St. Patrick’s Breastplate
Lorica Sancti Patricii
Irish tradition says St. Patrick sang this in 433 as he walked toward a king who meant to kill him. A lorica is a breastplate: the prayer buckles Christ on like armor, on every side and in every person you will meet. These are the best-known lines of a much longer hymn, preserved in Old Irish in an eleventh-century manuscript.
Attributed to St. Patrick, 5th century; Ephesians 6:11
I arise today
through a mighty strength,
the invocation of the Trinity,
through belief in the Threeness,
through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise.
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Amen.