Happy St. Brendan's Day

yak23flora

Today is St. Brendan's Day. I've blogged about this Irish monk so many times that I was unsure what to talk about in honor of this day. So I thought I'd turn to my book, Celtic Wisdom, and share what I wrote there.

St. Brendan of Clonfert
This founder of many monasteries was best known as Brendan the Navigator because of his illustrious journey to the west. He was in pursuit of Tir-na-n-Og, the Land of the Young, a fabled island spoken of since pre-Christian times. In the Middle Ages Brendan the Navigator's story was translated into many languages all over Europe....
One story is that on Easter his monks stepped out on to an island to light a fire while Brendan stayed in the boat to pray. Oddly, there was no grass on the island. As the fire smouldered and then burned, the island began to move and shake. It wasn't a rock in the ocean after all but the back of a whale, and the terrified monks leapt back into the boat. According to the legend, this happened every Easter for seven years. The whale willingly lent himself to the monks for the glory of God.

Well, everyone makes mistakes. Who could blame the man for mistaking the back of a whale for an island? :-/

Sometime ago I discovered (online) a monastic community (Anglican) in Maine dedicated to St. Brendan. They sell some prayer ropes that I've purchased. I've given away some of these to my newsletter readers. (I'm giving one away this month, and it hasn't been claimed yet. If you'd like to enter the contest, read the newsletter here.) You can read about this community, and their retreat center, here.

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Happy St. Brendan's Day! Go seek your own life adventure! :)

Christi Peregrini ~ Pilgrim for Christ

©Cindy Thomson

I usually like to talk about this topic on St. Brendan's Day (which is in May), but I've been thinking about it lately so I thought it would be a good topic to blog about.

Yesterday my pastor spoke about Missio Dei during his sermon. (All these Latin words!!) It's basically about seeking God, looking for what he's doing in the world, and following Him there, instead of asking him to bless what you want to do or what you're already doing.

The two concepts, Christi Peregrini and Missio Dei, may not be interchangeable, but they certainly are related, in my understanding. I'm not a theologian, so keep that in mind!

The ancient Celtic Christians, particularly the monks, sought out what is referred to as white martyrdom--or in Ireland, green martyrdom. White martyrdom is dedicating your life and will to God without losing it for His sake, which is red martyrdom. The desert fathers, whom the Celtic monks modeled, used to wander to the desert to deny themselves and put themselves totally in God's hands. In Ireland, there is no desert (white) but there is plenty of green! They would embark on this journey in the loneliest of places (like Skellig Michael) or simply launch themselves off into the ocean in hide-covered boats, going wherever God would take them.

What's fascinating to me is that often what God had in mind was not isolation. Others would find hermits and want to be taught, and great monastery schools were born. That was fine with the monks. After all, they had agreed to go WHEREVER God led them.

Some, like Brendan the Navigator, went on wondrous journeys just to finish right where they started. The point was not the destination or outcome. The point was the journey itself.

So, after hearing about the theological concept of Missio Dei, I began to think about my own journey. Like my pastor said, we often say we'll follow where God leads, but we want to know where we are going. Again, the significance does not lie in the destination but in the journey. As a wise person, whose name I have forgotten, once said, "God seldom reveals blueprints for our lives."

Journeys can be really exciting (I'll talk more about St. Brendan's journey in May) so we should not ignore what it is we are supposed to be learning, enjoying, and cherishing along life's journey.

Celtic Symbolism/HAPPY ST. BRENDAN

©Cindy Thomson

Many people are curious about Celtic symbols and the meaning behind them. Some Christians are even fearful of them, fearing all Celtic symbols as pagan.

I came across a wonderfully written article by jewerly maker Stephen Walker. The article was written back in 1996, but he has added new information. Anyone interested in this topic should read it. You can find it here.

HAPPY ST. BRENDAN'S DAY!
May 16 is the feast day for St. Brendan, perhaps the first white man to discover North America. Read more about him here.

St. Brendan's Cathedral ©Cindy Thomson