I Bind Unto Myself Today

Greetings and Salutations,

Now that the calendar has turned to March, let’s talk about how you’re going to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year. You know, Patrick, the guy who invented green beer and the shamrock? No, no, no. St. Patrick lived from 390-461 AD and he was a bishop and missionary to Ireland, and is that country’s patron saint.

He was born of Christian parents in Roman Britain. At sixteen he was captured by barbarian raiders and carried off to Ireland as a slave. After six years as a swineherd he escaped and eventually returned to Britain. To the astonishment of family and friends, he resolved to return to Ireland as a missionary. After many hardships and disappointments he was able to return to the land of his bondage as a missionary bishop. Patrick was not the first Christian missionary to Ireland, but he was by far the most successful. It is said that he found a heathen Ireland, but left a Christian one.

Two works are attributed to Patrick: an autobiographical Confession, in which he tells us, among other things, that he was criticized by his contemporaries for lack of learning, and a Letter to Coroticus, a British chieftain.

To prepare yourself for your evening’s festivities on St. Patrick's Day later this month (when you’ll likely get ossified and the next day be knackered), find below a lovely recording of a hymn. It's lyrics are from a poem called "Deer's Cry" which tradition tells us was written by Patrick. It’s brilliant, lad!

Dia Duit (God Bless You in Irish Gaelic),

Fr.K+

Because I Do Not Hope To Turn Again

Have you read the poem 'Ash Wednesday', by T.S. Eliot? He wrote it after he converted to Anglicanism in 1927. It has been said to be one of his most moving poems.

Admittedly, I am unschooled in the mechanics and analysis of poetry. I don't pretend to understand the intricacies of it. But I know when something speaks to me, and this does. I listen to this poem every year, usually while getting the sanctuary ready for Lent. You can find an interesting entry on it in Wikipedia.

So if you have a few minutes, get comfortable, and listen to T.S. Eliot read his poem. There is emotion, and struggle, and faith. It speaks to our Lenten journey.

Praying with Our Bodies

Sometimes, we can get trapped into thinking that something is only “prayer” if we’re talking to God. Maybe it’s during a church service, at home with our Bibles, or even on a walk, but we still assume that prayer requires words.

But our embodiedness is one of many ways we are connected to God, and God has declared it good (see Genesis 1). This means that using our bodies to pray is every bit as valid as reciting words. In this post, I will share a “body prayer” adapted from a few different prayers I’ve learned over the years.

This prayer flows through a cycle of postures, and it can be done sitting or standing. I like to link each posture to an intention, so that when I’m embodying that posture, I’m also embodying that intention, even without words.

Here are the postures with their corresponding intentions:

1. Hands folded in prayer over your chest. Find your inner quiet.

2. Arms outstretched over your head, head tilted up. Praise and thank God.

3. Hands gently placed over your heart. Recognize your body as part of the body of Christ.

4. Arms opened outward in front of you. Offer your gifts to the world.

5. Hands gently placed over your heart. Draw the love of God into your heart.

6. Arms down at your side, palms open forward. Open yourself to the movement of the Holy Spirit.

7. Hands folded in prayer over your chest. Return to inner quiet.

You’ll notice that postures 1 and 7 are the same as one another, as are postures 3 and 5. If you do them all in a row, you end up where you started!

To pray this prayer, stay with each position for a breath or two, allowing yourself to feel the intention but not necessarily saying the words. Then move to the next one for a breath or two. I like to cycle through the whole thing at least three times. If you don’t “know” what you’re supposed to be praying in each moment, that’s okay. The idea is to be present with your body, and to invite God to be present with you.