Saint Patrick's Breastplate


Saint Patrick's Breastplate, a Prayer of Protection, also known as The Deer's Cry, The Lorica of Saint Patrick or Saint Patrick's Hymn, is a lorica whose original Old Irish lyrics were traditionally attributed to Saint Patrick during his Irish ministry in the 5th century. In 1889 it was adapted into the hymn I Bind Unto Myself Today. A number of other adaptations have been made.

The prayer in Old Irish

The prayer is part of the Liber Hymnorum, a collection of hymns found in two manuscripts kept in Dublin and published in 1903 in the Thesaurus Paleohibernicus. The document gives this account of how Saint Patrick used this prayer:

Saint Patrick sang this when an ambush was laid against his coming by Loegaire, that he might not go to Tara to sow the faith. And then it appeared before those lying in ambush that they were wild deer with a fawn following them.

The description concludes "fáeth fiada a hainm", which the Thesaurus Paleohibernicus translates as "Its name is 'Deer’s Cry'. However, the phrase fáeth fiada is used elsewhere in Irish mythology to mean a mist of concealment.
If the description above is accurate then the prayer would date from the 5th century – the time of Saint Patrick. Although Christian in content, it shows pre-Christian influence in that it calls for Christ's protection using a lorica. Because of this it is also known as the "Lorica of St. Patrick" or as "St. Patrick's Breastplate". On the other hand, this may be a Scripture reference, specifically: . This prayer outlines Saint Patrick's spirituality and his keen awareness and perception of the battle between good and evil and thus the importance of praying for protection on a daily basis.

Summary

Each verse of the prayer begins "Atomruig indiu" "I arise today" or "I bind unto myself today" and this phrase is repeated at the beginning of most of the verses. This is followed by a list of sources of strength that the prayer calls on for support.
The first verse invokes the Trinity.
The second verse invokes Christ's baptism, death, resurrection, ascension and future return on the last day.
The third verse invokes the virtues of angels, patriarchs, saints and martyrs.
The fourth verse the virtues of the natural world: the sun, moon, fire, lightning etc.
The fifth verse invokes various aspects of God – his wisdom, his eye, his ear, his hand
The sixth verse lists the things against which protection is required – against snares of devils, temptations of nature, those who wish ill
This list of things against which protection is required continues in the next verse – false prophets, heathens, heretics, wizards, druids, smiths.
The next verse calls for Christ to be in all things – Christ in me, all around me, in the eye and ear and mouth of the people I meet.
the last verse returns to the theme of the Trinity.

The prayer in Modern English translation

The following is a literal translation from the old Irish text:

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
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 the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the mighty stern,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

Note that several different versions of the prayer can be found. For example, some render the beginning verse of each major section as "I clasp unto my heart today" rather than "I bind to myself today." The more controversial verses can also be found in different renderings, such as the verse "Against spells of women, and smiths, and druids" as "Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards" and "Christ in the fort, Christ in the chariot seat, and Christ in the poop " as "Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise."
Finally, Catholic prayer cards which have popularized this prayer feature a truncated version in the interest of space:

I arise today through
God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to see before me,
God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me, God's host to secure me –
against snares of devils,
against temptations and vices,
against inclinations of nature,
against everyone who shall wish me
ill, afar and anear,
alone and in a crowd...
Christ, be 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 where I lie, Christ where I sit,
Christ where I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of the Christ.
May your salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

I bind unto myself today – Victorian hymn

wrote a hymn based on St. Patrick's Breastplate in 1889 at the request of H. H. Dickinson, Dean of the Chapel Royal at Dublin Castle. Dean Dickinson wrote about this:

I wrote to her suggesting that she should fill a gap in our Irish Church Hymnal by giving us a metrical version of St. Patrick's 'Lorica' and I sent her a carefully collated copy of the best prose translations of it. Within a week she sent me that version which appears in the appendix to our Church Hymnal."

As usual, Alexander wrote the poems only. The music to the hymn was originally set in 1902 by Charles Villiers Stanford for chorus and organ, using two traditional Irish tunes, St. Patrick and Gartan, which Stanford took from his own edition of George Petrie's Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland. This is known by its opening line "I bind unto myself today". It is currently included in the Lutheran Service Book, the English Hymnal, the Irish Church Hymnal and The Hymnal of the US Episcopal Church. It is often sung during the celebration of the Feast of Saint Patrick on or near 17 March as well as on Trinity Sunday. In many churches it is unique among standard hymns because the variations in length and metre of verses mean that at least three melodic forms are required.

Musical adaptations

Recently there has been some interest in Celtic spirituality among some Christian authors.