A Pilgrimage to St. Patrick’s Day–Part 6, A Parting Song

Before leaving this blog-tour of Celtic Christianity, I should make it clear that this tradition is not only of the past. Many contemporary people are rediscovering its riches and reinterpreting them for the current age (come to think of it, that’s exactly what the pagan Celts did when Christianity came to their shores).

Authors J. Philip Newell, David Adam, Esther De Waal, and Ian Bradley are among those who are helping to revive interest in Celtic ways of spirituality. Iona in Scotland, Glendalough and Skellig Michael in Ireland, Glencolumbkille in Northern Ireland, and Lindisfarne in England all draw pilgrims seeking Celtic inspiration.

Iona is particularly important as the home to the ecumenical Iona Community. The community leads worship services and retreat programs on the island, and its prayers, hymns and songs have been reprinted widely.

So let’s end the week with a song, for the Celts, both pagan and Christian, loved to sing. Here is “Be Thou My Vision,” whose melody is an old Irish folk song and whose words are based on a text that goes back to at least the eighth century.

If you come to my funeral (date still to be determined), you’ll get the chance to sing it there, but in the meantime, it seems a fitting end to this series.