Celtic Saints MIdterm

Midway through our course on Celtic saints and the arts we doubled back for more formal statements of what we've been learning.

We considered a constellation of aspects of Celtic Christian sprituality.

We discussed how people have become saints in various traditions including the fact that a number of the saints we have studied have been glorified in the Orthodox Church and some are also Catholic. Many started as locally-venerated saints, were approved by a nearby bishop, and sometimes went on to be canonized by a higher ecclesiastical authority. Anglicans recognize and commemorate certain martyrs of the faith and Methodists have recently recognized Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King Jr. in a similar way. The "Supreme Executive Committee"of Lent Madness has broadened and lightened the devotion to saints with its annual tournament for the Golden Halo.

 

       This Orthodox icon shows a cloud of Celtic saints. This and similarly stunning images can be found here

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Finally, we explored the colors of martydom, a tradition associated with Jerome and Pope Gregory I and referenced in the Cambrai Homily, an Irish document from the 7th or 8th centuries. These include the red martyrdom of those who are physically tortured or die, the white martyrdom of those who embrace the life of pilgrimage leaving much behind, and the blue or green martyrdom of who suffer faithfully through fasting.

Class concluded with a little introduction to Saint Walburga and her family tree of pilgrims and missionaries including her father, Richard the Pilgrim, and her uncle, St. Boniface.  We also briefly studied St. Margaret of Scotland seen here in All Saints' own window.