5 I bind unto myself the name,the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same, the three in one and one in three,
of whom all nature has creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word.
Praise to the Lord of my salvation; salvation is of Christ the Lord!
Voices United 317, vs 5
Every year I wonder if I'll bother posting a St. Patrick's Day blog entry because I have done so many times and just about every year I write about one of the patron saints of Ireland once again. Padraig, or Patrick probably lived in the fifth century, may have been a Welsh teen kidnapped into slavery in Ireland. His legend is that he escaped, only to return as a Christian evangelist and snake exterminator -- it's always good to have a side hustle. Patrick was never formally canonized by the Roman Catholic church, but that may not matter to the green beer drinkers (see cartoon above.)
While in congregational ministry I was inclined to include Patrick or St. Brigid, or St. Columcille (the three patron saints of Ireland) in sermons on the Sunday closest to March 17th. I even included lesser saints such as St. Kevin -- patron saint of extreme bird nerds?
Learning about the Celtic Christian tradition was an essential part of my personal paradigm shift to an Earth-honouring faith because many of the Celts practiced what has been termed "Green Martyrdom", immersing themselves in the natural world as a vital form of often solitary spiritual practice. And many of the prayers and incantations of everyday Celtic Christians in Ireland and Scotland exhibited respect for Creator and Creation.
In recent years I have become increasingly interested in the spirituality of Indigenous peoples as well, for similar reasons. As with the Celts, Indigenous spirituality is often a blend of pre-Christian and Christian sensibilities.
This is a gloomy, rainy day, so not exactly ideal for getting outside and practicing "green' faith, but it can be a mindset we all adopt both in adoration and action.
There are a couple of hymns in Voices United with words attributed to Patrick, as well as a blessing. Honestly, the hymns aren't very singable.
My go-to Celtic blessing is:
Deep peace of the running wave to you
deep peace of the flowing air to you
deep peace of the quiet earth to you
deep peace of the gentle night to you
Sun and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace of Christ, the light of the world to you.
St. Kevin and the Blackbird linocut -- artist unknown
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