I hope you’re having a great day! If you want to know more about St. Patrick and the impact of his life, I highly recommend Thomas Cahill’s “How the Irish Saved Civilization.” In a thoroughly entertaining and readable way he makes the case that as Roman Empire and its lifeless state-sponsored Christianity crumbled, Irish Christianity thrived. Eventually, it would be Irish Christians who founded the monasteries in Europe that copied Scripture, preserved many ancient writings, and brought vitality back to Christian faith. And the man responsible for Irish Christianity? St. Patrick.
Yesterday I mentioned St. Patrick’s Breastplate, an ancient Irish prayer attributed to the patron saint. Scholars think the oldest surviving copy may actually date about two centuries after Patrick’s death, but there is no reason to believe it couldn’t have originated with him.
Why “Breastplate?” The prayer is also called St. Patrick’s Lorica, the Latin word for body armor. Roman soldiers wore several varieties of lorica, but in monastic circles, a lorica was a prayer or incantation that was intended to protect the body from harm. Later Christian knights sometimes literally inscribed such prayers on armor or shields. The practice takes its inspiration from Ephesians 6:10-17, “put on the full armor of God.”
Patrick’s lorica is certainly a prayer for protection, as well as much more. It is a powerful statement of theology, a vision for ministry, and an especially Irish take on the omnipresence of God. In 1889 Frances Alexander adapted it into a hymn, and it is this version that is framed in my office.
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I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same the Three in One and One in Three.
I bind this today to me forever by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river, His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb, His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself the power of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour, the service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word, the Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord and purity of virgin souls.
I bind unto myself today the virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray, the whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free, the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach, His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech, His heavenly host to be my guard.
Against the demon snares of sin, the vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within, the hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh, in every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility I bind to me these holy powers.
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles, against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles, against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft, against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft, protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name, the strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation, Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
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I love the idea of taking on the virtues of the natural world. I love the line “the whirling winds tempestuous shocks/ the stable earth, the deep salt sea/ around the old eternal rocks.” I love that the things that are prayed against – spells of wizards and witches, the prospect of being drowned, burned, poisoned, or cut down with a sword, were distinct possibilities at the time and place of Patrick’s ministry. And I love the next to last stanza, “Christ be with me,” etc. It makes the hairs on my arm stand up every time.
