The second to last stanza contains the part of St. Patrick's Breastplate most commonly known. Many people pray just this stanza as part of their daily prayers. It summarizes much of the prayer, with the unique feature of specifically calling on Christ, instead of the Holy Trinity. Patrick asks for Christ to be everywhere around him - including inner space - as well as in all that he does. This stanza prays for a unity between mind and action. The actions of Patrick should make Christ visible to all, just as Patrick himself is careful to carry Christ within him. He also sends Christ before him, asking him to open the eyes, ears and hearts of those he will encounter that day.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. Finally, we return to the beginning. The prayer ends by repeating the first stanza, making up the second bookend, ending with a reassertion of the power and might of the Holy Trinity, the Creator (big C) of creation (little c). This, then, is the perspective that Patrick carries with him as he goes about his activities. God is with him, and everything and everyone is called to be in union with the Trinity. I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. Pray the entire Breastplate again, asking God to walk with you in wisdom and guidance.
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The 5th stanza swings away from nature, back to the Holy Trinity. St. Patrick here again makes another bold claim. He draws down the attributes of God himself in his prayer. In St. Patrick's mind, God was not far away in "some heaven, light years away," as the song goes. God is here, in this place, right now. But even more, through holy communion, God isn't separated from him by distance at all. In fact, by beoming food and drink, God enters inside. If God is within, then all of God is accessible, except where sin blocks the relationship. Patrick invokes the wisdom, the strength, and the might of God, and goes even further. He prayers that he will see through the eye of God, hear through the ear of God, and speak through the word of God. The technical term for this is 'divinization." God becomes man so we may become God. Obviously, Patrick does not understand "divinization" to mean "replacement." He does not mean to take the Trinity out of the picture and replace it wih himself as some kind of new and improved god. Rather, he is refering to a unity so complete that he can act through God's own power. The last couple of lines refer to Jesus, the one who was like us in all but sin. Patrick asserts that only through union with the Trinity can we avoid sin and overcome temptation, like Jesus.
I arise today, through God's strength 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 shield to protect me, God's host to save me From snares of devils, From temptation of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near. The next stanza marks another change. Now, St. Patrick becomes very specific in his prayer for protection. It seems that he is especially thinking of the followers of the religion he finds in Ireland when he prays this stanza. After he has asked for protection against all these unseen powers, he returns again to praying for protection against natural calamities - fire, famine, flood and general wounding. Once again, he asks for this protection not so that he himself can enjoy a material reward necessarily, but so that he can complete the task that brought him back to Ireland the second time - to lead the people out of slavery to freedom, through knowledge and worship of the Holy Trinity. He wants to give the gift he was given to these people as well, and asks that their conversion may be his reward "in abundance." I summon today All these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul; Christ to shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me an abundance of reward. The 3rd and 4th stanzas of St. Patrick's Breastplate cover the Old Testament, and then move to present time.
I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In the obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In the predictions of prophets, In the preaching of apostles, In the faith of confessors, In the innocence of holy virgins, In the deeds of righteous men. This stanza begins again with the innovocation to be "Awake and Alert!" and revisits Patrick's belief that all of creation was made to serve the Trinity, freely and willingly. Starting with 3 of the orders of angels, Patrick prays for their guidance, steadfastness and protection. He also states that he looks foward to the resurrection in the hope that he will "meet with reward." This is an unusual, and bold, declaration. It is not often that we publically pray for a reward with the reurrection. This statement reminds us that Patrick is not storing up treasure for himself on earth. He is content to wait for it. Considering the lack of comfort his life held while he was active in his ministry in Ireland, we might think he is referring to his anticipation of a hot bath, a comfortable bed and freedom from hunger. It's more likely, though, that the reward he prayed for was the conversion of the Irish people, especially their leaders. He hoped to see his friends again at the resurrection. By naming the patriarchs, prophets and apostles, Patrick places himself squarely in their circle of help. Why not profess himself a son of Abraham? He certainly intended to contribute to the "number of stars in the sky and grains of sand on the beach!" Why not believe that the prophesies foretold meant goodness for him as well as the Israelites? He believed in the promises of God, too! I arise today through the strength of heaven, The light of the sun, The radiance of the moon, The splendor of fire, The speed of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of the sea, The stability of the earth, The firmness of rock. It is this stanza, though, where Patrick really hits his stride. In his absolute confidence in the Trinity, and the Trinity's vision for creation, Patrick asserts that, not only are the "religious" people OF God, and therefore FOR him - from the angels to the patriarchs to the prophets to any person of good works- but that nature itself is also a servant of the Trinity. Nature is another creation. The religion that Patrick finds in Ireland also sees gods in nature, and worships them. Patrick, on the other hand, looks around at the beautiful wilderness and he sees the attributes of God. He sees the hand of the Creator in what was created. The spark of lightening is God's omnipresence, illuminating as it awes, far reaching and brilliant. The sea shows the great depths of the Lord - unfathomable, unreachable. The wind blows where it will, shaping and bending creation to its will, sometimes in a terrible manner as in hurricanes, sometimes over eons, as in canyons and mountains. Patrick sees the Holy Spirit acting in the same manner, blowing across the world, just as it did in the first days of creation. Yet there is also the stability of the earth, the great firmness of the rock. It is reliable. It is unchangeable. You can build a house, a life, upon it. It will not fail. God is God. I Am Who Am. Existence. Patrick, living on a rocky outcropping at the edge of the enormous Atlantic Ocean realizes something very basic about God - he is like the nature around him. Wild. Untamed. Nondomestic. And yet, it is this same God who bends low and is born as a small child to poor people. This same God who cares for the sparrows and counts the hairs on our head. It was this God who trained Patrick to pray, who was his spiritual companion, and who led Patrick forth from slavery to freedom. And it was also this same God who asked Patrick to -willingly and freely -return to his place of captivity, to lead others to freedom as well. What was Patrick to do, but Arise! and go and believe wholeheartedly? Pray the 2 stanzas above slowly and deliberately. Where do you see God's attributes in nature? In others? Although St. Patrick's Day is now usually thought of as a day of parades and fun, the day is also a great opportunity to learn more about the saint it is named for, and more importantly, his famous prayer. Known simply as "St. Patrick's Breastplate" this prayer is not only beautiful and powerful in itself, it also exemplifies Celtic spirituality.
The entire prayer is quite lengthy, which makes sense considering St. Patrick's younger days. He writes that he spent hours alone during his captivity, tending the sheep. In his lonliness and isolation, God became his friend. St. Patrick spent hours in prayer, doubtless composing prayers like this to give himself hope and sustain him during the long years. During the month of March, we'll look at the different stanzas of this prayer, and see if we can find inspiration ourselves. The first two stanzas are below. I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. The stanza above frames the prayer. It is one of two bookends - the first bookend starts off the prayer, and then it is repeated again at the very end. It is through this vision - St. Patrick's famous inspiration of the Trinity - that he writes the entire prayer. The words "I arise" allude to the common Scriptural theme of "Wake up!" The time is now! As the angels said at the ascension "What are you waiting for?" St. Patrick reminds himself to be awake and alert, of not just moving unthinkingly and asleep through the day. He goes on to profess his belief in the Trinity, and says he draws all of his strength from this belief in the unity of the Triune God, the same God who is the "creator of creation." I arise today Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom. The second stanza starts again with the "Arise today!" theme, and focuses on the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. In it, St. Patrick combines his own small strength with the much greater strength of Jesus. He names some of the key moments in Jesus' ministry, his baptism, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension and then looks forward in time to Jesus' second coming in glory, which he refers to as the "judgment of doom," when time will cease with the Final Judgement. All of these events in the life of Jesus popint to new life. From his baptism to to his ascent, these are all invitations to join in the inner life of the Trinity through participating in the life of Christ. St. Patrick clearly thought he could only be successful in his ministry in the extent he was joined to Christ. It was not enough to simply remember what Jesus had done. Jesus had to become present in the life of Patrick, his efforts had to be united to Christ's. Say the two stanzas above slowly, thinking about each word. Next week, we'll look at the 3rd and 4th stanzas. |
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