Today is St. Patrick’s Day, which tradition marks as the day of his death. Some mark the day with parades, drinking, and other festivities. I think it’s a great day for prayer, especially for writers, since the famous prayer known as “St. Patrick’s Lorica” (or “breastplate”) is attributed to him. I’ve adapted the prayer numerous times (for my children, grandchildren, etc.), so here is “A Writer’s Lorica,” based on the Breastplate of St. Patrick:
I bind to myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
Invoking the same,
The Three in One
and One in Three.
I plead for my thinking and writing today
The power of love, the power of faith,
Christ’s incarnate immanence,
The passion of his holy death,
Awareness of His imminence,
His power bursting from the spiced tomb,
His exaltation up the heavenly way,
His princely coming at the day of doom
I plead for them all today.
I invoke for my words the power
Of angels’ shout,
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The voice of the seraphim,
The certainty of the Apostles,
The backbone of patriarchs,
The certainty of prophets,
And all good work done
as to the Lord and not for men.
I ask for my work today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s lifegiving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.
I beseech for my sentences, paragraphs, and pages,
My grammar, style, usage, and punctuation,
My concepts and conceits, advances and retreats,
The power of God to inspire and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give them speech,
His heavenly host to be their guard.
Against the demon snares of sin,
The lie of judgment, lack of grace,
The haunting doubts that war within,
The lazy word, the easy phrase,
Such fatal flaws as these in me,
In every place and in all hours,
Against all unChristlike tendencies
I ask, in Jesus’ name, these powers.
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the world’s deceitful thrills,
Against the lure of pleasing men,
Against dependence on my own skills,
Protect me, Christ, as You alone can.
Christ be with me, be all to me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ flow through me,
Christ to empty and restore me.
Christ my waking, Christ my sleeping,
Christ my thinking, Christ my feeling,
Christ my laughing, Christ my weeping,
Christ concealing and revealing.
I ask all this in the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature has creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
Amen.
[Posted three years ago, so we left the comments untouched. Hope it blesses you all.]
Story Structure Part #8
Amen. I celebrate St. Patrick’s Day all week in my kindergarten classroom at our Christian school.
Beautiful ~
Beautiful Bob. Thank you for this gift as I begin today’s writing. Blessings!
This will resonate in my thoughts today as I pray. Thank you.
Thank you for this, Bob. It’s truly lovely.
I hope it’s OK that I offer, here, a prayer written by Andre Zirnheld, a French member of the SAS who was killed in July 1942; this remarkable testament to faith was found among his effects.
It’s my lodestar now.
I’m asking You God, to give me what You have left.
Give me those things which others never ask of You.
I don’t ask You for rest, or tranquility.
Not that of the spirit, the body, or the mind.
I don’t ask You for wealth, or success, or even health.
All those things are asked of You so much Lord,
that you can’t have any left to give.
Give me instead Lord what You have left.
Give me what others don’t want.
I want uncertainty and doubt.
I want torment and battle.
And I ask that You give them to me now and forever Lord,
so I can be sure to always have them,
because I won’t always have the strength to ask again.
But give me also the courage, the energy,
and the spirit to face them.
I ask You these things Lord,
for only You can grant
what can come only from myself.
Amen and amen.
Beautiful! Thank you.
Amen. Than you, Bob.
Thank you for sharing this powerful prayer. I had not seen it before.
I always cringe at the way the world treats St. Patrick’s Day. Thank you for giving us the joy of his beautiful prayer.
Interesting! I’ve never paid much attention to St. Patrick’s Day, but this information is enlightening.
An encouraging poem of faith in the triune God upon whom we are totally dependent. Thank you!
Amen!
We celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by watching the veggie tale that so hilariously illustrates his story (even though my kids are all teens now) and eating shepherd’s pie and beer bread, yum!
Wow, what a beautiful prayer. So thought provoking, and inspiring. Thank you for sharing it.
This is so meaningful, Bob. Thank you.
What a beautiful and encouraging prayer.
This is a wonderful message. Thank you for sharing it with me. Blessings to you.
A powerful prayer of protection in today’s language. I’ve printed it so I can refer to it when needed. Thanks, Bob.
Ah, beautiful, and amen.
Wonderful! Thank you, Bob.
They will dye the river green
in Chicago, Heaven’s twin,
and that I might make the scene
for this day, I will begin
with my longing for eternity
in holy Gaelic cheer
with the Holy Family
beside a lake of beer.
We will dance in fields of clover
and drink the whole day through
with nary a hangover;
it’s just the Irish flu,
God’s blessing on our Irish heart
and every other Irish part.
This made me smile, Andrew.
Then I read the prayer you shared 3 years ago by Andre Zirnheld. Wow. So powerful. I’ll ponder it while I eat my Shepherd’s Pie and Irish Soda Bread tonight. We’re having our St. Patrick’s Day dinner early because we’ll be away this weekend. And hey, it IS Pie Day. 😉
Thank you for posting! Amen!
Love this so much. Thanks for sharing!🍀
Thank you for sharing. I didn’t see this three years ago so I’m grateful to see it today. A fantastic prayer for an author. This one’s a keeper!
AMEN!
Thanks Bob!
God bless you.
Blessings.