Celtic Monks Observed Three Lents Each Year — Perhaps We Should Too

Last updated on: May 26, 2017 at 11:29 am by Carl "Skye" McColman

Celtic Monks Observed Three Lents Each Year — Perhaps We Should Too 2017-05-26T11:29:16-04:00 Carl "Skye" McColman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

St. Brigid of Kildare Stained Glass (photo by Fran McColman), St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Macon, GA.

St. Brigid of Kildare Stained Glass (photo by Fran McColman), St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Macon, GA.

When we think of Celtic spirituality in our day, we might think of nature mysticism, or of poetry and storytelling, or even of a holistic spirituality that embodies the best of both paganism and Christianity. But what we often forget is how important monasteries were to the ancient Celts.

St. Brigid was the abbess of a great monastery. So was St. Kevin, and St. Brendan, and St. Columcille. The sites we think of as great Celtic Holy Sites: Kildare, Glendalough, Clonmacnoise, Skellig Michael, Iona — all were the locations of early monasteries, founded during the golden age of the Celtic saints.

One of the truly remarkable qualities of Celtic monastic life, is the existence of entire monastic villages — where celibate men, celibate women, and families shared a common living space, arrayed around a central place of worship which formed the heart of the monastery. The monks and nuns lived separately, but sometimes were even under the authority of the same abbot or abbess. St. Brigid, in particular, is remarkable as an abbess of a monastery that included both men and women — given the patriarchal nature of the age she lived in, it was remarkable that she exerted spiritual authority over men, and perhaps represents a vestigial remnant of pre-Christian Celtic culture, where women likely could enjoy greater respect as spiritual leaders in their communities.

One of the great legacies of Celtic monasticism is the heritage of artistry — from illuminated manuscripts like The Book of Kells with intricate calligraphy surrounded by finely detailed designs of knotwork and spirals, to the carved high crosses covered with images taken from events in the Bible and the lives of the saints, to other precious artifacts, including ceremonial crosses, chalices and patens used for Holy Communion. It seems that the ancient monks and nuns had a healthy appreciation for using creative talent to glorify God, and to fill their lives with beauty and creativity. Of course, this is hardly unique to the Celtic world — but in our postmodern age, it’s easy for us to forget that once upon a time, people gave their creative efforts to God in an act of worship and adoration. The colorful and intricately beautiful legacy of Celtic art reminds us that this is certainly true of Celtic Christians, and witnesses to an understanding of spirituality that is deeply friendly toward material things and earthly beauty.

Yet it is also important to bear in mind that the spirituality of the monasteries was not simply anchored to the material world. One charming quality of the Celtic monasteries was an observance of what is called “the three Lents.” Lent — the period of time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday — is traditionally a time of spiritual preparation for Christians, with an emphasis on prayer, fasting and self-denial, and almsgiving (helping out those who are in need). It is a symbolic way for Christians to participate in the passion and death of Jesus Christ, in anticipation of the sense of celebration and joy that is marked by Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Nowadays many Christians don’t bother to observe Lent at all, and even among those who do, for many it is just a time for a token sacrifice, giving up chocolate or beer or social media for the 40-day period. But the Celtic Christians hardly settled for such mitigated observance: they took Lent seriously, and insisted that prayer, fasting and almsgiving would be central to their religious observance during that season. But the Celts took it even a step further. The custom of the “Three Lents” involved observing three different periods of fasting, prayer and almsgiving — in addition to the 40 days prior to Easter, the forty days before Christmas and the forty days before the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6) were also embraced as times for fasting and self-denial. What this means is that over the course of the year, about 1/3 of the time would be devoted to such intentional simplicity.

I don’t know how widespread the observance of the Three Lents was, but it’s a fascinating idea and one with an interesting parallel in the Rule of St. Benedict — the most popular guidebook for monks in western Christianity. St. Benedict suggests that a monk should live his (or her) life as if it were a perpetual Lent! In other words, to the Benedictine monk, the virtues of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are not just special disciplines for certain seasons, but should be cultivating as ongoing characteristics of a truly spiritual life.

If Benedict’s idea seems a bit rigorous — especially for those of us who aren’t monks or nuns — then the Celtic practice of the Three Lents might be a more attainable spiritual practice. We can all use more prayer in our lives, and perhaps everyone has areas in their lives that would benefit from some appropriate extra discipline, and heaven knows we are all almost daily confronted with people in need. What if we decided to devote three 40-day seasons each year to cultivating these virtues? Wouldn’t our lives — and our spirituality — more fully mature as a result? After all, spirituality is like playing a musical instrument or maintaining physical fitness; it requires regular discipline to keep us in peak form.

Spirituality is not something we do to earn God’s love; it is always a response to that love, freely given. But if we are going to respond to God’s freely given love, doesn’t it make sense to respond as well as we are able? Observing the three Lents can be a way to do that.

Previous Post

May 23, 2017

What Is the Relationship Between Christian Prayer and Meditation?

Next Post

May 30, 2017 Beyond the Green Beer: Getting to Know Saint Patrick

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Activism Announcements Art Books Catholicism Celtic Christianity Christian mysticism Christianity Contemplation Current events Etc. Family humor interfaith dialogue Interfaith Wisdom Interspirituality Lay Cistercians Living the Faith Meditation movies Mysticism Mystics nature Poetry Reviews Scripture silence Spirituality Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month February 2025 January 2025 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 May 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 March 2012 December 2011 September 2011 October 2010 August 2010 March 2010 September 2009 July 2008 January 2008 December 2007 September 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: In Revelation, the tree of life produces twelve different kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE

Support this
Column