๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ค ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ. Taken into slavery as a young boy, by the Irish, Patrick spent 6 hard years tending sheep on Stemish Mountain. It was here, upon this heather laden mountain, that Patrick found God.
At the age of 22, St Patrick escaped and returned to England, but his heart was drawn back to the Irish people. Legend tells us that Patrick started over 300 churches and baptized over 100,000 Irish, turning a pagan nation into a Christian one. Central to Patrickโs incredible ministry was a prayer, a prayer for Godโs presence and protection every, single, day. Today we call this St Patrickโs Breastplate.
โ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ฝ ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐ฝ๐พ๐๐น ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฝ ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ฝ๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ป๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐พ๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐พ๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ผ ๐ถ๐๐พ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ป ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐ป ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฝ ๐๐ป ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐. ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ป ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐น. ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ป ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐๐พ๐๐. ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐๐พ๐๐, ๐ฟ๐๐๐น, ๐ท๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ฝ ๐๐.โ
This beautiful prayer is so reminiscent of Davidโs cry in Psalm 139; โ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐? ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐? ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐; ๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.โ
The Fatherโs presence is always with you, His hand is upon your shoulder, leading and guiding you, He is right there with you, wherever you may go. My prayer is that you will see the Living God at work in every corner of your life. I pray that St Patrickโs Breastplate echoes down the corridors of your days โ Christ with you, Christ before youโฆ 
Claire's Prayer 