In addition to these
external labors, the monk had his daily regime and personal ascetic
practices. One has but to read a little
of the Irish monastic “Rules” that have come down to us to see the ascetic
intensity, single-mindedness, and severity with which these monks pursued their
goal. Yet they were not pursuing
asceticism as an end in itself: they were
seeking to enter into a deep relationship with the Source of all beauty and truth: Christ God.
This Christ-centered
striving directly flowered in tremendous artistic creativity. The monks became “co-creators,” creating
things beautiful because they had been fashioned in the image of Him Who is the
Creator and because they had consciously developed an inner likeness to the
Source of all that is, both heavenly and earthly. This can be seen in the carved Celtic
crosses, manuscript illuminations, the beautiful “Litanies” and poems that have
come down to us, but, most clearly of all, in the “Lives” of these saints. It is this spiritual beauty that today
attracts the soul of Westerners.
--Monk Nicodemus, Saint Herman Calendar 2001: Saints of
Scotland, Platina, Cal., p. 3
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema
to the Union!
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