Hildegard von Bingen: A Woman of Vision

Vision is a wonderful film about the life of the 12th century Benedictine nun, Hildegard von Bingen. von Bingen was a woman well ahead of her time, a maveric in every positive sense of that word. She was multi-talented; a Christian mystic, writer, composer, naturalist, herbalist and ecological activist.

Each time I hear that name, "Hildegard von Bingen", I am reminded that I first learned about this unique woman in a monastic setting, at the Order of the Holy Cross, West Park, New York. How fitting was that and yet how appropriate! A personal reminder of the great religious and spiritual writers who have come from monastic settings. This German film does a fantastic job in introducing one of the fascinating religious mystics of her time and ours.

Born almost a thousand years ago (that's right a thousand years), von Bingen remains a person who seems well ahead of her time. Surprisingly von Bingen's life, themes, and interests seem strangely modern and resonate to us moderns. The film demonstrates how with courage von Bingen was able to challenge church rules and found several convents. She was also a theologian who loved books and learning. Some of the titles of von Bingen's books are "Know the Paths of the Lord", "The Healing Power of Nature", and "The Book of Divine Works". von Bingen was also a scientist and herbalist. She was also a composer and her music is wonderful and hanuting-again ahead of her time. And just as the title Vision indicates, von Bingen also had "visions" of God and the future.

Vision is an important film for several reasons. Here you will be introduced to a unique and passionate Christian mystic. Second, you will have the opportunity to learn about a fascinating and profound woman who seemed well ahead of her time and even ours. Third, you will be introduced to von Bingen's main ideas and some of her music. Fourth, you will have the chance to learn something about the Benedictine way and tradition. Fifth, you will understand that von Bingen also is within the Celtic tradition. von Bingen warned that we needed to protect Nature and that if we mistreated "the elements", it could turn against us. 

I've included a link here where you can see clips from the movie and listen to some of von Bingen's music.

Celtic Christianity Ecology and Holiness

"the British Church has always represented an ideal for those who have known of it, and not simply as a Golden Age of innocence and purity which in the words of Nora Chadwick, has "never been surpassed and perhaps been equalled only by the ascetics of the eastern deserts, " but also, and more importantly, as an alternative seed, "a light from the west," perhaps obscure and even alien, but nevertheless powerful and true with the kind of reality we seem to need today." (pg. 9-10).

Celtic Christianity Ecology and Holiness (1982) was given to me by a friend and I never really looked at it till this morning. And how pleasantly surprized I was! It's not like anything I thought it would be. These past fews months I expected some long agrument on how the Celtic church and saints were the  founding members of the Green party. Not so!

Celtic Christianity Ecology and Holiness is a wonderful anthology of  Celtic stories, sayings, tales and legends. In addition, the book also contains a useful introduction and fascinating drawings and pictures which will appeal to anyone interested in Celtic studies. Leafing through this small book reminded me of David Adam's wonderful books which contain the same satisfying sensual blend. Then again, this is precisely one of the attractive features of Celtic Christianity-that it also appeals both to the mind and the senses-they are not mutually exclusive. 

The book is "framed" by a useful essay outlining the heritage of Celtic Christianity. The essay deserves several readings and argues the main features of the Celtic tradition are ecology, learning, science, poetry, and art. In this sense, the books title is somewhat deceiving. Nonetheless, the writers argue that the Celtic church offered an alternative "brand" of Christianity than what was taking place on the European mainland, and the natural environment played a key role:

"It was not only that these scribes and achorites lived by the destiny of their dedication in an environment of wood and sea; it was because they brought into that environment an eye washed miraculously clear by continious spiritual exercise that they, first in Europe, had that strange vision of natural things in an almost unnatural purity." (pg. 22).

Here monasteries flourished, and the Seven Liberal Arts flourished, producing great men and women saints. Columbanus was one of the greatest Celtic saints:

"What is best in the world? "To do the will of its maker. What is this will? That we should do what he has ordered, that is, that we should live in righteousness and seek devotedly what is eternal. How do we arrive at this? By study. We must therefore study devotedly and righteously. What is our best help in maintaining this study? The Intellectus, which probes everything and, finding none of the world's good in which it can permanently rest, is converted by reason into the one good which is eternal". (pg. 23)

Celtic Christianity Ecology and Holiness introduces the reader to fourteen saints some better known than others including Patrick, Brigit, Findian, Senan, Brendan, Kevin, Ciaran, Mochudan, Columba, Columbanus, Gall, Fursey, Aidan and Cuthbert.  This is the perfect kind of book to keep on the nightstand, so that you can dip into it each night before you go to sleep, flip through its pages, and learn something new about the great tradition of Insular Christianity.

The Narnia Code: Revd. Michael Ward

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Every year I receive an Alumnus Chronicle from the University of St. Andrews. These are always a great joy to read and give me the opportunity to think back as well as catch up with new events. This year I noted a fascinating sketch about the Rev. Michael Ward, a priest in the Church of England, who is also a Chaplain at St. Peter's College, Oxford. He did his PhD at St. Andrews on C.S. Lewis and is the author of Planet Narnia (2008) a book which is shaking the foundation of Lewis studies, and revolutionizing the way people understand the Narnia series. My own interest in Lewis begged me to ask for more, to contact Rev. Michael Ward, and write this article.

Ward claims to have discovered a secret code in Lewis's fictional series The Narnia Chronicles (1950-1956). In detective like fashion, Ward  believes he has unearthed the governing scheme behind the Chronicles. The discovery came when Ward was reading Lewis's The Discarded Image (1964), one of Lewis's finest academic books which describes the medieval cosmology and worldview. There Lewis discusses the medieval image of the seven heavens which contains the seven planets which revolve around the earth, and also influence the earth, including its people. These "planets" included the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

According to Ward, these "planets" are the backdrop to the Narnian world. Each book corresponds to one of the planets. This is a fascinating idea because this dimension adds another layer of depth to the books. Turns out the Chronciles are much more sophisticated then we ever thought.

How does this play out in the books themselves? Jupiter, the "King" of the planets is featured in The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe in Aslan. Mars, the planet of war, is central to Prince Caspian, where a civil war erputs. The Sun has a key role in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, where the ship sails in the direction of the sun. The moon is central in The Silver Chair, and silver was believed to be the medal of the moon. And so on. We should not be surprized at all by this imagery and multi-layered quality to The Chronicles. Lewis was a medieval scholar and he was known to delight in keeping secrets. 

To learn more abot Rev. Ward, and find out more about his discoveries, you can visit his website which is linked here. There is also a fascinating clip on Youtube where Rev. Ward shares more about his discovers and can be viewed here.

Listerning to the Heartbeat of God

J. Philip Newell is a popular writer on Celtic spirituality. Of Newell's many books, one of his best is Listening to the Heartbeat of God (1997). It's a wonderful introduction to the magic and depth of Celtic Christianity, and dicsusses some of the major themes in the history of the Celtic Church.

The book explores how one of the major tragedies of the Synod of Whitby was that one "brand" of spirituality was dsiplaced by another (Celtic vs. Roman) where both could have existed together. The Celtic mission was inspired by the apostle John, who embodied the practice of listening. The Roman mission took Peter as a symbol for faithful action. This became a contrast between listening to the heartbeat of God in the heart of life vs. the teaching and life of the Church.

The first chapter discusses the importance of listening for goodness, and is represented by Pelagius, the first great Celtic theologian. Pelagius was involved in several theological controversies. One centered around the practice of teaching women to read, and that the image of God could be seen in the face of a newborn child. Pelagius's teachings on the goodness of human nature contrasted sharped with the negativity and pessimism of St. Augustine.

Chapter two focuses on listening to Creation. John Scotus Eriugena may have been the greatest teacher the Celtic Church ever produced. A central part of Eriugena's teachings was that Christ is revealed in two major books or forms: Creation and in Holy Scripture. Key elements to Eriquena's theology are the mysticism of the Apostle John, who he described as "the observer of inmost truth". For Eriugena, God is in all things, and at the very core of life. Such a view has been termed "panentheism", or "God in all things".

The third theme, listening for God in all things, revolves around the Carmina Gadelica, a collection of oral prayers by Alexander Carmichael. These prayers are noted for their ordinary contexts, and prayers in every imaginal situation. The collection means "songs of the Gales" and celebrates God as the "King of the Elements". Carmichael actually went to different parts of Scotland and recorded many prayers and songs which had never been written down.

Newell's book is one which every person interested in Celtic Christianity should buy and read. It's a short book, easy to read, and one worth reading over and over again. It presents some of the major themes and personalities who helped shape Celtic or insular Christianity. I cited the book perviously as one of my top ten books on Celtic Christianity. For more on J. P. Newell visit his website linked  here.

How can monks marry?

Oftentime people are confused when they learn that I am a Christian priest who is also married. "How can this be?" says the puzzled look on their face. And yet you could say the very same thing regarding this blog. "How can a monk be married?"

Good questions. The explanation to these questions is really quite simple. Celtic monasticism (and Christianity for that matter) was quite a different "brand" than that of the Roman kind. See my earlier blog entitled "Culture Clash" for a longer discussion. Remember that much of Ireland was influenced by the monks of the Eastern desert, particularly the writings of John Cassian. When this "brand" of the faith, returned to Ireland, it blended into with other local cultural understandings and ways of doing things, just as it has whereever it is taken, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

We also need to thing differently when we hear the word "monastery". The Celtic notion of "monastery" was worlds different than the typical medieval monastery which existed in Europe. Unlike Latin Christianity, which often had a large stone monastery, and a huge church with flying buttresses and cloisters, the Celts had nothing of the kind. A monastery to them, was something like a monastic village. The village, or small town would be enwalled, a wall on a lesser scale than say St. Andrews, or York. Inside the walls, there would be huts, wooden buildings, and of course clochans, those stone beehive huts famously linked with Celtic Christianity.  And quite cleverly, the Celts built these small communities in strategic places, so that they could also be places of influence, and be places for strangers, seekers, and passerbys to go. Monasteries open to the public-sounds Celtic to me!

As you can expect, the Celtic understanding of religious orders was also different and at odds with Latin Chrisitianity. And perhaps it was this which really jazzed the Latin church, so much that it would send over St. Augustine to basically clean house. For most of Christendom, religious orders consisted of deacon, priest, and Bishop, with the Bishop top dog. This was not the case in Eire. There, the abbot (there's that monastic influence again) was number one, and the Bishop was often relegated to evangelical duties. Perhaps due to the close knit communities and tribes and clans, these distinctions may have seemed artificial. Anyway, what resulted was a wider range of religious orders and offices. So here, monks could marry, clergy could marry, and women such as Brigit could be Bishops, over a thousand years before the rest of Christendom ever began seriously considering these issues.

The history of the Christian church of one filled with the  themes of both freedom and structure. I've always like the notion that more is better, and in this case I think that is true. The church today needs to rethink the way it's conceives of clergy and how its trains clergy. A good place to see how things can be different is to look at the example of the early Celtic Church, which was way ahead of it's time.

The Search

I've been busy, like you probably, over the past week. Between things at work, and at home, it's hard finding time to blog. The last few days I've been in and out of many shops and stores. Here in Honolulu, we also have something called "the swap meet" which is like a giant garage sale. Vendors from all over the island converge in one spot, and sell everything from soup to nuts, literally from soup to nuts. It's something like a community attic, with vendors selling pots and pans, plants, music, books-you name it they have it. I usually ferret looking for cheap books and CD's. Can't hand with my wife who is the uber discount person. Found some great stuff by Michael Talbot Smith who is one of my favorite singers.

Afterwards, my wife and I went down to Jelly's (The Original), a second hand vendor of off the topic books and music. Going to Jelly's is like stepping back to the 1970's, and the Beat Generation. Rock music playing in the background, concert posters on the wall, and the most unusual collection of esoteric books in Hawaii bar none. I check in at Jelly's every now and then, and browse through their history and spirituality collections. There's usually at least one or two treasures just waiting to be snagged. I was fortunate to pick up two excellent books on Celtic spirituality. A Celtic Missellany (1951) is an anthology (hence misellany) of Celtic poetry and prose. It may seem to some like riding a bicycle through a museum, but a survey of this kind can often be the best way to introduce oneself to a great tradition. After finding an author or time frame you like, you can then zoom in and be more focused in your studies.

I really scored finding Miranda Green's The Celtic World (1995) for under ten dollars. It's something like one hundred bucks on Amazon. This heavyweight volume of eight hundred pages, addresses two important questions for the Celtic wisdom seeker. Who were the ancient Celts? In what form does the Celtic identity exist today, and how does this related to the ancient Celts? Of particular interest to us, is  chapter 37 on early Christianity and its monuments. I must also add the book has many fascinating drawings and pictures. There are many different contributors and offers a wide perspective of the period from the early Celts to the post Roman period of 400AD. Pick up both if you can find them cheap.

Lastly, let me wish everyone a blessed and meaningful Christmas! We serve a beautiful and loving God, Who continues to seek us in the most amazing ways. Blessed be His Name!

Blog interview with Ed Sellner

Today, we are pleased to spend a few moments with a leading American writer and scholar of Celtic Spirituality, Ed Sellner, who is a professor of Theology at St. Catherine's University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Ed has written ten books on different aspects of theology and spirituality. I've read several of Ed's books-they are excellent-and already reviewed one on this blog. They are an excellent starting point for anyone interested in learning something about Celtic Spirituality. As stated earlier, the first fifty-four pages of Wisdom of the Celtic Saints (2006), is the clearest and most succient introduction to Celtic Christianity ever. I won't say much about Finding the Monk Within (2008) which I reveiwed earlier on the blog, except to go out and buy it.

I've also had the pleasure of knowning Ed for five years, and consider him a friend. He's been to Hawaii twice, and led a one day workshop on Celtic Spirituality at St. Andrew's Cathedral here in Honolulu. We spoke today over the phone, sipped coffee, caught up with each other's lives, and in between, I slipped in a few questions.

How did you get interested in Celtic Spirituality?
"Funny but I was raised without any awareness of my Irish ancestoral background. It was through my interest in JFK and in attending the University of Notre Dame, where I took some classes on spirituality, that I became aware of the Celtic notion of soul friendship. I eventually did a Ph.d on the concept of penance, and included many references to the soulfriend. As I moved into teaching, my interest increased, and I continued my research. My early books were on the subject of mentoring, and included Soulmaking (1991), Father and Son (1995), and Mentoring (2002). As I continued to teach, and travel to Ireland, I also visited the holy and historic sites such as Iona and Lindisfarne. This sparked a deeper interest in the Celtic notion of the soulfriend. The result was a 600 page manuscript which I had a hard time trying to publish. The reason was, it was actually two books in one. At the suggestion of my wife, I split it into two, and this resulted in The Celtic Soul Friend (2002), and Stories of the Celtic Soul Friend (2003)".

Who is your favorite Celtic saint?
"That's a good question. Well, as I first think of it, I am reminded of the Celtic trinity of saints, Patrick, Bridit of Kildare, and Columcille. However, my favorite Celtic saint is Cuthbert. I recall reading Bede's Ecclesiastic History at a difficult time of my life. I identified with how Bede depicted Cuthbert. At that time, I was doing lots of administrative work both at the University and with some Church community programs. Cuthbert desired to be a hermit, and have a more quiet and focused life, and moved to Farne Island, off the coast of Lindisfarne. Cuthbert's example resonated with me, and as a result I gave up many of my administrative duties to focus on my writing and teaching. It was the right move".

Who are some of your favorite authors?
"I would have to say there are three. The first is Esther deWaal, who has written some excellent books on the Celtic idea of prayer. Next would be Donald Allchin, who became a mentor to me, while I was studying and doing research at the University of Oxford. His book on Welsh spirituality is terrific! Third, I'd have to say Benedicta Ward, who was a tutor for me when I was at Oxford. She wrote an excellent  book on St. Cuthbert, and The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks (2003)".

What books are you working on now?
"I've been working on a book called The Double. The book focuses on the spirituality of male relationships such as father to son, brother to brother, and friend to friend. I do so in a historical sense, and it begins with the Gilgamesh epic and goes through the Twentieth Century, ending with Jack Kerouac. Some examples of chapters include the relationship of St. Augustine with his son, Adodatus, who died at the young age of seventeen. I'm excited about this, as very little has been written about this relationship. There is also a chapter on Aelred of Rievaulx, that great Cistercian monk, where I discuss his notion of spiritual friendship, and it's implications for today.  I also have the benefit of coming to these topics as both a father and son".

Thanks Ed, for your time, and we look forward to The Double hitting the bookshops. If you'd like to contact Ed, you can find him on Facebook.

Away in a Manger

Even before Thanksgiving, (November 26th for you non-Yanks), I've noticed Christmas advertizements appearing in the shops, and Christmas music on the radio. And with each passing year, this strikes me as "odd"and "amazing". None of this of course, has anything to do with the "real" meaning of Christmas, and it makes me realize just how unChristian the dominent culture has become.

Nor is this fact lost, with each passing Sunday in Advent, as we begin to wait and look for the coming of Christ. It has always struck me as wonderful, that the Son of God, would enter into human existence in a way and shape that would confound even the religious experts of past and present. No one ever expected it to go down the way it did. Let's call it the Divine fakeout! Where many were looking in one place, and in one way, God decided to enter human history in a most gentle and unprentious fashion where people least expected, and bearly without notice. In the form of a baby. We have a homeless shelter in Honolulu called The Institute for Human Services (which was started by an Episcopal priest, Claude Duteil) and I have often stated from the pulpit, that if Christ were born today, it would probably be in a place like that. Where people least expect, and off the beaten track. Oh, the scandal of it all!

Off the beaten track! This is a familiar theme to us in the Celtic tradition! We know perhaps better than any, that it is on unfamiliar soil where God usually does something amazing. This is why so many of the Celts originally left their comfortable and familiar environments. And where our culture worships at the altar of commerce, buying and selling, I feel most privledged to be in a position to serve each Sunday, to see God in the faces of strangers, who often ask me for something as simple of water, an extra piece of bread, or some socks to wear. And I am happy to oblige as best I can, as well as the many volunteers, who join us each Sunday.

What I'm trying to say, is that it's a good thing to get out and move from what we are familiar with, and to do something different, thereby gaining a fresh perspective. This seems to be one of the implications of the incarnation. Here again, we can also use the example of the many Celtic saints who so willingly left what was familiar and known to them, because they knew that such moves, would cause them to grow. And that's the way it is in the spiritual life. The gospel of Christ is counter-cultural, so such "steps of faith" are to be expected. They are probably even necessary if we want to live the Christian experience. This is important, as most of the cultural drift is secular, and moving AWAY from the Christian tradition. In sharp contrast to the culture of success we see dominant today, the Christian and Celtic tradition stresses the notion of finding God where we often least expect, often on the edges of our culture, in the face of the poor, or the stranger, or welcoming others, and making people feel as guests. To do these simple deeds, is a great way to practice Christian spirituality and discipleship. This is the true meaning of Christmas.

As we move through the season of Advent, let us remember the miracle of the Christmas story. It's not that there are sales of Walmart or Costco, though those things are not bad in themselves. Hey, I love shopping there too! Rather, the real miracle, is that God has decided to come to us in a way that none of us could ever expected or comprehend, as a vulnerable baby, born homeless in a manger in a barn. Likewise, I believe God can come to us in the same way today, in a shape and perspective that we least expect: in serving our neighbor, and looking out for those in need.

Bishop Stephen Neill: Missionary, Theologian, New Testament Scholar

I have an interesting tale about Bishop Stephen Neill, one of the great Anglican Bishops of the last century. Thirty some years ago, I was an  exchange student in Oxford, England. Often, I would spend afternoons wandering around the ancient city, poking my nose in the different colleges, trying to soak up the history of the place. If you've been there, you'll know what I mean as Oxford is unlike any other English city! One afternoon, I stumbled into Wycliffe Hall, the theological college where Bishop Neill was a "senior scholar". One student whispered to me "Come back later, there's a sherry party, and you can meet Bishop Neill!" At that time, I knew Neill had written the definitive book on the history of the Anglican church, Anglicanism (1958), which Anglican clergy used to revere. And when travelling, and low on money, whoever turns down the opportunity to meet a person like Neill and have free sherry and food? I moved on to the next Oxford college, snooped around, returned a few hours later, grabbed some sherry, and had the opportunity to meet the famous Bishop. I don't remember much from our conversation, but I do recall the Bishop being friendly, polite, and interested in what part of America I was from.

Since that sunny afternoon day in 1977, I have come to meet Stephen Neill again and again through his many books. And Neill rarely disappoints. Each time, I read Neill's books, there is almost always something new that I learn. Neill died in 1984, twenty five years ago, yet his writing style and themes are still fresh. Neill is one of the few writers, whose footnotes are  as interesting as his main body of work. As it stands, Bishop Stephen Neill, was one of the towering intellects of the last century. He wrote over sixty books, including some classics in church history, the interpretation of the New Testament, and mission and interfaith relations. It's been stated he could speak 15 different languages. Most importantly to our discussion on Celtic Christianity, Neill, whose family originally came from Northern Ireland, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the last day of the Nineteenth Century. Perhaps due to these roots, Neill writes with great affection about the Celtic Church. In A History of Christian Missions (1964), Neill reflects on the early leadership of the Celtic Church:

"We have already mentioned the missionary zeal which sprang from Irish monasticism. The most notable figure of our period is St. Columba, the apostle of Scotland. Born about A.D. 521 of a noble Irish family, Columba had already founded the two monasteries of Durrow in King's County, and Londonderry, when in 563 he decided to cross the narrow seas with twelve companions and to found a new monastery on the island called Hy or Iona. The purpose of this foundation was evangelistic; the Gospel was to be preached to the still heathen Picts...Columba left behind him a tradition of real and simple sanctity. It is written of him that "in the midst of all his cares he showed himself open and friendly to everyone; he bore the joy of the Holy Spirit in the inmost places of his heart".

Neill then turns his attention to another great Celtic leader, Aidan: "After an unsucessful start, Aidan was sent to pull things together, and was given a dwelling at Lindisfarne. Aidan brought with him the gentleness that we have noted in Columba, and also the ascetic traditions of Irish monasticism; it is recorded that he made his journeys on foot after the manner of the peregrini, the wanderers for the sake of Christ".

I don't want to belabor a point mentioned by many others, but what stands out for me in this passage, is that the Celtic church made an impact on the culture because of an "approachable" spirituality which was marked by gentleness, simplicity and charity, especially to the poorest. Morevoer, Neill says in his own way, that the Celts were counter-cultural, as they were "wanderers" who would go from place to place. In other words, the Celts challanged the places where most people at that time put their security and identity; the land, family, tribe, and country. They lived a different kind of lifesytle than the dominant culture, marked by a love of God and dedication to one another. I would recommend that we need to do the same.

About a year ago, I had a chance to read more about Neill's life in Mission Legacies (1994) as Neill was also a great missionary, who spent over twenty years in South India. I also was glad to see a definitive work, Bishop Stephen Neill: From Edinburgh to South India, (2008) by Dyron Daughrity. In both I discovered that Neill suffered from  serious mental illness for much of his life, having long bouts with depression, insomnia, and suicidal ideation. This gave me a renewed respect and admiration for Stephen Neill as a person. That Neill  was able to courageously carry on in his work, continue writing, and lecturing, is quite simply amazing.  He was heroic in every sense of that term, and an inspiration.

Let me also close this entry with another story about Stephen Neill. Last year I noticed a portrait of Stephen Neill on an American artist's website, George Buchanan, which can be viewed here. I sent the George an email, asking him about this, and we later talked on the phone. The story goes like this. Shortly before Neill died, he had been invited to Duke Univeristy to give some lectures. Someone commissioned to have Neill's portriat done, and the painting above was the result. Moreover, what is even more interesting, is that while Neill was sitting to have the portrait done, the conversations turned to spiritual things. The artist told me, that the conversation was a spiritual turning point in his life.  Typical Neill, a missonary to the end! That's a great story, one in keeping with Neill's life, and one our Celtic forefathers would have been proud of. Sharing the gospel in any situation. We would do well to practice that simple model in our world today.

The Voyage of St. Brendan

One of the most appealing aspects of Celtic Christianity, are the lives of its many, and I mean "many" saints. This in itself says something positive in the way it transformed all kinds of people. Reading hagiography (holy biographies) does not come naturally for someone with a Protestant background. Then again, they are not much different than the genre of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. And I feel better for reading these accounts of Celtic holy men and women. Their stories and adventures have stuck with me through the years.

I fell in love with the story of Brendan, when I first read The Voyage of St. Brendan seven years ago. The Navigatio Sancti Brendani, I love that Latin title, was one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages. And with good reason. The book is an adventure tale, as Brendan was regarded as one of the world's great travelers. It's both fun and entertaining to read, and borders on fantasy literature. The story describes Brendan's journey in search of the "Promised Land of the Saints". The book details several of Brendan's voyages, which take him far past the comfortable environs of Ireland. Sections describe volcanoes, icebergs and encounters with great sea monsters. One tale includes an Easter spent on the back of a whale. Jonah would be jealous. So would Sinbad. Some even suggest Brendan got as far as the New World in his tiny coracle. Think of it, instead of Columbus Day (which is coming up this Monday) it could have been St. Brendan's Day.

Like many of the Celts, wanderlust was in Brendan's viens. Ironically, Brendan had been inspired on his voyages by the Desert Fathers, yet he sought "a desert in the ocean". He wanted to travel for God, and from an early age desired to travel far from his home, a practice common to the Celts known as "white marytrdom". In leaving what was familiar and going wherever the Spirit dictated, Brendan found God anew, over and over agan. Brendan should be the parton saint of adventure. He knew, long before us moderns, that the most important part of the journey is not the destination, but the journey itself.

"Is not the Lord our captain and helmsman?

Then leave it to Him to direct us where He wills."

St. Brendan