St. Patrick’s Breastplate
I arise today, through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through the belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today through the strength of Christ's birth, with his baptism, through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial, through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension, through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.
I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim, in obedience of angels, in the service of archangels, in hope of resurrection to meet with reward, in prayers of patriarchs, in predictions of prophets, in preaching of apostles, in faith of confessors,in deeds of righteous men.
I arise today through the strength of heaven: Light of sun, Radiance of moon, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of wind, Depth of sea, Stability of earth, Firmness of rock.
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 look 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 save me from snares of devils, From temptations of vices, from everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near, alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils, against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ to shield me today: 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.
The name Patrick Crossing is wrought with historical significance and it helps us tell our story. Patrick (now remembered as Saint Patrick), had been enslaved by the Celts in Ireland, and made a dramatic escape back to his home country of Great Britain. Some time after his return home, God gave him a vision to return to his place of captivity to share the story of Jesus. This serves as a great metaphor for our journey together. The following are some the things we have learned from our time together:
God has created us for relationship.
God will do whatever it takes to defeat within us a spirit of isolation.
Learning to pray together helps defeat the spirit of wrongful isolation.
There are blessings of abundance that are reserved only for those who pray together.
God’s dealings with us are designed to create maximum dependency upon Him & interdependency with others.
God looks past our inadequacies and speaks to our potential. This becomes a directional model in how we pray for one another.
Praying together attracts the presence, power, provision and perspective of heaven.
God’s purpose and peace precede God’s provisions.
God’s power flows into His purposes.
St. Patrick Of Ireland
387-461 (Missionary, Teacher, Writer)
Great stories of courage, sacrifice and unselfishness can inspire us to live better lives. One such story is that of Patrick of Ireland. Patrick, who had grown up in Great Britain with all of the accoutrements of upper middle class wealth, was captured by Celtic slave-traders as a teenager and spirited away to Ireland. During the many years of his captivity, he worked as a shepherd. Throughout this lonely and destitute time of his life, he learned to lean upon the God whom he had abandoned in his youth. One night, God gave him a vision that he would escape his place of captivity with these words: “Your ship awaits you.” Patrick fled his master and travelled over 200 miles on foot until he reached a small port town. After spying out a ship that was loaded and heading for Great Britain, he talked his way on board. After many weeks, Patrick was reunited with his family who had long since given him up for dead.
The story could have ended there with a young man understandably making the choice to return to a comfortable lifestyle. But, the same God who had freed him had other plans in mind. One night, Patrick experienced another vision. In the vision a man named Victorius came to him carrying a number of letters. One of the letters carried the strange title, “The Voice of the Irish.” Phillip Freeman, in his book entitled, St. Patrick of Ireland, shares what happened next:
All of sudden, he heard an enormous chorus of voices singing to him, and it seemed as if the sound were coming from the letter itself: “Holy boy!” they sang, using Patrick’s mockingly given nickname while he was a slave among the Irish, “Come here and walk among us.”
Shortly thereafter, Patrick set foot again in Ireland. This time, however, he came as a willing ambassador of freedom. He was around the age of 47 when he began his ministry in Ireland. Before his death, he would live to see the slavery trade abolished and well over half of Ireland following the life and teachings of Jesus. His method was both simple and organic. He followed the vision that had been given him by God – he walked among the people. He was able to somehow celebrate the Celtic culture as well as provide for it a new moral compass by showing them how to follow the humble carpenter from Galilee. Without a lot of fanfare and without all of the trappings of modern day organized religion, Patrick changed a nation.
The name we bear in our ministry, “Patrick Crossing”, is a marker for how we have chosen to live out our faith. It is our desire to not hide behind the walls of a church building and meaningless structures, but to heed the call of Patrick by crossing over and simply walking among people. We celebrate life, family, music, food & friendships – all the things Jesus enjoyed while on the earth. We believe that a lot of people have not been interested in Jesus because His message has been sullied by politics, mixed signals, institutionalism, and self-righteousness. Our desire is to try, with a deep awareness of own weaknesses, to reintroduce Jesus as the loving, wise, and life-transforming person that He is.