The Céli Dé (Old Irish Gaelic: Servants or Companions of God) serve all who are pilgrims to the Kingdom of God through prayer, teaching or service in the Church. Like the early Céli Dé of Ireland and Scotland we are Orthodox Christian men and women, married and monastics. A Céle Dé who has permission, may serve as an anamchara, soul friend or Father Confessor to any that he feels he can assist on their pilgrimage.

The early Céli Dé worshipped God with great devotion. In 755 Saint Maelrúain established a Céli Dé monastery at Tallaght to preserve that devotion, and make records of their Life in Christ.

Many of the writings of that community still exist. The Céli Dé Mother House at Tallaght used the Liturgy of the Lorrha "Stowe" Missal which still exists today. The Rule of St. Maelrúain also survived as did the Martyrologies (calendars of Feast days) of Tallaght.

The Céli Dé's deep love of Christ, zeal for the Faith He taught and directness are much needed if humanity is to survive this age of lukewarm attitudes and avoid damnation.

 Our work is the exercise, study and teaching of the Spirituality of the Celtic/Gallican churches through the Liturgical usage, prayerlife, traditions, ardent adherence to the Orthodox Faith followed at Tallaght and other centers. We offer this to all who are interested, whether they are called to our rule or not.

 The Lorrha "Stowe" Missal, a Celtic Breviary and other materials used by our communities are available for downloading from this website.

Men or women, married or celibate, called to follow the Life devoted to God of the Céli Dé as outlined in the Rule may contact Abbot-Bishop Maelrúain (espmaelruain@CelticChristianity.org)

Why are married persons allowed to become Céli Dé?
Historical records show that Roman Catholic Normans imprisoned the last of the Céli Dé (laymen, Priests and Bishops), their wives and children in a death camp at Saint Andrew's in Scotland when they refused to accept changes to the Faith. We are the continuation of the Martyrs' Order and follow their practices.

Is the Consecration of a married Priest as Bishop a Celtic Orthodox practice?

The limiting of candidacy for Bishop to celibate clergy did not become the norm in Celtic countries until after the Roman-Norman suppression of the Celtic churches. The last of the Céli De Bishops,  their wives and children were imprisoned and died in camps under the Roman church.  We continue that tradition witnessed by their martyrdom.

The Scriptural readings of the Consecration of a Bishop of the Celtic churches speak of married Bishops with children. Saint Patrick was himself a monk, but asked a friend to suggest a "a man of one wife and one child" for ordination. Saint Patrick decided to make the candidate, Saint Fiacc, the first native-born Bishop in Ireland. This choice may have been influenced by the fact that Saint Hilary of Poitiers had been a married Bishop. The father of the St. Gregory Nazianzus the Theologian, from Neocaesarea in Cappadocia, was also a married Bishop. In any case, Saint Patrick's Consecration of Saint Fiacc was considered legitimate by the Undivided Church.

Some say that a Bishop has to be celibate because sex within the bonds marriage is still an opportunity for sin. Such an idea is alien to Celtic or any form of Orthodoxy. It blasphemes God. It says the loving God Who desires our salvation ordained a sinful means to fulfill His command to have children.

The Apostolic Canons, which follow Holy Scriptures, accept married Bishops. The local anti-mission council of Trullo (also called the Quinisext council) which opposed married Bishops was unratified at the time of the Great Schism of 1054. The Undivided Church rejected the idea of requiring all churches to elect only monks as Bishops. The only canons of Trullo which have ecumenical status are Canon 73 and 82 because they were the only canons read into the record of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. The Seventh Ecumenical Council resisted wholesale written approval of Trullo, and Trullo is not listed among the Councils accepted by the Seventh Ecumenical Council. One reason Trullo may have been rejected is that it states that valid Baptisms must be performed only in properly constructed church buildings. That is incorrect Sacramental Theology which would invalidate Baptisms by missionaries, or Baptisms in churches which are under persecution by the "State."

The Eastern custom of limiting candidacy for the office of Bishop to celibate clergy is only that: a custom like that of total clerical celibacy among the modern Roman Catholics. On that basis is it acceptable practice to require that Bishops in the Eastern churches be celibate. However, the claim that a married man cannot be Consecrated a Bishop is erroneous Sacramental Theology. It is a denial of the Holy Orders of present day Bishops because they are derived from the married Apostles and married Bishops of the early years of the Church. It is also a claim that what was once a valid practice of the Church is now heterodox. It is a claim that the fashion of the times and ethnic custom are the arbiters of what is proper in the Church. That is schismatic thinking. The fact that the local council which tried to impose this custom was itself rejected indicates the problematical nature of this question.

The case for married Bishops has Orthodox precedents. After all, eleven of the men that Christ chose as Apostles were married and many of the Bishops of the early Church were married. [St. Matthew 8:14.]