The Coming of St. Patrick

Pattern in Europe

• History of Christianity:• 1st Century spread to Jews in Palestine• 2nd Century: Missionaries eg Paul spread it to

gentiles and others across the Roman Empire.• Evidence that it reached Britian and it is

possible some Celtic Irish heard about Jesus at this time

Emperor Diocleation 285-305

• Spain: Reports of Martyrdom and persecution of Christians in 303

• Bede a monk writing in the eight century suggested that the martyrs of St. Alban in Britain due to Diocleation Persecutions

Emperor Constaintine

• 311: gave Christians the rights to worship and build churches

• 313: Edict of Milan: granted full freedom to Christian Worship.

Church Organistaion

• Held a number of Councils:• Arles314/353• Cologne 346• Paris 360• Bordeaux 384/5• Turin 398

Evidence of Christian Structure

• Gaul: several Dioceses sent bishops to council of Arles

• Britian : 3 bishops from London sent to Council of Arles

• Spain: several bishops to Council of Arles• By end of the fourth century church was

established in Britain with priest,deacons and bishops.

Church Buildings

• Designed on the structure of large Basilicas ( Civic buildings used for public meetings and law courts) rather than Roman Temples

• Decorated with mosaics and coloured glass did not use statues as roman temples were full of statutes of Pagan Gods

• Nave, 2 side aisles, Altar and main door.

Main Characteristics of Christianity

• 1. Predominance of disputes about matters of doctrine and belief

• Libyan Priest Arius stated son of God did not exist: Council of Nicaea in 325: Arius condemned and the Nicene Creed adopted by Britain and Gaul: Key Beliefs of Christian Faith

Main Characteristics of Christianity

• 2.Inculturation of Christianity into Celtic Ireland

• Ireland was steeped in Celtic tradition and beliefs. People met at sacred hills, rivers and wells to worship their Gods.

• Sacred times of the year :Samhain Lughnasa• Q arose do you demolish or adopt these

practises

Main Characteristics of Christianity

Pope Gregory sent missionaries to Britain and told them to incorporate Christian practises in the existing Pagan Practises.

St. Patrick adopted this approach in converting pagans to Christianity in Ireland.

Inculturation: dynamic of trying to convert pagan Ireland to Christianity.

Examples of Inculturation

• 1. Croagh Patrick• Christianity: Reek Sunday: Last Sunday in July,

Pilgrims climb to the summit know as Domhnach Chrom Dubh. It is regarded as a penitence for wrong doing, a place where the darkness in a persons life can be overcome

Croagh Patrick:Celtic Tradition

• Festival of Lughnasa : Proper day to climb the mountain is Friday or Chrom Dubh (Aoine Chrom Dubh) also referred to as Ceann Cruaich who was a pagan harvest God who could be placated with the sacrifice of a first born animal or child

Inculturation

• Story that Maigh Sleacht Pagan Idol stood in gold surrouned by 12 stone idols on the hill. St. Patrick approaches to put the staffof Jesus in his hand. The Idol moved towards Tara and the mark of the staff was on the left side of the Idol even though St. Patrick never touched him,he banished the Idol and all the others to hell with a bell, that was used in the pilgrimage up till 19th Century

Samhain and the Christianity

• Celtic Tradition: SAMHAIN IS THE BEGINNING OF THE Celtic Year, Bonfires are lit to encourage the sun to keep shining through the long winter.

• It was a time when the dead were believed to be present and the door between the spiritual world and this world was open

Christian Festival of all Souls and Saints

• Was a feast day of All Saints that used to be celebrated in Spring time in the Eastern Church

• Missionaries to Ireland decided that they would incorporate it with the Pagan Festival of Samhain as many of the readings are dealing with the relationship between the spiritual world and this world and the passing of the dead to the next world

Characteristics of Irish Christianity

• Two main characteristics of Irish Christianity:

• Monastic Art

• Irish Penitentials

Monastic System

• First Monasteries to be set up in Ireland were:• Clonmacnoise• Glendalough• monks dedicated their time and talents to God.• Monasteries were places of great discipline, Study

and work• A scriptorium was where monks carried out the

detailed work of recreating/copying Biblical Texts

Monastic Art

• The copying of biblical text was a demanding job, they had to be accurate and perfect. As the bible was held in such reverence by monks they dedicated their lives to outlining the Pages and the reproductions became more then just simple texts but works of art.

Examples

• The Book of Durrow (7th century) is visually striking because of its use of colour and lavishly decorated capitals. Entire pages are dedicated to the symbols of the Gospel writers.

Examples

• Book of Kells• 9th century, contains the 4 gospels• Some capitals are so decorative take over an

entire page• Most significant is that it is able to convey

through picture and colour meaning of the text

• Important as most people of the time were illiterate. (SEE PAGE)

High Crosses

• Another example of monastic art• Earliest examples: simple in design: central

pillar and a crossbeam carved in stone• Later Examples: Celtic high cross, gradually

became more ornate, series of panels depicting Biblical Scenes conveyed the story of the Christian faith to those who were illiterate.

High Cross

Penitentials

• Special book used during confession• In the early Christian church act of confessing ones

sins often led to a severe form of penance.• It was believed that sin effected the whole

community so penance needed to be performed in public

• Penance could only be done once in a lifetime and included punishments like: Prohibition to marry, become a cleric or military service. Most people left it till the end of their lifetime to repent.

Penitentials

• This system was unsatisfactory and by the 6th century a new form penance was developed based on monastic practices.

• Monks had regular spiritual direction and penance for sins that they accuses themselves of. This was adapted for the laity to a private form of penance in which public punishment was no longer required.

Penitentials

• Penance for sin was now on a graded basis and only for a limited duration so the process could be repeated.

• The grading of the penance And the appropriate penance to give were outlined for priests in a book known as the penitentials.