Our Saint Helps Us Keep the Risen Christ Clost to Us On This Day at Work

Continuing our reading of the Lorica of St. Patrick, we arrive at a prayer for protection. These days, fewer and fewer folks take the devil and his minions seriously. More and more folks dismiss the serious nature of stories that portray witches and other dark powers with a degree of understanding if not approval. It's a dangerous road to travel. And unfortunately many Catholics don't see the seriousness of the problem.

St. Patrick, though. pulls no punches here. Having just prayed for God's strength and protection, he prays here with confidence:

I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul;

Christ to shield me today
Against poison,
against burning,
Against drowning,
against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

A lesson here to take to heart: Go straight to Our Lord from the moment we rise. Keep Him close throughout the day - no matter how busy of preoccupied we may be with our work. Remember that while work preoccupies us, there are many forces working to undermine both the excellence of our work as well as the welfare of our soul. These come from our fallen human nature, the actions of others who share that same nature, and, of course the Evil One, our Enemy, who never ceases in his efforts, even as we plug away diligently at our daily labor.

And so we turn to Our Lord, first and foremost, from the moment we awake, through all that the day brings.

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 when I arise,

And we see Christ in all those with whom we come in contact

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

St. Patrick's Lorica now sums it all up:

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.
[Salvation is from the Lord,
Salvation is from the Lord,
Salvation is from Christ,
Let Your Salvation, O Lord, be with us always.]

Amen.   

Happy Easter!