Post by MourningIreland on Jun 8, 2017 10:24:20 GMT
In discussing the character of Irish Catholicism prior to the Reformation, seaininmacbradaigh points out that "(u)nlike other parts of Europe, Ireland retained a deep fascination with hermetical life." The complete quote from him is as follows:
Scholasticism had little effect on Irish theology until the Reformation. Aquinas was rarely studied and the only Scholastic theologian who was studied widely at the time was Duns Scotus as evidenced by surviving manuscripts and glosses. There is a little Aquinas in some monastic literature but he is rarely quoted. The character of late medieval Irish Catholicism was an eclectic mix of the ancient and the conventional. The Irish schools relied more heavily on patriarchal theology (St. Augustine and St Gregory "the golden mouthed" as he is labelled in Irish) and had a bizarre (in western European terms) fascination with the fathers of the desert and the Greek fathers. Conversely, in devotional life, the Franciscans were the real brokers of Irish spirituality, conventional devotion to the Sacred Passion, to Our Lady and to the host of popular European saints was common to all of Ireland. On the other hand, there is intense devotion to the native local saints, particularly St. Brigid and St. Colmcille, relics of these saints were held far more in esteem than those of European saints and particularly Books, Bells and Croziers of the local saint were the focus of intense devotion. Unlike other parts of Europe, Ireland retained a deep fascination with hermetical life. Anchorites and Dendroites (hermits who lived in trees) were commonplace and the "Céilí Dé", colleges of hermetical canons who practiced intense deprivations, formed the most prestigious college of Irish clerics in the popular mind. Finally, although there was a common veneration of the Papacy throughout the Catholic world, in Ireland it would appear this was more intense. For example, when the Papal Nuncio to England visited Downpatrick on pilgrimage in 1529, he couldn't leave the house because thousands of people had gathered around the door and had actually ripped off his cloak and staff as relics "because they understood me to be the representative of the Pope. Truly there is no more pious nation in all of Christendom than this kingdom".
irishconservative.freeforums.net/post/644/thread
What do others think this says about Irish spirituality, both historically and today? What does it say about the future of Christianity in Ireland?
Scholasticism had little effect on Irish theology until the Reformation. Aquinas was rarely studied and the only Scholastic theologian who was studied widely at the time was Duns Scotus as evidenced by surviving manuscripts and glosses. There is a little Aquinas in some monastic literature but he is rarely quoted. The character of late medieval Irish Catholicism was an eclectic mix of the ancient and the conventional. The Irish schools relied more heavily on patriarchal theology (St. Augustine and St Gregory "the golden mouthed" as he is labelled in Irish) and had a bizarre (in western European terms) fascination with the fathers of the desert and the Greek fathers. Conversely, in devotional life, the Franciscans were the real brokers of Irish spirituality, conventional devotion to the Sacred Passion, to Our Lady and to the host of popular European saints was common to all of Ireland. On the other hand, there is intense devotion to the native local saints, particularly St. Brigid and St. Colmcille, relics of these saints were held far more in esteem than those of European saints and particularly Books, Bells and Croziers of the local saint were the focus of intense devotion. Unlike other parts of Europe, Ireland retained a deep fascination with hermetical life. Anchorites and Dendroites (hermits who lived in trees) were commonplace and the "Céilí Dé", colleges of hermetical canons who practiced intense deprivations, formed the most prestigious college of Irish clerics in the popular mind. Finally, although there was a common veneration of the Papacy throughout the Catholic world, in Ireland it would appear this was more intense. For example, when the Papal Nuncio to England visited Downpatrick on pilgrimage in 1529, he couldn't leave the house because thousands of people had gathered around the door and had actually ripped off his cloak and staff as relics "because they understood me to be the representative of the Pope. Truly there is no more pious nation in all of Christendom than this kingdom".
irishconservative.freeforums.net/post/644/thread
What do others think this says about Irish spirituality, both historically and today? What does it say about the future of Christianity in Ireland?
