Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Celtic Christianity


For me St. Patrick's Day is always a reminder of the Celtic Christian tradition which has been rekindled and redisovered in recent years. It is a creative, earth-honouring, less hierarchical approach to the community of faith which is so old that is new again.

I like the prayers and blessings which were created for every aspect of life, a willingness to find the holy and extraordinary in the midst of the mundane and ordinary. Below is a portion of a "hatching prayer" which caught my attention after seeing the chickens of our friends on the weekend and enjoying the eggs we purchased from them since our return.

I Will rise early on the morning of Monday,
I will sing my rune and rhyme,
I will go sunwise with my cog
To the nest of my hen with sure intent.
I will place my left hand to my breast,
My right hand to my heart,
I will seek the loving wisdom of Him
Abundant in grace, in broods, and in flocks.
I will close my two eyes quickly,
As in blind-man's buff moving slowly;
I will stretch my left hand over thither
To the nest of my hen on yonder side.

Do you recognize St. Patrick's Day in any way? Anything Irish? A prayer or a pint of Guiness, or both?

4 comments:

IanD said...

What a beautiful little prayer! Thanks for sharing that.

Laurie said...

I say a prayer , listen to Irish music and have a shot of Irish, wish that I was planning a trip there, then again I do all that on most days.
Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Deborah Laforet said...

We all wear green of course. Jeff wishes he could enjoy a beer, but is busy tonight. I get to go to Prince Albert for a concert. Her name is Kate Rusby and she's from Great Britain. I am really looking forward to it. It is almost a six hour drive to PA, but the company is good.

Laurie said...

Kate Rusby is great!, She was playing at Hugh's room in Toronto last week.