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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

The Lorica of St. Patrick

Fr. David Friel · March 17, 2019

F ONE were to look only at the secular celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, one might have no idea what the day is really about. St. Patrick, of course, was the first to bring the Gospel to the people of Ireland, whom he converted in enormous numbers. So, the heart of today’s celebration, in its origin, is a day of thanksgiving for having received the gift of faith.

In his Confession, St. Patrick writes this: The Lord gave me the great grace that, through me, many peoples should be reborn in God. For those of us who are actually of Irish descent, we do owe a debt to St. Patrick, in a distant, historical sense. But, more proximately, all of us have received the gift of faith at the hands of others. For many, the faith has been received through parents or grandparents, friends or co-workers. For others, perhaps it was a particular author whose writings inspired a conversion.

Today would be a good day to call to mind that person and offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of faith—a gift that lies beyond all price.

NOTHER worthwhile way to mark today’s feast might be to pray one of the most treasured Irish devotions, the Lorica (Breastplate) of St. Patrick. A good rendering of the text is available here. Portions of an illuminated version crafted by the Manx designer, Archibald Knox, are also available online.

This prayer, traditionally ascribed to St. Patrick and likely actually composed in the 5th century, comes to us through the Liber hymnorum, an 11th-century manuscript containing 40 hymns in Latin and Gaelic.

This ancient Irish hymn has been set to music often in modern times. The most common metrical version is the hymn I Bind Unto Myself Today, written in 1889 by Cecil Frances Alexander, a remarkable woman who also authored Once in David’s Royal City and All Things Bright and Beautiful. A beautiful unaccompanied, SATB setting of the last stanza of the Lorica is published through CanticaNOVA (available here).

N 2015, I had the pleasure of visiting Downpatrick in County Down (Northern Ireland), traditionally regarded as the burial site of Saints Patrick, Brigid, and Columbkille (my Confirmation patron). Here are a few photographs of the site:

Downpatrick3 Downpatrick2 Downpatrick1

O GOD, Thou who were pleased to send forth Patrick,
Thy blessed confessor and bishop,
to preach Thy glory among the nations,
mercifully grant, by his merits and intercession,
that we may be able to accomplish
that work which you command us to do.
Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thy Son,
who lives and reigns with Thee
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever. Amen.

Collect for the Feast of St. Patrick

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

Although the New Testament is now so much more important to us than the Old, we must remember that the archetype of the Canon of Scripture is the Old Testament. At first that was the whole Bible, to Christians as to Jews. When the apostles speak of “Scripture” they mean the Old Testament only. Indeed, the way in which the books of the New Testament came to be considered canonical was by making them equal to those of the Old.

— Rev’d Doctor Adrian Fortescue

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  • Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
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