Showing posts with label Saints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saints. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Dayenu Summer | "If You Only ... It Would Have Been Enough"


The Chosen Season 5 Episode 4 Dayenu

Everything is a gift.
The degree to which we are awake
to this truth is a measure of gratefulness,
and gratefulness 
is a measure of our aliveness. 

+ Diana Butler Bass

As we enter the middle of this summer, with moments of rest and fun going to plan, or perhaps nothing turning out the way we thought it would, I am reminded again of the historic prayer, Dayenu. Lore Ferguson Wilbert provides an introduction for the curious:

Dayenu

There is a word used in song
when Yahweh, the LORD, brings His people
through yet another trial.

The word is dayenu,
meaning something along the lines of
"and if nothing else,
it would have been enough."

If the Lord God had merely fed us
during the famine but not given
us a home in Egypt,
it would have been enough.
If the Lord God had given us a home
in Egypt but not kept us
from being enslaved,
it would have been enough.
If the Lord God had brought us out Egypt
but not parted the Red Sea,
it would have been enough.
If the Lord God had parted the Red Sea
but not brought every last one
of us through it,
it would have been enough.

This was their way of saying,
"No matter what the future is,
what You've done for us
is enough."

+ Lore Ferguson Wilbert,
The Understory

A grace-filled focus on Dayenu was also reinforced by what I think is one of the most beautiful scenes The Chosen has ever produced thus far. During Season Five, Episode Four: The Same Coin, there are two scenes that we don't find recorded in the Scriptures, but would be an essential part to the Jewish tradition of celebrating Passover each year. (You can hear the Perrys and the Jenkinses humbly and humorously describe this moment in "The Meaning of Dayenu" short from the full With the Perrys episode, "The Art of Stewarding Your 5 Loaves and 2 Fish.")

The first scene of "The Same Coin" episode in season five is with Jesus and His disciples during Passover, reciting the Traditional Dayenu preserved throughout the millienia (an abridged excerpt is provided below).


Jesus:
John, will you begin the Dayenu
for us?

St. John: 
Yes, of course, Rabbi.
If He had brought us out from Egypt,
and not carried out judgement 
against them ...

All:
It would have been enough. 

St. Simon: 
If He had carried out judgements
against them, and
not destroyed their idols ... 

All:
It would have been enough ...

St. Philip:
If He had given us their wealth 
and had not split the Sea for us ...

All:
It would have been enough. 

Zebedee:
If He had split the Sea for us and
had not taken us through it 
on dry land ...

If He had supplied us
in the desert for 40 years and
not fed us the manna ... 

All:
It would have been enough. 

St. Matthew:
If He had fed us the manna,
and had not given us the Shabbat ... 

All:
It would have been enough. 

St. Thomas:
If He had given us the Shabbat
and not brought us before Mt. Sinai ...

All:
It would have been enough. 

Zebedee:
If He had brought us before Mt. Sinai
and not given us the Torah ...

All:
It would have been enough. 

St. Philip:
If He had given us the Torah, but
not brought us to the land of Israel ...

All:
It would have been enough. 

St. Andrew:
If He had brought us to 
the land of Israel and
not built us the Holy Temple ... 

All:
It would have been enough.

So many acts of God's rescue, protection, justice, generosity, provision, direction, and more are recorded in the Story of Israel. And in practicing gratitude, the children of God recognized His steadfast love that endures forever year after year.

Jesus Dayenu in Season 5 Episode 4 of The Chosen

And then the closing scene to the episode brought the Dayenu to new life in light of Jesus and what it's like to thank Him personally for all that He does for us.


Mary, Mother of Jesus:
If I had only been given the joy 
of holding You in my arms 
that night in Bethlehem
on a cold ground,
and not been able to see You
perform signs and wonders ... 

All:
It would have been enough.

St. Mary Magdalene:
If You had performed 
signs and wonders and
not called me by name that night ... 

All:
It would have been enough.

Eden, Wife of St. Peter:
If You had healed Mary of Magdala 
of her demons and not healed my Ima 
or called my husband 
after Your miracle ... 

All:
It would have been enough.

Tamar, Friend of the Paralytic: 
If You had called Simon Peter 
and not healed my friend ... 

All:
It would have been enough.

Martha of Bethany, Sister of Lazarus: 
If You had healed Eden 
and not raised my brother ... 

All:
It would have been enough.

Mary of Bethany, Sister of Lazarus: 
If You had raised my brother 
and not defended my honor 
when I worshipped You ... 

All:
It would have been enough.

St. Joanna, Wife of Chuza: 
If You had defended Mary of Bethany,
 but not given meaning to my life, which
had been so unhappy and unfulfilled 
by letting me support and participate 
in this  miraculous family 
that I do believe will change the world ... 

All:
It would have been enough.

I am becoming more and more aware that I need to look back, not only each year, but each month, each week, and each day (ex. the prayer of Examen by St. Ignatius of Loyola) with a posture of Dayenu ... And if You had only (fill in the blank, Lord) ... It would have been enough.

What is my Dayenu to Jesus?
In relation to the gift of my marriage?
The gift of my family?
The gift of my home and neighborhood?
The gift of work and my vocation?
The gift of Emmaus City Church?

Jesus, if You had called me to be
It would have been enough.

Jesus, if we had only formed
It would have been enough.

Jesus, if I only got to be friends
It would have been enough.

Jesus, if I only saw one person
change their life forever ...
It would have been enough.

Jesus, if I only got to serve at
with You and others a few times ...
It would have been enough.

Jesus, if we only celebrated
It would have been enough.

Jesus, if we only had the privilege to
It would have been enough.

Jesus, if You only had us
It would have been enough.

To close this post, I encourage you to consider your own dayenu. Along with the example above, here are a few practices below from a fellow minister in consideration of grace, gratitude, and how Yeshua (Jesus' name in Hebrew, which means "The LORD saves") invites us with open, wounded hands to have our life sing the song of dayenu.

On Gratitude 
Gratitude is the basis of all holiness.
The most holy person you know
is the most grateful person you know.
To be a saint is to
be fueled by gratitude,
nothing more and nothing less.

+ Ronald Rolheiser,
At the heart of gratitude is awareness that all of life is grace. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). Everything is a gift. We live on a graced planet. Nothing is earned, nothing is deserved. All of life is grace. 
And the grace of our Lord is wastefully generous. God could have made one kind of bird and instead he made 10,000 species of winged color. He could have made food taste all the same, supplying our need for daily nourishment – instead he created an environment that can produce the likes of curry, jambalaya, and apple pie. He made a world where ants build hills, water falls from the sky, and leaves change colors and regenerate in a matter of months. 
There is enough wonder and delicious diversity in our world to keep a person in awe for a lifetime. 
The degree to which we are aware of this truth is a measure of our gratitude. Plenty of people notice our world, but gratitude goes beyond observation to receiving reality as a gift. It was the original lie of the serpent that God is distant and uncaring, and that we humans should go it alone. This is still the lie that humans believe; in fact, in our culture we are taught that independence and self-sufficiency make for the good life. But the truth is the opposite – dependence on the all-sufficient Father makes for the good life. The grateful person lives in total awareness and reliance on the Father’s good gifts every moment. 
A breakthrough came for me
when I realized that gratitude
is not a passive disposition
but a learned habit.
It is a discipline of awareness
to the Father’s grace
and our own response to it.
Paul commands, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” (1 Thess. 5:18). Or just simply, “Be thankful” (Col. 4:2). I think I always considered gratefulness as something that happened to you when a happy, positive circumstance occurred. But Paul suggests exactly the opposite: the discipline of gratitude in the midst of any circumstance leads to joy. It is not the happy person who is grateful – it is the grateful person who is happy, whose eyes are open to the abundance of all things. 
So how has this changed my life? 
 | 1 |
On waking, I let my first words
be words of thanksgiving.
“Thank you Father,
thank you Son,
thank you Spirit ... ”
Waking from sleep and
having a new day to live
in the mercy of the gospel
is an amazing gift in itself.

 | 2 |
Then, throughout the day,
I look for cues that prompt thanksgiving.
My friend Bob Stamps taught me 
a simple prayer
to utter every time you experience
even the smallest good:
a text from a friend,
a sip of coffee,
light filtering through the trees.
“Hear the praise of this grateful heart”
is a prayer that I now use
innumerable times throughout the day.

 | 3 |
Before bedtime, I try to conduct
a brief review of the day —
the practice of “Examen.”
Doing so helps me remember
the gifts of the day and to
close my hours with thanks.

I don’t always keep these habits,
but even the sporadic discipline of gratitude
has awakened me to the Father’s love
and the gift of ordinary life.

+ Facebook. Widmer, Corey.
"On Gratitude."

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

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Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Holy Awe & Wonder | St. Hildegard of Bingen, "Life is Majestic"

 

St. Hildegard of Bingen by Nicholas Frizalone


"All of creation
is a song of praise to God."

+ Hildegard,
1098-1179 A.D.

Last time St. Hildegard came to mind, I had the privilege to preach on Hebrews 12:1-2 with Emmaus City Church (ECC) and Avery Street Church. The title of the message was "Let Us Run (Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus)" focused and how the "Us" includes the great cloud of witnesses who are the communion of saints, alive with Jesus and cheering us on in the midst of the mysteries of life.

And now this weekend I get to preach on Psalm 100 with ECC and Fairlawn Christian Reformed Church with a focus on awe. 
This post features an excerpt from Our Church Speaks focused on St. Hildegard who has helped me fix my eyes on the LORD and all that He has made again and again with wonder and awe (and who even had an exceptional spirit named after her in Massachusetts).



Hildegard 
Abbess of Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen was a prolific figure, active throughout her long life as an influential church leader: theologian, mystic, visionary, poet, composer, and scientist.

Since a very young age, Hildegard had been receiving divine visions from heaven. (Then) at the age of forty-two, she received a vision in which God unveiled understanding and wisdom about creation and the spiritual life. "The heavens were opened and a blinding light of exceptional brilliance flowed through my entire brain. And so it kindled my whole heart and breast like a flame, not burning but warming. The vision instructed Hildegard to begin writing down what God had told her over the course of her life.


Hildegard began writing down all that had been revealed to her over a lifetime of visions. Her writings were exclusive and covered a wide range of subjects, including botany, medicine, theology, and music. Her musical compositions are considered one of the origins of Western classical music. Hildegard believed that making music brought one closer to God. "Words symbolize the humanity of the Son of God," Hildegard wrote, "but music symbolizes His divinity." Hildegard collected her musical compositions into a large compendium, which she called the Symphonic Harmony of Celestial Revelations.

Hildegard is also considered the founder of scientific natural history. Her writings on medicine were widely respected, and many journeyed to seek her healing skills in using plants and herbs. She taught that because all of creation was made by God, all plants and animals had unique purposes and uses for humankind. She believed that scientific study was a critical component of the Church's holistic life.

Hildegard's reputation for wisdom made her a prominent leader in medieval Germany, and she was called on to resolve disputes among clergy. Today, she is among a short list of historical theologians officially bestowed with the title doctor of the Church.

Scripture

"When I look at Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You have set in place,
what is man that You are mindful of him,
and the son of man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower
than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over
the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens,
and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes 
along the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is Your name
in all the earth."
+ Psalm 8:3-9

Meditation: 
Everyday Majesty

When one of my daughters was barely a year old, she heard rain falling outside. It seemed a strange, unusual sound to her. She crawled to a window, pulled herself up, and peered out at the wondrous mystery: water was falling from the sky. She turned her head toward my wife and gestured toward the window with wide eyes that seemed to say, "Mama, can you believe what is happening out there?" My wife walked over and knelt beside her; cheek to cheek, they stayed for several moments, looking and wondering together ... My wife explained to our child, "We need water to live, and it just falls right out of the sky onto us. It's quite amazing."

We are surrounded by the
glory and majesty of
the natural world,
but many of us
have become so accustomed to it
that we not longer notice it.

Hildegard was blessed with vision. She not only had eyes to see the spiritual visions that God gave her, but also eyes to see the natural world for the glorious, majestic wonder that it is. When people encountered Hildegard, they began to see the world through her eyes. Her vision opened other people's eyes to the majesty of God in the created order.

Prayer

Almighty God, who inspired Your servant Hildegard of Bingen as she looked to You and who blessed her work with abundant fruit: Your loving hand has given us all that we possess. Grant us grace that we may honor You with our substance, and, remembering the account which we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of Your bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

pgs. 156-158

The Celebrity & The Saint

The celebrity demands,
"Look at me!"
The saint whispers,
"Look at God."

The celebrity says,
"Try to be like me,
but you'll never be like me."
The saint says,
"Why would anyone want to be like me?
Who has God made you?"

The celebrity is ever ascending,
climbing the tower of Babel
to the double-platinum throne.
The saint is ever descending,
saying, "Please have my seat, I insist."

The celebrity offers you everything
you want but can never have.
The saint offers you the thing you fear
but will redeem your soul.

The celebrity is a Ferrari
screaming down the highway
with music blaring.
The saint is the freshwater creek
beside the highway
that almost nobody ever notices
and is nearly impossible to hear
over the roar of traffic.
Yet the water murmurs
as it wanders over stones
and around oak roots.
It is not silent.

+ Ben Lansing & D.J. Marotta,
Our Church Speaks

Bonus Witness:


Bonus Prayer:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thank You for welcoming us
into the whirlwind of Your holy love.
As Your family, may we become holy saints
who stand out in this time and place. 
The times when saints shine
the most are times of darkness.
Like the great cloud of witnesses
who have gone before us,
may we shine with glimpses of Jesus’ Light,
which darkness cannot overcome.
And as part of Jesus’ Church, 
our hope rests Your Kingdom coming.
The time has come.
The Kingdom of heaven is near.
We turn to You and believe the good news
that You will make us whole and holy.
This is the hope we have been born again to,
and this is what saints have embodied
as our sisters and brothers across time,
ethnicities, Christian traditions,
nationalities, and more.

As we step into this next season,
our prayer is that we will shine 
all the more with the holy light
of Christ in us and through us. 
And we pray that we
“being rooted and firmly established in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the length and width,
height and depth of God’s love.”
After all, “the Father has enabled us
to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.
He has rescued us from 
the domain of darkness and
transferred us into the Kingdom
of the Son He loves.”
Amen.

Many blessings of peace and presence,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

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Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Saturday, May 30, 2026

Our Church Speaks | Joan of Arc in France, "I Am Not Afraid"

 

Joan of Arc in Our Church Speaks

"Go forward bravely.
Fear nothing.
Trust in God."

+ St. Joan of Arc,
1412-1431 A.D.

In preparation for this renowned saint's feast today, Saturday, May 30th, I am returning again to Our Church Speaks to recognize the courage of a young woman who had no fear in the face of death and darkness. 

Joan of Arc
Mystic & Soldier

When the French cried out to God for deliverance from English oppressors, God raised up a humble peasant girl named Joan as His messenger. Joan lived in a farming region of northeast France during the Hundred Years' War. In this war, English nobility with ancient Norman / French ancestry fought with native French over land and property. The French peasants suffered many evils while the nobility fought over ancient claims. By the time Joan was thirteen, England had gained the upper hand in the war. God began speaking to Joan at this time through the voices of angels and saints. God was grieved by the injustice suffered by the French people and had heard their prayers. He gave Joan a daunting mission: she was to install an embattled Prince Charles as the next king of France and lead France to victory over their oppressors.

At age sixteen, Joan put on armor and journeyed eleven days to Charles's court. She told Charles that he was destined by God to be king and asked for an army that she would lead to liberate the city of Orléans. This bold, unprecedented act was bizarre to all at Charles's court. Charles's advisers said Joan was a delusional teenager. Charles ignored them and gave Joan an army. Riding a white horse, Joan led the French to victory over the English at Orléans, and Charles was crowned king. The tide of the war was turned.

God must be served first.
I have a good Master, that is God; 
it is to Him I look in everything 
and to none other.

Joan continued to receive visions and fight against English oppression. At age nineteen, she was captured by the English and condemned to death for witchcraft and heresy. 

When the English judges asked if she believed she was in God's grace, Joan replied brilliantly (i.e. shining, to sparkle):

If I am not (in God's grace),
may God put me there;
and if I am,
may God so keep me.

As the flames consumed Joan's body, she issued her final words, calling on the name of Jesus. An English soldier said to those nearby, "God forgive us: we have burned a saint." Twenty-five years after her death, a Church investigation exonerated Joan of heresy. In 1920, the Roman Catholic Church officially recognized Joan of Arc as a saint.


Scripture

"Let no one despise you
for your youth,
but set the believers an example
in speech, in conduct, in love,
in faith, in purity."
+ 1 Timothy 4:12

Meditation: 
Too Young to Be Used by God?

Joseph, Samuel, Ruth, David, Esther, Daniel, Mary, John, Timothy — what do they have in common? They were all "too young" for the work God called them to. The Lord calls and uses all types, young and old, men and women, rich and poor; but the too-young seem to have a special place of affection in His heart. The too-young person is obviously inadequate; they don't have enough life experience to be wise, and they rarely have enough resources to be effective. The too-young are, therefore, often the perfect kind of person for God to manifest His strength in weakness.

It is common sense for local churches and denominations to have rules about how old someone must be in order to take certain steps: make a public profession of faith, be ordained for ministry, teach, lead, etc. But Jesus' Church must also remember that she serves a Lord who loves to use the too-young and therefore must always be ready to make an exception to the general rules and regulations. You never know when you might have another Timothy or Joan of Arc on your hands!

What if Charles had listened to his advisers and dismissed Joan as the inexperienced teenager she was? What if Pharaoh had not listened to Joseph? What if Eli had not listened to Samuel? What if Samuel had not anointed David? What if Joseph (and Mary's parents!) had rejected her? What if the other disciples had rejected John (who was likely somewhere around fourteen years old when he became a disciple)? What if Paul had rejected Timothy?

What if you do not listen to the too-young people who are called by God in your life? What opportunity might you or your congregation miss if you are not open to God calling the too-young?

Prayer

O almighty Lord, You were a strong tower to Joan of Arc and to all those who put their trust in You: Be now and evermore our defense. Look in pity upon all impacted by war, including the wounded and the prisoners, cheers the anxious, comfort the bereaved, succor the dying, and hasten the time when war shall cease in all the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

pgs. 103-104

The Celebrity & The Saint

The celebrity demands,
"Look at me!"
The saint whispers,
"Look at God."

The celebrity says,
"Try to be like me,
but you'll never be like me."
The saint says,
"Why would anyone want to be like me?
Who has God made you?"

The celebrity is ever ascending,
climbing the tower of Babel
to the double-platinum throne.
The saint is ever descending,
saying, "Please have my seat, I insist."

The celebrity offers you everything
you want but can never have.
The saint offers you the thing you fear
but will redeem your soul.

The celebrity is a Ferrari
screaming down the highway
with music blaring.
The saint is the freshwater creek
beside the highway
that almost nobody ever notices
and is nearly impossible to hear
over the roar of traffic.
Yet the water murmurs
as it wanders over stones
and around oak roots.
It is not silent.

+ Ben Lansing & D.J. Marotta,
Our Church Speaks


Many blessings of peace and presence,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

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Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Lent | St. Patrick's Day Community, Prayers, and Celebration



As the weather warms up (ever so slightly and sporadically) and our hearts turn to celebration in March, the story of St. Patrick ignites us again on how to provide priestly patronage to friends and strangers alike in fresh ways. 

There is great joy to be found that St. Patrick dynamically exuded himself. Patrick experienced miraculous liberation when he was a Roman Briton slave – that's right, Patrick wasn't Irish! – and after his escape from slavery, he willingly brought back to the island of his captors Jesus' bigger and better party so that Ireland might be introduced to the Light of the world during dark times. 

St. Patrick's Freedom Story


For a quick intro to his story, St. Patrick was trafficked as a child, a mystic in spirituality (i.e. a person who sought by contemplation and self-surrender to lean into unity with Jesus in every away), worked to create an indigenous Irish faith, and planted new communities who followed Jesus in all areas of life. But I'm getting ahead of myself ...

In the Confession of St. Patrick, written in the early 400s A.D., Patrick wrote that when he was sixteen years old, he was captured by a group of Irish pirates in Britain and brought to Ireland as a slave for six years. Patrick wrote that this time in captivity was where Jesus met him and showed him how he could be forgiven and set free. 

While he was working as a shepherd in his enslavement and treated like one of his sheep, St. Patrick was strengthened through praying during his darkest moments. These times of prayer eventually led him to faith. Patrick wrote: 

There the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and be converted with all my heart to the Lord my God who … comforted me as would a father his son.

After escaping his captors, he later returned to Ireland as a servant and witness to the joy and justice of the Kingdom of heaven with the people of the island where he was first brought as a slave (the International Justice Mission also has a great write up of this story on their website entitled, "St. Patrick's Day: A View on Suffering & Slavery").
Emmaus City Church St. Patrick's Day Worcester Massachusetts Soma Acts 29 3DM Christian Reformed Church Network of Missional Communities
IJM: St. Patrick's Day: A View on Slavery & Suffering 

Love & Friendship w/ St. Patrick


While St. Patrick's return to love and serve those who enslaved him is a pretty amazing story in and of itself, there's more. By God's grace, Patrick became the first church planter in Ireland. Thousands of individuals and families were introduced to Jesus and baptized into His family name of the Father, Son and Spirit, many of which were royalty throughout the island. This had massive impact to transform the people socially, culturally, and spiritually. And this all happened while Patrick's life was under the threat of death.

Bette Dickinson shares how he prepared for this in her wonderful Visio Divina reflection: "What Does St. Patrick Teach Us About Lent?"

I can’t think of a better figure to model for us the Lenten practices of prayer and fasting than St. Patrick. On Ash Wednesday, Patrick, the beloved apostle of Ireland, ascended Croagh Patrick and spent 40 days in prayer in fasting, mirroring Christ's time in the wilderness. On that mountain, he wrestled in prayer, contending for the spiritual renewal of Ireland.

His fasting was an act of surrender
to make space for God’s presence.
His time of fasting and prayer
became a form of spiritual warfare,
clearing the wilderness of his soul
and the land he served.

This wilderness was a place of encounter — a sacred space where God met Patrick in his weakness and filled him with divine strength. Lent invites us into our own wilderness, where we step away from the noise of life to face the deserts of our hearts. It is in this quiet, untamed space that God can reveal what needs to be healed, pruned, or released — in us, and in our world.


Through St. Patrick's humble and faithful prayer, fasting, and discipleship efforts, hundreds were ordained as servant leaders and more than 600 churches were started throughout Ireland. The churches and monasteries planted on the island became mission centers for calling, equipping, and sending people to declare and demonstrate what it means to be reconciled to God and each other, and to begin to provide glimpses together of Jesus-centered communities of grace and love that informed every area of life. 

The four keys (like the four leaves to a four-leaf clover) to Celtic discipleship and mission that Patrick taught and embodied include:

Doing Ministry as a Team
Growing a Holistic Faith
Joining God's Mission in Community
Practicing Christian Hospitality

You can read more about God's amazing work in St. Patrick and Ireland in Winfield Bevin's excellent article:
Learning from St. Patrick: 4 Celtic Virtues.
Emmaus City Church St. Patrick's Day Worcester Massachusetts Soma Acts 29 3DM Christian Reformed Church Network of Missional Communities
Learning from St. Patrick: 4 Celtic Virtues


St. Patrick's Lorica


Below is a poem attributed to St. Patrick known as his lorica. It was written some time in the 5th century (early 400s A.D.). In the early Church in Ireland, loricas were numerous with some written in Gaelic and some written in Latin. "Lorica" is Latin for shield or breastplate. 

This ancient Gaelic prayer of Patrick's is often recited in the morning as a praise to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is also a prayer for protection. I invite you to pray this prayer today, for yourself, your friends, neighbors and family, and for our city of Worcester.


I. 

I bind to myself today
The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity,
The faith of the Trinity in Unity,
The Creator of the Universe. 


II. 

I bind to myself today
The might of the Incarnation of Christ with that of His Baptism,
The might of His Crucifixion with that of His Burial,
The might of His Resurrection with that of His Ascension, and
The might of of His Coming on the Judgment Day. 


III. 

I bind to myself today ...
In the hope of Resurrection unto reward,
In the prayers of the Patriarchs,
In the predictions of the Prophets,
In the preaching of the Apostles,
In the faith of the Confessors,
In the purity of the holy Virgin,
In the deeds of righteous men. 


IV. 

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The brightness of the Sun,
The whiteness of Snow,
The splendor of Fire,
The speed of Lightning,
The swiftness of the Wind,
The depth of the Sea,
The stability of the Earth,
The firmness of Rocks. 


V. 
I bind to myself today
God's Power 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 shelter me,
God's Host to secure me.
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many. 


VI. 
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail 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 every knowledge that blinds the soul of (humanity). 


VII. 
Christ protect me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
That I may receive abundant reward. 


VIII. 
Christ with me, Christ before me, 
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, 
Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ when lying down, Christ in sitting,
Christ in rising up. 

IX. 
Christ in the heart of every (person)
who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every (person)
who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me. 


X. 
I bind to myself today
The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity,
The faith of the Trinity in Unity
The Creator of the Universe. 


XI. 
Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is of Christ;
May Your salvation, O Lord, be with us forever.


Bonus Songs

Inspired by St. Patrick's Lorica
5th Century
Adapted by Taya Smith + Jon Guerra
2023 A.D.

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.
This day, be within and without me.

Lowly and meek, yet all powerful,
Lowly and meek, yet all powerful,
Lowly and meek and all powerful.

Christ as a light,
Christ as a shield,
Christ when I'm standing,
Christ when I kneel,
Christ here beside me
On my left and my right,
Christ all around me,
All my days and my nights.

The Porter's Gate
Released on St. Patrick's Day
Friday, March 17, 2023

When my work takes me places
I don’t want to go,
Christ before me.
And my heart aches with sorrow 
As I hit the road,
Christ be with me.
When the care of my family 
Takes all that I have,
Christ within me.
When I’m worn and exhausted, 
Ashamed that I’m mad,
Christ defend me.

I rise up today in a strength 
That is not my own,
I’m held by the promise of God 
That I’m never alone.

When I’m tossed to the side 
And I want to give up,
Christ beside me.
When I’m busting my a%! 
But it’s never enough,
Christ beside me.
When I work hard 
But someone else gets the reward,
God’s eyes see me.
And I ask for promotion 
And they shut the door,
God’s ears hear me. 
(Chorus)

When I climb the first steps 
Toward a long held dream,
Christ above me.
I leap out in faith 
And I hope to find wings,
Christ beneath me.

Bonus Lent Post: 


Bonus Irish Saints Posts:


Bonus March Saints Post:

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan



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