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| Image by JJ Musgrove |
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Patrick
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A GREETING
As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
(Psalm 42:1-2)
A READING
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise God,
my help and my God.
(Psalm 42:3-6)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
I say to God, my rock,
‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully?
(Psalm 42:9)
A CONFESSION
But after I had come to Ireland, it was then that I was made to shepherd the flocks day after day, so, as I did so, I would pray all the time, right through the day. More and more the love of God and fear of him grew strong within me and as my faith grew, so the Spirit became more and more active, so that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and at night only slightly less. Although I might be staying in a forest or out on a mountainside, it would be the same; even before dawn broke, I would be aroused to pray. In snow, in frost, in rain, I would hardly notice any discomfort, and I was never slack but always full of energy. It is clear to me now, that this was due to the fervor of the Spirit within me.
- from The Confession of St. Patrick,
translated by John Skinner
VERSE FOR THE DAY
At night God's song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
(Psalm 42:8)
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| "A Legend of St. Patrick," by Briton Riviere (1877) |
Patrick is by far the most famous of Irish Christian monks and yet his early relationship to Ireland was difficult at best. He was born and grew up in the west part of England where, at the age of 16, he was captured and enslaved by Irish slave traders and brought to Ireland where he was forced to tend to sheep. (The quotation above from Patrick's confession refers to that time.) He was already Christian but it was during the time of being enslaved that his faith deepened. When he managed to escape and return to England he was recaptured and enslaved again, then escaped again. It was at this point that he began to wonder if perhaps the will of God was for him to actually remain in Ireland. Therefore, when he became a free man he returned by his own will and is credited with being one of the principal founders of Christianity in Ireland. His life was a profoundly difficult one, in part because of his generous and deeply felt sense of inclusion for everyone and everything. He worked to build good relationships with the non-Christian Irish as well. He strove to end slavery in Ireland and was a great supporter of the vocation of women. For these convictions and more, he was often on the edge of martyrdom.
There is a story about Patrick, whose famous “breastplate prayer” is the text of the last part of today’s music. In the story, Patrick and his community of brothers were on their way to minister in another village where the leader had threatened to kill them. As the men walked through a woods, they recited the prayer to give themselves courage. As they continued to pray, those who waited to ambush them saw a mother deer and her calves passing through, instead of the monks. In another story, Patrick was drawn to a particular place to build his monastery. As he was scouting the location with others, he found a hind deer and its calf who refused to move. While the others prepared to kill it, he carried the calf on his shoulders and the hind followed him to where he released them in a woods. This is part of why Patrick is often associated with a deer and with Psalm 42 in particular. It might be helpful to read through Psalm 42 imagining Patrick relying on its words during his time of being enslaved.
In our own lives, the end of the year often brings reflection on where we have been and where we are going. For many of us, there may have been difficult changes over the past year that we might wish could somehow be returned to how things were. We may be yearning to feel God's presence with us, giving us courage and upholding our strength, as we hear about the development of wars, climate catastrophes and species loss, in the wider world. Somehow it might feel harder to feel as hopeful as we once did. Like the deer in Psalm 42, we thirst for God’s love and for a sense of meaning and the ability to make change in our world. This is why Jesus became one of us, to dwell with us in the midst of all of those uncertainties, and to help us build a renewed and transformed world.
How can the story of Patrick inspire our own longing for change? How much do you feel Christ above, below, beside and within you as you strive to deepen your discipleship?
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| Image by Marneejill |
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LC† Come Holy Darkness is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year.
Thank you and peace be with you!
