The Celtic Missal (Lorrha–Stowe)

Abbot-Bishop Maelruain, Céle Dé (1955–2013)

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Introduction

This page preserves and presents the Celtic Missal as translated and rubricated by
+Abbot-Bishop Maelruain, Céle Dé (Kristopher G. Dowling), a faithful laborer in the restoration
of Celtic Orthodox liturgical tradition in North America.

This work—based on the ancient Lorrha (Stowe) Missal—represents one of the most complete modern
English renderings of a historic Celtic Eucharistic rite, along with its associated sacramental services.

We host this text unaltered and with full acknowledgement of its original compiler, as a
resource for study, devotion, and liturgical reference within the wider Celtic Orthodox and Culdee tradition.

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The Work of Abbot-Bishop Maelruain

Abbot-Bishop Maelruain, Céle Dé, served in Akron, Ohio, where he labored to restore the liturgical and monastic
heritage of the ancient Celtic Church. His translation and rubrication of the Lorrha–Stowe Missal made this
early Western rite accessible to English-speaking clergy and faithful.

His work includes:

• The full Order of the Eucharist
• Baptism, Chrismation, and First Communion rites
• Reconciliation (Confession)
• Anointing of the Sick
• Additional prayers, litanies, and traditional Celtic devotional texts

We honor his contribution as part of the continuing witness of the Céle Dé tradition in North America.

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Access the Celtic Missal

Download the Celtic Missal (PDF)

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Culdee Liturgical Context

Within the Orthodox Church of the Culdees (St Andrew’s OCC), our liturgical life draws from a broader continuity of sources preserved across the Western and early apostolic Church, including:

• De Didache and early apostolic Eucharistic forms
• De Didascalia Apostolorum and early Church discipline
• The traditions associated with St. Polycarp and St. Polycrates of Ephesus, reflecting early Quartodeciman and apostolic festal practice
• De Sarum Use and its orthodox Western continuity
• De Stowe en Speckled book
• The established Rules of the Culdees
• De Gallican Rite and related Western liturgical families
• De 1928 Book of Common Prayer, in its more traditional and doctrinally stable form

From these sources, our clergy have often worked with condensed, distilled, and pastorally adapted forms
of worship suited to home churches, monastic communities, and smaller assemblies.

Accordingly, while the Celtic Missal represents a full and formal altar manual, it is used alongside:

• Simplified home communion services
• Condensed liturgical forms for mission and household gatherings
• Expanded services for monastic and solemn observances, including vigils and seasonal rites

In this way, the Celtic Missal stands as a high and complete expression of the Celtic liturgical tradition,
while not replacing the simpler forms used in daily Culdee life.

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Liturgical Note on Translation and Usage

Within the clergy of St. Andrew’s Orthodox Church of the Culdees (OCC), particular care is given to the earliest recoverable forms of the Celtic and Western liturgical tradition. In some cases, this results in the use of more refined or earlier translations of elements found within the Lorrha–Stowe tradition, especially where later devotional or structural developments have altered the original sense.

For example, in certain litanies and prefatory texts, phrases are preserved in their more ancient declarative form— such as:

“Saint [Name] praises Him”

rather than later formulations that may be interpreted as direct invocation. This aligns with the well-known structure of the Te Deum, in which:

“All the saints praise Thee”

is understood not as a request directed toward the saints, but as a declaration of their continual worship before God.

Additionally, some of these litany forms were not originally positioned at the head of the liturgy in earlier usage, and may be restored or repositioned accordingly within Culdee practice.

Such refinements are not intended as alterations to the work of Abbot-Bishop Maelruain, but rather reflect the broader methodological approach of our clergy: to remain faithful both to received liturgical texts and to the earliest apostolic and patristic witness from which they derive.

In keeping with the principle found within the English liturgical tradition, we also maintain that:

“The Bishop, being responsible, may appoint and add further services as the availability of ministers permits.”

Accordingly, the Celtic Missal is received as a complete and formal altar text, while allowing for pastoral flexibility in its application across home churches, monastic communities, and larger solemn assemblies.

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Pastoral Note

This text is provided as a liturgical and historical resource. Within our communities, its use may be:

• Adopted in whole or in part for solemn or high liturgical celebrations
• Referenced for theological and historical study
• Adapted pastorally where needed for local Culdee communities

Our standard and more frequent usage remains rooted in simpler liturgical forms, especially for
home assemblies and daily prayer, while this Missal serves as a full and formal expression
of the Celtic altar tradition.

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In Memoriam

+Abbot-Bishop Maelruain, Céle Dé (1955–2013)
A servant of the Celtic Orthodox tradition and a restorer of its liturgical heritage in our time.

“May his memory be eternal.”