St. Patrick’s Breastplate
I arise today!
Back when I was going to Regent, one of the hymns that we would often sing during chapel services was a portion of St. Patrick’s breastplate. I have always found it very moving. Here is the portion that always struck a chord with me:
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,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
Now, there are a number of versions of this Old Irish hymn in English (check here, here, here, here, and here), but they all get the same message across: Christ is the primary. In all we do. Everything.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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