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 every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Amen.
St. Patrick
A former slave who went back, and left two documents in his own hand
Feast: March 17By AngelGuardUpdated Sep 1, 2026
Quick Facts
- Patron of Ireland, and also of engineers and of Nigeria
- Feast day March 17
- Born in Roman Britain about 385; died in Ireland about 461
- Two of his own writings survive: the Confessio and the Letter to Coroticus
- Never formally canonised: his cult predates the papal process
Who Was St. Patrick?
Patrick was born in Roman Britain around 385 to a family of some standing, and by his own account was not religious as a boy. At sixteen he was taken by Irish raiders and sold, and spent six years herding sheep in Ireland, alone and hungry. He says that this is where he began to pray. He escaped, walked two hundred miles to a ship, and got home. Then he went back, which is the fact everything else rests on. He returned to the country that had enslaved him, as a bishop, and spent the rest of his life there. He is one of very few figures from that century whose own voice survives. The Confessio is a defence of himself written in awkward, unliterary Latin he apologises for; the Letter to Coroticus is a furious excommunication of a British warlord who had killed and enslaved his converts. Both are unmistakably a real man writing, and neither is what a legend would have produced. Most of what people know about him is not in either document. The shamrock explaining the Trinity appears more than a thousand years later. There were no snakes in Ireland to drive out. The date of his death, March 17, is the one solid piece of the tradition, and even his dates are contested. He was never formally canonised, because his cult predates the papal process for it entirely.
Why St. Patrick Matters Today
The patronage that surprises people is engineers, and it is not a modern invention: he is invoked for them because of the organising and building he did, founding churches and structuring a church province where there had been nothing. He is also patron of Nigeria, through Irish missionaries, and of excluded people, which comes directly from the Letter to Coroticus. That letter is worth reading in a century that talks a great deal about who counts. It is a bishop with no institutional power publicly excommunicating a warlord for trafficking, and it is not diplomatic. The Breastplate, the long prayer of protection traditionally attributed to him, is almost certainly later than he is. It is still the best-known thing carrying his name and one of the great protection prayers in the Western tradition, and holding both facts at once is the honest position. What makes him unusual among patron saints is that we have his own account of being frightened, unqualified and ashamed of his Latin, and he went anyway.
Prayer to St. Patrick
When and How to Pray to St. Patrick
This is the closing section of the Lorica, the Breastplate of St. Patrick, and it is the part most people know. It is prayed in the morning, before a journey, or before anything that has to be walked into. On attribution: the Breastplate is traditionally his and is probably several centuries later than he is. That does not make it a lesser prayer. It makes it a prayer of the tradition he founded rather than a text from his hand, and the two writings we do have from his hand are prose rather than poetry.
Novena to St. Patrick
A novena to St. Patrick is prayed from March 8 to March 16, closing on the eve of his feast. It is less common than the novenas to Jude or Therese, and in Ireland the feast itself carries most of the devotional weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ireland, first of all. Also engineers, from the organising and building he did; Nigeria, through Irish missionaries; and excluded people, which comes from his furious letter against a warlord who had enslaved his converts.
No, and there were none to drive out. Ireland has had no native snakes since the last ice age. The story is medieval and is usually read as a metaphor for the older religion.
There is no evidence for it. The account of him using a shamrock to explain the Trinity appears more than a thousand years after his death. It is a good teaching image and it is not history.
No. He was born in Roman Britain and taken to Ireland as a slave at sixteen. He went back voluntarily, years later, as a bishop, which is the fact the rest of his life rests on.
Yes, and that is rare for the fifth century. The Confessio, a defence of himself, and the Letter to Coroticus, excommunicating a warlord for trafficking his converts. Both survive and both are unmistakably one man writing.
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See the full liturgical calendar — every feast this year, and an embed for your parish site.