Only by the Grace of and only to the Glory of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Unbegotten; God the Son, Onlybegotten; and God the Holy Spirit from the Father Proceeding: Celtic Orthodox Christian Monthly

"Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice: for the Lord hath done great things. Fear not, ye beasts of the fields: for the beautiful places of the wilderness are sprung, for the tree hath brought forth its fruit, the fig tree, and the vine have yielded their strength. And you, O children of Sion, rejoice, and be joyful in the Lord your God: because he hath given you a teacher of justice, and he will make the early and the latter rain to come down to you as in the beginning." [Joel 2:21-23]

"The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid." [John 14:26,27]

On the Feast of Pentecost  we remember that God has given us a teacher of justice.  The Holy Spirit abides in and speaks through the Church to all nations, teaching all things and calling to mind Christ and His teachings.  This should not be a cause for contention, but  instill a peace of certainty that the Traditions we have been given are true and efficacious unto Salvation.  We sometimes lose sight that one intention of the teaching of the Spirit are peace of the soul in the certainty that one abides in Christ. Another intention is of the teaching of the Holy Spirit is that there be peace in the Church: there should be no argument, only a humble acceptance and teaching of the Faith we have received.  If that were done, there would be no contention or contradiction.    Contradiction comes when we forget that the Faith is a gift of God and not the invention or expression of men.

Let us take comfort that God has given us the gift of Faith and its fruits and it is not our work but His that we celebrate.

The way of Salvation has been opened to all who willingly accept it.  No one is excluded from from hearing God's call to Salvation.  All are entitled to heard the Gospel preached "every man [in their] own tongue wherein [they] were born."  Neither nation of birth, previous beliefs, nor even a life of sin  can exclude  from renewal in Christ any person who has genuinely cast off the old man (their old life) in the waters of Baptism  for "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." [Acts 2:21, Joel 2:32a]  and " He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned." [Mark 16:16]  The Holy Spirit abides in the Church and confects the Sacraments so that Christians may receive the Body of Christ and have Life in them.

"Come Forth and take possession of the kingdom of My Father - Alleluia -
which hath been prepared for ye from the beginning of the world - Alleluia -
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit: Come forth!
As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be unto ages of ages. Amen. Come forth!"

"If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him.  He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. And the word which you have heard, is not mine;  but the Father's who sent me."

We are expected to keep the full word of Christ both out of love for Him and out of love for our fellow humans for whom He gave His life that they might live.  That is at the core of Celtic Christian thought.  Anything less than the fullness of the Faith is insufficient and one cannot preach the Gospel if one is deficient in training or does not follow a life consistent with the Gospel.

One of the most common questions we are asked about our church is why we have such an emphasis on education and discipline of Clergy.  Some seem to imagine that "Celtic" means lax in action, education or in caring what a student has learned.   The belief that Celtic clergy were undisciplined, simple and uneducated is the propaganda of those who suppressed the Celtic churches.  The record of historical documents reveals that propaganda  is a lie. Anyone expecting to be ordained for a Celtic ministry without accepting a rule and undergoing supervised training is insulting the Saints whose traditions he claims to follow.

The Irish followed the rules of a classical education. While they required memorization of Scripture, they also studied music, art, science, rhetoric (public speaking and argument), and history. For many centuries, the English would not allow Irish to attend their own educational institutions, and therefore the little bit of education received was in "hedge schools." Irish have always had a strong belief in education, even after their original Orthodox Christian heritage was suppressed and forgotten due to the English suppression. Recent Irish immigrants in America built elementary schools, high schools, and many colleges. Compare the number of Irish educational institutions in America with Russian or Greek educational institutions, for example. The years these educational institutions were built do not indicate an earlier immigration, but a greater commitment to education.

In the early centuries, St. Columbanus of Luxeuil promoted education in France, Switzerland and Northern Italy, and, as many of the Orthodox Saints, wrote books of exegesis on the Psalms and other Scripture. Psalm 65 in the Greek numbering, according to him, is the Psalm for the Resurrection. St. Columbanus corrected the lack of education present at that time and also corrected a tendency in Europe toward the Arian heresy. St. Columba of Iona and St. Aiden of Lindisfarne brought education to Scotland and England. The few monks sent by St. Gregory with St. Augustine of Canterbury could not hope to bring all of England to Christ; the Irish monks who brought their missions to York and Mercia completed the education of the English.

The historical record of suppression of education both in Ireland and in many Irish monasteries in Europe and other lands shows that a lack of education was not the idea of the Irish themselves but the choice of those who suppressed the Celtic churches. Therefore it is not a Celtic legacy, but the legacy of others who eventually left the Church because they were not interested in keeping the word of Christ, the Word of the Father Who sent Him.

When people wonder why education is important in this jurisdiction:  it is impossible to understand the Theology of the Early church without it. Without the Theology of the Early Church it is impossible to be Celtic or Orthodox Christian.

This is a partial calendar intended primarily to show the dates of moveable observances and primary feast days. Dates are as on the secular calendar except for dates where Orthodox date is followed by the secular calendar date. For convenience, entries for Fast Seasons and Feasts observed with a Fast are shown indented.

         June 3 Pentecost [R]       (Matins Gospel X) Synodicon is Read after the Liturgy

     Jun 4 First Day of post Pentecost Fast [P]

          Jun 10 First Sunday after Pentecost [P](Matins Gospel I, Sunday I)

          Jun 17  Second Sunday after Pentecost [P](Matins Gospel II, Sunday II)
          Jun10/23  Apostle Barnabas [W]

          Jun 24  Third Sunday after Pentecost [P](Matins Gospel III, Sunday III)

          Jul 1 Fourth Sunday after Pentecost[P] (Matins Gospel IV, Sunday IV)
                     Jun 22/Jul 5 Apostle James  the Lesser, of Alpheus [W]
          Jun 24/Jul 7 Nativity of Saint John the Baptist[W]

          Jul 8 Fifth Sunday after Pentecost  [P] (Matins Gospel V, Sunday V)
          Jun 28/Jul 11 Germanus, tutor of Patrick, bane of the Pelagians
          [W]
          Jun 29/Jul 12 Saints Peter and Paul[W]
          Jul 1/14  Apostles Simon and Jude (Thaddaeus),brother of Apostle
          James, the Brother of the Lord [W]

          Jul 14 Last day of post-Pentecost Fast[P]

            Jul 15 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost [P]           (Matins Gospel VI, Sunday VI)

Jul 22 Seventh Sunday after Pentecost [P] (Matins Gospel VII, Sunday I)

Jul 29 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost [P] (Matins Gospel VIII, Sunday II)

Aug 5 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost [P] (Matins Gospel IX, Sunday III)
Jul 25/Aug 7 Apostle James the Greater, theBrother of John, son of Zebedee [W]
Jul 26/Aug 8 Feast of the Transfiguration[W](Matins Gospel: Transfiguration) 

All Clergy and Parish Representatives are asked to review proposed revisions of jurisdictional by-laws for a vote in June. The primary purpose of the revision is to reflect the change of the jurisdiction from government by one Bishop to government by Synod.