Happy S. Patrick's Day everyone!

[tree_and_leaf]

Which is a cue for me to post one of my favourite hymns/ prayers, even if Patrick probably didn't write it himself. "S. Patrick's Breastplate" is, nevertheless, awesome. I love its vivid focus on the Incarnation and the fantastic evocation of the beauty and terror of the natural world (and, I must admit, I am very fond of the verse abut wizardry and heresy, even if you're unlikely to sing that in church much these days. I can't help feeling that's a mistake).



I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving 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 bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold 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 me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy 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 wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself 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 hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Old Irish, trans. C.F. Alexander.

Comments

[grondfic.livejournal.com]

Ye Gods! It's a powerful spell-cast. He appears to be using the very format of Pagandom against itself.

I always thought he was a sneaky, Tricksterish sort of saint. Now I know!

[tree_and_leaf]

It's the snakes I feel sorry for, they clearly never had a chance...

It's actually a fairly common sort of prayer in the Celtic tradition, albeit unusually comprehensive. But the combination of lots of references to the Incarnation with invocations of the power of creation is quite common. Makes perfect sense, from the point of view of Christian theology; much better than a lot of the gnostic crap you get sneaking into a lot of later Western stuff.

[berkeleyfarm.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Yes, the Breastplate is not sung nearly enough. Hadn't heard that Patrick probably didn't write it, though.

We get a rousing version on Trinity Sunday chez nous. We have an excellent acoustic space, talented organist and percussionist, and one hundred and fifty people singing their lungs out, led by one of the best mostly-amateur parish choirs in the US. It is quite magnificent.

We also use it at ordinations in our diocese; our cathedral is large and they really need all eight of those verses to come up the aisle, stately-like.

[tree_and_leaf]

It sounds magnificent with a large congregation who can sing!

[lady-schrapnell.livejournal.com]

It's a wondrous piece, and nice to see it posted here. Ironically we always sang the good old Irish tune in churches in the States, but back in Ireland, I found a far inferior (IMO), more modern version.

[tree_and_leaf]

Lots of people think the 'traditional' (inasmuch as a piece of Victoriana - albeit sublime Victoriana) is too difficult, but it's not the same with a different tune...

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Happy St. Patrick's Day to you as well.

(Slightly on the subject--did you ever see my post about the use of the past in Irish-American fantasy novels? Don't quite recollect if it was before or after I friended you, at the moment.)

[tree_and_leaf]

No, but it sounds interesting....

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I hope it is.

It's here. (http://ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com/120562.html)

You certainly ought to be on my academic f-lock. If I'm wrong about this, please let me know.

[maeve-rigan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reminding me of this. It really is spectacular. Since my former parish was "Trinity," we used to pull this hymn out fairly often, along with a lot of other Trinity-themed hymns.

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

Likewise. I've moved from a Chapel of the Holy Trinity to a Church of the Holy Trinity, and as a result can Cope with the Tune.

[scionofgrace.livejournal.com]

Holy cow, that's awesome. I've heard parts of it before, but not the whole thing. There's such an attitude of power to it, isn't there? It takes the war against sin seriously.