The Dawn of Celtic Christianity
Christianity arrived in Britain probably through the trade routes that traversed the seas from the European continent, and the Roman persecutions of the third and fourth centuries resulted in the first indigenous martyrs, of whom Alban of Verulamium is the best attested. There is also evidence that in the fourth century bishops from Britain attended church councils at Arles, Sardica and Rimini, and they were well aware of the Pope as bishop of Rome.[1]
Concurrent with pilgrimage becoming a more regular feature of Christian devotion towards the end of the fourth century, the first wave of Celtic evangelism into Britain began around 397AD with the arrival of St. Ninian at Whithorn in southern Scotland. St. Aelred of Rievaulx (12th century), who explicitly quotes St. Bede’s summary, suggests that after his studies in Rome and subsequent episcopal ordination, Ninian homeward-bound, spent some time with St. Martin and his monastic community in Marmoutier, Gaul.[2] This relationship between Martin and Ninian continues to be debated and disputed but both the site of Ninian’s cave and Candida Casa (the White Castle or Whithorn) ‘have a strong feel of an attempt to recreate Marmoutier in this desolate spot’.[3] It is clear, however, that St. Martin, who died in 397, was highly esteemed by Ninian. Having established his monastery, Ninian, in typical Celtic fashion, set out to evangelise the surrounding areas, then moved onto converting the Eastern Picts, travelling as far as Orkney and Shetland and back through the Great Glen.[4]
Some scholars take the view that St Ninian’s influence beyond Candida Casa had much more significance than just creating the groundwork for St Columba’s evangelistic enterprises. Candida Casa affected the north of England, and those visitors who travelled there from Ireland and Wales benefitted greatly from the monasticism that they experienced and then exported to their locus.
Throughout the next one hundred and fifty years, an amazing movement blossomed that resulted in the profound conversion of the Celtic peoples, and laid the basic essentials for a blossoming of what we now call Celtic Christianity, with pilgrimage becoming a vital, integral ingredient.[5]
What was so distinctive about Celtic Christian Pilgrimage? There are several strands which when woven together create the uniqueness of this early church movement.
One strand in Celtic pilgrimage concerns placing oneself in God's hand. The classic example is three Irishmen who were brought to King Alfred the Great, because they had got in a boat without steering equipment and launched themselves out to sea in the faith that God would ordain a place for them (this is Biblically inspired). Sometimes it is forgotten that the Irish were strong sailors, and certainly got as far as Iceland.
The Celtic idea of pilgrimage is very strongly one of journeying 'away' not journeying 'to' any place. It is sometimes expressed as 'seeking a desert' (an uninhabited place), and of course, involves never coming back, though self evidently, stories about Columba and Columbanus, indicate that a good few holy men and women kept in contact with their home monastery.[6] The result was the development of a far-flung network of interconnected monasteries and hospitals used as pilgrimage staging posts.[7]
Kathleen Hughes in her paper The Changing Theory and Practice of Irish Pilgrimage further explains:
St. Columbanus on essential instability speaks of life as a roadway, where Christians must travel in perpetual pilgrimage as guests of the world. A manuscript ... known as the ‘Wandering of Ciaran’ says that his journeys were not well-planned itineraries, determined in advance, he had no definite temporal destination; his aim was to live the ascetic life in exile, so he set out in pilgrimage for the Lord of the elements, sometimes event entrusting himself to the seas without oars or rudder, like those Irishmen who came to land on the coasts of Cornwall in 891.[8]
A Columbanus-type pilgrimage would inherently contain some extreme element. This was a journey for Christ, not a grand tour or excursion to some foreign land. A group may travel together as a community ‘living together in ideal brotherliness and in strictest discipline... the boldness of the pilgrim bound to fellow travellers in community does not end with the boundary of the monastery.[9]
Another strand of Celtic Christian Pilgrimage is that of martyrdom. For the Celts, there were three types of martyrdom. Red martyrdom represented the traditional Christian understanding of a believer’s death for the sake of Christ. This was not often an issue for the Celts until the ninth century when, with the advent of the Vikings, numerous communities of monks and nuns were martyred (Donnan of Eigg and his community, who made the mistake of settling on an island valued by a pagan Pictish queen in 617, were very much exceptions). There was very little difference between white and green martyrdom as in both cases there is a connection with separation from that which is loved in the context of penance. White martyrdom involves separation from everything and everyone that is loved, meaning that separation from clan and country may be an inevitable external consequence of pilgrimage. Green martyrdom, in addition to that required for white martyrdom, also included the suppression of internal desires and a spiritual battle.
The Celts were renowned for mixing faith with action and this was demonstrated by the manner in which they embraced peregrinatio, enthusiastically responding to Christ’s call to take up their cross and follow him, to wherever that may lead them. Robinson suggests that there are four important distinct themes to peregrinatio. The first is that of penance, within the concepts of white and green martyrdom, acknowledging that the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ leads to the forgiveness of sins and that an appropriate response was required by identifying and replacing these with contrary values as a way of life.
The second theme was the Celts’ understanding that there was very little separating this world from the next (Thin Places) – the reality of heaven was ever-present and encountered through peregrinatio – the Kingdom of God was very near. A ‘radicality of obedience’, the third theme, was of great importance to the Celts. It may have been their natural temperament, or a deep gratitude towards Christ that convinced them that any sacrifice, cost or journey would be a small payment for His sacrifice. Penitentials, the rule of life in most monasteries, and devotional practices undertaken by the Celts, were more severe than anything similar found elsewhere in Christendom. The pilgrim Celt leaving home to journey away, never to return, exemplified this radical commitment.
The final theme vital to understanding peregrinatio is that these pilgrimage journeys were for Christ and not for self, thereby keeping the practice positive, outward looking and transformational. Robinson states that ‘these were journeys undertaken to live the Christian life, exemplify it, to help others and to preach the good news about Christ’, and later concludes that ‘The task of proclamation becomes the positive replacement for a life previously without devotion to Christ’.[10]
[1] K. Hughes, Church and Society in Ireland AD400-1200 (London: Variorum Reprints, 1987), Ch. XV, p.4.
[2] St. Ailred, The Life of St. Ninian, http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/ninian.html,
[3] C. Donald, Martin of Tours (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 1997), p.138.
[4] M. Robinson, Rediscovering the Celts (London: Harper Collins, 2000), p.200.
[5] M. Robinson, The Celts, pp.20-21.
[6] St. Adamnan, Life of St. Columba, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columba-e.html
[7] Jonas, The Life of St. Columban, htttp://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columban.html
[8] Hughes, Church and Society, Ch.XIV, p.143.
[9] Robinson, The Celts, pp.149-150.
[10] Robinson, The Celts, pp.156-161.
Concurrent with pilgrimage becoming a more regular feature of Christian devotion towards the end of the fourth century, the first wave of Celtic evangelism into Britain began around 397AD with the arrival of St. Ninian at Whithorn in southern Scotland. St. Aelred of Rievaulx (12th century), who explicitly quotes St. Bede’s summary, suggests that after his studies in Rome and subsequent episcopal ordination, Ninian homeward-bound, spent some time with St. Martin and his monastic community in Marmoutier, Gaul.[2] This relationship between Martin and Ninian continues to be debated and disputed but both the site of Ninian’s cave and Candida Casa (the White Castle or Whithorn) ‘have a strong feel of an attempt to recreate Marmoutier in this desolate spot’.[3] It is clear, however, that St. Martin, who died in 397, was highly esteemed by Ninian. Having established his monastery, Ninian, in typical Celtic fashion, set out to evangelise the surrounding areas, then moved onto converting the Eastern Picts, travelling as far as Orkney and Shetland and back through the Great Glen.[4]
Some scholars take the view that St Ninian’s influence beyond Candida Casa had much more significance than just creating the groundwork for St Columba’s evangelistic enterprises. Candida Casa affected the north of England, and those visitors who travelled there from Ireland and Wales benefitted greatly from the monasticism that they experienced and then exported to their locus.
Throughout the next one hundred and fifty years, an amazing movement blossomed that resulted in the profound conversion of the Celtic peoples, and laid the basic essentials for a blossoming of what we now call Celtic Christianity, with pilgrimage becoming a vital, integral ingredient.[5]
What was so distinctive about Celtic Christian Pilgrimage? There are several strands which when woven together create the uniqueness of this early church movement.
One strand in Celtic pilgrimage concerns placing oneself in God's hand. The classic example is three Irishmen who were brought to King Alfred the Great, because they had got in a boat without steering equipment and launched themselves out to sea in the faith that God would ordain a place for them (this is Biblically inspired). Sometimes it is forgotten that the Irish were strong sailors, and certainly got as far as Iceland.
The Celtic idea of pilgrimage is very strongly one of journeying 'away' not journeying 'to' any place. It is sometimes expressed as 'seeking a desert' (an uninhabited place), and of course, involves never coming back, though self evidently, stories about Columba and Columbanus, indicate that a good few holy men and women kept in contact with their home monastery.[6] The result was the development of a far-flung network of interconnected monasteries and hospitals used as pilgrimage staging posts.[7]
Kathleen Hughes in her paper The Changing Theory and Practice of Irish Pilgrimage further explains:
St. Columbanus on essential instability speaks of life as a roadway, where Christians must travel in perpetual pilgrimage as guests of the world. A manuscript ... known as the ‘Wandering of Ciaran’ says that his journeys were not well-planned itineraries, determined in advance, he had no definite temporal destination; his aim was to live the ascetic life in exile, so he set out in pilgrimage for the Lord of the elements, sometimes event entrusting himself to the seas without oars or rudder, like those Irishmen who came to land on the coasts of Cornwall in 891.[8]
A Columbanus-type pilgrimage would inherently contain some extreme element. This was a journey for Christ, not a grand tour or excursion to some foreign land. A group may travel together as a community ‘living together in ideal brotherliness and in strictest discipline... the boldness of the pilgrim bound to fellow travellers in community does not end with the boundary of the monastery.[9]
Another strand of Celtic Christian Pilgrimage is that of martyrdom. For the Celts, there were three types of martyrdom. Red martyrdom represented the traditional Christian understanding of a believer’s death for the sake of Christ. This was not often an issue for the Celts until the ninth century when, with the advent of the Vikings, numerous communities of monks and nuns were martyred (Donnan of Eigg and his community, who made the mistake of settling on an island valued by a pagan Pictish queen in 617, were very much exceptions). There was very little difference between white and green martyrdom as in both cases there is a connection with separation from that which is loved in the context of penance. White martyrdom involves separation from everything and everyone that is loved, meaning that separation from clan and country may be an inevitable external consequence of pilgrimage. Green martyrdom, in addition to that required for white martyrdom, also included the suppression of internal desires and a spiritual battle.
The Celts were renowned for mixing faith with action and this was demonstrated by the manner in which they embraced peregrinatio, enthusiastically responding to Christ’s call to take up their cross and follow him, to wherever that may lead them. Robinson suggests that there are four important distinct themes to peregrinatio. The first is that of penance, within the concepts of white and green martyrdom, acknowledging that the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ leads to the forgiveness of sins and that an appropriate response was required by identifying and replacing these with contrary values as a way of life.
The second theme was the Celts’ understanding that there was very little separating this world from the next (Thin Places) – the reality of heaven was ever-present and encountered through peregrinatio – the Kingdom of God was very near. A ‘radicality of obedience’, the third theme, was of great importance to the Celts. It may have been their natural temperament, or a deep gratitude towards Christ that convinced them that any sacrifice, cost or journey would be a small payment for His sacrifice. Penitentials, the rule of life in most monasteries, and devotional practices undertaken by the Celts, were more severe than anything similar found elsewhere in Christendom. The pilgrim Celt leaving home to journey away, never to return, exemplified this radical commitment.
The final theme vital to understanding peregrinatio is that these pilgrimage journeys were for Christ and not for self, thereby keeping the practice positive, outward looking and transformational. Robinson states that ‘these were journeys undertaken to live the Christian life, exemplify it, to help others and to preach the good news about Christ’, and later concludes that ‘The task of proclamation becomes the positive replacement for a life previously without devotion to Christ’.[10]
[1] K. Hughes, Church and Society in Ireland AD400-1200 (London: Variorum Reprints, 1987), Ch. XV, p.4.
[2] St. Ailred, The Life of St. Ninian, http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/ninian.html,
[3] C. Donald, Martin of Tours (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 1997), p.138.
[4] M. Robinson, Rediscovering the Celts (London: Harper Collins, 2000), p.200.
[5] M. Robinson, The Celts, pp.20-21.
[6] St. Adamnan, Life of St. Columba, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columba-e.html
[7] Jonas, The Life of St. Columban, htttp://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/columban.html
[8] Hughes, Church and Society, Ch.XIV, p.143.
[9] Robinson, The Celts, pp.149-150.
[10] Robinson, The Celts, pp.156-161.