Celtic Prayers

J. Philip Newell and his wife Ali were cowardens of the lay religious community of Iona Abbey in the Western Isles of Scotland. There Philip developed this book as an aid to daily prayer. Here is a weekly cycle of morning and evening prayers in the Celtic tradition, with gospel and psalm readings taken from the liturgical year. Each "day" reflects a concern of the Iona Community: justice and peace, healing, the goodness of creation and care for the earth, commitment to Christ, communion of heaven and earth, and welcome and hospitality.

Morning, Midday and Evening Prayer and Complies with Meditations for the day and four years of Daily Readings from Books 1 and 2.

A revised edition of this classic compendium of readings and prayers for every day of the year, with Celtic themes and inspiration. The first in a two-volume collection of liturgies, prayers and meditations from the Northumbria Community, inspired by ancient Celtic Christianity, but reaching out to bring inspiration and comfort to all today who seek to be still and to find spiritual truth. As a companion for the journey, this book offers meditations for the events of life, and liturgies for its seasons. It also provides a two-year cycle of insights and daily reflections with accompanying scripture readings for use in morning and evening prayer. This is a rich treasury that is loved and trusted by individuals, ministers, families, groups and communities across the world.

The prayers contained in Celtic Prayers reflect the fusion of religion and life. Celtic Christians made no distinction between religion and daily life, no division between the spiritual and the material realms. They perceived the divine spark in every person, animal, and plant, and in every event. Their religion permeated every aspect of their existence. Even the most mundane activities merit prayers for God's blessings. Moments of crisis or scenes of great beauty stimulate prayers of deep emotion. These prayers provide a model for anyone who wishes to "pray without ceasing." This book of Celtic prayers differs from others in the market because its interior design is full-color, with art and graphics. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Prayers of the Celts Earth & Heaven Sea & Sky Day & Night Animals & Birds Mind & Soul Guidance & Safety Wealth & Poverty Life & Death

The ancient Celts did not distinguish between the sacred and the secular. To these imaginative people, everything had spiritual significance. Simpson draws deeply from this rich Celtic tradition to compile a collection of blessings that celebrate God's truth in readers' day-to-day lives.

This lavishly illustrated daily prayer book draws on the great spiritual insights and wisdom of the Celtic church, offering prayers and Scripture readings for every morning and evening of the week. Each day Celtic Benediction invites readers to meditate on a different aspect of the creation story from Genesis. On Sunday the theme is light. In the morning, the prayers and readings lead us to seek the light of the life of God in all his creatures. At night, we meditate on the light that no darkness can overcome as we bring the world and its needs to God. And so on through each day of the week: water, the fruitful earth, the animal world, humanity, playful rest, and all that God has made draw us into intimate prayer. Related Scripture readings are also given for each day of the year, making this a book to use constantly. Illustrated throughout with colored panels from the Lindisfarne Gospels, Celtic Benediction offers contemporary Christians a unique devotional experience to treasure for a lifetime.

Discover an ancient way of prayer that leads us to new union with God. "Long ago," Calvin Miller writes, "when the Celts built their own rustic kingdom of God in what would later be the British Isles, their fervor in prayer washed their world in a vital revival." In uncertain and dangerous days of high infant-mortality rates, leprosy and plagues, the Celts breathed candid prayers out of the reality of their lives: Desperate prayers for protection. Praise for the God who was king over all creation. Honest prayers of confession. In these pages, Miller introduces us to six types of Celtic prayer that can connect us to God more deeply by helping us pray out of the circumstances and uncertainties of our own life. "This book proposes a kind of prayer that can end our amputated feelings of separateness from God," says Miller. What was true for the Celts is still true for us: "Hunger for Christ keeps us talking to God till our separation is swallowed up in our unending togetherness with him." As rich as the faith they describe, these pages lead us on an ancient path that gives guidance for present and future prayers, until the day the Celts longed for, when all separation is gone and we live forever in the presence of God.

These powerful prayers and incantations have been collected from the remote highlands and islands of Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Many of these prayers go back to early Celtic Christianity and even further back to the prehistoric pagan roots of the Irish-Scottish world.