The Breastplate of St. Patrick of Ireland

At the end of the Presanctified Liturgy on the second Wednesday of Great Lent, Fr. Matthew takes some time to preach about St. Patrick of Ireland. He reminds everyone that St. Patrick was a bishop, not a bartender, and that the most “Irish” way to honor the saint is not by going to a pub but by going to church. He then reads an excerpt from an essay about The Breastplate of St. Patrick by Kh. Frederica Mathewes-Green in which she reminds us that the safety we have in today’s world could be detrimental to our spiritual life in that we do not rely on God for everything the way that people in St. Patrick’s time did. Fr. Matthew finishes by reading The Breastplate of St. Patrick, the most famous prayer that he composed, using a translation by John Carey from a book that he (Fr. Matthew) purchased at The Orthodox Monastery of All Celtic Saints in Mull, Scotland in 2019.