Saint David of Wales, the Culdees, and the True Meaning of the 'Lord's Way':
A Defense of Celtic Sabbath Observance
Saint David of Wales, the Culdees, and the True Meaning of the 'Lord's Way': A Defense of Celtic Sabbath Observance
A small expose on the topic covered by Dr Stephen MK Brunswick ThD, PhD “Saturday Rest: the Christian Sabbath in Orthodox Faith”, page 35-36.
Lord’s Way, Not Lord’s Day, proven
The life and ecclesiastical practices of Saint David of Wales and the early Celtic Christian tradition have long been misunderstood or inaccurately aligned with Roman customs. Contrary to the assertion that these early saints observed Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, historical, textual, and linguistic evidence paints a different picture—one that reveals faithful observance of the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) in a distinctively spiritual, non-Judaistic manner.
The 'Lord's Way' – A Misunderstood Phrase
Modern translations of early Greek Christian texts, such as the Didache and Ignatius of Antioch's Letter to the Magnesians, frequently mistranslate the phrase "κατὰ κυριακὴν" as "on the Lord's Day," implying Sunday observance. However, rigorous analysis of Koine Greek reveals that:
The word κυριακὴν is an adjective meaning "Lordly" or "belonging to the Lord," and not inherently tied to the word 'day' (ἡμέρα).
In both the Didache and Ignatius’ writings, the Greek word for 'day' is absent, and there is no grammatical or contextual necessity to supply it.
Scholars such as John Kitto, Theony Condos, Bob Thiel, and Fritz Guy agree that the phrase is better translated as “according to the Lord’s way” or “Lord’s manner of life.”
Thus, the early Christian texts cited to support Sunday observance more accurately promote living in accordance with the lifestyle and teachings of the Lord—not shifting the Sabbath to Sunday.
Saint David and the Eastern Orthodox Connection
Saint David (Dewi Sant), patron saint of Wales, was closely aligned with the Eastern Church. He was reportedly anointed and consecrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and upheld Eastern liturgical practices, not Roman ones. Sources suggest he used the Greek/Byzantine (or Syriac) scriptural texts, differing significantly from the Latin texts that interpolated "Lord’s Day" sometimes where the Greek does not.
This reinforces the understanding that David, like the Eastern Church, held to the Sabbath (Saturday) as sacred.
Evidence from the Life of Saint David, Chapter 27
Arthur Wade-Evans' 1923 translation of the Vita Sancti Davidis, attributed to Rhygyfarch, describes:
“From the eve of the sabbath until after dawn light shall have begun in the first hour of the Lord's Day they apply themselves to watchings, prayers, and genuflexions, one hour then excepted after the matins of the sabbath.”
Wade-Evans assumes continuous worship from Friday night to Sunday morning. However, this reading contradicts:
David's known role in developing the Celtic Mass (per G.H. Doble), along with Gildas.
The rest of Celtic tradition which shows rest or spiritual repose on Sabbaths, not exhaustive activity.
A more accurate reading aligns with the Jewish-Christian concept of Sabbath:
A sacred day beginning Friday at sundown, culminating in matins on Saturday, with a period of rest following that most solemn observance.
Rule of the Culdees: St. Maelruan
St. Maelruan, a spiritual successor of Saint David, authored the Metrical Rule of the Cele De (Culdees), the basis for all Celtic monastic rules. One line reads:
“As we enter the church we kneel thrice; we bend not the knee only on the Sabbaths of the living God.”
This shows that the Sabbath was honored with spiritual reverence, and unlike other days, no kneeling was required—a mark of rest and sacredness, further disassociating their observance from Romanized rituals.
Broader Christian Witness to Sabbath Observance
This Sabbath observance by the Celtic Church is not isolated. Several early Christian sources support the continuity of Saturday as the sacred day:
St. Ignatius of Antioch (2nd century):
“Let each of you observe the Sabbath in a spiritual manner... And after keeping the Sabbath, let every lover of Christ celebrate the festival of the Lord’s Day—the Resurrection day.” (This supports dual observance, not replacement.)
St. Epiphanius of Salamis (4th century):
“Assemblies for Communion were appointed by the apostles to be held on the fourth day, on Sabbath eve, and on the Lord’s Day.”
Bishop St. Palladius of Galatia (419–420 A.D.):
Described “Agape Saturday,” where believers partook in communion.
Socrates Scholasticus (5th century):
“Almost all churches around the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath...” except in Rome and Alexandria.
Sozomen (5th century):
“The people of Constantinople—and almost everywhere—gather on the Sabbath as well as on the first day.”
St. Irenaeus (2nd century):
Affirmed the unity of practice between churches in Britain, Gaul, Spain, and Germany, and connected the Sabbath to the seventh day of creation.
“The true Sabbath... during which they shall not be engaged in any earthly occupation.”
Conclusion
The combined Greek grammatical evidence, Celtic liturgical customs, and global patristic testimony confirm that:
The phrase "κατὰ κυριακὴν" refers to the Lord’s way/lifestyle, not the Lord’s Day/Sunday.
Saint David of Wales, his spiritual descendants like St. Maelruan, and the Celtic Church as a whole honored the seventh-day Sabbath.
They did so not in a Judaistic manner, but in a Christian spiritual form, emphasizing rest, study, and reverence.
Later interpolations, especially from Latin translators, distorted the understanding of κυριακή to mean Sunday, whereas Greek and Celtic traditions preserved the original sense.
Thus, the faithful communities of the Celtic Church, rooted in the East and maintained across centuries, provide a clear and early witness to Sabbath continuity and the true meaning of the Lord’s Way.
This built up on the Appendix section 3 from the book.
Appendix Section 3:
THE DIDACHE, ST. IGNATIUS, AND THE SABBATH
Over the years I have been in contact with the authors of the website cogwriter.com. Although we do not agree with their views on rejecting the Trinity (we affirm the tri-unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the name into which we are baptized, YAHWEH), they have published many valuable materials. One article, in particular, that I believe is useful is their “19th Century Mistranslations of the Didache and Other Letters about ‘Lord’s Day’.” I have obtained permission to reproduce this article regarding the Didache. More on this topic can also be found in the subchapter discussing the liturgies used in the Orthodox Church.
“19th Century Mistranslations of the Didache and Other Letters about ‘Lord’s Day’”
By Dr. Bob Thiel – cogwriter.com
Some people, on the internet and elsewhere, have pointed to some basically 19th century translations of certain ancient documents in an attempt to support their contention that Sunday was observed early on by the original Christians.
The Didache is an ancient letter that may have been written near the time of the Apostle John’s death. Many consider it to contain the earliest indirect reference to Sunday worship by Christians.
Ignatius was an early leader in Antioch who apparently knew some of the apostles, as well as Polycarp the Bishop (or Pastor) in Smyrna (a part of Asia Minor). One of Ignatius’ writings, called his Letter to the Magnesians, is often cited as proof that Sunday was observed by early Christians. But is that what he really was teaching?
The late French Cardinal Jean-Guenole-Marie Danielou is amongst those that have claimed that Sunday observance by Christians is supported by the Didache and Ignatius’ Letter to the Magnesians [1].
But, do either of these documents support the observance of Sunday?
This article will discuss some of these writings and will include some of the original Greek to demonstrate what the early writings actually teach.
Early Writings
Before getting to those writings, there are two that perhaps should be mentioned first.
The first is the alleged Epistle of Barnabas. This anonymous document is sometimes cited as proof for Sunday worship, but scholars do not believe that Barnabas wrote it [2]. It is not a truly “Christian” writing. It essentially claims God wanted the ‘eighth day’ instead of the seventh-day Sabbath in the Book of Isaiah (even though terms for eight or eighth are never mentioned in Isaiah). Like some other heretical writings, it relies heavily on allegory to interpret the Bible.
There is also a quote allegedly from Ignatius’ Letter to the Trallians. However this “quote” is from verse 9 in the ‘longer version’ of that letter, which scholars discount as not authentic–it was lengthened much later by someone else—the shorter version, whose authenticity is widely accepted, says nothing about “the Lord’s Day” [3].
The Didache
The Didache has been cited as the earliest non-Scriptural “proof” of Sunday worship by those who profess Christ [4], although it does not ever use the word Sunday nor the expression ‘first day of the week.’
However, verse 14.1 is often cited as proof of Sunday observance by promoters of Sunday observance.
The Greek expression in verse 14.1 in the Didache, is:
Κατὰ κυριακὴν δε κυριου [5].
The Greek term κυριακὴν is often transliterated as kuriaki/kyriake.
Here is something from a Catholic priest and scholar on the meaning of κυριακὴν:
… the Greek kyriake, meaning “belonging to the Lord (kyrios),” from which the English word “church” is derived. [6]
Basically kuriaki means the Lord’s way.
I believe I have translated verse 14.1 in the Didache, properly below (with two options):
According to the Lord’s way, even the Lord’s.
or
According to the Lordly {way}, even the Lord’s.
However, it has normally been incorrectly translated by many Protestant scholars. Here are two examples:
“On the Lord’s day of the Lord,” by Kirsopp Lake [7].
“But every Lord’s day,” by Hall and Napier [8].
There are at least two reasons that the above by Lake, as well as Hall & Napier, can be shown to be mistranslated.
The first is that the translators should have realized that the Greek term for “day” (ἡμέρᾳ) is missing in verse 14.1 [9] and is not required by the context.
The second is how each of them began the translation of this particular verse. The beginning in both translations is in error and is inconsistent with the translators other translations in this letter.
The Greek word translated in verse 14.1 as “On the” by Kirsopp Lake and “But every” by Hall and Napier (Κατὰ) truly does mean “According to” as I have translated it. Κατα should not be translated as “On the” or “But every.”
The Greek word Κατὰ is translated as “according to” by Kirsopp Lake five times (1.5, 11.3, 12.4, 13.5, and 13.7 [10]) and “with respect” one time (4.10). The other times Lake used the term “on” (verses 1.4, 7.3, 8.1a, 8.1b, 11.12, 16.8 [11]), it was NOT a translation from the Greek term Κατὰ.
Also the one time the Didache uses “on” with a day (which is in the translations of both Lake and Hall/Napier), it does not use Κατὰ, but it does include the Greek term for day (verse 8.1b) [12].
It may be of interest to note that in the KJV New Testament, Κατα is translated as “according to” approximately 110 times, and the only time (Acts 8:36) it is inaccurately translated as “on” it is not translated as “on” in the NKJV or NIV.
Hall and Napier translated Κατὰ as “according to” the six other times it is translated that SAME letter (see verses 1.5, 4.10, 11.3, 12.4, 13.5, and 13.7 [13]) and never translated it as “But every.” The one other time Hall and Napier used the term “But every” (verse 13.1) while translating the Didache it is not translated from the term Κατὰ [14]. Also, it may be of interest to note that the KJV never translated Κατὰ as “but every.”
Hence it appears that several translators intentionally exercised bias when translating verse 14.1.
The context of this portion of the Didache suggests that it may be referring to the Christian Passover (compare with I Corinthians 22:23-29) or some other gathering (compare with Acts 2:42), but only a forced and inaccurate translation would suggest Sunday (which is what many Sunday advocates suggest). The belief that this refers to Passover is centuries old as F. Coneybeare reported it was a belief of the Paulini:
But the Paulini also keep the feast of the Pascha on the same day (as the Jews), whatever be the day of the full moon, they call it Kuriaki, as the Jews call it Sabbath, even though it be not a Sabbath. [15]
Since the Protestant translating scholars of the Didache did not observe an annual Christian Passover and tended to be Sunday observers, this may explain why they did not translate it literally.
Ignatius’ Letter to the Magnesians
The other major claim in favor of early Sunday worship is from Ignatius’ Letter to the Magnesians.
Here is what the Greek states:
Εί ούν οί έν παλαιοîς πράγμασιν άναστραφέντες είς καινότητα έλπίδος ήλθον, μηκέτι σαββατίζοντες, άλλά κατά κυριακήν ζώντες, έν ή καί ή ζωή ήμών άνέτειλεν δι’ αύτού καί τού θανάτου αύτού, <öν> τινες άρνούνται, δι’ ού μυστηρίου έλάβομεν τò πιστεύειν, καί διά τούτο ύπομένομεν, ïνα εύρεθώμεν μαθηταί ‘Iησού Χριστού τού μόνου διδασκάλου ήμών· [16]
Here is a fairly typical 19th Century translation of verse 9.1, by Dr. J.B. Lightfoot:
If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord’s day, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny — a mystery whereby we attained unto belief, and for this cause we endure patiently, that we may be found disciples of Jesus Christ our only teacher [17].
But is that correct?
It should be noted that the word for ‘day’ is not in the Greek text.
Interestingly, like Lake and Hall/Napier, Dr. Lightfoot also failed to translate Κατα, which is in the text [18] as “according to.” Yet, Lightfoot did translate Κατα as “according to” in three other places in this letter (verses 3.1,10.1, 13.2 [19]). He also failed to do so in his translation of the Didache, where he began verse 14.1 with “And on” [20]–an apparently intentional and improper translation as discussed above (Lightfoot translated κατά as “according to” five other times in the Didache [21]).
It is sad that these translators, all born in the 19th century, all decided to selectively change the meaning of a word.
Why?
{ …… Truncated / Shortened for email ….}
As Christ did not remove any laws, but added several, as now not to even think breaking them in the heart, and said "...if it's your eye that makes you think about breaking them, to pluck it out, or your hand, cut it off, as it's better to go into heaven with one hand or one eye than have your whole body thrown into hell..." "Not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law, not even after heaven and earth passes away, not till all the National prophecies and all the National laws have been fulfilled (in the new heavens and new earth)..." Words of Christ, from John Chapter 5.)
The actual Greek expression Justin used was:
τῇ τοῦ ῾Ηλίου λεγομένη ἡμέρᾳ.
His statement is often translated as, “on the day called Sunday” [43].
Notice that Justin’s comment in the Greek language demonstrates that the term Κυριακήν was not then the common Greek word for Sunday.
The terms he used specifically used were ἡμέρᾳ which means day, Ηλίου is considered to mean Sun (although it is actually the term for the sun god Helios), and λεγομένη currently means said. Thus Justin literally stated “on the day said {of} Helios” or perhaps more literally “on the Helios named day”. Justin probably used this expression to suggest to the Roman Emperor that Justin’s version of Christianity was not totally different from the worship of gods that the emperor was familiar with (and this is true).
But why Sunday? Justin actually claims that God chose the eighth day for meeting because of the fact that circumcision was performed on the eighth day:
Now, sirs,” I said, “it is possible for us to show how the eighth day possessed a certain mysterious import, which the seventh day did not possess, and which was promulgated by God through these rites…there is now another covenant, and another law has gone forth from Zion. Jesus Christ circumcises all who will–as was declared above–with knives of stone; that they may be a righteous nation, a people keeping faith, holding to the truth, and maintaining peace [44].
The average person who worships on Sunday probably does not wish to believe that this is what Sunday is based on, but this eighth day logic (which came from early Gnostics) is what the first Sunday references base its superiority on (including, as mentioned, the alleged Epistle of Barnabas).
Furthermore, it may be of interest to realize that Justin held many positions that those who worship on Sunday would hold to be heretical. Justin also stated that there were Christians in his day who kept the law of Moses (who he did not wish to associate with) and those who did not keep the Sabbath (those he kept Sunday with).
Notice that while in Ephesus, Justin Martyr wrote, in response to a Jew named Trypho:
But if, Trypho, some of your race, who say they believe in this Christ, compel those Gentiles who believe in this Christ to live in all respects according to the law given by Moses, or choose not to associate so intimately with them, I in like manner do not approve of them [45].
Thus, Justin admits that there were two groups in Ephesus, one that kept all the law and the other that did not. He also admits that he did not approve of those who kept the law.
Ignatius was associated with Polycarp, a church leader in Asia Minor, as well as with those in Ephesus, yet Ignatius and Polycarp endorsed what Justin is referring to as the law of Moses.
Furthermore, Justin Martyr records this accusation from Trypho:
More information on Lord’s Day references can be found in the article Is Revelation 1:10 Discussing the Lord’s Day or the Day of the Lord?
(Emphasis is the Author’s) The references are found in the condensed html version of the book as found at:
http://celticorthodoxy.com/2015/05/honoring-of-the-sabbath-in-the-historic-Orthodox-church/