www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Prayer St. Patrick

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,

This is a beautiful prayer of a great saint venerated by both the East and West. It is a prayer of complete and total confidence in our Lord and His protection each and every day. St. Patrick was up against all of these dangers when he went to evangelize Ireland, and thus, I give you this prayer for us today, when dangers of all kinds, once again threaten Christians everywhere in the world.



Lorica of Saint Patrick

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

St. Patrick (ca. 377)

May God bless you, Alice, for posting St. Patrick's Breastplate ! It is one of my favorite prayers ! I was thinking of posting it, but you beat me to it !

-- John

Thanks John!

It is a truly amazing prayer...

In Christ,
Alice

There is a wonderful hymn, "I bind unto myself this day" usually sung to the Irish hymn tune St. Patrick's Breastplate in the Episcopal hymnals 1940 and 1982. I believe that if you do a google search on hymn lyrics, there's a site that will give you the words and play a midi file of the tune. It's an awesome hymn, why RCs have adopted it is beyond me!

What a wonderful protection from the darts of the evil one. I can just imagine what Saint Patrick had to face each and everyday. Thank you for posting it. I lost it in my old computor, and I had completely forgotten about it.

Zenovia

Thanks Alice!

For Fr. Deacon Stans 'little sister' Bev, she is in her fourties but will always be little sister, today is her birthday.

May God grant to Bev many years of peace, health, and happiness.

This is a great prayer, and I think that it should be pinned to the top of the prayer forum throughout Great Lent.

-- John

You can hear a wonderful choral rendition of it here [sibeliusmusic.com].

And you can read the lyrics and history, see the musical score, as well as hear a MIDI file of it here [cyberhymnal.org].

This is one of my very favorite hymns - particularly the verse against Satan's spells and wiles, against false words of heresy.

Peadar O'Riada is composing a setting for the hymn in St. Patrick's original Irish text.

The English music is lovely, but very difficult - it's taken from an old Irish hymn tune, and was probably intended for solo chanting.

Fr. Serge

Honestly Father, I found the opposite, it's rather singable, especially if led by a good choir. The first time I heard it, Trinity Sunday at an Anglo-Catholic parish, the tune stayed in my head for days. John K

Certainly it can be sung by a good choir. A congregation, however, is likely to find changing keys in mid-stream a bit too difficult (not to mention the range).

Fr. Serge

AH

Now I'll disagree with you there Father .

It was sung fairly regularly in th RC Church I used to go to - and well sung I have to admit - but then the Parish was about 50% Irish [ mainly Donegal I think ] and how they loved singing that hymn.

If a congregation adopt a hymn, as Holy Cross had with that one , then they will sing it, and sing it well.

I have to admit it used to send shivers down my spine - the singing during Mass would be dreadful - not even half hearted but announce that one - and the roof would be lifted .

I did read the prayer of Saint Patrick, not so easy to understand all the English, but I fought with a dictionary near me.

Thank you for this prayer, it is beautiful, so much.

May God bless you all, may Saint Patrick pray to God for us all. Amin.

Alice you are amazing ! Where did you find this ? It is so beautiful and so complete . It truly summarizes a Catholic and a Christian in his faith and in his beliefs . Thank you so much , it truly expresses the love of a Catholic for his LORD . We all can learn from this prayer ! It was inspiring and heartfelt as I read the prayer . May GOD BLESS YOU ALICE ! HAPPY ST . PATRICK'S DAY ! , John

Happy St. Patrick's Day !