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").
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| 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.
Learning from St. Patrick: 4 Celtic Virtues.
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| 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,
who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every (person)
who speaks of me,
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,
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
