The Ancient Celtic Church

One winter afternoon a man went into a nearby forest
To collect pinecones and light a small fire.
Advancing into the thicket, blackberries and gorse, he sensed an old way.
Every day from then on, he worked to restore it.
This way of bygone days is certainly not in everyone and for everyone.
But those who take it upon themselves
the land of our ancestors will find
will breathe the pure air as it was then
find the shade there at warm hours,
refreshing springs and nights so wonderful
all woven from moon and stars,
which our forefathers already saw with certainty.
Whoever understands this also understands what the Spirit spoke to the Church of the West.
Holy Tugdual - Hermit
(1917-1968)

The Ancient Celtic Church takes its name from Archbishop St Tugdual, Jean-Pierre Danyel (1917-1968), and his Hermitage of the Ancient Celtic Church. Mar Tugdual received his ordinations in the Orthodox Church of the British Isles and contributed to the foundation of other Celtic churches. In Britain, the Ancient Celtic Church was established by Philip Peter Ross Nichols, who was ordained Archdeacon for the British Isles by Mar Tugdual in 1963.

We are a community of Closeness to nature and part of the movement to reconstruct Celtic Christian spirituality. The Ancient Celtic Church is an open, inclusive, progressive, equal, Celtic community. The clergy of the Ancient Celtic Church, like its founder St. Tugdual, live as regular clerics and hermits alone or with their families. A regular cleric is a synonym for a religious priest who does not work full-time for a community. We understand training for ministry as part of the spiritual path that every man and woman can walk. The Spiritual Path of the Ancient Celtic Church introduces the secrets of Christian teaching and symbolizes the search for the Holy Grail. In the Grail tradition of Arthurian legend, the paths of knightly, Christian and Celtic mythologies cross. You can tread all these paths together with us, to which we cordially invite you.