St. Patrick (385 – 461): Sacred Earth and Celtic Spirituality

Saint Patrick focused on nature.

                                A tree in embrace of the universe.

 I arise today 

Through the strength of heaven; 

Light of sun, 

Radiance of moon, 

Splendor of fire,  

Speed of lightening,  

Swiftness of wind, 

Depth of sea, 

Stability of earth,  

Firmness of rock.                                                                                                                                     (From the Breastplate of Patrick)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Seeing God in nature was different than the dualism of Saint Augustine whose Platonic philosophy saw beauty and God in ideas rather than nature itself.  The collapse of Augustine’s beloved Roman Empire made him view the earthly as evil.

 Other Celtic theologians were of the same mindset as Patrick.  For Pelagius there was no room for original sin.  Pelagius emphasized the integrity of the human person.  He did not rely on original sin which condemns the human person upon creation.  For Pelagius the person is responsible for their actions, both good and evil.

 

                                                                                                   (451-525 A.D.)

Bridget saw nature in action as a movement of God towards God.  She was an able leader and the fit foundress and abbess of the monastery of Kildare which covered a vast amount of acreage.

Patrick was a slave and after he achieved freedom, he condemned slavery which was commonly accepted in Christian theology, for example, in the letters of Saint Paul: Ephesians 6:5, 7; I Corinthians 15:24, 28; Philemon.  Was Paul waiting for the second coming. In a letter to Coroticus, a slave trader, Patrick denounced the practice of slavery.  He was especially adamant in defending women’s rights.

The Council of Whitby, 664 A.D., established Augustinian dualistic theology as normative.  Celtic theology of Patrick would have respected nature, the person and the sacred earth.  What if the Council of Whitby had established Patrick, Pelagius, Maeve, and Bridget as founders of the Church?  It’s time for a change.