St. Patrick's Message: "I bind unto myself today God's power to guide me"

Beannachtaí na Féile Phádraig.
Blessings to all on the Feast of St Patrick!

Saint Patrick (Old Irish: Cothraige or Coithrige; Middle Irish: Pátraic; Irish: Pádraig), a fifth century Christian missionary, is known worldwide as a patron saint of Ireland. March 17th, the date of his death in 493, is his feast day in the Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheran Church, and Roman Catholic Church. But March 17^th is also celebrated publicly and joyously, with parades, music, dancing, and specially-themed meals, because St. Patrick is a familiar, inspirational, historical personage whose message of devotion, love, reconciliation, and respect has resounded undiminished across time. (NOTE: Sometimes private celebrations spiral downwards into rowdiness, which has nothing to do with St. Patrick.)

Throughout his missionary life in Ireland, St. Patrick committed himself to God's power to guide him. One of the most beautiful outward expressions of this commitment was the success that St. Patrick achieved within his own lifetime in bringing Christianity to an island nation that had enslaved him for six years in his youth. The darkness of those years was lightened by his faith in God, to whom he prayed frequently:

“I used to pasture the flock each day and I used to pray many times a day. More and more did the love of God, and my fear of him and faith increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day [I said] from one up to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number; besides I used to stay out in the forests and on the mountain and I would wake up before daylight to pray in the snow, in icy coldness, in rain, and I used to feel neither ill nor any slothfulness, because, as I now see, the Spirit was burning in me at that time.” (Confessio of St. Patrick, 16)

After six years of servitude near modern-day Ballymena (Irish: an Baile Meánach, "the middle townland") in northeastern Northern Ireland, St. Patrick was directed in a dream to escape: “Behold, your ship is ready.” He obeyed, travelling two hundred miles:

“. . .I came, by the power of God who directed my route to advantage (and I was afraid of nothing), until I reached that ship.” (Confessio, 17)

After his safe return to his home in Britain, St. Patrick realized that his departure from Ireland was intended only to be temporary:

“. . .in a vision of the night,I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming as if from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: ‘The Voice of the Irish', and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and they were crying as if with one voice: 'We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.' And I was stung intensely in my heart so that I could read no more, and thus I awoke.” (Confessio, 23)

Decades later Pope St. Celestine I (papacy 422-432), upon the recommendation of St. Patrick’s mentor, St. Germanus (c. 378-c. 448), Bishop of Auxerre, authorized St. Patrick to focus exclusively on missionizing Ireland. Thus it was that St. Patrick returned to Ireland and devoted the rest of his life to the emerald isle. The place of his youthful darkness was transformed into the place of sublime light; the place of his greatest pain became the place of his greatest triumph and joy:

"And I was not worthy, nor was I such that the Lord should grant his humble servant this, that after hardships and such great trials, after captivity, after many years, he should give me so much favour in these people, a thing which in the time of my youth I neither hoped for nor imagined." (Confessio, 15)

It is believed that St. Brigit of Kildare (affectionately referred to as Mary of the Gael [Irish: Naomh Bríd]) (c. 451–525), personally wove the shroud for St. Patrick, as his passing was clearly near. The two saints also shared a vision from “Patrick’s Angel” that Patrick would be buried in Down and that Brigit

“. . .and another saint to be called Columcille, shall rest in the same grave, and we shall rise together from that tomb on the last day.”

The exact location of St. Patrick's burial site is uncertain. In 1900 the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club arranged for a memorial stone, made from granite from the nearby Mourne Mountains (Irish: Beanna Boirche, "Boirche's hills"), to be placed at St. Patrick's traditional gravesite.

In September 1985 The Down District Council Recreation/Tourist Department installed a plaque alongside the memorial stone:

“Saint Patrick was born in Britain. At sixteen he was captured and taken to Ireland, where he was sold into slavery. He escaped to France, but one night in a dream he heard the voice of the Irish calling him back. How Patrick answered that call and brought Christianity to Ireland is one of the most splendid chapters in our history.

According to tradition the remains of Saint Patrick with those of Saint Brigid and Saint Columba who is also known as Columcille, were reinterred on this site by John De Courcy in the 12^th Century thus fulfilling the prophecy that the three Saints would be buried in the same place.”

Many places in Ireland memorialize this beloved saint, whose great love for God, for his adopted home, and for the people of Ireland has reverberated throughout each succeeding century:

“Therefore may it never befall me to be separated by my God from His people whom He has won in this remote land. I pray God that He gives me perseverance, and that He will deign that I should be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing.” (Confessio, 58)

Thus it could be said that, although his body may have been deposited into a particular location, his great spirit soars across the land that he loved so well and that St. Brigid and he were promised in a joint vision prior to St. Patrick’s death Ireland would forever be illumined by “the abiding splendor of Divine truth." (“Patrick, Saint, Apostle of Ireland,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, p. 559)

One of St. Patrick’s many legacies is Lúireach Phádraig ("Saint Patrick's Breastplate”). Written in Old Irish, this beautiful, timeless prayer traditionally is attributed to St. Patrick during his missionary work in fifth-century Ireland. Even though it is now thought that the lyrics actually were written several centuries afterwards, in the eighth century, the imagery and themes accurately and powerfully reflect St. Patrick's outlook and style.

The Latin word lorica means "armor" or "breastplate," which physically protects combatants in battle. In the Christian monastic tradition, the meaning of lorica was expanded to refer to an incantation for invoking spiritual as well as physical protection.

The composing and chanting of loricas are linked to Psalm 91: 4 and to Ephesians 6: 10-18.

1) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2) I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

3) Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

4) He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

10) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13) Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14) Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15) And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16) Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18) Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

At the request of Hercules Henry Dickinson, Dean of Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle, in 1889, Irish hymn-writer and poet Cecil Frances (“Fanny”) Humphreys Alexander (April 1818-October 12, 1895) wrote the greatly loved English hymn, “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” which is known by its opening line, “I bind unto myself today.” Dean Dickinson had suggested to Fanny

“that she should fill a gap in our Irish Church Hymnal by giving us a metrical version of St. Patrick’s ‘Lorica,’ and I sent her a carefully collated copy of the best prose translations of it. Within a week she sent me that exquisitely beautiful as well as faithful version which appears in the Appendix to our Church Hymnal. . .” (H.H. Dickinson, February 1896 Note, p. xxxv, Poems by Cecil Frances Alexander, edited by William Alexander, London: Macmillan and Co., 1897).

“I bind unto myself today,” Cecil Frances Alexander’s version of “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” is appended at the end of this hub.

Another translation of "St. Patrick's Breastplate" was made by Celtic scholar Kuno Meyer (December 20, 1858-October 11, 1919). His translation was entitled "The Deer's Cry" and was included in Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry, published in 1911.

"The Deer's Cry" (Fáed Fíada) refers to the legend that, while chanting these lyrics, St. Patrick and his followers foiled an ambush set by High King Lóegaire (died c. 462): the missionaries appeared to the King's henchmen as a herd of wild deer and were thus allowed to pass by in safety. (According to Thomas Olden, “The Deer’s Cry” is a mistranslation of Fáed Fíada; the correct translation is “guard’s cry” [The Epistles and Hymn of Saint Patrick, p. 50]).

“The Deer’s Cry,” Kuno Meyer’s version of “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” is appended, for comparison, alongside Fanny Alexander's "I bind unto myself today" at the end of this hub.

The legendary context for the failed ambush is vividly depicted in a mosaic by Russian mosaicist Boris Anrep (September 27, 1883-June 7, 1969) in Christ the King Cathedral in Mullingar, Ireland. In the mosaic, St. Patrick is portrayed holding a cross in his right hand while, with a torch in his left hand, lighting the Paschal fire on the Hill of Slane.

The Hill of Slane (Baile Shláine, "homestead of fullness") rises to a height of 518 feet (158 meters) and is visible across the Gabhra Valley, about 9.9 miles (16 kilometers) away, from the 646-foot (197 meter)-high Hill of Tara (Temair na Rí, "Hill of the Kings"), the traditional seat of the High Kings of Ireland (Ard Rí na hÉireann). At that time all festival fires were first kindled on the Hill of Tara, and only then were fires allowed to be lit in other sacred locations. St. Patrick courageously determined to light the Paschal fire on the Hill of Slane despite this prohibition. Accordingly, he and his followers were summoned to present themselves before the King to answer for their defiance. Impressed by the elusion of the ambush, as well as by St. Patrick's devotion and by the inability of anyone except Patrick to extinguish the fire, King Lóegaire clearly understood when he was outmaneuvered, wisely approved the fire, and also allowed Patrick's missionary work to continue.

As always, I wish to express my gratitude to Wikimedia Commons for the plethora of images in the public domain that are available through them.

I also am grateful that Ardfern in Northern Ireland and Man vyi have made available so many beautiful photographs of important sites connected with St. Patrick: Go raibh maith agaibh.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

This hub is dedicated to St. Patrick, whose example of the power of love and the value of forgiveness has inspired so many --- myself included --- throughout time.

Alexander, William, ed. Poems by Cecil Frances Alexander (London: Macmillan and Co., 1897).

Allen, Máirín, “The Mullingar Mosaics,” The Furrow: A Journal for the Contemporary Church, Vol. 6, No. 11, November 1955, pp. 671-682.

Brady, John, “A Mosaic of St. Patrick,” The Furrow: A Journal for the Contemporary Church, Vol. 1, No. 2, March 1950, pp. 16-18.

Healy, John (Most Rev. Dr.). The Life and Writings of St. Patrick (Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son, 1905).

Herbermann, Charles G., et al., ed. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. Volume Eleven (New York: The Encyclopedia Press Inc., 1913).

Keleher, Seamus. Lúireach Phádraig

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaeilge/corpus/urnaithe/luireach.html

Meyer, Kuno. Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry (London: Constable & Co. Ltd., 1911).

Olden, Thomas (Rev.), ed. The Epistles and Hymn of Saint Patrick, with the Poem of Secundinus, translated into English (Dublin:  Hodges, Foster & Co., 1876).

Patrick, Saint. Confessio.

Stokes, Whitley, ed. The Tripartite Life of Patrick, with Other Documents Relating to that Saint, Edited with Translations and Indexes (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1887).

Copyright March 19, 2011 by Stessily.