Christ be with me.

Each time our class begins on Monday in Christian Spiritual Formation we start with some sort of exercise that helps us focus more fully on Christ, shut out the noise we just came from, for me it allows me to find that peaceful breathe of thinking on Christ. Several weeks ago we took turns saying prayers of antiquity. Old prayers that were written hundreds and thousands of years ago. Here is one of them.

The Shield of St. Patrick (paraphrased) There are 4 stanza's to this prayer I will list the last two.
.....
As I rise today,
Christ be with me, Christ be within me, Christ be before me, Christ be behind me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ be beneath me, Christ be above me,
Christ in my quiet, Christ in danger, Christ to win me;
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit, Christ when I stand,
Christ to comfort me, Christ to restore me;
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
Christ in the heart of all that love me, Christ in the mouth of all who speak of me.

As I arise today, may I have
the faith of the starlit heaven, the hope of the glorious sun's life-giving ray,
the pure whiteness of the full moon, the focus of the lightning free,
the strength of the whirling wind's turbulent gusts, the depth of the salty sea,
the firmness of eternal rock and the stability of earth.
Praise be to the creator of all nature and mankind,
Praise to the God of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord! Amen.

After reading this prayer I am not so sure that St. Patrick would be celebrating his day with green beer and streamers.
Enjoy your weekend. May Christ be all around you, may you be His love to others, may others show you His love.