A New Breastplate Prayer for a New Day

Breastplate of Ferdinand I
Holy Roman Emperor ~ 1549

A New Breastplate Prayer For A New Day

I awaken and arise this new day,
calling upon the oneness of God,
who in inner relatedness
is family of three - 
creating, reclaiming, loving, restoring.

I awaken and arise this new day
through Gabriel's winged, good news;
   young Mary's acceptance,
through the shining of Bethlehem star,
through the meandering waters of Jordan,
through the desert combat of forty days,
through the giving of sight to blind Bartimaeus,
through the friendship of women at Calvary's cross,
through the three-Mary's witness of Easter morning,
through angels' attesting on Ascension day.

I take to myself this new day
the whirling light of bright seraphim,
the song-worship of angels,
the Alleluia of Christ's bright rising,
the charge of prophets,
the pondering of apostles,
the clarity of martyrs,
the fresh energy of confessors,
the creativity of saints.

I take to myself this new day
the depth-enormity of universe,
the flaring of sun,
the flabbergast of galaxies,
the softness of moon phase,
the spark and blaze of fire,
the electric flash of lightning,
the mystery of atoms,
the skin-touch of breezes,
the freshness of winds,
the crash of waves,
the blue-green of ocean,
the strength of rocks,
the fertility of soil,
the hatching of eggs,
the breeching of whales,
the patterning of flowers,
the leafing-out of trees.

I call upon
God's power to evolve me,
God's wisdom to inform me,
God's eye to care for me maternally,
God's ear to hear me in my pleading,
God's word to awaken me,
God's hand to squeeze my own,
God's way to open before me,
God's shield to hover over and before me,
God's cherubim to join me.

I call upon all that is good
to stand by my body,
to stand by my soul
against addictions,
   curses and any who would wish me harm or ill,
against politicians who serve themselves,
against clerics who've forsaken soul,
against panderers, hustlers,
   the shady deal,
   the dirty deal, 
   the secret deal,
   the deadly deal,
against false advertisers and
   tricksters,
against betrayers,
   thieves and cheats,
against willful ignorance and
   complicity in bad deeds,
   through lazy indifference,
against war profiteers,
   shows of force,
   degraders and dividers,
   brutes and bullies,
against the soul-destroying messages of 
   racists,
   anti-semites,
   white supremacists,
   women haters,
   home-invaders,
   sex abusers and traffickers,
   against gun idolaters,
   terrorists - home grown and of the faraway kind.

Christ, protect me from
money-worship,
self pity,
resentment,
vanity and too much talking,
smugness,
showing off,
self-preoccupation and
contentment with being so desperately earthbound.

Put a hedge around my heart,
safeguarding it from my own worst possibilities,
from the temptation not to grow,
against stumbling and faltering and
withering anxieties.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ to my right,
Christ to my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when when I sit down,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of those who remember me,
Christ in the mouth of those who speak of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I awaken and rise up this new day,
calling upon the oneness of God,
whose inner community of three,
imagines, enlivens, salvages, protects.

Re-thinking Saint Patrick's Breastplate

St. Patrick Window ~ Belmont Abbey

"In conclusion be strong - not in yourselves but in the Lord, in the power of his boundless strength. Put on God's complete armour so that you can successfully resist all the devil's craftiness. For our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organizations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil. Therefore,  you must wear the whole armour of God that you may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when you have fought to a standstill you may still stand your ground. Take your stand then with truth as your belt, integrity your breastplate, the gospel of peace firmly on your feet, salvation as your helmet and in your hand the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God..." Ephesians 6: 10-16

Perhaps these verses of St. Paul, writing to the Ephesian Christians, inspired St. Patrick to compose his well-known, much-loved prayer of protection which has come to be known as the St. Patrick's Breastplate, The Lorica of St. Patrick, or The Cry of the Deer. Even if perhaps Patrick didn't pen the prayer (doesn't matter) someone who knew his thought did, and it has come down these many centuries to us. How blessed are we!

But I would suggest that prayer needs re-thinking. It is a new day, with new problems and soul dangers. Patrick's world was a superstitious  Druid-world of magicians, witches, wizards, warlocks and monsters. Sorry to say, but often translators have to do a bit of a dance because women seem to get lumped in with the litany of spiritual trouble-makers. In my mind that needs to be remedied ASAP.

So, I've taken Patrick's lovely format and brought it up to date with some fresh words and concepts. I call out explicitly the dangers for us who live almost 1600 years later. Patrick's fifteen lines beginning with Christ with me, are perennial and remain untouched.

Some folks only like and allow for their prayers to sound old-fashioned. To each his own. But read this one too, and see if there isn't something that resonates with you, something that dear Patrick couldn't possibly have had in mind. 

These are scary, dangerous days of menace and mayhem. Every age is really, but this is the one we have to live in and with. I hope the re-thinking of a venerable, ancient prayer steps up to the reality of our own troubled time.

All of that is a bit of a tease: I'll put the prayer up this Sunday coming.

Feast of Saint Patrick ~ and the Breastplate

SAINT PATRICK, who was born about 385 in the British Isles, was carried off while still very young during a raid on England by the Irish and sold as a slave. At the end of six years he managed to escape to Europe., became a monk and was ordained a priest; he then returned to Ireland to preach the Gospel. During the thirty years that his missionary labors continued he covered the Island with churches and monasteries. St. Patrick died in 461. After fifteen centuries he remains for all the Irish the great bishop whom they venerate as their father in faith.

Patrick founded his first stone church in Ireland n the site now occupied by Saint Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral, known as Sally Hill, in the year 445. The Book of Armagh relates a beautiful tradition  that when St. Patrick took possession of Sally Hill a deer with her fawn leaped from the bushes. His companions wanted to catch and kill the fawn but the Saint would not allow them. He himself took the fawn on his shoulders and carried it, followed by its mother, to Sandy Hill, the site of the present Cathedral. The incident has been fondly seen as an echo of Jesus the Good Shepherd.

The prayer here, attributed to Patrick, is called Saint Patrick's Breastplate. A breastplate being a piece of armor, the prayer is one of protection against the things, visible and invisible, that threaten, menace and tempt.

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 spiced 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 judgement 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 arrow,
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.

The day after the Boston Marathon

There are still lots of very good people on the earth. Yesterday in Boston there were the contestants running the race, their families and friends come to cheer them on, the many people who were there to organize the event, and of course, the hundreds who arrived within seconds and minutes to assist after the explosions.

But there are also people who do extraordinarily evil things. People who don't care that a little boy would be killed. And little girls and boys are killed all over the world everyday by people who target them or allow them to be what some call collateral damage. No one is exempt. Our country is part of a world where evil things happen.

It is said that Saint Patrick wrote a prayer and prayed it whenever he knew he'd have encounters with Druid priests who wanted him dead. The prayer is commonly called, Saint Patrick's Breastplate - a breastplate being the piece of armor that covers our vulnerable hearts. It is also called the Lorica - a lorica being a mystical garment that serves to protect against dangers.

There are numerous translations of the prayer and extensive debate about what's authentic and good or awful translating. Let's leave all of that to people who want to do scholarly things. More importantly here's an invitation to simply pray the prayer often, even daily. Pray it for yourself. Pray it for family and friends. Pray it for the children. Pray it for our nation and all the nations.

Here's an online translation of Saint Patrick's Breastplate.

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 spiced 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 lust that wars 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.