Celtic Church
Celtic Church. The Christian Church in parts of Britain before the arrival of St Augustine from Rome in 596–7. Its early history is uncertain, but it was sufficiently organized to send delegates to the Synod of Arles (314). The Celtic Christians resisted the Roman Christianity of Augustine, and although agreement was reached, e.g. over the date of Easter at the Synod of Whitby (664), the conformity to Roman practice was not accepted everywhere. Celtic Christianity is marked by a kind of heroic devotion, with a simplicity of prayer and art. It was strongly ascetical, and emphasized the importance of anamchairdeas, soul-friendship, and of the anamchara, soul-friend, for counsel in the spiritual life. Many prayers (e.g. Loricae, breastplate prayers, as of the one attributed to St Patrick) have survived and are in increasingly common use today.
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Celtic Church
