Saint Patricks Breastplate

Josh Garrels sets the ancient Irish prayer known as the Breastplate of St. Patrick to a lilting, folk-inflected melody, and the lyric keeps the prayer's structure of rising — each stanza begins with a deliberate invocation of strength drawn from a different source. The opening verses move through the Trinity, the one Creator, and then the saving events themselves: the crucifixion, the descent into hell, the resurrection, and the ascension to a throne above. The refrain turns that catalogue into a personal plea for enclosure, asking the Lord to encompass the singer above, beneath, and all around, and to be both shield and crown whether waking or sleeping. Later the song gathers the prayers of patriarchs and prophets, asking for God's word to speak, God's hand to guard, and God's shield to protect on the road, while naming the specific dangers it hopes to be kept from — temptation, wicked devices, the devil's snares, and every false light. A brief bridge shifts to a plain confession that salvation belongs to the Lord and to Christ, and asks that this salvation would surround the singer day and night. The repeated nonsense syllables near the end give the whole thing the feel of a walking song, something meant to be sung while moving through the day.