Celtic Spirituality

a fish, every three days. I ate a third of the fish each day and, thanks be to God, never suffered thirst for every Sunday a trickle of water flowed from that rock from which I could drink and fill my flask for the rest of the week.

Then, when they were making their way along the shore, a dog came running toward them and sat at Brendan’s feet, as dogs are accustomed to sit at the feet of their master. St. Brendan said to his brothers: “Has God not sent us a good messenger? Let us follow him.” Then St. Brendan and his brothers followed the dog as far as the settlement.

On the seventh day I saw this island and immediately landed on it, pushing the boat away with my foot, which returned from whence it came. I watched it cut a swift passage through the waves back to its own land. And I remained here. At about three o’clock in the afternoon a sea otter would bring me food from the sea walking on its hind legs, carryi

When it had placed before me the fish and the twigs, it returned to the sea. I lit a fire with flint and iron and prepared a meal from the fish. This continued for thirty years with the otter bringing me

When this period was over, the holy father ordered a three-day fast. At the end of the third day an enormous bird flew toward the boat, with a branch from some unknown tree in its beak. At the tip of the branch hung a large bunch of grapes of a wonderful purple color. The bird dropped the branch into the lap of the holy man. St. Brendan called his

Community of St. Ailbe, and there you shall celebrate the Nativity of the Lord.

When the holy man had finished praying, all the birds started to flap their wings and sing: “Praise the Lord, all his angels, praise him, all his host” (Ps 148:2). They continued to sing for an hour, just as they had at vespers.

“Next year you will celebrate Easter Sunday and the Easter period with us. And you will be in the same place you were for Maundy Thursday. Similarly you will celebrate the Easter vigil where you celebrated it before, on the back of Jasconius. After eight months you will find the island which is called the Island of the

On one occasion, when St. Brendan had celebrated the feast of St. Peter the Apostle on board the boat, the sea was so clear that they could see right down into it. In the depths they saw various kinds of creatures lying on the seabed. They seemed close enough to touch, so clear was the sea. They were like flocks at pasture, and there were so many o