The Journey to Orthodoxy 13 Nov 2006 04:02 pm
I Bind Unto Myself This Day
This morning while driving our hour and a half commute to Marville, I contemplated the question “am I united with Christ”, as put forth by Father Stephen’s recent blog post. It struck me with a beautiful way to continue what I considered yesterday about putting old hurts aside and being transpartent and welcoming to blessings we may shy from out of fear….what is intimacy with Christ if it’s not a radical invasion of my soul. Can I have true unity with Christ if I hold any part of myself back?
After a long day at co-op, which included a nice hug from a friend by the way ;-), I was reminded of a hymn we sing at Covenant Reformed Presbyterian. It was new to me last year and one of the favorites I’ll carry with me always.
It’s a long one, called St. Patrick’s Breastplate; here’s part of it:
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 today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.
2. I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.
3. 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 wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.
4. I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
5. Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.
on 13 Nov 2006 at 4:23 pm 1.Beth said …
Did you know that this is based upon an actual prayer composed by St. Patrick? It’s a beautiful prayer, isn’t it? I particularly like this portion, which isn’t alluded to in the hymn you quoted:
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
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,
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.
on 13 Nov 2006 at 5:26 pm 2.Fr. Stephen Freeman said …
Also interesting about his prayer, and unknown to many Protestant fans of the hymn, that St. Patrick is specifically referring to making the sign of the cross, by which, literally, we “bind unto ourselves today the strong name of the Trinity.”
on 13 Nov 2006 at 5:53 pm 3.alanfarhi said …
Yup…
In the great litany of the church, believers have prayed and acknowledged that all of Christ’s life — incarnation to ascension — is imputed *and* united to the faithful.
The Lorica is a wonderful baptismal hymn.
Luther encouraged his students and all Christians to sign themselves with cross *first thing* in the morning and *last thing* before sleeping to remember their baptism into Christ and invoke the mighty Trinity.