St. Patrick's Day

Since yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I would post something with that backdrop. St. Patty’s Day is a fun day. It is not a national holiday, but it is celebrated all across this country by people from every sex, religion, nationality, color, and orientation. It is a day for people to get off from work, put on their green garb, and head down to the local pub for some green beer. It is a time for people to let their hair down and unwind. Some people, by some miracle, even develop an Irish accent when they talk. This may have something to do with the green beer, but I don’t know.
It is also a day for school-aged children to put on green and run around looking for classmates and adults alike not wearing green, and give them a little pinch. Everybody holds on to that little hope of finding a leprechaun and getting his pot of gold.
I even celebrate St. Patrick’s Day because it is a fun day, but also because of my Irish heritage, even if it is watered down over the generations. I still admire the Irish, and I am a little proud to say, “Yeah, I’m Irish.”
But, I wanted to take a little time to share something that was written by the Catholic Church’s Patron Saint of Ireland, St. Patrick himself. It is called ‘St. Patrick’s Breastplate’ or “The Deer’s Cry’. The language may be a little outdated and weird, but keep in mind that it is from the 5th century A.D. I hope you enjoy:

I arise todayThrough a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,Through the belief in the threeness,Through the confession of the onenessOf the Creator of Creation.
I arise todayThrough the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.
I arise todayThrough the strength of the love of Cherubim,In obedience of angels,In the service of archangels,In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,In prayers of patriarchs,In predictions of prophets,In preaching of apostles,In faith of confessors,In innocence of holy virgins,In deeds of righteous men.
I arise todayThrough the strength of heaven:Light of sun,Radiance of moon,Splendor of fire,Speed of lightning,Swiftness of wind,Depth of sea,Stability of earth,Firmness of rock.
I arise todayThrough 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 host to save meFrom snares of demons,From temptations of vices,From everyone who shall wish me ill,Afar and anear,Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,Against incantations of false prophets,Against black laws of pagandomAgainst false laws of heretics,Against craft of idolatry,Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ to shield me todayAgainst poison, against burning,Against drowning, against wounding,So that there may come to me abundance of reward.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 when I arise,Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,Christ in every eye that sees me,Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise todayThrough a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,Through belief in the threeness,Through confession of the oneness,Of the Creator of Creation.

I came across found this prayer a few years ago after we sang a song in church that contained part of this prayer. It is the next to last stanza of the writing that starts with ‘Christ to shield me today’. A few lines down it talks about what should be our goal as Christians. To be so consumed with Christ that He is before, below, in front, and behind us, on our right and left. To have Him with us when we sit down, lie down, go to sleep, get up, and walk around. When people look at us, hear us, talk of us, and think of us, it is Christ that they see, hear, talk about, and think of. THAT is the relationship we need to strive for. It is when we have that much Jesus in our lives that we can face any kind of trial and tribulation. It may not necessarily always be easy, but we can rest knowing that He is with us always.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If not, sorry. I hope that you had a fun St. Patty’s Day. I did, and it did not involve any green beverages. Instead I was around THOUSANDS of people at the zoo. Wow. But the kids had fun. Take care and be blessed. I love all of you, and I am here for you.
*When I first heard the words of this I went home and started looking for those words until I came across this. I immediately loved it and wanted to know more about the man St. Patrick. I thought I might share with you just a little. Did you know that St. Patrick wasn’t actually Irish? Say what?! I know it’s crazy. He was actually English. He was kidnapped at the age of 16 and sent to Ireland as a slave. He also worked as a shepherd in the mountains. He continued to pray and cry out to God. One day he felt that he was told by God to return to England. So, he escaped, and went home. He then studied in several monasteries. He then began doing missionary work in several places, when he felt he needed to return to the place that was like a prison to him for so long. He returned to Ireland and started sharing the love and story of Christ. He is credited with converting all of Ireland. Now keep in mind that there are stories that he drove out all of the snakes from Ireland. That is why he is also the Patron Saint of people with a fear of snakes. Now, I don’t know if he rid the entire country of snakes, or if he converted every non-believer, but I do know that it had to take a whole lot of love and forgiveness to want to return to the place that probably didn’t hold a lot of fond memories for him, just to minister to the people.
He felt they deserved the same grace and mercy that he did. I probably would have felt like Jonah from the Bible did towards the people of Nineveh. He did not feel they deserved anything but judgment and wrath, God felt otherwise. Eventually Jonah saw the light, it took a lot of convincing, but he saw it. Old Patrick went right in spreading love. We should all have that mentality. Anyways, sorry to keep on, but there is a lot of good stuff around this guy. Take care!
Jason