Trinity Sunday (June 3, 2012) Romans 8:12-17

            For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of

            adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit

            that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—

            if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.             Romans 8:15-17 

 I started yesterday off by telling the children about the supposed vision of St. Augustine regarding his diligent attempts to understand the doctrine of the Trinity theologically.  It is said that he saw a vision of a small child near the edge of the sea, scooping water in her hands and carrying it to a hole in the sand, pouring it in, and repeating the action over and over. He was drawn to her and to warn her of the futility of her actions with her small hands. 'Just as futile as you trying to understand the Trinity with your small head!' the child replied, and vanished. Augustine was properly chastised for his vanity.

I moved on to introduce the meditation by speaking of another saint -- Patrick -- and the prayer become hymn attributed to him called St. Patrick's Breastplate. The prayer is akin to 'putting on the full armor' of the Triune God as one prepares to go on a journey into an unknown and dangerous territory. It has been prayed (spoken and sung) by the saints of the church throughout the centuries since and so has made its way to the PCUSA Book of Common Worship (1993)  as a useful prayer before worship!

The hymn version (also known by its first line: I bind unto myself today) is in the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) which for the ELCA is more than a book of prayers, it includes hymns and sung responses and is a complete 'service book'. And so it came to me for the proclamation this Sunday to share this beautiful prayer by singing it and showing pictures that I felt had some amount of dialogue with a portion of the prayer, and so ultimately to increase our awareness of the constant reminders of the fullness of the Triune God walking every step of our lives with us. 

There are over 2 dozen photos, which will make this a very long posting; yet I am reluctant to 'chop' any of it out nor to only share a portion of it. 

To hear an a capella solo version of the prayer very much as I did it, go to this link at youtube. Note that there are 2 or 3 additional verses to the prayer which are not in the LBW Hymnal I used and the gentleman who sings here does use some pieces of them.
I bind unto myself today
Shall we pray?

Patrick of Ireland (389–461)   “St. Patrick’s Breastplate”
I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever,
by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
his baptism in the Jordan river;

his death on the cross for my salvation.
His bursting from the spiced tomb;

his riding up the heavenly way;
his coming at the day of doom. I bind unto myself today.

[between verses]

I bind unto myself today the virtues of the star-lit heaven,
the glorious sun’s life-giving ray,

the whiteness of the moon at even,
the flashing of the lightning free,

the whirling winds tempestuous shocks,
the stable earth, the deep salt sea around the old eternal rocks.

[between verses]

I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
God’s eye to watch, God’s might to stay,
God’s ear to hearken to my need,

the wisdom of my God to teach, God’s hand to guide,
God’s shield to ward,

the word of God to give me speech,
God’s heavenly host to be my guard.

[between verses]

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

[between verses]

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the 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.

[between verses]

Prayer after St. Patrick’s Breastplate: 
Awesome God, your creative power,
your glory and holiness are beyond our imagining,
yet, you chose to reveal yourself in the person of Jesus Christ,
who graciously showed us the human face of your love. 
He stretched our imaginations over the lengths he was prepared go
to demonstrate the depth of your love for us. 
And, as if that was not enough, you breathe new and everlasting life
into our very beings, through the power of your Spirit.

Triune God, you are the Source of our lives,
and as did Patrick so many centuries ago,
we would worship and adore you by consciously putting you on
in the same way we put on our clothes.
As we take care to notice if our tie or skirt is straight, 
as we would take care not to spill spaghetti sauce on our best white shirt,
so we would take note of your presence with us, your gifts to us,
your protection and guidance and teaching
and leading and life-giving, saving gracious love.

Help us remember that we need not understand,
but we do need to see and recognize it, and experience it. 
Grant us that gift now as well as all the others
you have so abundantly given;
for we ask it all in the Name of your second way of being:
Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
Let all your people striving to be present-day saints say: Amen.