The Pattern of Our Days: Worship in the Celtic Tradition from the Iona Community [Paperback]

Thomas F. O'Meara (Author), Thomas F. C'Meara (Author), Kathy Galloway (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1999

The ecumenical Iona community worships in the ancient Celtic tradition, while imbuing their prayers with a contemporary commitment to peace, justice, and the rediscovery of an integrated spirituality. The Pattern of Our Days is a collection of Iona's actual liturgies, litanies, responses, and meditations. Like all their prayers, these are honest, earthy, and original. They can be used as is by both individuals or groups, adapted, or tapped for ideas for other acts of worship. Believing that no part of life is beyond the reach of faith, these prayers and liturgies emphasize the whole person praying with both intellect and senses. The material draws deeply from Celtic and Benedictine traditions, as well as the Liturgy of the Hours, but also seeks to actively include all as part of a worldwide church. The wide-ranging themes covered by the prayers and liturgies include pilgrimage, healing, witness, dissent, sanctuary, forgiveness, thanksgiving, cursings, blessings, and more. Designed to encourage creativity in worship, this book is a unique resource for parishes, liturgy-planning committees, small faith groups, and religious communities. It's also inspirational reading for the individual seeker, those interested in monasticism, and those drawn to Celtic spirituality--whether their own roots lie there or not.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A collection for modern worshipers in modern times that honors the deep spiritual traditions of the ages. -- The Bloomsbury Review

Good. -- Today's Books

Rich and diverse. -- Values and Visions Reviews

About the Author

Kathleen Galloway studied theology at Glasgow University and is the editor of the Iona Community magazine, Coracle.

The Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian community founded in 1938 by George MacLeod, gathered about the rebuilding of the ancient ruins of Iona Abbey and now seeks to rebuild "the common life," by bringing together work and worship, prayer and politics, the sacred and the secular--seeking new ways of living the Gospel in today's world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Paulist Press; 2nd edition (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809138603
• ISBN-13: 978-0809138609
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gold Star Liturgy, January 10, 2007

By 

M. W. Hill "maryleita" (Gainesville, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pattern of Our Days: Worship in the Celtic Tradition from the Iona Community (Paperback)

The Pattern of Our Days is the 4th book I've purchased from the Iona Community/Wild Goose Publications. In fact, I've purchased Cloth for the Cradle 4 times alone, because I keep giving it away.
If you are responsible in any way for worship/worship planning, any of the Wild Goose books are crucial resources for sign acts and responsive liturgies. These are "book[s] of bits", not whole liturgies, yet each of the books, with a different thematic thrust, brings the Good News into human terms that will help bring your congregation closer to God.
I was especially impressed with some of the healing liturgies in The Pattern of Our Days. Less formal, more immediate than we are normally accustomed to. Perhaps that is why they are so effective.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Insight, May 20, 2008

By 

Daniel L. Moore "dpastordan" (Piney Point, MD) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pattern of Our Days: Worship in the Celtic Tradition from the Iona Community (Paperback)

This is a well written and documented work on the Celtic pattern of worship. I have found it useful for my personal research on Celtic Christianity.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary Protestant Iona, October 13, 2008

By 

na gCopaleen "Bede" (BC Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pattern of Our Days: Worship in the Celtic Tradition from the Iona Community (Paperback)

The Pattern of Our Days: Worship in the Celtic Tradition from the Iona CommunityI was disappointed with this book because I was expecting to learn about Celtic Christianity and worship as practised at Iona by the early monastic community; rather, this works arises in a contemporary community at Iona. This community is Protestant and (somewhat) New Age, not that I am unsympathetic to such practices as acceptance, even embrace, of other religious traditions, or a view of creation and humanity as innately good. Some of the practises or prayers strike me as simple-minded rather than simple (unadorned) and self-conscious rather than humble. These might be minor quibbles and if one is seeking a prayers and practices based upon a modern interpretation of Christianity with some reference to earlier Celtic beliefs, this is a worthwhile book. But, if one interested in the growth of Celtic Christianity from the indigenous religion, in the worldview of the Celts, in the differences between Celtic and Roman Catholicism, and in how reference to Celtic Christianity might give us a more metaphorical, less legalistic view of Christianity, then I would recommend other works, such as Celtic Christianity: A Sacred Tradition, A Vision of Hope by Timothy Joyce. My one star evaluation is based on the above; were I looking for such a work I would probably give it four stars.