at the base of many of the great celtic stone crosses is the figure of st. anthony of the desert and st. paul of thebes. anthony has come to visit paul, and they are brought bread by ravens. this image reflects the ancient tradition that celtic spirituality is derived from the coptic desert fatgers, who sent, if legend is correct, seven brothers to the british isles long before st. patrick's slightly more historical mission.
there are many correspondences between the practices of the eastern church and the celtic church which support this legend. one of them is the celebration of the beginning of august, the ancient celtic season of ludghnasadh, as the thanksgiving, the harvest home feast. removed from each other by thousands of miles, the church in constantinople, and now her sister churches, and the church in the villages of cornwall, and her sisters, both rejoiced at this time, in the agricultural harvest, and in the spiritual harvest that results from our understanding of who jesus truly is.
the celtic church looked at the sun god ludgh as a prophecy of the true king of glory, christ jesus, whom the disciples saw at the feast of the transfiguration shining brighter than the sun. many of the saints of the season, such as sidwell of exeter are harvest saints. the second of august is her feast; she "was killed when her pagan stepmother incited the reapers in the harvest fields to cut off her head." (shirley toulson, the celtic year.shaftesbury: element, 1993, p.198.)
it has long seemed to the that the protestant hymn, bringing in the sheaves, written in 1874 by knowles shaw, is not inappropriate for early august.
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