ORDER OF THE WILD GOOSE

   

    `Ordugh Cadhan is Gaelic and translates Order (`Ordugh) Wild Goose (Cadhan).  It is the name of the order of secular monks created by Brother Thomas Faulkenbury and Brother John Chiaromonte, one a Bishop of the RCC and the other a former Bishop and Taoiseach of the RCC.

    The wild goose was a symbol for the ancient Celtic Christian Church.  The free flight of the wild goose was reminiscent of Jesus' comment on the Holy Spirit:  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8)

    Cadhan monks are on a wild goose chase ~ a following of the Holy Spirit ~ down paths of ecumenicity and tolerance, across the skies of God's universal message into the heart of God's presence and work in all religions of love and compassion.

    We are Christ-centered because He is our foundation and our personal point of reference.  But we are not restricted by the boundaries of Christianity nor any other institutional religion.  We can, have, and will find truths in other religions, East and West.  While we believe that Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Word of God, we do not believe that God has been silent with regards to people outside the Judeo-Christian world.

    We are definitely un-orthodox and most likely heretical from the viewpoint of mainstream Christianity.  Defining orthodoxy and declaring what is heresy are the purview of religions and the cause of much bloodshed and killing.  We prefer spirituality over religion.  We endeavor to follow the Wild Goose; not hunt it and kill it as religions do the Spirit of their founders.

    The orientation of the Order is eclectic and esoteric...  a mixture of Wisdom Christianity, Zen Buddhism, and Advaita Hinduism.  The focus is multifaceted and ever-changing yet anchored in several precepts.