Today is the feast of St. Patrick.
Even those who know very few saints, know about St. Patrick.
This patron saint of Ireland is credited with the conversion of the Irish from the pagan Celtic religions practiced until he came to the Emerald Isle.
Celtic religion, like many indigenous religions, was one that embodied a great reverence for nature and for the land.
What many fail to realize is how much the writings of Patrick borrowed from all that was good and holy in the natural religion of the people.
In the famous Breastplate of St. Patrick, the saint begins prayer with a chant that could have been Celtic or Buddhist. (to read the prayer, go to: prayerfoundation.org/st_patricks_breastplate_prayer.htm
This patron saint of Ireland is credited with the conversion of the Irish from the pagan Celtic religions practiced until he came to the Emerald Isle.
Celtic religion, like many indigenous religions, was one that embodied a great reverence for nature and for the land.
What many fail to realize is how much the writings of Patrick borrowed from all that was good and holy in the natural religion of the people.
In the famous Breastplate of St. Patrick, the saint begins prayer with a chant that could have been Celtic or Buddhist. (to read the prayer, go to: prayerfoundation.org/st_patricks_breastplate_prayer.htm
Just as Buddhists begin prayer by gathering "chi" or energy from the earth, the sky, the water, the surroundings, many Celtic prayers begin with reverencing all of nature.
Patrick gathers his strength from the heavens: the light of the sun, the radiance of the moon, the speed of lightning, and the swiftness of wind.
Then he turns to the earth to ask for the stability of earth, the firmness of rock, the depth of the sea.
His prayer then becomes "theist" as he turns to God's strength to pilot him, God's might to uphold him, God's host to protect him.
St. Patrick teaches us both to reverence the earth and to learn from the other religions that surround us. In a mult-icultural, multi-religious society, his message could not be more timely.
Patrick gathers his strength from the heavens: the light of the sun, the radiance of the moon, the speed of lightning, and the swiftness of wind.
Then he turns to the earth to ask for the stability of earth, the firmness of rock, the depth of the sea.
His prayer then becomes "theist" as he turns to God's strength to pilot him, God's might to uphold him, God's host to protect him.
St. Patrick teaches us both to reverence the earth and to learn from the other religions that surround us. In a mult-icultural, multi-religious society, his message could not be more timely.
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