Indeed. I live in Cornwall which is a Celtic land. We share a number of Celtic Saints in common with Wales and Brittany, many of whom were religious men, women, abbots and abbesses who pre-date the arrival of St Augustine. As an aside, our Cathedral Church remembers the Celtic Saints to whom many of our churches are dedicated. The Canon's stalls in the Cathedral are each named after a Cornish Saint who is depicted by a carved figure in each stall. There is a local calendar also.
Thank you for the above, until recently I used to go to Cornwall ,Tryarnen Bay near Padstow. There was the ruin of a Celtic Church at Constantine Bay and we used to travel about looking at others. At Padstow, the priest in 1688/9 had been a nonjuror, the place was full of the most interesting history! We have some Saxon Churches and they are no worse for that, but in Yorkshire there's a n exciting church, near Pickering,(?) which is Saxon on Celtic Foundations. Interestingly, there was a study done a year or two ago regarding British / Celtic influence on modern England, it turns out that 67% of English DNA stems from the Early Celts.
The Conciliar Anglican has a wonderful blog on the topic and history of Anglican Monasticism and how we should be thankful to the Oxford Movement for restoring monasticism. It's a great read: http://conciliaranglican.com/2011/07/13/the-anglican-way-the-monasticism-of-all-believers/
I just want to apologise (as elsewhere) for my boorish, churlish, and angry replies. I still hold true what I believed, but will try very hard to moderate my open frustration, and to abolish it entirely. Little Gidding was a very beautiful life. It was a family life, and in an open house whose walls were not cloistered. The real objection is to the life-long cloister, not to the monastic 'life' of community, prayer, and service. I, at least, am not against it at all. There's nothing wrong with a "Jedi" system, embodied in the Star Wars movies: a periodic retreat to a temple or monastery for a period of time, to meditate & to prepare for the trials in the Christian life. This is what our Lord Jesus Himself did in the desert. I don't believe the Desert Fathers correctly interpreted the Lord's actions, since they extended the 40-day (i.e. limited) period to an indefinite time. "Monasticism", in the context of the word "monachos" (alone), is what evangelicals & reformed people object to, rather than to the form of life of Friars (Gordon), Canons Regular (Luther), and Clerks/Clerics Regular (Jesuits). Those three types of life are very very different from that of actual Monks. Other than insisting on wearing special robes, I as an "anti"-monastic have nothing against friars or suchlike, who are active in the world. We who don't support monasticism, per se, believe in the need for Christians everywhere to embody charity, chastity, poverty, and obedience - and that it is indeed possible for all to accomplish these things according to their state in life, rendering monasticism utterly superfluous. Since I don't believe the Fathers were exactly infallible, there's nothing convincing in the fact that many (if not most) of them were pro-monasticism. Perhaps this whole objection extends it more into philosophical grounds than specifically Anglican ones. We anti-monastics don't believe monasticism is "not for Anglicanism", but that it isn't for Rome, or the Orthodox, or for anyone. If you want to make the conversation specific to Anglicanism, then no argument can be given against it, because Anglicanism is just Anglicanism, not Christianity itself. The monastic debate is centered on what Christianity is, not what Anglicanism is. It's why we're so vehement about it and, at times, uncharitable.
......where to start...... Cornwall is one of the Celtic 'nations' of Northern Europe. These are Brittany, (in France) Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, The Isle of Man and Scotland. (Galicia and Asturias in Spain also have a claim). These can be divided into the Brythonic Celts of Brittany, Cornwall & Wales and the Goidelic Celts of Ireland, The Isle of Man & Scotland. Each has its own identity and culture including a Celtic language. (The signature in my post is The BCP Collect for Purity in the Cornish language). Cornwall is administered as an English county but there are many Cornish people who want greater autonomy for Cornwall with a devolved Government or Assembly. (As Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland already have). Cornish nationalists see Cornwall as a distinct country and not a part of England. General info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_nations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Cornwall http://www.cornishculture.co.uk/ Useful book on Celtic Christianity in Cornwall to read online: http://archive.org/details/celticchristiani00tayluoft Cornish saints - just a small selection - they're almost everywhere here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cornish_saints Truro Cathedral: http://www.trurocathedral.org.uk/
Symphorian... The links you provided are great. I will be doing some heavy reading. Thank you for sharing. ...Scottish Monk