The Celtic Liturgy

Celtic liturgies show the wide-ranging influence of the Irish missionary-monks, who tended to appropriate liturgical elements from all parts of the Greek and Latin churches. The Celtic liturgy emphasizes a strong personal relationship with Christ and with the Trinity. The term Celtic rite has been used for the ancient liturgy celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, Britain, Gallicia, and Brittany before these churches gradually adopted the calendar and liturgy of Rome (as early as 633 in Gallicia and as late as the eleventh century in Scotland). In a more restricted sense, the "Celtic rite" refers to the liturgy celebrated in the churches and monasteries of Ireland and regions heavily influenced by Irish missionary-monks from the late sixth to early ninth century. With regard to the Mass, the liturgy represented by the few books and fragments that are of Irish provenance do not possess a sufficient cohesion nor do they reflect a work sufficiently autonomous and original to constitute a se…