Christ on my right, Christ on my left

St. Patrick’s Breastplate (excerpt)

• I arise today

• Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

• Through a belief in the Threeness,

• Through confession of the Oneness 

• Of the Creator of creation….

• 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 in the heart of every man who thinks of me, 

• Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, 

• Christ in the eye that sees me, 

• Christ in the ear that hears me. 



• I arise today

• Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

• Through a belief in the Threeness,

• Through a confession of the Oneness

• Of the Creator of creation

St. Patrick (circa Fifth Century) was the Apostle of Ireland, the first to bring the Catholic faith to the Emerald Isle and whose name has forevermore been associated with the “Isle of Saints.” While most likely not written by the saint, “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” is a poem-prayer recalling the protection that God gave St. Patrick and his followers, turning them into deer so that they might pass unharmed through an ambush set by their pagan enemies. Whether it is original to St. Patrick, the “Lorica” (gaelic for “breastplate”) captures both the faith and the poetry of a country that could just as well be called the “Isle of Poets.”