I'm using excerpts from Sacred Signposts on my main blog, ruthjleamy.com, this week. I thought I would repost the version of St. Patrick's prayer that I used in the book, so it is handy right here.
Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
On my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
--Words attributed to St. Patrick, as used in Morning Prayer from Northumbria Community, Celtic Daily Prayer.
Showing posts with label Patrick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patrick. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Praying in Color on St. Patrick's Day
I didn't draw this today--my prayer journal today had many of these phrases but it's too sloppy to share. This is a prayer drawing (stenciling, to be precise) I made a few weeks ago as I prayed through the requests in St. Patrick's prayer.
My complete post on Praying in Color is here.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
St. Patrick's Breastplate: A Modern Version
Look for St. Patrick's Breastplace at itunes.com; you'll find this version from an album by Stefan Van Voorst. The words are modernised without losing the beauty of the prayer. The tune is catchy and upbeat yet still prayerful. My children love this song. My five year old calls it "Christ, Christ, today." I love to listen to this in the car on the way to Bible study.
Christ with me
Before me
Behind me
Within me
Above me
Beneath me
Around me
Throughout me
On my right and left
In length, and height, and breadth
With You I will not fear
Whether far or whether near
I arise today
Through a mighty strength
Following the One who showed the way
I’m alive today
Through Christ my strength
I’m following the One who showed the way
Uphold me and guide me
Look before me
Speak for me
Protect me and guard me
Watch o’er me
Come save me
In the heart of the ones who think of me
In the mouth of the ones who speak of me
Every eye that sees
Every ear that hears
Christ be...
Christ with me
Before me
Behind me
Within me
Above me
Beneath me
Around me
Throughout me
On my right and left
In length, and height, and breadth
With You I will not fear
Whether far or whether near
I arise today
Through a mighty strength
Following the One who showed the way
I’m alive today
Through Christ my strength
I’m following the One who showed the way
Uphold me and guide me
Look before me
Speak for me
Protect me and guard me
Watch o’er me
Come save me
In the heart of the ones who think of me
In the mouth of the ones who speak of me
Every eye that sees
Every ear that hears
Christ be...
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Ribbon Roads: Countdown to St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day is a month away! My husband and I were incredibly blessed to spend six days in Ireland in 2007. Here is a song from Keith and Kristyn Getty describing the "Ribbon Roads" winding up and down the green hills of Ireland. I love this song because it describes not only some great memories of Ireland, but the winding road of life: looking back, looking forward, keeping the Journey's End in view. And as we meditate on our life's journey, we see, to paraphrase Patrick, "Christ Over Us, Christ beside us on our left and our right."
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Introducing St. Patrick
St. Patrick was a missionary to Ireland around the year 400 A.D. In the century before his birth, Christianity had become not only legal, but also the official religion of the Roman Empire. Patrick was born into a religious family in the Roman province of Britannia (now England), but he wasn't very interested in spiritual things as a young boy. When he was about fourteen Patrick was captured by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland, a wild pagan land that even the Romans never attempted to conquer. There Patrick became a slave and a shepherd, and during the long lonely days with the sheep, he remembered the God his family worshiped, and he began to pray. In Patrick's own words:
Eventually, he escaped from Ireland and returned to his home. But he could not forget the Emerald Isle, and he began to have dreams about Irish people calling him to come and tell them about the true God.
Patrick studied for the ministry and sought the approval of the church in Rome. Church denominations and mission organizations did not yet exist, but Rome was the superpower government of its day and Christianity was its official religion. Thus, having the approval of the church at Rome was helpful if one was setting out to convert a barbarian nation. Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary—one of the first missionaries to venture beyond the reaches of the Roman Empire. There may have been a few Christians scattered through Ireland before Patrick's arrival; some historians think these Christians asked the Roman church to send a missionary to build churches and oversee the congregations.
Though some pagans opposed Patrick, many Irish people responded to him and believed in Jesus Christ. Patrick founded monasteries throughout Ireland, which were apparently more like our modern seminaries than to the later medieval monasteries. These institutions trained men to minister—and did not require their students to be unmarried or to take vows of poverty. Later, Irish monks began monasteries in Europe, where Scriptures were copied and preserved throughout the middle ages.
The Irish Christians loved and respected Patrick, and after his death, fanciful tales began to spring up about his life; centuries later it is a little difficult to sort out exactly which elements of these stories are true, but Patrick's own short autobiography did survive, known as “The Confession of St. Patrick.”
The prayer I chose as the outline for this study is a modern translation of a segment of a longer poem often attributed to Patrick. The entire poem is known as “The Breastplate of St. Patrick” or “The Lorica of St. Patrick”. Before their conversion to Christianity, the people of Ireland composed many poems known as “loricae” asking for the protection of their pagan gods. Patrick's poem was something new, a prayer for protection addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Several accounts of Patrick's life state that he prayed this prayer while being pursued by pagans, and that while he prayed, his attackers passed right by him, seeing a herd of deer instead of Patrick and his friends.
Patrick wrote a short autobiography that he called his “Confession”. He was very humble about his success as an evangelist, often lamenting his lack of education (his studies were interrupted by his years in slavery). He marveled that God had chosen him to be a missionary:
There the Lord brought me to a sense of my unbelief, that I might, even
at a late season, call my sins to remembrance, and turn with all my heart to the
Lord my God, who regarded my low estate, and, taking pity on my youth and
ignorance, guarded me, before I understood anything, or had learned to
distinguish between good and evil, and strengthened and comforted me as a father
does his son.
Eventually, he escaped from Ireland and returned to his home. But he could not forget the Emerald Isle, and he began to have dreams about Irish people calling him to come and tell them about the true God.
Patrick studied for the ministry and sought the approval of the church in Rome. Church denominations and mission organizations did not yet exist, but Rome was the superpower government of its day and Christianity was its official religion. Thus, having the approval of the church at Rome was helpful if one was setting out to convert a barbarian nation. Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary—one of the first missionaries to venture beyond the reaches of the Roman Empire. There may have been a few Christians scattered through Ireland before Patrick's arrival; some historians think these Christians asked the Roman church to send a missionary to build churches and oversee the congregations.
Though some pagans opposed Patrick, many Irish people responded to him and believed in Jesus Christ. Patrick founded monasteries throughout Ireland, which were apparently more like our modern seminaries than to the later medieval monasteries. These institutions trained men to minister—and did not require their students to be unmarried or to take vows of poverty. Later, Irish monks began monasteries in Europe, where Scriptures were copied and preserved throughout the middle ages.
The Irish Christians loved and respected Patrick, and after his death, fanciful tales began to spring up about his life; centuries later it is a little difficult to sort out exactly which elements of these stories are true, but Patrick's own short autobiography did survive, known as “The Confession of St. Patrick.”
The prayer I chose as the outline for this study is a modern translation of a segment of a longer poem often attributed to Patrick. The entire poem is known as “The Breastplate of St. Patrick” or “The Lorica of St. Patrick”. Before their conversion to Christianity, the people of Ireland composed many poems known as “loricae” asking for the protection of their pagan gods. Patrick's poem was something new, a prayer for protection addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Several accounts of Patrick's life state that he prayed this prayer while being pursued by pagans, and that while he prayed, his attackers passed right by him, seeing a herd of deer instead of Patrick and his friends.
Patrick wrote a short autobiography that he called his “Confession”. He was very humble about his success as an evangelist, often lamenting his lack of education (his studies were interrupted by his years in slavery). He marveled that God had chosen him to be a missionary:
Who am I, O Lord, or what is my calling, that Thou hast granted me so much of
Thy Divine presence? So that at this day I can constantly rejoice among the
nations, and magnify Thy name wherever I may be, not only in prosperity, but in
adversity [teaching me] that I ought to accept with a contented mind whatever
may befall me, whether good or evil, and always give thanks to God, who showed
me that I should believe in Him for ever.This is an excerpt from Sacred Signposts, Chapter One, copyright 2009. (You can read Patrick's Confession here.)
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