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The Angels Keep Their Ancient Places: Reflections on Celtic Spirituality
A profound exploration of the Celtic spiritual tradition, and particularly of the Celtic visionary imagination.Connecting this with both the Platonic and Islamic traditions, this book suggests a "lost category" of existence which would account for the possibility of resurrection from the dead and communication with Angels. Noel O'Donoghue opens up new and exciting horizons for Christian exploration.
136 pages, Paperback
First published December 20, 2001
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July 31, 2015
People who ask me whether I have read a particular John O'Donohue book are sometimes surprised when I admit I neither own it nor have read it. I have read some of his works, of course, but I much prefer the other Celtic spirituality author with a similar sounding surname, the late Rev. Dr. Noel Dermot O'Donoghue (1920-2006), who had the distinction of being the first Roman Catholic priest since the Reformation to take up a theology faculty position in Scotland, at the University of Edinburgh, where he taught for 17 years. For me, Noel O'D is the one who slips into the depths.
Since this is a collection of essays, I probably have actually read it twice through, and some pieces more than that, by picking and choosing over the course of a couple of years. The key theme that runs through them all can be summed up in the word "intimation" -- an understanding that what we think we see, hear, or even know is only a glimpse, or if we are blessed, a portal into a wider and no less real world that can be known only with the inner senses:
Enlivening and activating the inner perceptions with grace can be seen as one of the activities of the Holy Spirit, and so this is ultimately a book about prayer or for those who shy away from that concept, remembrance. Readers looking for how-tos and inspirational quotes will do well to look elsewhere, but those who seek consolation in the knowledge that they are not alone in their longing or their keening will find much of value here, especially if they read slowly and stop when a phrase or paragraph shimmers with the light that glows in the eyes of one who has seen angels.
Since this is a collection of essays, I probably have actually read it twice through, and some pieces more than that, by picking and choosing over the course of a couple of years. The key theme that runs through them all can be summed up in the word "intimation" -- an understanding that what we think we see, hear, or even know is only a glimpse, or if we are blessed, a portal into a wider and no less real world that can be known only with the inner senses:
This is not the kind of material, ultimately perishable reality that men and women can control and which finally controls them. It is too gentle for that, too shy, a world of whispers blowing in the clean winds of the mountain blending with the ceaseless hurrying splash and spiralling of the waters, a world far more deeply interfused with divine presence....
Enlivening and activating the inner perceptions with grace can be seen as one of the activities of the Holy Spirit, and so this is ultimately a book about prayer or for those who shy away from that concept, remembrance. Readers looking for how-tos and inspirational quotes will do well to look elsewhere, but those who seek consolation in the knowledge that they are not alone in their longing or their keening will find much of value here, especially if they read slowly and stop when a phrase or paragraph shimmers with the light that glows in the eyes of one who has seen angels.
Displaying 1 of 1 review