In 1999, Mike and I took a trip to Ireland for our 25th wedding anniversary. Its green rolling meadows lined with ancient stone fences mesmerized us. We fell in love with the people, the culture, and the food.
One of the places we visited was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It is believed that at this location St. Patrick baptized early converts to Christianity. (His approximate dates were 385-461 AD.) There is an amazing stone cover over what they think was his baptismal pool. Of course, the large, majestic stone cathedral is not the original building. It was a meager wooden church at that time. It has long since been replaced.
Over the years I've researched the life of St. Patrick trying to sort out the true stories and the legends. The truth is an amazing story of a young man stolen from his home in Roman Britain by slave pirates, who was then forced to serve as a slave of a Druid Chieftain for six years before he escaped back to his family in Britain. The call of God upon his life to return as a missionary to the heathens of Ireland, to the very ones who enslaved him, and the phenomenal founding and growth of the church is an amazing testament of God's grace upon His life. I have great admiration for his life and ancient writings.
One of the most famous writings that is attributed to him is now called “St. Patrick’s Breastplate”. Whether or not he actually wrote it is debated today. Some believe monks influenced by St. Patrick's words wrote it. That is more than likely the case and explains why you will find variations of the prayer. Apparently, the Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians had an influence on the writing of "The Breastplate" as well. There are undertones of the book throughout the prayer. Either way, I'm inspired every time I read it. This is the translation I enjoy meditating on. Its words are a beautiful prayer of protection to pray for ourselves and our loved ones. It actually reminds me of Ephesians 6:13-17. It makes me ask myself, "Is your armor on?"
One of the places we visited was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It is believed that at this location St. Patrick baptized early converts to Christianity. (His approximate dates were 385-461 AD.) There is an amazing stone cover over what they think was his baptismal pool. Of course, the large, majestic stone cathedral is not the original building. It was a meager wooden church at that time. It has long since been replaced.
Over the years I've researched the life of St. Patrick trying to sort out the true stories and the legends. The truth is an amazing story of a young man stolen from his home in Roman Britain by slave pirates, who was then forced to serve as a slave of a Druid Chieftain for six years before he escaped back to his family in Britain. The call of God upon his life to return as a missionary to the heathens of Ireland, to the very ones who enslaved him, and the phenomenal founding and growth of the church is an amazing testament of God's grace upon His life. I have great admiration for his life and ancient writings.
One of the most famous writings that is attributed to him is now called “St. Patrick’s Breastplate”. Whether or not he actually wrote it is debated today. Some believe monks influenced by St. Patrick's words wrote it. That is more than likely the case and explains why you will find variations of the prayer. Apparently, the Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians had an influence on the writing of "The Breastplate" as well. There are undertones of the book throughout the prayer. Either way, I'm inspired every time I read it. This is the translation I enjoy meditating on. Its words are a beautiful prayer of protection to pray for ourselves and our loved ones. It actually reminds me of Ephesians 6:13-17. It makes me ask myself, "Is your armor on?"
St. Patrick's Breastplate
I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.
I arise today
By the power of faith and
Through the strength of Christ’s birth,
His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection
and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of Doom.
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 way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all His power to stand
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words and heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the hear’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death-wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poison’d shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
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 in breadth,
Christ in length,
Christ in height,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty name,
The strong name of the Trinity,
By belief and confession of
The Three in One, and the One in Three,
The Creator of creation.
Eternal Father,
Spirit Word,
Praise to the Lord of my salvation:
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
O Lord, be ever with me.
Amen
Through a mighty strength,
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.
I arise today
By the power of faith and
Through the strength of Christ’s birth,
His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection
and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of Doom.
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 way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all His power to stand
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words and heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the hear’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death-wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poison’d shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
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 in breadth,
Christ in length,
Christ in height,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty name,
The strong name of the Trinity,
By belief and confession of
The Three in One, and the One in Three,
The Creator of creation.
Eternal Father,
Spirit Word,
Praise to the Lord of my salvation:
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
O Lord, be ever with me.
Amen
Also, Five Lessons We Can Learn From Saint Patrick is an article and quick read by Faith McDonnell. I especially appreciate love her last point which is actually #1:
"And the #1 lesson we can learn from Saint Patrick about spiritual warfare is:
There is no High King but King Jesus.
In a devotional on their website, Irish Christian band Rend Collective retells the story of Patrick facing off against the High King of Tara. Like many of the Irish High Kings and other warlords in Patrick’s time, the High King of Tara, says Rend Collective, “surrendered his armies and surrendered his heart, in awe of St. Patrick’s God” when the King’s troops were not able to extinguish Patrick’s Easter Vigil bonfire, burning at the same time as the pagan King’s druid festival bonfire.
In the same way, today, we fear the evil that threatens people all over the world in forms such as Vladimir Putin, the Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram, Fulani jihadists, North Korea, Iran, the CCP regime, and others. But we must remember that no power of hell can stand against Christ’s kingdom. There is no Caliph, no jihadi, no Dear Leader, no President, no Congressperson, no Big Tech mogul, no lying media, no pharmaceutical company or its stockholders, no self-proclaimed intellectual elite, no creepy soulless billionaire or his cabal, and no king, who can overcome our High King of Heaven, Jesus Christ.
High King of Heaven, my victory won.
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Son.
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall.
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all."
"And the #1 lesson we can learn from Saint Patrick about spiritual warfare is:
There is no High King but King Jesus.
In a devotional on their website, Irish Christian band Rend Collective retells the story of Patrick facing off against the High King of Tara. Like many of the Irish High Kings and other warlords in Patrick’s time, the High King of Tara, says Rend Collective, “surrendered his armies and surrendered his heart, in awe of St. Patrick’s God” when the King’s troops were not able to extinguish Patrick’s Easter Vigil bonfire, burning at the same time as the pagan King’s druid festival bonfire.
In the same way, today, we fear the evil that threatens people all over the world in forms such as Vladimir Putin, the Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram, Fulani jihadists, North Korea, Iran, the CCP regime, and others. But we must remember that no power of hell can stand against Christ’s kingdom. There is no Caliph, no jihadi, no Dear Leader, no President, no Congressperson, no Big Tech mogul, no lying media, no pharmaceutical company or its stockholders, no self-proclaimed intellectual elite, no creepy soulless billionaire or his cabal, and no king, who can overcome our High King of Heaven, Jesus Christ.
High King of Heaven, my victory won.
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Son.
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall.
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all."
If you would like to print a copy of St. Patrick's Breastplate, I've created a printable pdf located here.
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