This week I've been singing the "Prayer of St. Patrick," a.k.a. "St. Patrick's Breastplate." It's on my personal list of 100 Hymns to Memorize. It surprises me that in my late 20's, I'm singing the "Prayer of St. Patrick," because in my late teens, I wouldn't have anything to do with it.
It begins with "I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity." It sounded creepy, like reciting an ancient spell. I wasn't sure if Christians ought to be saying things that sounded like incantations. It went from bad to worse. By the fourth stanza, St. Patrick was intoning, "I bind unto myself today the virtues of the starlit heaven," like nature-worship or something really weird. If I sang this, would I be inviting demons or God's wrath, or would I be on a slippery slope toward paganism and dancing barefoot in a loose white dress at the Vernal Equinox?
It's quite the opposite.
Apparently, on Easter Sunday, March 26, 433, the druids of Ireland, already provoked by some bonfire incident on Easter Eve, caused a magic cloud of "Egyptian darkness" to fall around Patrick and his people. Patrick prayed, and the sun's rays broke through. Then the Arch-Druid Lochru levitated himself with demonic power--I don't know whether he came after Patrick or just spun around in the air--but after Patrick again prayed, the Arch-Druid remembered gravity and was "dashed to pieces" on a rock. And you thought Easter egg-hunting was exciting. After this spectacle, Leoghaire, the Supreme Monarch of Ireland, granted permission for Patrick to preach the Christian faith throughout the land.
Patrick had prepared himself for this spiritual battle against paganism much as ancient Israel did--through prayer. "St. Patrick's Breastplate" survives as a memorial of that prayer.
More to follow....
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