Our Morning Offering – 17 March – Friday of the Third Week in Lent and the Memorial of St Patrick (c385-461) Bishop, Confessor, “The Apostle of Ireland”
Christ be Near
Excerpt from St Patrick’s Breastplate
St Patrick (c 386 – 461)
Christ be near, at either hand,
Christ behind, before me stand,
Christ with me, where’er I go,
Christ around, above, below.
Christ be in my heart and mind,
Christ within my soul enshrined,
Christ control, my wayward heart,
Christ abide and ne’er depart.
Christ my Life and only Way,
Christ my Lantern, night and day,
Christ be my unchanging Friend,
Guide and Shepherd to the end.
We have this prayer and his own story in one of the certainly authentic writings of this beloved Saint Patrick – his Confessio, which is, above all, an act of homage to God, for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate.
AnaStpaul 