The Library: Discards

Every library must regularly remove books from its shelves (also called de-accessing) to make way for new ones. Naturally, the least-popular books tend to go first. In our own "Library" of links, we have limited room, so Munchin the Celtic Catholic church mouse (our digital librarian) must regularly remove the ones no one seems interested in as he tries to keep a useful and interesting mix available. Rather than just lose these links, some of which are very exciting for the members of the internet staff here at CCC central, Munchin lists them in the discards bin. If your interests are a bit different than others', you might find something to intrigue you here.

Our Celtic monastic ancestors were more influenced in their religious life and spirit by the writings of St. John Cassian than by any other book except the Bible. Would you like to see what they were reading and molding themselves after? You can read Cassian's Institutes and Conferences. One of the real roots of Celtic Christian spirituality. August, 2002 [4]
Internet Theology Resources, presented by the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, is what its name implies: a huge and carefully screened list of links to theological resources on the internet. You can root around for hours. September, 2002 [5]
CELT (the Corpus of Electronic Irish Texts) is an online resource for Irish history, literature, and politics. October, 2002 [5]
The NET Bible is a new Bible translation for the world wide web. It probably contains more translators' notes than any other version. You can use it free on the web or buy an actual leather bound copy. Unfortunately, it contains only the truncated Protestant canon, not all the books we Celtic Catholics love so much. November, 2002 [4]
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church, Washington, D.C., offers an almost-legendary web site featuring brief lives of saints -- more saints than you ever imagined existed. They call it "For all the Saints", and they certainly seem to have all of them. December, 2003 [4]
The Catholic Conservation Center website provides a collection of writings and documentation about ecology and environmental justice from a variety of Roman Catholic sources. Includes suggestions for making a difference as a Christian. Respect for the rest of creation is, of course, one of the typical hallmarks of Celtic Christianity. December, 2002 [2]
One of the most important sources for the history of the ancient Celtic Church, especially in northern England, is the Venerable Bede's History of the English Church and People. January, 2003 [6]
The Christian Classics Ethereal Library is a large collection of important Christian writings, from the Church Fathers to significant Protestant thinkers. You can find Origen, Pascal, St. Anselm, and our favorite, Anonymous. February, 2003 [7]
The Post-modern Bible: Amos is a really interesting attempt at creating a biblical commentary designed specifically for the web and the dynamic presentation it makes possible. February, 2003 [7]
You can find out a bit about early medieval Wales (the forgotten Celtic Catholic country!) at The Age of Saints. March, 2003 [12]
This article by Orthodox Bishop Alexander Mileant, Angels: Blessed Messengers of God, is a good antidote to the current angel hype, which often presents pagan fairies in the guise of God's messengers. April, 2003 [7]
The Catholic Encyclopedia is a wealth of information, with thousands of articles. May, 2003 [9]
The Interactive Passion Story is a lot of fun. You make your own way through the story of the last days of Christ's life by making choices at various points. Of course, whatever you pick... He still rises! May, 2003 [7]
The Seafaring Saints is a beautiful web site with information about Celtic saints who went down to the sea in ships: Aidan, Brendan, Columba, Columbanus, Patrick, and others. June 2003 [8]
An informative and thorough article on the history of the Celtic liturgical rite can be found in the Catholic Encyclopedia. July 2003 [9]
The Bible Gateway allows you to read or research the Bible in seventeen English translations and in many other languages. The addition of several study aids make this a very useful Bible resource. September 2003 [0]
The Life of St. Bride of Kildare, one of our favorite Celtic saints, is a fascinating account of this woman whose life combined the prechristian with the Christian, and whose personality combined strength with humility. Here is one of the most ancient witnesses to her story, taken from the Leabhar Breac, an ancient Irish manuscript. (But this version is in English, of course.) October 2003 [3]
reJesus is a really exciting site, a place to ask questions about Jesus. Everybody is welcome, not just religious Christians. They've got a fun flash quiz, prayers, message boards, text messaging, interviews with just plain folk ("Who is Jesus?"), and a lot of other cool stuff. Your non-Christian friends may not even notice how evangelistic it is. November 2003 [5]
If you are at all interested in ancient Celtic Christian art, this site about cumdachs and polaires will fascinate you. These book shrines and satchels show the artistic talent of our Celtic ancestors at its most beautiful and most practical. December, 2003 [3]
In Romantic Ireland is Dead and Gone, the author shows that Ireland is a swiftly modernizing country, and traces such phenomena as the voluntary demise of Gaelic and the abandoning of the Roman Catholic Church. Sobering news for all us "Irish Americans" who love the idea of Ireland perhaps more than the actual place and people. But reality is always better than falsehood, so read the article. February, 2004 [5]
The New Testament Gateway is an amazing resource for learning just about everything there is to know about... you guessed it! The New Testament. Do you want to know about ancient Greek? How about Jesus in film, or source criticism? This site can at least get you started. May, 2006 [10]