ST PATRICK; 17th MARCH
ST PATRICK; 17th MARCH
We know from his autobiographical work, the Confessio, that he had a dream, upon returning to England, where a person named Victoricus gave him a letter entitled ‘The Voice of the Irish’. As he read the letter, he heard the Irish beseeching him to return to them to walk amongst them once more: “Deeply moved, I could read no more” he wrote.
He doubted his abilities for the challenge of bringing the Irish to Christ, as he was not well educated, but he engaged on the task of conversion and journeyed throughout Ireland. He was a truly humble man, and gave thanks to God for choosing him as His instrument, converting the pagan Druids who had worshipped idols and, through his efforts, had come to know God. Estimates of the time of his conversionary mission are between 451 and 496 AD.
“The phenomenal success of Patrick’s mission is not, however, the full measure of his personality. Since his writings have come to be better understood, it is increasingly recognised that, despite their occasional incoherence, they mirror a truth and a simplicity of the rarest quality. Not since St Augustine of Hippo had any religious diarist bared his inmost soul as Patrick did in his writings. As D.A. Binchy, the most austerely critical of Patrician (i.e., of Patrick) scholars, put it, “The moral and spiritual greatness of the man shines through every stumbling sentence of his ‘rustic’ Latin.”
“Before the end of the 7th century, Patrick had become a legendary figure, and the legends have continued to grow. One of these would have it that he drove the snakes out of Ireland into the sea to their destruction. Patrick himself wrote that he raised people from the dead, and a 12th-century hagiography places this number at 33 men, some of whom are said to have been deceased for many years. He also reportedly prayed for the provision of food for hungry sailors traveling by land through a desolate area, and a herd of swine miraculously appeared.
Another legend, probably the most popular, is that of the shamrock, which has him explain the concept of the Holy Trinity, three persons in one God, to an unbeliever by showing him the three-leaved plant with one stalk. Traditionally, Irishmen have worn shamrocks, the national flower of Ireland, in their lapels on St Patrick’s Day, March 17.” (1)
The St Patrick’s Day Mass will, for sure, feature the traditional prayer of St Patrick, called St Patrick’s Breastplate or the Lorica of St Patrick. According to tradition, St Patrick wrote this prayer in 433 AD for Divine protection before successfully converting the Irish King Leoghaire and his subjects to Christianity. A “breastplate” is the protective guard worn in battle - St Patrick, whose mission involved considerable danger, and who, it must be remembered, arrived in Ireland unarmed, alone and outnumbered, clothed himself in the protection of Christ, the angels and saints as a guard against all dangers.
Its title is given as Faeth Fiada in the 11th century Liber Hymnorum in which the text is recorded in 2 manuscripts in Dublin. It is also present in the 9th century Vita tripartite Sancti Patricii. The account of the origins of the prayer provides that:
“Saint Patrick sang this when an ambush was laid against him by Leoghaire, that he might not go to Tara to sow the faith. And then it appeared to those who lay in ambush that St Patrick and his monks were wild deer with a fawn following them.”
The attribution is referring to the Irish recounting of the “mists of concealment.” The prayer also bears the title “The Cry of the Deer,” for this reason.
The term “Lorica” applies to the Old Irish prayers, which arose in the context of early Irish monasticism in the 6th to 8th centuries AD. Although Christian, they show a Druid influence. The Lorica that is "St Patrick's Breastplate" specifically divides into sections that invoke the Trinity, then Christ's baptism, death and Ressurection, the angels, martyrs and Saints.
Then consideration is given to the virtues of God - His wisdom, His eye, His hand. Those things for which protection is required: False prophets, heathens, the demonic, together with an invocation for Christ's protection, and a repetition to pray for Christ's presence.
ST PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE:
1. I bind to myself to-day,
The strong power of the invocation of the Trinity:
The faith of the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the elements.
2. I bind to myself to-day,
The power of the Incarnation of Christ, with that of his Baptism,
The power of the Crucifixion with that of his Burial,
The power of the Resurrection, with the Ascension,
The power of the coming of the Sentence of Judgement.
3. I bind to myself to-day,
The power of the love of Seraphim,
In the obedience of Angels,
(In the service of Archangels,)
In the hope of Resurrection unto reward,
In the prayers of the noble Fathers,
In the predictions of the Prophets,
In the preaching of Apostles,
In the faith of Confessors,
In the purity of Holy Virgins,
In the acts of Righteous Men.
4. I bind to myself to-day,
The power of Heaven,
The light of the Sun,
(The whiteness of Snow,)
The force of Fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The velocity of Wind,
The depth of the Sea,
The stability of the Earth,
The hardness of Rocks.
5. I bind to myself to-day,
The Power of God to guide me,
The Might of God to uphold me,
The Wisdom of God to teach me,
The Eye of God to watch over me,
The Ear of God to hear me,
The Word of God to give me speech,
The Hand of God to protect me,
The Way of God to prevent me,
The Shield of God to shelter me,
The Host of God to defend me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the temptations of vices,
Against the (lusts) of nature,
Against every man who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
With few or with many.
6. I have set around me all these powers,
Against every hostile savage power
Directed against my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths and druids,
Against all knowledge which binds the soul of man.
7. Christ, protect me to-day
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
8. Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
(Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot-seat,
Christ in the mighty stern.)
9. Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me,
Christ in the eye of every man that sees me,
Christ in the ear of every man that hears me.
10. I bind to myself to-day,
The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity,
The faith of the Trinity in Unity
The Creator of the Elements.
Domini est salus,
Domini est salus,
Christi est salus,
[Salus] tua Domine sit semper nobiscum.
Amen.
Salvation is the Lord's
Salvation is the Lord's
Salvation is Christ's
May thy salvation, Lord, be always with us!
Amen.
(1) Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney: sydneycatholic.org: St Patrick’s Breastplate: A Prayer of Protection.
(2) Lyrics of the prayer and biography taken from Wikipedia, St Patrick;
Text by Stokes (1888) and Todd translation (1864).
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