Jesus Life 90 - Jesus Army

SOUL
FRIENDS
Trevor Saxby explores the depths
of spiritual friendship mined by
Christians in Celtic Britain
FROM THE 5th to the 7th centuries, a
powerful renewal took place in the
churches of Britain. From their coastal bases
in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall,
courageous evangelists known today as
the Celtic Christian missionaries planted
churches and communities around the
British Isles.
From the biographies of these pioneers
we quickly see what importance they gave
to deep relationships. Each brother or sister
was to have an anamchara, or “soul friend”:
a mixture of mentor, spiritual director and
close friend. The abbess Brigid (died 525) said
that “a person without an anamchara is like a
body without a head” – lacking true sight and
sense. A soul friend is a person who will allow
me to tell the whole truth about myself, and to
encourage me to seek healing and restoration.
In 6th century Ireland, all the movers and
shakers of Celtic Christianity had their “soul
friends” and were, in turn, “soul friends”
to others. They had a particular way of
befriending that intentionally honoured
and nurtured the life of the soul. It involved
mutual encouragement, confession and
telling the truth in love.
Even a century apart, they had a
common vision of reality. They also seem
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to have shared intuitions and discernment,
particularly regarding future leaders. One
story goes that Brendan of Emly in Munster,
where the patriarch Ailbe had presided for
many years. Brendan burned with questions,
but Ailbe’s was a silent order! The monastery
schoolmaster (who was allowed to speak)
had to rebuke Brendan and his companions
for chatter. But Brendan persisted and Ailbe,
recognising in the young man all the qualities
of a future leader, broke his own rule and
spoke, teaching him many things.
What shines clearly from the written lives
of the Celtic saints is the profound respect
which they showed for each other’s wisdom
and guidance – despite age or gender
differences. They genuinely saw each brother
or sister as a potential source of precious
blessings from God. The biographies often
convey this symbolically, through the gesture
of giving gifts. Although they lived poor,
special gifts conveyed profound respect
and mutuality: a ring, a bell, a hand-made
wooden box, or maybe a horse.
A trail-blazer was Finnian (died 549),
founder of the big monastery of Clonard. If
Patrick had been the pioneer, Finnian was
the spiritual father, who guided many of the
early Celtic missionary leaders, like Columba
of Iona and Ciaran of Clonmacnoise. He
genuinely loved these sons and brothers. In
his letters to Ciaran, he would call him “dear
one” and “o little heart”, always adding a
personal blessing.
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