St. Patrick's Burial Site

A frequently asked question regarding St. Patrick is 

"Where is the Burial Place of St. Patrick?"

The answer is in the beautiful country of Northern Ireland

I want to take you to County Down where there is a town called Downpatrick and there you will find a quiet cemetery, the graveyard of the local Cathedral.

As we approached the church from the town we parked and walked up a short road which gives a great view of the entrance of the cathedral.

The day we went there was a lovely mild weather day but it was late in the afternoon hence the duller photo.

As you walk on around the left side of the cathedral you come to the tall tower at the end.

Here we saw the wooden sign telling us it is the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity but more commonly called Down Cathedral as the web page address shows

I remembered having been there many many years ago but had forgotten how struck I would be by the simple grave which was covered by a large memorial stone in 1900

We wondered around a little but mostly stood beside the grave.

It seemed rather surreal that this could be the burial place of such a famous person from so long ago.

In 1985 a plaque was added which gave a little information about St. Patrick but more importantly explained that this gravesite also fulfilled a specific prophecy because it held 2 other Saints from many years before - St Brigid and St Columba  

Anyone who has read my about me page or some of my family story posts will know that I was born in Londonderry so this information about the burial site was very interesting to me as St. Columb's Cathedral is well known there.

 

In the first picture of the grave stone and plaque you would not really notice that there is a symbol and a name marked out in the stone.

You will be able to see them in this picture below - a cross and part of the name Patrick.

We took some more time to wander around and admire the church building from the outside.   

Lots of little spire adornments on the roof.

  I think this last picture of the side of the cathedral helps to show you the calmness and quietness of the site during our visit as the sun was starting to get much lower in the sky.

The town of Downpatrick is also not a large significant place and not a city like Londonderry and Armagh (also in Northern Ireland) which have beautiful well-known cathedrals. 

The last time we had been in Downpatrick was for the 

St Patrick's Day Parade in 2015 but we had not taken time to stay on after the parade to do any sightseeing.

Other Posts related to St. Patrick and Northern Ireland can be found on our

 St. Patrick Page 

St. Patrick's Breastplate - Coffee & Conversation

This is mostly known in it's abbreviated form

which is really simply a small section of a hymn written from the actual piece of writing

 by Saint Patrick.

Below I will give the full hymn and abbreviated version and explain a little about it all.

A poem apparently written by St. Patrick in the 8th century was in the form of a prayer of protection.

I presume it then received the title of "Breastplate" as that would have been the main protection of the body in a suit of armour.   Then from that I would think of the Spiritual armour we are told to put on in Ephesians chapter 6 v 10-18 where the breastplate is described as the Breastplate of Righteousness and what better protection do we have than the Righteousness of our Lord Jesus.

In the 19th Century it was written as a hymn by Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander who is well-known as the writer of many many hymns of which

 "All Things Bright and Beautiful"

 "There is a Green Hill Far Away"

and

 "Once in Royal David's City"

are probably the most famous.

It was known as the very popular hymn "I bind Unto Myself Today"

I bind unto myself today

The strong name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same,

The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever,

By power of faith, Christ's Incarnation;

His baptism in the Jordan River;

His death on cross for my salvation;

His bursting from the spicèd tomb;

His riding up the heavenly way;

His coming at the day of doom;

I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power

Of the great love of the Cherubim;

The sweet 'Well done' in judgment hour;

The service of the Seraphim,

Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,

The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,

All good deeds done unto the Lord,

And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today

The virtues of the starlit heaven,

The glorious sun's life-giving ray,

The whiteness of the moon at even,

The flashing of the lightning free,

The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,

The stable earth, the deep salt sea,

Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need.

The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, his shield to ward,

The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,

The vice that gives temptation force,

The natural lusts that war within,

The hostile men that mar my course;

Or few or many, far or nigh,

In every place and in all hours

Against their fierce hostility,

I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,

Against false words of heresy,

Against the knowledge that defiles,

Against the heart's idolatry,

Against the wizard's evil craft,

Against the death-wound and the burning

The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,

Protect me, Christ, till thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name,

The strong name of the Trinity;

By invocation of the same.

The Three in One, and One in Three,

Of whom all nature hath creation,

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

Praise to the Lord of my salvation,

salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander (1818 - 1895)

One section of this hymn is what we more commonly find named as St. Patrick's Breastplate today when it is cited in articles and embroidered or cross stitched as a decoration or when it is printed on cards.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

A lovely prayer for any of us to make to God 

but in one way I feel that so much is lost when we use just this small section 

we are leaving out 

all those other great attributes and actions of Jesus

His

Birth

Baptism

Death

Resurrection

Ascension

Second coming

and that's just the first verse

You may also enjoy 

 St. Patrick's Breastplate Wordsearch

You can download a free pdf copy of the full prayer

ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE: PRAYER FOR PROTECTION

at the following website

https://parish.rcdow.org.uk/greenford/wp-content/uploads/sites/127/2020/03/St-Patricks-Breastplate.pdf

Saint Patrick - The Church at Saul

A frequently asked question regarding St. Patrick is 

"Where in Northern Ireland will you find a church to commemorate St. Patrick?"

The answer is "lots of places"

 I want to take you to County Down where there is a small place called Saul and there you will find not one of the Cathedral's named after the Irish Patron Saint but a beautiful small church.

As you approach the church up the long narrow driveway

you will see the sign introducing you to St. Patrick's Memorial Church, which is open to the public daily and has a service each Sunday.

It tells us that St. Patrick built the first Christian church in Ireland on this same site in 432 AD

The church is small and beautifully made from light coloured stone.   

Simple & elegant with a very tall round tower.

The adjacent small graveyard is also well looked after and just a few steps away from the arched front doorway to the church.

Even the front of this church is simple and elegant with it's arched doorway and brickwork framing the door and then as you lift your eyes up there is a small stained glass window.

As you look to the front of the church after entering you will not be disappointed because the interior is also elegant and simple and this was a welcoming place to walk into and stand and gaze around, which we did for quite some time.

There are three sections at the front but also there is the wooden stand just off centre which

holds the book of Sunday Service readings and if you look closely you may be able to see that it was open at the readings for the Sunday after Trinity which would fall within the week from 25th September to 1st October.

We were there on 25th September (our oldest son's birthday - it was his choice of where we would visit that day)

The Psalm for the day was Psalm 78 and the reading listed was from Ezekiel 18.

The left section at the front comprised of a simple wooden pulpit.

The right section at the front was the area where the Bible would be read.

In the centre at the front was the altar table and another beautiful simple stained glass window.  This time arched and depicting St. Patrick.

Also in the church there is some information about the church.

Looking from the front back towards the entrance we saw the quaint compact organ for the weekly church services.

The stonework inside and outside made this little church just perfect.

As you can see from the side view of the outside the church is not very long and the windows are narrow yet with the sun shining in through these windows there was plenty of light inside.

It is on this side wall that we find the foundation stone of the new church built in 1933 on the old original site - a beautiful commemoration to St. Patrick.

Other Posts related to St. Patrick can be found on our

 St. Patrick Page