During the reign of Alfred the Great, the first true King of England (849-899), three Irishman arrived in Cornwall after having drifted for seven days across the sea from Ireland in a boat made of hides. They had few provisions and they were without oars. They were brought before the king and when asked their motive, they replied, “We stole away because we wanted for the love of God to be on pilgrimage, we cared not where.” (quoted in Every Earthly Blessing, by Esther deWaal, pg. 39).
Today, since we are celebrating a ‘Celtic Eucharist”, I thought it would be well for us to talk about one of the more interesting aspects of Celtic Spirituality: Peregrination, or Holy Wandering, also known as Exile, or Pilgrimage.
Esther de Waal explains that ‘over a period of five hundred years, thousands of Celtic monks set out to wander the face of Europe, leaving homeland and friends, and all of life’s securities in order that they might set out into the unknown and journey for God. They called themselves pilgrims, or peregrinati and they dedicated themselves to go on pilgrimage for Christ’s sake - wherever that might take them. Although most of these monks remain anonymous, a few names stand out:
St. Columba who founded the Iona Community in the sixth century,
St. Columbanus, abbot of Bangor in the sixth century, who set out for France, and then eventually founded the monastery at Bobbio Italy, where St. Francis was one day to spend time.
St. Aidan who went from Iona to Lindisfarne in the seventh century, and whose monks converted Northumbria to Christ
St. Columbanus called Christians ‘guests of the world’ - “hospites mundi”. He spoke of what it means to be a pilgrim, describing it as going into exile, seeking the place of one’s resurrection, the pilgrimage to heaven, the true home. (deWaal pg. 40).
The Celtic pilgrims were like Abraham, who set out from his own country at God’s command. In the book of Hebrews, Chapter 11, we read that “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Speaking of others in the so-called Hall of Faith, we read:
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (ESV)
Spiritual Homelessness vs. Holy Wandering
The other day, I heard someone use the phrase ‘Spiritual Homlessness’ to describe the millions of people today who view themselves as spiritually minded, but yet have no church home, and have no apparent desire for one. Spiritual homelessness is essentially rootlessness being adrift just because you want to take your own way. St. Benedict described monks he called‘Gyrovagues. Listen to his description and see if it doesn’t apply to many people today:
“All their lives they wander in different countries staying in various monasteries [churches, clubs, etc] for three or four days at a time. They are restless, servants to the seduction of their own will and appetites…It is better to be silent as to their wretched life style than to speak…” (RB Ch. 1)
In contrast to this, being a Pilgrim involves an inner stability and can even be an expression of an ascetic discipline.
As Christian pilgrims we know who we are: sinners redeemed by God’s grace We also know our eventual destination: the new heaven and earth, where believers will dwell with God in face to face union – the heavenly country spoken of in Hebrews 11.
We find this country in the Resurrection, which is why the Celts used this phrase, ‘seeking the place of one’s resurrection’. The paradox inherent in this thinking is that while the peregrinati moved out into unknown geography, they were actually seeking a spiritual inheritance – this was really a spiritual quest to find God. Here again, however, the rub is that unless we carry within our hearts the God whom we are seeking, we will not find him. (de Waal, pg42).
To put it another way, the grass really is not greener on the other side – unless perhaps you look directly over the septic system.
Now, lest you think that St. Benedict is entirely opposed to the notion of pilgrimage, listen to the language he uses in the Prologue of his Rule. He exhorts us ‘to rise from sleep,…to open our eyes and to hear with attentive ears, to run while we have the light of life, to tread the path He has cleared for us as we are guided by the Gospel. He admonishes us to ‘encompass ourselves with faith and the practice of good works, to seek peace and pursue it, to keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking guile. And, after the Psalmist (34:13-14), he promises us that ‘If you do this, My[God’s] eyes will see you, and my ears will hear your prayers (34:17). With Isaiah, Benedict reminds us that the Lord says, “before you can call out to Me, I will say to you: Behold I am here.”. (Is.58:9).
So, we talk about going on a pilgrimage to seek God. But that God is right here, right now, and he will answer our prayers even before we call on him. Therefore, it is entirely appropriate to ask, “Who is seeking whom?” A famous slogan states, “The Whole Christ is seeking the whole person.” Thus it is that although we are on journey to find Christ, he wants to find us more than we want to be found.
But on with our story about the Celtic Pilgrims.
Three Grades of Pilrimage, or Exile.
The most famous of the peregrinati was St. Brendan, who was born in 489 and died between 570 and 583. He was the abbot of the monastery in Clonfert in East Galway. His story, ‘The Voyage of St. Brendan, is subtitled, “Journey to the Promised Land” because Brendan resolves to seek this Promised Land after listening to a certain Barrind tell of having visited this place himself and encountering an angel, who tells them “…The Lord has revealed to you the Land, which he will give to his saints… an island that ‘has been from the beginning of the world. Where one needs no drink or clothing, where one year seems to pass as a day, where sleep never overtakes you or night envelops you, “For here it is always day, without blinding darkness. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the light of this island.” (VSB, pg. 4, 5). Sure sounds like heaven, doesn’t it?
Brendan and his companions were engaged in the ‘perfect pilgrimage’ – they had left their home body and soul to find the Lord’s country –just as Abraham had. Thus they were exemplars of the highest grade of pilgrim. There were also two other grades of pilgrims:
Grade two pilgrim was someone who was detained in his own country, even though in the zeal of his heart and spirit he had left. The following quote encapsulates the feeling here: “Being under restraint, under authority…[or obligation] leaves a man free only to travel in spirit.
The Grade one pilgrim was one who only traveled in body. Just walking around served no spiritual purpose unless one were to draw near to God and practice virtue and good deeds along the way. The temptation with this is to become a mere Gyrovague.
Pilgrimage and Mission.
The original aim of the peregrini was simply to wander for God. This wandering was not motivated primarily by mission. But in the course of their wandering the Celtic pilgrims became missionaries, preaching the Gospel as they went, and establishing monastic houses along the way. St. Patrick is, of course, the example par excellence of this missionary journeying. He was the first actual cross-cultural missionary in Christian history and the progenitor of a Transformation that lasted many hundreds of years. In his lifetime, virtually the whole of Ireland was Evangelized and the practice of slavery was all-but eliminated.
Because of his example, other Celtic pilgrims successfully planted Christian churches and communities all over Europe, and even today, there remain some 250 places in Europe that bear the name of some Celtic saint.
One of the reasons why Patrick and the other Celtic pilgrims were so successful was because they had completely renounced power and security. They had nothing but God, and because of it they were completely free to go wherever God lead them. You might say that when they got in their boats to go wandering they pushed off the EDGE and entrusted themselves into the care of Almighty God. And because of this radical trust, these saints accomplished marvelous works for the Lord and are remembered in place names and history books today.
Application
So what do we make of all this, and how do we apply it in our lives today?
The first thing to acknowledge is simply that most of us will be type two pilgrims. In other words, we are tied obligated to family and to work, and so most likely will not be pushing off into the Ohio River in a coracle anytime soon. In this sense our lives are going to be much more ‘Benedictine’ – that is committed to a particular place for the rest of our lives.
But having said that we can still practice an internal and spiritual pilgrimage in our lives. We can cast off from the shore of certainty and launch out into the great deep, into the unknown of God’s will and provision for us. We can practice non-control in our lives and welcome the uncertainty of where God will lead us.
Just as Jesus sent out the 70 disciples without money or tunics or GPS systems or hotel reservations, we trust God radically and learn to listen closely to him, confident that we will get it wrong at times, but that our heavenly Father in his infinite mercy will correct us and help us get back on the path.
Then too, we can learn that “I don’t know.” is an acceptable answer to the question, “What then…” God seems to work on a ‘need to know” basis – just like the military. You get your orders for now and you have to wait for the next set of orders up ahead. And just like the military, you best follow the current set of orders right now, because if you don’t there will certainly be consequences. You go with what you know to do and let God be in charge of the next thing. Another slogan for this is “God knows” – as in Your heavenly father knows that you need all these things.” (Mt 6:32).
Yogi Berra once quipped, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”. That’s funny but not really helpful. If you get stuck on the journey, just stop. Wait, look and listen for the Lord. Don’t go ahead until you here His voice telling you what to do.
If you happen to be traveling on sea, of course, you don’t get the luxury of sitting still and waiting. You might be like the disciples on the sea of Galilee, caught in a huge storm and scared out of your mind. At such a time, it’s really OK to do what they did, which was to cry out to God to help them. Just try not to get too spooked when Jesus comes to you walking on the water.
Don’t wander aimlessly without knowing who you are. Remember that Jesus is the destination and also the Way. He is the Truth and the Life, and all our wandering should lead back to Him. If it doesn’t, we are definitely gong the wrong way.
Finally be a white martyr. Tell others what you have witnessed God do in your life. Don’t be afraid to “tell of all the Lord’s marvelous works”. You are just telling your story. You don’t have to produce any specific result. That’s up to God.
If you carry Jesus in your heart, you will be successful on your journey, for He is much more willing to found than we are to seek Him. May God grant us the grace to be fearless pilgrims, willing exiles and Bold Martyrs for his sake. AMEN.
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