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| Image by Giuseppe Milo |
St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer
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A GREETING
When I was in trouble, I called to you, O God,
and you answered me.
(Psalm 120:2)
A READING
I lift my eyes to the mountains—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from you God,
who made heaven and earth!
You won’t let our footsteps slip:
our Guardian never sleeps.
(Psalm 121:1-3)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Now I know your word is a lamp for my steps,
for the path just ahead of me.
(Psalm 119:105)
A REFLECTION
When I read the breastplate and make it my own prayer on my journey, I find that while it is a desperate entreaty, a cry for help, it also carries a great feeling of confidence that the powers that I invoke will come to my aid. And while I call upon the majesty of the Creator God and all the forces of the angelic hosts of heaven, I also call upon the tenderness and the nearness of the person of Christ. So in the lorica I swing between the two poles of distance and immediacy, between the God who is remote and awesome and the God whom I can actually touch and feel and who is immediately close to me.
- from The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination
by Esther de Waal
THE ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE PRAYER
(Part 5)
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From every one who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in a multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets...
- from a literal translation by Kuno Meyer
VERSE OF REASSURANCE
For the sake of my family and friends,
I say, “Peace be within you!”
(Psalm 122:8)
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| "Macauley Plains," (1907/8) by Sophie Pemberton |
Today's near-final verses of the Breastplate Prayer sound like they could be from the book of Psalms. In them we hear the honest and plaintive voice of Patrick naming his deepest fears. How much can we relate to these insecurities? How much do we worry over things we've said, or struggle with habits and addictions we don't know quite how to get on top of?
These verses come just before tomorrow's encircling images of the Christ who is with us in all directions. But we're not there yet. The 'walking the rounds' of yesterday in this part of the prayer is the pacing of things going round and round one's mind, stirring up emotions. It is not yet the confident walk of slow and meditative practice. Today's verses represent those deepest hours of uncertainty and anxiety, when we feel the most alone and unable to cope with life's challenges. These moments call to mind Jesus in the garden, longing for his friends to stay awake, even as he knows what lies before him.
Today's music also holds that loss and longing: it conveys the vision of a very deep sense of promise. The song names one by one the images of hope and restoration that the singer(s) long to share with loved ones. Later in the video, as Jacob Collier leads the audience in spontaneous harmonies, we see just how easy it can be to come together.
The Christian dream of restoration is a collective one. We need all of the parts of the body of Christ in order to be able to build the kindom. We need the neurodivergent folks and the people with invisible and visible disabilities. We need the ones who wait at street corners for your spare change, and the ones who lie asleep in front of shops with no sign or request. We need the people whose gender is not one you immediately recognize and understand but whose beating heart is smiling at you. We need the voices of the parents who are burying children lost in armed conflicts; we need the voices of the children who don't want to die. We need the more-than-human ones also. We need the animals and the plants and the rocks and the trees.
The kindom of God belongs to us all.
How can preparing for the coming of Jesus include staring down our deepest fears? How much do we believe that God is there in every moment?
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| Image by Giuseppe Milo |
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Scripture passages are taken from The Inclusive Bible.
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LC† Vigil in Hope is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!
