New Testament:
The Father above and beyond, caring for his creation; the Son through
whom creation was created and by whom it is redeemed; the Spirit
powerfully yet intimately present in all things, and especially in believers.
But the Trinity was not just a mysterious formula for Celtic Christians.
They loved its truth, because it attested and protected a saint’s mature
experience of God, always Jesus-like, reigning above, all around, and
even within her or him in daily life. This paradoxical transcendence yet
intimacy is found in the whole Bible. The New Testament just defines it
in a beautiful way. So now please meaningfully pray Psalm 139:1-14:
“Where can I go from your Spirit?” (Psalm 139:7a)
27
A. Roghnú , P. Ó Fiannachta, Saltair: Urnaithe Dúchais, Prayers from the Irish
Tradition (Dublin: The Columba Press, 2000), 76. See also A. Carmichael, Carmina
Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations (Edinburgh: Floris Books, 1992), 35, 44.
28
Eleanor Hull, The Poem-book of the Gael. Translations from Irish Gaelic Poetry
into English Prose and Verse (Edinburgh: Ballantyne, Hanson & Co., 1912), 237.
 25

Tuesday in Fifth Week of Easter

Luke 21: 34-36; Psalm 63: 1-7
“In name of Father, in name of Son,
in name of Spirit, Three in One:
Father cherish me, Son cherish me,
Spirit cherish me, Three all-kindly.
God make me holy, Christ make me holy,
Spirit make me holy, Three all-holy.
Three aid my hope, Three aid my love,
Three aid mine eye,
And my knee from stumbling
My knee from stumbling.”29
This is one of dozens of different memorized prayers hummed, chanted
or sung in Gaelic by the Scottish Highlanders that Carmichael befriended
at the end of the Nineteenth Century. Similar Trinitarian invocations and
acclamations were found throughout Ireland and Wales. It is a testimony
to the survival of a daily Christian piety among the descendents of Britain
and Ireland’s first Christians, in spite of disruptions like the imposition of
Roman Catholicism, the Reformation, and the imposition of English, let
alone the famines and clearances! “Celtic Christians” knew God to be
very close –and they celebrated and sought after that intimacy with a
very Trinitarian understanding. God is the “Father of Lights” –a loving
Parent of all the cosmos! He is equally “Mary’s Son” –our saving
companion every day. God is also constantly present and potent in the
“Spirit Holy” (as they often addressed the Holy Spirit). They lived under,
with and in the presence of God!
The “T” discipline is designed to help us recover this vital sense of the
ever-helpful presence of God in our day-to-day living. Our “secular”
society has pushed “religion” into a neat little compartment –somewhere
between “luck” and the occult! As Jesus made clear, this is not the
Christian way. Read Luke 21:34-36. There is a lot of talk today about
“mindfulness”. Jesus is warning his followers about being attentive in the
dangerous days after his death and resurrection, and indeed after the
Christian mission starts following Pentecost. The Lord may seem “far
away” for now, but eternity can break in on time any minute! And by the
Spirit, we may remember and feel that eternal Presence and Help even
in these days when God’s glory is humbly and patiently gentle and (apart
from in creation or the lives of believers) seemingly invisible.
As an aid to asking for a deeper awareness of God’s helpful presence,
pray Psalm 63:1-7. The psalmist wants to know God’s presence not
only in worship and during bed-time prayers, but all the day through!

29
Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, 208.
 26

Wednesday in Fifth Week of Easter

Luke 18: 1-8; Psalm 116: 1-14
In Anglican theologian John Macquarrie’s Paths in Spirituality, he wrote
that “the Celt was a very God-intoxicated man whose life was embraced
on all sides by the divine being.” At times this might come dangerously
close to pantheism (the “Star Wars” “force” notion that God is just the
sum total of everything). Yet “...it must also be made clear that their
spirituality was in fact...strongly Trinitarian. God’s transcendence is
combined with immanence.”30 Macquarrie’s model for this is the Irish
predisposition to address the Father as “High King of Heaven”. Ireland’s
High King ruled from the hill of Tara, but was not an absolute monarch:
“...the King was always among his people as well as over them. When
God is conceived on such a model, he cannot become too distant and
his creation cannot become so profane and godless as to arouse the
acquisitive and aggressive spirit of irresponsible concupiscence.”31
In some of Jesus’ parables you can tell he has a sense of humour! Read
Luke 18:1-8. Some people are scandalized that Jesus seems to
compare his Father to a mean and selfish judge. Of course, the point is
really a teasing contrast. How could anyone who knows God in Christ
think of God that way? Yet, too often, I think we sometimes do! As you
know, if we are not in touch with someone and things go badly, we tend
to worry and think the worst –is she mad at me? What did I do to him?
Once we talk to the person, though, we discover all is well. It was just a
miscommunication or a misunderstanding. Well, often our faith-life is like
that. In the same way with our life in God, what we need is more
attentive prayer. Not because God isn’t listening, though! It’s because
we’re not listening. “If you feel further away from God –it wasn’t God
who moved!” I like to say that “God is closer to us than our own breath.”
Today’s psalm is a prayer of thanksgiving by a person who recovered
from a near deathly illness. Unlike today, when we eat well and have
much better medicine and health-care, sickness was much more
threatening for our forbears who lived before Jesus’ commission of his
followers to heal inspired the therapies and sciences of Western society.
Injury and even death from violence was more widespread. In Europe,
the average life-span was only 27, until the missionaries came along!
Many of them were Celtic. They shared Jesus’ optimism that illness was
not just fate or even punishment from evil spirits and “gods”, but in fact
an opportunity to do the Creator’s good work (John 9:3-5).
Remember a time when you felt “delivered”, and pray Psalm 116:1-14.

30
John Macquarrie, Paths in Spirituality (London: SCM Press, 1972), 123.
31
Macquarrie, Paths in Spirituality, 123.
 27

Thursday in Fifth Week of Easter

John 16: 16-24; Psalm 145: 13-21
This is a modern caim (“encirclement”) prayer, invoking the powerful
presence of God above, beside and within us in our daily life:
“In the Father’s power
In the Son’s power
In the Spirit’s power
Be this hour.
“Father be my friend
Jesus be my friend
Spirit be my friend
To the journey’s end.
“Father be my guard
Jesus be my guard
Spirit be my guard
When the way is hard.
“In the Father’s power
In the Son’s power
In the Spirit’s power
Be this hour.”32
If prayer does not come naturally to us yet, it is good to memorize some
simple poems, or perhaps prayers from our Sunday liturgies, which can
help us praise God or ask for help at any instant. One participant in the
P.A.T.H.S. experiment shared with her focus group that in days of stress
she finds herself instinctively repeating a line from the end of the Te
Deum in the Book of Common Prayer (page 9): “Lord, in thee I have
trusted: Let me never be confounded!”
In today’s Gospel reading, we are again in the Upper Room with Jesus,
just hours before his arrest. He is urgently trying to prepare his disciples
for the rough days to come. Yes, he will conquer death! But in another
sense, his ongoing mission will all depend upon them. So he gives them
the powerful image of a new humanity being reborn as the Father’s own
children. And he reminds them of the power of prayer through his
presence and purpose (his “name”). Read John 16:16-24.
Today’s psalm is another celebration of God’s intimate and reliable
presence and help. Think of all the blessings you take for granted –like
each meal, or each intimidating moment (because life is so interesting!)
that faded away once it was past. Then pray Psalm 116:13-21.

32
David Adam, The Edge of Glory: Prayers in the Celtic Tradition (London: SPCK,
1985), 44.
 28

Friday in Fifth Week of Easter

John 16: 25-33; Psalm 36: 5-10
I’m sure you have seen pictures of Celtic crosses –at least on the Sunday
overheads! Maybe you have seen some of the ancient ones in Ireland or
Britain, or at least the one below Water Street in the South End. In the
British Isles, Celtic crosses surprise the traveller in many places. And
though they are numerous, they are only the few surviving ones. Celtic
Christians erected them to invoke God’s blessing on a place, and to
remind passers-by that God is present in their everyday world.
This poem catches the fully “Trinitarian” spiritual experience of beholding
a Celtic Cross:
“Around the Celtic cross
Grow lilies of the field.
Soaring above – birds of the air.
Praise the holy Three!
Christ at the centre,
The Spirit shining forth.
God a mother – giving bread.
I belong to the very centre,
Nourished, loved, and secure.
Let it be! Let it be!”33
Today’s psalm starts off on a negative note –how blessed we are, after
centuries of Jewish and Christian civilizing missions, that we can omit
such parts! But the middle part of the psalm can be prayed anytime,
with something of the mood of contemplating an outdoor Celtic Cross:
being inspired by the beauty of creation around us; the memory of God
rescuing us from evil through the cross of Jesus; the promise of eternal
life (represented by the circle around the centre of the cross).
Pray Psalm 36:5-10.
Now your spirit should be truly attentive to the Holy Spirit as you read
today’s Gospel. Many of the original Celtic Crosses were erected as acts
of brave witness. “In spite of the barbarism, Jesus reigns here!” Jesus
ends his Upper Room “pep-talk” with an exhortation to courage. Jesus
will not be with us physically, but we will be embraced by the Father’s
love. Love will be all around us, and within. Knowing this is true “peace”
(John 16:33).
Read John 16:25-33.

33
William John Fitzgerald, “Prayer at the End of Day”. A Contemporary Celtic
Prayer Book (Skokie IL: CTA Publications, 1998), 53.
 29

Monday in Sixth Week of Easter:

“Enjoying the Holiness of God in Creation”
Mark 4: 26-29; Psalm 65: 1-13
“It were as easy for Jesu
To renew the withered tree
As to wither the new
Were it his will so to do.
Jesu! Jesu! Jesu!
Jesu! Meet it were to praise Him.
There is no plant in the ground
But it is full of His virtue,
There is no form in the strand
But it is full of His blessing...
There is no life in the sea,
There is no creature in the river,
There is naught in the firmament
But proclaims His goodness...
There is no bird on the wing,
There is no star in the sky,
There is nothing beneath the sun,
But proclaims His goodness...”
This, with its unusual opening, was the prayer of a woman in Harris who
suffered from leprosy. After prayerfully bathing herself in a concoction of
water, plants and shellfish, she was healed. 34 We may think of this as
but an example of surviving Druidism only if we disregard its echo of
praise for the goodness of the Creator that is so common in the psalms,
and the profoundly Biblical basis of her prayer (Matthew 21:18 -21; 8:1-
3; John 9:7). Celtic Christians were not naive or romantic about nature,
as modern city-dwellers may be. They liked to hunt, loved meat, and
prayed against the dangers of fire, flood and storm. They also shared a
deep wisdom about how the natural world is given by God for us to
explore and use for human life and blessing.
The fourth P.A.T.H.S. discipline is to deliberately seek out and enjoy the
Holiness of God in God’s great creation, at least once a week. All sorts of
therapeutic programs recommend we let nature calm us and heal us. It
is often what our desire to get away to the cottage is all about! But with
the help of the Spirit ministering in and with our spirits, we can do this
even on a city street. “There is no bird on the wing, There is no star in
the sky, There is nothing beneath the sun, But proclaims His goodness!”
Read Mark 4:26-29, concentrating on the innate miracle in every seed.
That is how God reigns (his “kingdom”) in everything. Now sit outside or
look out a window (even if its raining!) and pray Psalm 65:1-13.

34
Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, 45, and accompanying note 14, p. 576.
 30

Tuesday in Sixth Week of Easter

Matthew 6: 26-33; Psalm 104: 14-24
Psalm 104 is a magnificent song of praise. Most of it is addressed directly
to God, so it is an intimate prayer, personally celebrating God’s kindness
and goodness, so evident in the world all about us. Look for its sense
that God cares for all his creatures; but humans have their own place in
the intricate network of inter-connectedness that so inspired the
psalmist. You may pray just a part of this psalm today.
Again, it would be great to do this outside, or at least by a window: Pray
Psalm 104:14-24.
Hopefully that will put your spirit in a good place to try to hear Jesus
again speak about the “birds of the air and the flowers of the fields”, but
as if for the first time! Think about how confident Jesus is, that an
experience of contemplating the Holiness of the Father in his great
creation will indeed heal us from worry and bring us back to the true
priorities for human life. Now read and reflect on Matthew 6:26-33.
This modern poem in the Celtic Christian tradition tradition is a great
way to end today’s time with a Psalm and a Gospel:
“Spring”
“Now creation’s Chief
Calls bud and leaf,
While all in number
Rise from slumber.
“Dry, cold earth awakes,
God’s quickening takes;
So begins the trade:
Bent stems for blade.
“Withered rose for flow’r;
Spring drought for show’r;
And, of, the fragrance sweet
Of life complete.
“Just so, tender Chief,
Raise my belief.
See how it sprouts new green;
Fat stalks from lean.”35

35
Joyce Denham, Circle of Prayer (Oxford: Lion Publishing, 2003), 42.
 31

Wednesday in Sixth Week of Easter

Matthew 10: 27-33; Psalm 84: 1-12
In today’s psalm, a worshipper appears to be in the temple. Perhaps
during a less than inspiring sermon (!), he noticed a sparrow who had
built a nest inside God’s house. Far from thinking this was inappropriate,
the psalmist finds himself rejoicing in the blessings of living in God’s
presence –not just when he’s in “church”, but in all the “highways to
Zion” (Psalm 84:5). Remember that when Christians recite psalms about
Jerusalem (“Zion” is a sort of love-name for the city) we may think about
our eternal destiny in the “New Jerusalem” (see page 11 above). You will
note how the psalmist ends with a renewed confidence that she, like the
sparrow in God’s house, will be safe and secure in God’s ways!
Pray Psalm 84:1-12.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is once more preparing his followers for
their mission in the adventurous and even dangerous days ahead. During
his ministry he was careful to stay safe –until the time was right. But his
Spirit-empowered people must act differently after the first Easter and
Pentecost! Yet we are not to be afraid –instead, we are to have an awe-
informed respect for God –the God who loves us. He draws his disciples’
attention to the miracle of fragile sparrows, overcoming great odds to be
alive. He is not being naively romantic about this –sparrows “fall”; they
even get sold for food! But God has blessed them, and God blesses us as
well –in a way that even our “falls”, even death itself, cannot frustrate.
Now prayerfully read Matthew 10:27-33.
This prayer is by David Cole, a modern professional teacher and
anamchara in Celtic Christian spirituality. Some of us read his book Celtic
Lent this spring:
“The Eye of an Eagle”
“Open my eyes
that I may see the wonder of you in all things, Lord.
Open my eyes to the things of heaven
and the spiritual realm.
Give me the vision to see clearly
what you have for me,
a clear vision of the path you have set before me,
that I may follow you in all I do.
Give me the eye of the eagle,
that I may see further, more clearly,
and to be able to look directly
into the Sun of Righteousness.”36

36
D. Cole, Celtic Prayers & Practices: An Inner Journey (Vestal NY: Anamchara
Books, 2014), 74.
 32

Thursday in Sixth Week of Easter

John 15: 5-11; Psalm 104: 24-34
David Adam used to be the Vicar of St. Mary’s Church on the “Holy
Island” of Lindisfarne –where the Iona missionary St. Aidan (d. 651 AD)
had his base for bringing the Gospel to Northern England. He became
famous for his books, poems and prayers on a renewed “Celtic Christian”
spirituality for today:
“Lord of the elements
All praises due.
Lord of the oceans
Glory to you.
You give the morning
fresh as the dew.
You give your Presence
Loyal and true.
You give me life
My being renew.
Lord of the elements
Glory to you.”37
“God of the Elements” was a favourite title for the Lord. The “elements”
were everything from the basic smallest building blocks of creation (we
might call them energy and atoms), through to nature’s greatest powers
and realities like the weather (as we use the term today). But with the
term came a deep sense that nature had its own reason and beauty,
given to it by the wise and caring Creator. The Creator who made it,
entered it and redeemed it by His “Word” of command –that “Word” of
course being Jesus (John 1:1-4)– and his omnipresent Holy Spirit (Psalm
33:6, where God’s “breath” is in Hebrew the word ruah, which can also
be translated as “spirit”).
In today’s Gospel Jesus again uses his Father’s wise providence in nature
to teach us how he will work in our life. As you reflect on this parable,
note how this is all for the sake of our joy! Read John 15:5-11.
Now please pray another portion of the God-in-Creation psalm that we
first prayed on Tuesday: Psalm 104:24-35.
Admittedly, you will find the first half of verse 35 a little jarring! It is a
reminder that the psalmists chose to worship God not only when they
felt nice and spiritual, but even when they were upset or angered by all
that contradicted God in their life. And it is only one-half verse in thirty-
five! The beauty all around them helped them keep a good perspective.

37
David Adam,. Tides and Seasons: Modern Prayers in the Celtic Tradition
(London: SPCK Triangle, 1989), 49.
 33

Friday in Sixth Week of Easter

Mark 1: 12-13; Psalm 8: 1-9
We can imagine that as a shepherd-boy David was often stretched out in
the field, gazing with wonder at the stars. We heard of Patrick’s similar
experiences (page 7 above). Our ubiquitous artificial lights too often cut
us off from such inspiring epiphanies. A night-walk might be another way
to encounter the Holiness of God in his creation!
Pray Psalm 8:1-9.
Today’s Gospel is short, but to enjoy it in a “Celtic” way we need some
introduction. We are thinking about Jesus’ famous “Forty Days” in the
wilderness, after his baptism by his cousin John and before he began his
public ministry. Mark will bluntly tell us it was the Spirit who came anew
upon Jesus at his baptism, who “drove” him into this time of prayer and
preparation for his ministry (Mark 1:10-12). There he was “tempted by
Satan”. Mark is not interested in any details here –but Jesus told a
parable-like story to sum up his experience of figuring out from Scripture
what kind of “messiah” he was to be; which was nothing like the people
expected (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13).
Instead, Mark alone tells us Jesus was not as alone as we tend to think.
Angels were with him! Also “the wild beasts”. Read Mark 1:12-13.
The first folks who read Mark’s Gospel, mostly dwellers in Roman cities,
took this to be a reference to danger! We too tend to be alienated from
the natural world, and might be afraid when we are in the wild. It is true
that because of the fall, violence is endemic in nature, and humanity
doesn’t always exercise a peaceful “dominion” (Psalm 8:6, Genesis 1:26)
over our fellow creatures. But Jesus was without sin. When the rural-
dwelling Celts read this, they took it to mean the animals helped him! So
many of the Celtic saints’ tales portray them too as friends with animals.
They were better at experiencing the caring help of God in his creation.
“You, O God!
You paint the sky with our prayers.
You, O Great Gardener!
You coax forth delicate buds and blooms.
You, O Mighty One!
You bend your ear to our laments, our praises.
You, O gentle Spirit!
You delight in creatures great and small.
Shelter us with your love.
Enliven us with your passion.
Kiss us with your peace.”38

38
Beth Richardson, Christ Beside Me, Christ Within Me: Celtic Blessings (Nashville
TN: Upper Room Books, 2016), 94.
 34

Monday in Seventh Week of Easter;

“A Rule of Life”
Matthew 11: 28-30; Psalm 1
Psalm 1 is another psalm that is more like a testimony or teaching than a
prayer. You can make it a prayerful conversation, though, by reading a
verse or “bicolon” (meaning “two-lined thought”, the basic unit of most
psalms) at a time, and then stopping to either ask God’s help in living up
to its instruction or invitation, or thank God for its promise in your life.
Please open today’s devotional time so reading and praying Psalm 1.
The key to this psalm is its promise, like so often, that living according to
God’s way is for the sake of our being ready and open to receive God’s
blessings. With that in mind, hear anew Jesus’ wonderful invitation to
come to him and follow in his way: Matthew 11:28-30.
This week we will be thinking and praying about the Celtic Christian
practice of adopting a “Rule of Life” of spiritual disciplines for guiding
our personal journey or “pilgrimage” (peregrinatio) to our eternal home.
“Rop tú mo baile” or “Be Thou My Vision” is a traditional Middle Irish
poem attributed to the sixth-century Irish Christian bard, Dallán Forgaill.
The best-known English version was translated by Eleanor Hull and
published in 1912. Since 1919 it has been commonly sung to the Irish
folk tune “Slane”. It us a fitting prayer to begin this week’s devotions:
"Be Thou My Vision"
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father; thine own may I be,
Thou in my dwelling, and I one with thee.
Riches I heed not, nor the world's empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and thou only; first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.
High King of heaven, when victory is won,
May I reach heaven's joys, bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, what ever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.39

39
Irish, 8th c., trs. Eleanor Hull (1860-1935) (Public Realm). Common Praise # 505.
 35

Tuesday in Seventh Week of Easter

Mark 12: 28-34; Psalm 19: 7-14
Today let’s begin by praying the second half of Psalm 19. Its first half
celebrates the glory of God so evident in his creation. How do we know
and share that glory personally? The second half invites us to know the
Torah, the “Law of the Lord” –basically all that God taught the Jewish
people in order for them to live blessed lives: the Holy Scriptures. Using
the technique explained on page 34 above, read a “bicolon” of Psalm
19:7-14 at a time, and then pray, either asking God’s help in living up
to its guidance, or thanking God for its promise in your life.
In this Eastertide journey I have defined “Celtic Christian” spirituality” as
a set of disciplines by which our human spirit may be open to the saving
blessings of the Holy Spirit in our life. Such a set of consciously adopted
disciplines is a key element of our Anglican inheritance from the days of
the Celtic Christian mission in Britain. An invitation to adopt a personal
“Rule of Life” for oneself is famous found on page 555 of the Book of
Common Prayer. Some of you may remember my devotional booklet on
this topic published by the diocese in 2012: Five-Five-Five Alive! An
Invitation to a Rule of Life.40
The Ninth-Century Celtic scholar John Scotus Eriugena has been hailed
by John Macquarrie as “the greatest Celtic thinker who ever lived.” 41 He
taught that spiritual growth depended upon the two complimentary
disciplines of discovering of God’s Word in the Spirit-inspired Bible, and
in creation around us. (So we might say he was one of the founders of
modern science!) “When humanity abandoned God,” he wrote,
“the light of divine knowledge receded from the world. Since then, eternal
light reveals itself in a twofold manner through Scripture and through
creature. Divine knowledge may be renewed in us in no other way, but
through the letter of Scripture and the species of creature. Learn,
therefore, to understand these divine modes of expression and to conceive
of their meanings in your soul, for therein you will know the Word.”42
Consciously discovering “the Holiness of God in Creation” is one such
way of knowing God “through creature”. But another is by humbly atten-
ding to the Lord as he comes to us from other people. Think about this
as you read the familiar Gospel lesson for today: Mark 12:28-34.

40
Five Five Five Alive can be downloaded from the Diocese of Fredericton website:
http://archive.anglican.nb.ca/resources/spiritual_growth/555_alive/555_alive_
booklet_print_%202.pdf.
41
John Macquarrie, In Search of Deity (London: SCM Press, 1984), 85.
42
John Scotus Eriugena “Homily on the Prologue to the Gospel of John,” XI, in
Christopher Bamford, John Scotus Eriugena, The Voice of the Eagle: The Heart of
Celtic Christianity, Second Edition (Hudson NY: Lindisfarne Books, 2000), 37.
 36

Wednesday in Seventh Week of Easter

Matthew 6: 1-6,16-21; Psalm 24
Psalm 24 was probably first sung as a processional as people entered the
temple in Jerusalem. It starts with a celebration of the “Holiness of God
in Creation”! It then asks the question, who can “stand in the Holy
Place?” perhaps the pilgrims sang that part, and then the Priests and
Levites answered them (verses 4-6). The psalm then ends with a chorus
celebrating the entrance of the Ark of the Covenant into the temple.
Jews and Christians have sung these stanzas ever since as invocations
welcoming the Lord into our own assemblies, and even personal lives.
Now read and pray Psalm 24.
Today’s Gospel is another reading harkening back to Lent –it is the
Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday. But now I ask you to reflect upon it
not as an exhortation for Lenten disciplines, but as an invitation to an
Easter-Pentecost “Rule of Life” –practices designed not to show off or
prove how “Christian” you are, but to draw closer to “your Father in
heaven who sees in secret” (i.e., intimately in relationship with you). In
other words, to personally open your “human spirit” to the “Holy Spirit”.
Please reflectively read Matthew 6:1-6,16-21.
Then please end this devotional time with a wonderful prayer by David
Cole, asking the (modern) Celtic “Wild Goose” of the Holy Spirit to enter
into your life today:
The Wild Goose
“Wild Goose, Holy Spirit of God,
release my life. Free my shackled heart.
Give me freedom to fly with you.
To love and to live in such fullness
that sky cannot be enough to hold me,
nor the highest heavens be too far to reach.
Eternal God of endless flight,
may I rise with you in freedom,
through the death and resurrection of Truth and Life.
Love and Son.
Give me a restored life,
both with the divine and with humanity.
May I live in the freedom you offer,
truly accepting it.”43

43
David Cole, Celtic Prayers & Practices (Vestal NY: Anamchara Books, 2014), 83.
 37

Thursday in Seventh Week of Easter

Matthew 7: 12-20; Psalm 119: 105-112
In today’s Gospel we recall Jesus’ warning and invitation to “enter” into
eternal life through “the narrow gate”. This requires an attentiveness to
others’ real needs (and not just what we want them to do for us!), and a
spirit of discernment among all the inauthentic teachers and advisors
who would recruit us for their own less-than-human agendas, pretending
to tell us how to be happy (the “false prophets”). Ultimately, says Jesus,
we will know a teacher’s authenticity by their “fruits”. (Recall the
Scriptural image of mature humans blossoming in the “Fruit of the Spirit”
(Galatians 5:22-23; see page 17 above). Read Matthew 7:12-20. What
sort of “fruit” are you “bearing”? Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in your
growing human spirit!
Such was the Celtic Christian confidence in the victory of Christ over evil,
that they believed that we may be guided by the Spirit’s own help in our
own spirit, in distinguishing the interloping evil from the created good in
our world. In Periphyseon, Eriugena’s subtle theological exploration of
the relationship between God and “nature”, the “Scots” philosopher
relied upon this belief:
“But under the guidance and helm of Divine Mercy, with the favourable
breath of the Holy Spirit filling the canvas of our ship, we may make a
safe, straight course among these dangers and, free and unscathed,
shall arrive by a gentle course at the harbour toward which we are
making.”44
This “safe, straight course” requires the discipline and guidance that may
spring from the practice of a personal “Rule of Life”. You may want to be
thinking about what sort of personal disciplines you might continue after
Pentecost, at the end of this shared program. Why not plan to talk about
it with your Soul-Friend? Perhaps they would like to continue some or all
or other P.A.T.H.S.-like “Celtic” Christian disciplines, and with the help of
a continued anamchara partnership.
Psalm 119 is an extended meditation on the blessings of God’s Torah,
God’s “Rule of Life” for the Jewish people. During the doctoral thesis
P.A.T.H.S. experiment, participants read two stanzas of Psalm 119 every
Wednesday. They found it too repetitive! So let’s only prayerfully read
one typical stanza now. What “snares” (Psalm 119:110) stand in the way
of your true happiness? Read and pray: Psalm 119:105-112.

44
John Scotus Eriugena, Periphyseon, IV.2, Myra L. Uhlfelder, ed., Periphyseon, On
the Divine Nature (Indianapolis IL: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1976), 209. (In
Eriugena’s day, “Scots” could mean Irish or Welsh as much as Scottish.)
 38

Friday in Seventh Week of Easter

Matthew 7: 21-29; Psalm 23
We begin today with the most famous psalm of all. David, the one-time
shepherd, imagines himself as a sheep and God as his Shepherd. David
knew the sort of feeding grounds and still waters that sheep preferred.
He knows that God will also provide the best for him. Now he is a king.
Enemies, sit at his royal table. Even his having been anointed as king by
Samuel (I Samuel 16:12-13) becomes for David an image of a shepherd
anointing a sheep with balm, healing insect infestation (Psalm 23:5).
Now read and pray Psalm 23.
Our final Gospel text for this journey to Pentecost comes from the end of
Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”. It’s not enough to listen to and be thrilled
by the great words of Jesus and the Scriptures. They must be put into
practice. There is a difference between being a nominal “Christian” and
being a disciple of Jesus –a “saint” in the making, a child of the Father.
Even lots of Christian activism (prophesyings? psychological healings?)
do not necessarily signify a true communion with Christ in the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit. Prayerfully read and reflect upon Matthew 7:21-29.
Celtic Christians were keen in the way and manner in which they would
be privileged to die. They carefully chose, if they could, what they called
their “place of resurrection”. Their friends and loved ones would gather
around them during their last, often painful hours, encouraging them
and being with them as they made their final preparations, fought their
last battle with the frailties of this mortal existence, and passed on to
eternity. By God’s grace, that would be a blessed transition, for they had
lived their whole life in preparation for it. This is our final prayer:
“Bless to me, O God,
The path whereon I go;
Bless to me, O God,
The thing of my desire;
Evermore of evermore,
Bless to me my rest.
Bless to me the thing
Whereon is set my mind,
Bless to me the thing
Whereon is set my love;
Bless to me the things
Whereon is set my hope;
O King of kings,
Bless to me mine eye!”45

45
Thomas McPherson, Essential Celtic Prayers (Brewster MA: Paraclete Press,
2017), 92.
 39

Trinitarian Prayers
1. When Rising.

Father! I praise you

For the gift of this day!
Jesus! I thank you
For your healing way.
Spirit! I ask you to help me obey
All of Love’s promptings
at work and at play.
(Rev. Chris McMullen)
2. During the Day.

I give my work to you, Lord.

I give my work to you.
I give my fun to you, Lord,
I give my fun to you.
I give my love to you, Lord,
I give my love to you.
Creator, Saviour, Saint-Maker,
I give my love to you.
(Adapted from David Adam, Power Lines:
Celtic Prayers about Work. London: SPCK Triangle, 1992)

7. At the End of the Day

Father!
Circle me this night with your protection.
Jesus!
Surround me this night with your affection.
Spirit!
May I sleep in peace,
knowing my final end is in the Resurrection!
(Adapted from Jenny Child, Celtic Prayers and Reflections,
Dublin: The Columba Press, 2008)