Quiz #2 Flashcards
Monk
Lives a communal or solitary life centred on spiritual values and goals. Lifestyle is called monasticism, and monastic quarters are a monastery; the female equivalent is a nun.
Hermit
Lives a solitary monastic life, dwelling is a hermitage, lifestyle is called eremitic monasticism, comes from the Greek for desert: ‘eremos.’
Coenobitic
Communal monasticism, which comes from the Greek ‘koinos + bios’ for ‘common life,’
sometimes spelled ‘cenobitic.’
Layperson
Not a member of the clergy or a monk, the collective word for laypersons is ‘laity.’
Bishop
A church leader who oversees the spirituality of a group of Christian churches organized into a diocese, the jurisdiction of a bishop is called a bishopric.
Abbot
Leader of a monastic community, abbess for a woman. Abbacy refers to their office or tenure as leader.
Discernment
Developing and deploying awareness, understanding and assessment of one’s life choices and self-orientation.
Asceticism
Abstinence from indulging one’s desires for the purpose of discernment and self-reorientation.
Anamchara
Old Irish for ‘soul-friend’, a person who hears confessions and accompanies and advises a person.
Annals
The record of events, usually by year and in chronological order, is compiled and kept by monastic communities.
Coravle
‘Curragh’ in Irish a boat of varying sizes and shapes, made of a waterproof layer of tarred or oiled animal skin/canvas or wooden laths.
Peregrnatio
The practice of pilgrimage as an exile, the Latin word for pilgrimage, may be penitential, missionary or scholarly, always seen as ascetical, peregrina if female, peregrinus is male, peregrini if plural.
Homily
Commentary on a scriptural text intended to provide spiritual guidance, sometimes considered synonymous with ‘sermon.’
White Martyrdom
Figurative death of self-will embodied in an ascetical life, emerged from ‘red martyrdom’, which literally meant dying for the faith.
Franks
Germanic peoples originally associated with the Lower and Middle Rhine, eventually ruled the entire region between the Loire and Rhine, kingdoms of the Franks are called the Francia.
Anglo-Saxon
Historical term for the Germanic peoples who inhabited parts of England and Wales from the 5th-11th centuries, also the term used for the language used in England at the time.
Gregory I
Gregory the Great, a 6th century Pope who sent St. Augustine to Britain to evangelize Anglo-Saxons in 597CE, later sent missionaries in 601 with manuscripts and icons, Gregorian Mission/Continent or Roman Mission.
Northumbria
Anglo-Saxon kingdom in England included Deira, Bernicia and Lothian, the site of Christian evangelization by monks from Iona, Columban or Celtic Mission.
Benedictines
Christian monastic order from the 6th-century rule of St. Benedict, Augustine of Canterbury brought the tradition to the Isles in 597 Kent.
Aethelberht and Bertha
The King and Queen of Kent welcomed Augustine when he landed, The King was Anglo-Saxon and pagan, the queen was Frankish and Christian, and the King converted by 601.
Liturgy
From the Greek ‘laos’ for ‘people’ and ‘ergon’ for ‘work,’ ‘work of the people’, collective public worship is incumbent upon the Christian community.
Mass is an example.
Psalter
Volume containing the Psalms (sacred songs).
Oswald of Northumbria
A 7th-century Anglo-Saxon king requested a missionary from Iona bring Christianity to Northumbrians, which led to Aidan’s founding of the Lindisfarne monastery.
Farne Islands
A small group of islands in the North Sea, off the coasts of Lindisfarne and Bamburgh, seat of royal power in 7th century Northumbria, Saints Aidan and Cuthbert retreated here for solitude and prayer.
Columban and Continental traditions
Customs emerging from the monastic paruchia of Iona and its roots can be traced to Ireland, inaccurately referred to as ‘Celtic’, aka Roman tradition, Christian customs that developed in Western Europe and embraced by the See of Rome.
Oswiu and Eanflaed
King and Queen of Northumbria in the 7th century, both Christian, but Oswiu followed Columban customs. Eanflaed followed those of Rome, brought a long dispute about the dating of Easter to a head, and Oswiu convened the Synod of Whitby.
Synod of Whitby
Convoked by King Oswiu, held in 664 CE at Hilda’s double monastery in Streonshalh (Whitby), he wanted to unify the customs of Christians in Britain, especially the dating of Easter.
Wilfrid
Anglo-Saxon abbot/bishop’s journey to Rome convinced him that conformity with the Continental Christian dating of Easter should be universal. He argued for the Romans at Whitby on the basis of St. Peter.
Colman of Lindisfarne
Represented the Celts at Whitby on the basis of St. Columba’s authority returned to Iona after the loss.
Incorruptibility
The belief that the bodies of saints don’t undergo the normal process of decomposition is taken as a miraculous sign of holiness.
Hagiography
Writings of the Lives of saints has elements of history, folk memory and legend as well as miracles; purposes include catechetical and political value.
Catechesis
Greek ‘katekhesis’ means instruction by word of mouth, the term for religious instruction.
Cult of the Saints
Religious beliefs focused on the saints that emerged in early Christianity, including the memorialization of martyrs and spiritual heroes, practices include veneration of relics, and making pilgrimages to graves or important sites.
Veneration
Honouring in the context of Christianity centres around the memories of saints.
Reliquary
A container housing relics or physical remains of a saint.
Imram
Irish for ‘voyage,’ a literary genre of voyage tales in pre-Christian and Christian Celtic cultures, the plural is Imram.
Martyrology
List of martyrs and other saints arranged by the dates of their feasts.
Incarnational
Latin ‘incarnate’ for ‘enfleshment’ refers to the affirmation and embracing of the goodness of the enfleshed state of human beings as created by God as entered into by Jesus.
Liturgy of the Hours
The practice of daily prayer in the Church, exemplified by the 8 times daily periods of prayer in monastic life, is also known as ‘Divine Office’ or ‘Canonical Hours.’
Liturgical Year
Annual cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches, including feast days and seasons and celebrations of the saints.
Nativity
The Latin ‘nativitas’, meaning birth, refers to the birth of Jesus and is celebrated as a festal day on December 25.
Pentecost
Feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit of God into the church, from the Greek ‘pentekonta’ meaning 50.
Ordinary Time
Two periods of time in the Christian year: the first starts at the end of the Christmas season until the start of Lent, and the second starts at the end of Easter and goes until Advent.
Promised Land
Promised in Genesis and given by God to Abraham.
Hymn
Song/poem of praise to God or a saint.
Accommodation
The quality of openness of Celtic Christian culture to its pre-Christian path and to other cultures allowed for continuity with the past while developing new directions under Christianity’s influence.
Brigantia
Celtic goddess of poetry, craft, prophecy and fertility, she was called Brigit in Ireland and had a triple aspect of 3 sisters bearing the same name; symbols include fire, farm animals, birthing and lactation, which pass over to St. Brigid.
Patron Saint
Saint who protects and mediates for a person, group, church, place or cause, Patrick, Columba and Brigid are the patron saints of Ireland.
Mary of the Gaels
The title of St. Brigid refers to her being an echo of the maidenly motherliness of the Virgin Mary.
Type, Typology
A person/thing believed to foreshadow or echo another.
Blessing
The bestowal of something good, including an intention on a person/thing.
Cursing
The bestowal of something terrible, including an intention on a person/thing.
Origination
Dedication of a person with ministerial authority and power, including deacons, priests and bishops.
Hierarchy
From Greek ‘hieros’ (sacred) and ‘archein’ (rule), system of persons/ things ranked.
Patriarchy
From the Greek ‘pater’ (father) and ‘archein’ (rule), a social system where males have authority.
Boudicca
British queen, who in 60 CE led a revolt against the Romans, died in 60/61 CE, also spelled Boadicea or Boudica.
Anchorite
One who retires from society for religious reasons and lives in solitude differs from a hermit because they lives attached to a church.
Place of Resurrection
Used in Celtic hagiographical texts to indicate one’s burial place, it refers to the grave as the location where one will be resurrected by God.
