Celtic Prayers from Iona

The little island of Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland is known as one of Britain’s most historic holy places. It is remembered as the cradle of Christianity for much of Scotland and northern England. The Celtic mission from Iona, however, clashed with the sixth-century Roman mission, which represented a radically different way of seeing. This led to the Synod of Whitby in 664 and the tragic displacement of Celtic spirituality to the fringes of British Christianity. It lived on, however, almost as a spiritual resistance movement among the prayers of the people of the Western Isles. These were not so much religious prayers as songs and chants used in the context of daily life. They celebrated the essential goodness of all created life while not being naive or unaware of suffering and the bondage of evil. Celtic Prayers from Iona is an attempt to incorporate aspects of this ancient stream into a pattern of weekly prayer for use today. It was initially written for use by members