Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

There’s a Celtic prayer perhaps as familiar and beloved as “May the Road Rise up to Meet You,” but most people don’t know its source. At some point, in some context, you’ve very likely heard these words sung or prayed:
 
Christ beside me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ within me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me.

These exact lines or ones inspired by them have been used in numerous worship songs across many traditions. They are beloved for their gentle and universal tone, echoing a thread that runs through so much Celtic spirituality: God is everywhere around us always. This focus on God’s immanence is the foundation for Celtic spirituality’s reverence for nature as well as the idea that there is that of God within each of us. The source of these few lines is a lorica commonly called St. Patrick’s Breastplate. It dates back at least to the eighth century, and tradition assigns its authorship to St. Patrick in the fifth century, giving the prayer its common name.

Filed in: Breathing Space, Celtic, Prayer
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