Walking With The Saints (The Communion of Saints in the Celtic Orthodox Church)

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Walking With the Saints

The Communion of Saints in the Celtic Orthodox Church

“..The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
— Ephesians 1:18
“.. ye are come to the church of the firstborn.. to the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels.. to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect..”
— Hebrews 12:22-23

The saints are not distant myths of the past. They are witnesses to what God can do in human lives transformed by faith, repentance, prayer, sacrifice, perseverance, and holiness in Christ.

Within the Celtic Orthodox Church of the Culdees, the communion of saints is not merely an abstract doctrine or historical memory. It is a living participation in the one Body of Christ across generations. We remember the saints because they remind us how to walk faithfully in our own generation.

This remembrance is also rooted in the biblical pattern of prayer itself. Scripture repeatedly shows the people of God praying to the “God of our fathers,” remembering His mighty works among previous generations, worshipping with the heavenly host, and approaching Mount Zion with “the spirits of just men made perfect.” For a fuller biblical foundation, see Biblical Prayer to “The God of Our Fathers”: Covenant Prayer, Heavenly Worship, and the Saints in Biblical Christianity.

The Celtic Church preserved the memory of thousands of saints, missionaries, confessors, bishops, monks, mothers, kings, poets, martyrs, and holy laborers who helped shape the Christian world before Augustine ever arrived in Britain. Their examples continue to strengthen and inspire Christians today.

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Why We Remember the Saints

The saints are remembered because Scripture itself commands Christians to imitate faithful examples:

“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
— 1 Corinthians 11:1

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses…”
— Hebrews 12:1

The saints do not replace Christ. Rather, they point toward Him. Their lives show what repentance, worship, endurance, holiness, charity, missionary labor, and steadfast faith looked like in real human lives transformed by God.

The ancient Celtic Church especially emphasized the practical imitation of holy lives. Saints were remembered to inspire courage, purity, prayerfulness, fasting, charity, perseverance, and faithfulness under persecution and hardship.

For more on the spiritual unity of the Church across heaven and earth, see:

Biblical Prayer and the God of Our Fathers

The remembrance of saints is not foreign to Scripture. Biblical prayer is repeatedly covenantal, historical, communal, and heavenly. The people of God pray by remembering the fathers, the covenant, the righteous, the heavenly host, and the mighty acts of God throughout history.

When Jehoshaphat prayed in time of national crisis, he began:

“O LORD God of our fathers… art not thou God in heaven?”
— 2 Chronicles 20:6

This is the biblical pattern of prayer: the present generation calls upon God in continuity with His works among the faithful who came before. The Psalms call upon angels, hosts, saints, and all creation to praise God. Hebrews says believers have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and “the spirits of just men made perfect.” Revelation shows heavenly worship joined with the prayers of the saints.

This biblical foundation helps explain why the Church remembers the saints. We are not worshipping the saints. We are worshipping the God who worked in them, the God of our fathers, and joining the worship of His people across heaven and earth.

For the fuller study, read:

Saints in Daily Worship and Prayer

Within the Orthodox Church of the Culdees, the remembrance of saints is integrated into daily worship, morning prayer, Eucharistic services, feast commemorations, and personal devotion.

Christians may follow these commemorations:

  • during the Morning Offices,
  • during Eucharistic worship,
  • during feast days,
  • within the daily liturgy,
  • or privately within the home prayer closet.

The purpose is not merely historical remembrance, but spiritual encouragement and participation in the life of the Church.

The saints remind believers that holiness is possible in every generation.

Worship resources may be found through our liturgical and prayer materials, including:

The English Liturgy and the Saints

The primary liturgical form used within our communion is the classical English liturgy derived from the Book of Common Prayer tradition.

Within the English liturgy, saints are commemorated principally:

  • during the Great Thanksgiving,
  • within the Prayer for the Whole State of Christ’s Church,
  • during the Litany,
  • during the collects of major feast days,
  • and particularly during All Saints observances.

One of the most beautiful examples says:

“And we also bless thy holy Name for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear…”

This prayer preserves an ancient Christian understanding: the Church remembers the faithful departed before God while confessing Christ as “our only Mediator and Advocate.”

The older English liturgical tradition also became important in Orthodox dialogue under St. Tikhon and the Russian Holy Synod, which recognized that much within the older English rite preserved ancient Western Christian structure rooted in the historic Sarum tradition.

For more on this background:

The Celtic Missal and Ancient Commemorations

The older Celtic liturgical tradition preserved even fuller commemorations of saints within the Eucharistic service.

Within the Celtic Missal tradition, saints are commemorated:

  • in the Collects before the Epistle,
  • within the Litany of the Saints,
  • and in the Diptychs, the Great Commemoration of the Living and Departed.

At the beginning of the liturgy, the Litany of Saints invokes a historic roster of saints from the Celtic and universal Church.

Later, within the Eucharistic prayer itself, the saints, clergy, living faithful, and departed are commemorated together before God as one Body in Christ.

This older liturgical structure did not sharply separate thanksgiving, remembrance, intercession, and participation. Rather, the Church understood herself as one communion across heaven and earth.

Thus, the liturgy could simultaneously ask the saints to pray with the Church while also commemorating them before God together with all the faithful departed.

For deeper studies:

The older Bobbio Missal baptismal form even concludes:

“That thou mayest have a part with the Saints unto life everlasting.”

This reveals the ancient Christian understanding that salvation itself means entering the fellowship and inheritance of the saints in Christ.

St. Aengus the Culdee and the Martyrology Tradition

No study of Celtic Orthodox saints would be complete without St. Aengus the Culdee, one of the great hagiographers and martyrologists of the Irish Celtic Church. His work represents exactly the spirit this page seeks to recover: not merely studying saints as distant historical figures, but praising Christ for His royal hosts and remembering the faithful witnesses of God across the generations.

In the opening prayer of the Martyrology of Oengus, the focus remains beautifully Christ-centered:

“Sanctify, O Christ! my words:
O Lord of the seven heavens!
Grant me the gift of wisdom,
O Sovereign of the bright sun!”

Aengus continues:

“May I receive the full benefit
Of praising Thy royal hosts.

Thy royal hosts I praise
Because Thou art my Sovereign.”

This is one of the clearest Culdee examples of how the saints are to be remembered: not as replacements for Christ, but as His royal host, His witnesses, His faithful servants, and the living testimony of His work in His people.

The Martyrology of Oengus and related Tallaght tradition show how deeply the Celtic Church preserved named remembrance, daily commemoration, monastic prayer, and the celebration of God’s works in His saints. This is the same spirit continued today in saints calendars, feast observances, daily prayer, and live commemorations.

For more, see:

Understanding the Communion of Saints

The communion of saints does not mean replacing Christ with other mediators.

Rather, it means recognizing that the Church is one Body in Christ:

  • the living,
  • the faithful departed,
  • the martyrs,
  • the saints,
  • and all who belong to Him.

The saints are remembered because Christians believe the Church remains united in Christ across heaven and earth.

This is why ancient liturgies could:

  • commemorate saints,
  • commemorate the departed,
  • ask prayers together,
  • and celebrate together within the Eucharistic assembly.

The deeper principle is mutual love within the Body of Christ, grounded in the biblical pattern of covenant prayer and heavenly worship.

For more on this distinction:

Live Commemorations and Saints Festivals

Join us in celebrating the faithfulness of God working in His people throughout the centuries.

From time to time we hold:

  • live commemorations,
  • study sessions,
  • saints day reflections,
  • historical presentations,
  • and liturgical observances centered upon many of the great Celtic Orthodox founders and saints.

These commemorations are intended not merely to study history, but to encourage believers toward prayer, holiness, endurance, and deeper devotion to Christ.

Subscribe and follow along to receive notice of future broadcasts and saints commemorations.

Study Library and Research Categories

Foundations of Biblical Prayer and the Communion of Saints

Communion of Saints and Spiritual Unity

Celtic Liturgical Studies

Prayer for the Departed

Monastic and Celtic Spirituality

Sacred Artwork and Biblical Symbolism

Saints Calendar and Future Reports

We continue developing:

  • saints calendars,
  • feast commemorations,
  • saint biographies,
  • Vita studies,
  • liturgical reports,
  • and historical presentations covering the Celtic saints and the wider Orthodox Christian tradition.

Over one thousand Celtic saints are remembered from the period before Augustine arrived in Britain alone.

Many additional studies and commemorative materials are planned for future publication and broadcast.

You may also explore:

May the examples of the saints strengthen us to walk faithfully in our own generation, until we also become partakers of “the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”