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In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, I wanted to post this.

From New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia:

==
The beautiful prayer of St. Patrick, popularly known as "St. Patrick's
Breast-Plate", is supposed to have been composed by him in preparation for
this victory over Paganism. The following is a literal translation from the
old Irish text:

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.


I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide 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.

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 the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.


Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

Dear Janka,

(a great Irish name, I must say!)

I'm wearing the Green today with a large shamrock - and I'm an East Slavic Old Calendarist! How's that for cross-cultural ecumenism!

We know that Irish Celtic missionaries visited St Olha the Great at Kyiv and were allowed to preach there by her. They travelled there in their sturdy "birinns."

We also know that the Celtic Christians were heavily influenced by the Coptic Church and the Fathers of the Thebaid, principally through St John Cassian's works, for example, the Celtic Church is the only Western Church to ever practice prostrations.

There are also seven Coptic monk-saints buried in Ireland and mentioned in an ancient Irish litany.

If anyone would like to pray the Celtic Divine Office, there is a great English translation at:

celticchristianity.org

The Particular Celtic Church also included the two extra Books in their New Testament - the Apostles' Creed and the Shepherd of Hermas.

The Celtic Cross with its circular halo in the centre can be understood to mean: a representation of the sun, worshipped by the Druids, but, in the Christian understanding, said to be Christ "our Sun;" a Eucharistic symbol, since circular mill-stones were often hung on large crosses to relate it to the Bread of the Eucharist; or a Celtic version of the "Chi Rho" symbol or "X P" superimposed on one another and being the first two letters of Christ's Name in Greek.

Erin go Bragh!

Alex

Thanks, Jenny,

Who are the 7 Coptic saints in Ireland?

Marshall

Dear Marshall,

Their names are not given in the Irish litanies, but only their number.

Something similar occurs in other Churches - in Kyiv there are the twelve sainted Greek builders who are buried with the other Venerable Fathers and who have a collective feast day but whose names are not known to us.

Alex

St. Patrick's Breastplate is one of my all-time- favorite hymns. I first heard it in an Anglo-Catholic church, sung by the best choir in the city (St. Barnabas Church, Victoria, B.C). The melody is haunting.... one of the finest renditions of the music is in the Anglican 1938 Book of Common Praise.

Thanks for the "compleat" words!

Here is a link to some history on the 7 Coptic Saints of Ireland:

http://www.unicorne.org/orthodoxy/articles/calendar/novembre_19.htm

"Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,"

Uhm, I'm hoping that there was an ellipsis here where the word "deck" is omitted at the end of line two.

Otherwise, I think I'm going to go have a double brandy and ponder this Gaelic mystery. Where is Old MacDonald when you need him?

Blessings around the old compost heap!!

Thanks, Karen, for the link. Very interesting!

God Bless,

Jenny

Thanks, Karen, for the link. Very interesting!

God Bless,

Jenny

I saw that. I thought it sounded funny, too. I got the words from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm

I just checked around on the internet and didn't see "poop" on other sites. The only thing I can think of to explain it is that the translation on the Catholic Encyclopedia site is a literal translation of the old Irish text. Maybe it translates a little funny.

I say, just go ahead and have the brandy.

God Bless,

Jenny