Update with Patrick's Breastplate

Quick update: I'm doing pretty good with the whole job thing. There are a few reasons that I think it was a good thing for me and I hope that it will be a good thing for Trinity in the future. I'll blog more about some of that later this week probably. Also, by way of fair warning, there may be haiku. My feelings are a mix of sad and excited, but mostly I'm just myself. I've got other stuff to think about.

You may have noticed that it is St. Paddy's day. The following is the hymn attributed to St. Patrick and known as the "Lorica" or "Breastplate of St. Patrick" in Joseph Sanderson's translation. Let's worship forever the God of Patrick's worship.

I bind myself to-day
To a strong power, an invocation of the Trinity.
I believe in a Threeness, with confession of a Oneness,
in the Creator of Judgment.

I bind myself to-day
To the power of the birth of Christ, with his baptism,
To the power of the crucifixion, with his burial,
To the power of his resurrection, with his ascension,
To the power of his coming to the judgment of doom.

I bind myself to-day
To the power of the ranks of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of the archangels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preachings of apostles,
In the faiths of confessors,
In the purity of holy virgins,
In the acts of righteous men.

I bind myself to-day
To the power of Heaven,
The light of sun,
The brightness of moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depths of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rocks.

I bind myself to-day
To the power of God to guide me,
The might of God to uphold me,
The wisdom of God to teach me,
The eye of God to watch over me,
The ear of God to hear me,
The word of god to speak for me,
The hand of God to protect me,
The way of God to lie before me,
The shield of God to shelter me,
The host of God to defend me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the temptations of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against every man who meditates injury to me,
Whether far nor near,
Alone and in a multitude.

I summon to-day around me all these powers
Against every hostile merciless power directed against
my body and my soul;
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heretics,
Against the deceit of idolatry,
Against the spells of women and smiths and Druids,
Against all knowledge which hath defiled man's body and soul.

Christ protect me to-day
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wound,
That I may receive a multitude of rewards.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in breadth, Christ in length,
Christ in height.

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me,
Christ in the eye of every man that sees me,
Christ in the ear of every man that hears me.

I bind myself to-day
To a strong power, an invocation of the Trinity.
I believe in a Threeness, with confession of a Oneness,
in the Creator of Judgment.

Salvation is the Lord's,
Salvation is the Lord's.
Salvation is Christ's.
Let thy salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.