This weekend, all across America, people will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Although the actual holiday falls on March 17th, Saturday will see parades taking place in nearly every major city in the nation. For many, St. Patrick’s Day is about four leaf clovers for good luck, leprechauns, and green beer. For others, it is a time to celebrate their Irish heritage. Even the President is getting in on it this year as “Obama” is being reimaged as “O’Bama.”
St. Patrick’s Day has held a special place in my heart for over thirty years. I do have a bit of Irish blood in me. McCoy was my father’s family name before he was adopted. But my fondness for the day has other origins. As a college student, I dropped into a bar in Kansas City on St. Patrick’s Day to have a mug of green beer. I ran into an old high school friend by the name of Bob Fulton. While drinking beer together Bob told me that authentic Christianity was not a religion, but a relationship. As far as I can remember, it was the first time someone shared that message with me. It took several years for what Bob was talking about to sink into my thick skull far enough to get me to stop and think about. But looking back, that is a day I will never forget.
It was only in recent years that I decided that if Presbyterians can have patron saints, I would make Patrick mine. This came as a result of reading Thomas Cahill’s excellent little book, How the Irish Saved Civilization. Cahill writes about how Patrick was a fourth century bishop who left the comfort of England (yes, he was a Brit!) to become a missionary to the Emerald Isle. He walked the rugged country and made friends wherever he went, leading masses of Celts into a relationship with Jesus Christ. He also set up monasteries where people could come and pray and where the ancient manuscripts of the Bible were copied and preserved – along with many of the great classics of antiquity that were being burned on the continent. I’ve stood in the scriptoriums of several ancient monasteries and thought about those faithful monks laboring away in obscurity and the role they played in the preservation of the Bible. I even created a “virtual monastery” as an attempt to honor the tradition. You can access the site by clicking the “St. Bruno’s” link on this page.
The world could use a St. Patrick right now. Patrick had a faith that enabled him to thrive in difficult times. His most famous writing is often referred to as “St. Patrick’s Shield” or “Lorica.” It was a way he prayed to create protection around his life on a daily basis. As people who believe that God controls the future, not Wall Street, those of us who are followers of Jesus might consider using his prayer as a “battle cry” when we get out of bed in the morning. My favorite lines of the prayer are,
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 every man 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.
As you can see, Patrick had an amazing grasp of the presence of Jesus in his life. He believed that as he prayed these words, he would be praying a “shield” into place around his life. I am finding lately that I am allowing the prevailing sense of anxiety and dread that is currently permeating the world to get the best of me. Reading, praying, and reflecting on these words seems like a great way to counteract that tendency and get my mind back in tune with God’s point of view. For your enjoyment, I will also include the complete piece.
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