by Bernard Meehan
The German proverb says "What one knows, one sees." The Celtic Pilgrimages offer a great deal of opportunity for seeing things in a new and wonderful way. These books are excellent preparation for your own sacred journey.
Books marked with * are especially
recommended for study by Esther de Waal.
The readings marked with # are recommended by the Cultural Diversity Among the Traditional Celtics study group.
Sister Therese receives a portion of the purchase price when books are purchased through the links on this page. But you don't need to spend money in order to learn more about Celtic Christianity. There are rich resources for study on the internet. Be sure to visit our links page.
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How the Irish Saved Civilization : The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe (Hinges of History,) by Thomas Cahill (Paperback - March 1996) |
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The Book of
Kells : An Illustrated Introduction to the Manuscript in Trinity College Dublin
by Bernard Meehan |
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The Lindisfarne
Gospels by Janet Backhouse (Paperback - April 1993) An unusually beautiful book |
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Celtic Prayers
from Iona by J. Philip Newell |
Iona by Thomas Owen Clancy (Editor), Gilbert Markus The island of Iona is home to perhaps the most important monastery in the history of the early western church. Bringing together eight poems written at the abbey between 563 A.D. and 704 A.D., this book casts new light on early intellectual and spiritual life at the monastery. |
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The Pattern
of Our Days : Worship in the Celtic Tradition from the Iona Community by Kathy Galloway (Editor), et al (Paperback - May 1999) Prayers and worship from the Iona Community with whom we will visit on pilgrimage |
Iona : A Guide to the Monuments by John G. Dunbar, et al (Paperback - May 1995) An official guide book by the Royal Commission |
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Iona by Peter W. Millar (Paperback - August 2000) A pilgrim guide |
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Mull & Iona : Highways & Byways by Peter MacNab (Paperback - January 2000) The emphasis is on the Island of Mull but it is a good guide for off-the-beaten track tours of Iona. |
Iona-God's Energy by Rev. Norman Shanks (Paperback - April 1999) An introduction to the spirituality of the Iona Community, with whom our pilgrimage will be visiting, by its leader, the Rev. Norman Shanks. |
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The Celtic
World: An Illustrated History 700 B.C. to the Present by Patrick Lavin (Hardcover - June 1999) |
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Tales of the Elders of Ireland : (Acallam Na Senorach) (Oxford World's Classics) by Ann Dooley (Editor), Harry Roe (Translator) Tales of the Elders of Ireland is the first complete translation of the late Middle Irish Acallam na Senorach, the largest literary text surviving from twelfth-century Ireland. It contains the earliest and most comprehensive collection of Fenian stories and poetry, intermingling the contemporary Christian world of Saint Patrick with his scribes, clerics, occasional angels and souls rescued from Hell, the earlier pagan world of the ancient, giant Fenians and Irish kings, and the parallel, timeless Otherworld, peopled by ever-young, shape-shifting fairies. |
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* The Celts by Nora K. Chadwick Foundational reference |
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*Holy Companions: Spiritual Practices from the Celtic Saints by Mary C. Earle and Sylvia Maddox The Celtic tradition continues to captivate readers. Centuries old, it seems to speak to the modern world with a fresh voice. In Holy Companions, readers are invited to get to know and journey with eighteen Celtic saints. The authors have provided a theme inspired by each saint, along with a brief biography, a reflection on what the saint's life and words may mean to us today, and some spiritual exercises and practices that grow out of that life and work. Written accessibly, this is an excellent book for individual exploration or group study. |
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* Celtic Christianity : A Sacred Tradition, a Vision of Hope by Timothy J. Joyce An accessible introduction |
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* Every Earthly Blessing by Esther de Waal Morehouse Publishing Company; ISBN: 0819218065 |
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* Celtic Sacred Landscapes
by Nigel Pennick More Scholarly |
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The Celtic
Cross : An Illustrated History and Celebration by Nigel Pennick |
* An Introduction to Celtic Christianity by James P. MacKey |
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* Celtic Christian Spirituality : An Anthology of Medieval and Modern Sources by Oliver Davies (Editor), Fiona Bowie (Editor) (Paperback - December 1995) |
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Ecclesiastical
History of the English People With Bede's Letter to Egbert and Cuthbert's Letter
on the Death of Bede (Penguin Classics) by Bede, et al (Paperback - May 1991) |
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The Quest
of Three Abbots : The Golden Age of Celtic Christianity by Brendan Lehane Focusing on three "wonderers of Christ" who followed his destiny in a different, ground-breaking way-St. Brendan to America, St. Columba to the Druid isle of Iona and St. Columbanus to Europe. |
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Wisdom of
the Celtic Saints by Edward C. Sellner, Susan McLean-Keeney (Illustrator) Primary source materials on St. Patrick, St. Columba, St. Bridgit and sixteen more |
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Adomnan of Iona : Life of St. Columba (Penguin Classics) by Richard Sharpe (Translator) This is a highly unusual book - the biography of one saint written by another. St. Adamnan (Adomnan), 624- 704, ninth abbot of Iona, wrote the biography of St. Columba, the founder. The fact that it is still in print 1,300 years later says a great deal about both men. |
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The Confession of Saint Patrick : And, Letter to Coroticus by Saint Patrick, Patrick Epistola Ad Milites Corotici, John Skinner (Translator), John O'Donohue This is Patrick's autobiography, with a commentary. St. Patrick's Confession is also available here. |
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* Glendalough: A Celtic Pilgrimage by Marcus Losack & Michael Rodgers Information about St. Kevin and other saints of Glendalough |
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* The Spirituality of Celtic Saints by Richard J. Woods (Paperback - March 2000) |
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* The Celtic Year
: A Month-By-Month Celebration of Celtic Christian Festivals and Sites by Shirley Toulson (Paperback - October 1996) |
* Daily Readings from Prayers and Praises in the Celtic Tradition by Esther De Waal (Editor), A.M. Allchin |
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* God Under My Roof by Esther De Waal |
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* The Celtic Vision The Carmina Gadelica edited by Esther De Waal A classic collection of Celtic prayers sanctifying every aspect of human life. It demolishes the wall between sacred and secular, holy and mundane. It will electrify your prayer life. |
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* The Celtic Way of Prayer by Esther De Waal Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub (Trd Pap); ISBN: 0385493746 Hardcover:Doubleday; ISBN: 0385486634 |
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Celtic Prayers
from Iona by J. Philip Newell |
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A Desert in the Ocean: the Spiritual Journey according to St. Brendan the Navigator by David Adam David Adam, the former vicar of the Holy Island (Lindisfarne), has a way of uniting the ancient Celtic stories with hard-headed contemporary spirituality. This is a work book for the interior life, a journey in time & within. |
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The Open Gate: Celtic Prayers for Growing Spiritually by David Adam This collection of Celtic prayers, old and new, is a wonderful resource for public and private worship. If you have never done much reading around Celtic Spirituality, this book is an excellent starting place. Actually, every thing David Adam writes is wise and wonderful. |
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Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community By the Northumbria Community A prayer book for daily use, either with the family or in private, featuring a two year cycle of prayers and readings. While we were in Lindisfarne, we were priviledged to share a morning of prayer with Andy Raine, who compiled most of the material for this book. It was a rather magical experience. And it's nice to know that there is a far-flung community participating along with you every day in prayer from this book. A wonderful and easy way to get acquainted with the major Celtic saints and their deeper meaning. Please use the link above to visit the website for the Northumbria Community. (They seem to have two sites, one dot com and the other dot org. The dot org site is the official site but both seem worth the visit.) |
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The Pattern
of Our Days : Worship in the Celtic Tradition from the Iona Community by Kathy Galloway (Editor), et al (Paperback - May 1999) |
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Carmina Gadelica
: Hymns and Incantations by Alexander Carmichael (Compiler) (Paperback) Long out of print, this is a major, major work in prayer and spirituality. |
Iona by Thomas Owen Clancy (Editor), Gilbert Markus The island of Iona is home to perhaps the most important monastery in the history of the early western church. Bringing together eight poems written at the abbey between 563 A.D. and 704 A.D., this book casts new light on early intellectual and spiritual life at the monastery. A university textbook. |
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Open
Mind, Open Heart: the Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel By Thomas Keating First publishing in 1986, this book by Trappist monk Thomas Keating sparked a resurgence of interest in Christian contemplation. This is the primer for those interested in a deeper prayer life. |
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Will and Spirit:
A Contemplative Psychology By Gerald G. May "A rich book covering many areas of human experience. . . . For the person looking for an intelligent and clear presentation of the relationship between psychological and spiritual growth, this is the book to read.'--America |
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Addiction
and Grace By Gerald G. May The deepest longing of the human heart is for God. But living is a complex business and free will leaves us free to make wrong choices. Each of us has attachments and addictions that keep us from being fully ourselves - and fully available to be the people God means us to be. But there is Good News: who the Son has freed is Free Indeed! |
| He Leadeth Me By Walter J. Ciszak, S.J. Fr. Walter Ciszek's story of 23 years in Siberian prisons seems at first as if it will be a dismal tale. Rather, Fr. Ciszek embraces his time in prison as God's will. His utter reliance on prayer and on God are truly inspiring. Each chapter is not only moving, but provides the reader with a different lesson in faith. This book is powerful reading. You will not be disappointed. - Review from amazon.com |
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Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality By Ronald Rolheiser Ronald Rolheiser makes sense of what is frequently a misunderstood word: spirituality. In posing the question "What is spirituality?" Father Rolheiser gets quickly to the heart of common difficulties with the subject and shows through compelling anecdotes and personal examples how to channel that restlessness, that deep desire, into a healthy spirituality. This book is for those searching to understand what Christian spirituality means and how to apply it to their own lives. - Review from amazon.com |
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The Shattered Latern: Rediscovering a Felt Presence of God By Ronald Rolheiser Rolheiser posits most believers rarely, if ever, see God in their lives. Something is wrong with us. This book first describes in some detail why we are not fully aware of God in our lives - excessive narcissism, pragmatism and restlessness are the culprits. Our perception is distorted because we lack the perspective of the contemplative: an infinite horizon where God is the background to all our ordinary experiences. Simply put, most lack the ability to see beyond their own heartaches and headaches. The book then turns to the three main contemplative traditions in Western Christianity: the mystical tradition exemplified by John of the Cross, the Protestant contemplative tradition and the philosophical tradition of Theism. Rolheiser does an excellent job of summarizing all three. The book ends by succinctly explaining the spiritual exercises we can undertake to help purify our hearts, expand our awareness and reacquire a childlike heart of wonder and awe. - Review from amazon.com |
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Dialogue with God By Mark Virkler This book comes highly recommended by our pilgrims coming from the more evangelical and charismatic Christian traditions. Prayer is meant to be more than a one-way street - us talking to God. If the Bible does nothing else, it shows us how deeply God longs to communicate with us. This book offers simple and practical steps to opening two-way communication in prayer. |
| * Isle of the Saints : Monastic Settlement and Christian Community in Early Ireland by Lisa M. Bitel (Paperback - January 1994) |
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* The Celtic Monk by Uniseann O. Maidin (Paperback - February 1997) Special Order |
Praise Above All : Discovering the Welsh Tradition by A.M. Allchin (Hardcover - June 1991) |
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# A Handbook of Scottish Gaelic Culture by Dr. Michael Newton [Hardcover] "A Handbook of Scottish Gaelic Culture" provides a useful starting place for both the novice and the scholar by describing the culture in its own words. He uses folk tales, poetry, songs and stories in Gaelic, with English translations, to support descriptions of all aspects of daily life: work, family, social, spiritual, creative life and entertainment. Many of his sources, being Gaelic, have never been available to the English-speaking student before. Link to Softcover Edition |
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# Cattle Lords and Clansmen: the Social Structure of Early Ireland by Nerys Thomas Patterson Dr. Patterson examines Irish society before the Normans came by combining primary sources with sociological and anthropological methods. Winner of the 1992 American Conference for Irish Studies Prize for a first book (with a different subtitle), and here augmented with a chapter on season rhythm, additional material, and an updated bibliography. |
# The Year in Ireland by Kevin Danaher A look at traditional seasonal customs in Ireland. Good scholarship and easy to read. |
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| # British Calendar Customs: Scotland - Movable Festivals, Harvest March Ridings and Wappynshaws by Mrs. Macleod Banks A collection of studies examining Scottish seasonal customs. This is to compare and contrast with the previous volume. Come on now. You don't want to be the last on your block to know what a "wappynshaw" is, do you? |
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# The Mammy # The Chisellers # The Granny by Breanden O'Carroll These are the first novels to find their way to this page. They are guaranteed to be fun to read - providing a cultural education without pain. |
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The Seven
Whispers: Listening to the Voice of Spirit By Christina Baldwin Christina Baldwin offers a guide to hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit more clearly in our every day lives. Offering more than intellectual understanding, Christina Baldwin intends this book to be used as an exercise manual to sensitize us to the Spirit's leading. We are also using the online study guide for this book, available by following the link below: http://www.peerspirit.com/htmlpages/studyguide.html |
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Spiritual
Traditions for the Contemporary Church by Robin Maas And Gabriel O'Donnell Our Thursday morning breakfast study group is reading this book. It is part of the course work for becoming a spiritual director. But more than that, it offers something missing for centuries in much of Western Christianity: a daily spiritual practice. It seeks to blend theology with spiritual discipline in order to offer the believer a daily spiritual walk, not just a visit to church on Sunday morning. |
Esther de Waal
Lost in Wonder:
the Art of Spiritual Attentiveness
Esther's 2003 book is in many ways her most personal. Yet she draws from the rich
wells of Benedictine and Celtic spirituality to help inform spiritual awareness in the modern age.
To Pause at
the Threshold
Esther de Waal never lets us down! In To Pause at the Threshold she explores how
even the busiest life can be lived mindfully and prayerfully. She attunes us to what the Celtic Christians called
"thin" moments, those times when what is before gives way to the new, when God is experienced as most
palpably present. Life is immeasurably blessed, she assures us, when we receive the next moment, the next event,
the next person with reverence and expectation. This fine little book is a lovely companion for the one who lives
life on pilgrimage.
Seeking God
: The Way of St. Benedict
Liturgical Press; ISBN: 0814613888
Living
With Contradiction: An Introduction to Benedictine Spirituality
Morehouse Publishing Company; ISBN: 0819217549
A Life-Giving Way : A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict
Liturgical Press; ISBN: 0814623581
The Celtic Vision
St Bedes Pubns; ISBN: 0932506836
The Celtic Way of Prayer
Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub (Trd Pap); ISBN: 0385493746
Hardcover:Doubleday; ISBN: 0385486634
Every Earthly
Blessing
Morehouse Publishing Company; ISBN: 0819218065
God Under My Roof
Paraclete Press; ISBN: 0941478424
The Rule of Saint Benedict
Morehouse Publishing Company; ISBN: 0852441681
A Seven Day
Journey With Thomas Merton
Servant Publications; ISBN: 0892837896
Tintern
Unknown; ISBN: 1853113123
The Way of
Simplicity : The Cistercian Tradition
Orbis Books; ISBN: 1570751951
Marcus Losack
Glendalough:
A Celtic Pilgrimage
Morehouse Publishing Company; ISBN: 0819216941
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The pilgrimage group will be small. Don't be disappointed. |
For more information contact:
Therese Elias, OSB
Guardian Angels Monastic House
4220 Mercier
Kansas City, MO 64111
816/561-6855
tmelias@juno.com
