This Sacred Life (Continued)

 

By Pastor Bruce

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t only Celtic women who sang and prayed their way through their days. The men would sing as they headed off to the fields or the sea for work which sometimes exposed them to danger:

 

My walk this day with God,

My walk this day with Christ,

My walk this day with Spirit.

The threefold all-kindly:

 

Ho! ho! ho! the Threefold all-kindly.

My shielding this day from ill,

My shielding this night from harm,

Ho! ho! both my soul and my body,

Be by Father, by Son, by Holy Spirit:

By Father, by Son, by Holy Spirit.

 

Be the Father shielding me,

Be the Son shielding me,

Be the Spirit shielding me,

As Three and as One:

Ho! ho! ho! as Three and as One.

 

At harvest time, they would recite these words:

 

God bless Thou thyself my reaping,

Each ridge, and plain, and field,

Each sickle curved, shapely, hard,

Each ear and handful in the sheaf;

Each ear and handful in the sheaf.

 

A home was not built without it being blessed and consecrated to God:

 

God bless the corners of this house and all the lintel blessed,

And bless the hearth and bless the board and bless each place of rest,

And bless each door that opens wide to strangers as to kin,

And bless each crystal windowpane that lets the starlight in,

And bless the rooftree overhead and every sturdy wall.

The peace of man. The peace of God. With peace and love for all.

 

And children were encompassed by the grace of God in word and song from the hour of their birth. Before an infant was presented to the priest for baptism, the women who assisted in the birth had already consecrated the newborn with these words:

 

In the name of God,

In the name of Jesus,

In the name of Spirit,

The perfect Three of power.

 

The little drop of the Father

On thy little forehead, beloved one.

 

The little drop of the Son

On thy little forehead, beloved one.

 

The little drop of the Spirit

On thy little forehead, beloved one.

 

To aid thee, to guard thee,

To shield thee, to surround thee.

 

To keep thee from the fays,

To shield thee from the host.

 

To sain thee from the gnome,

To deliver thee from the spectre.

 

The little drop of the Three

To shield thee from the sorrow.

 

The little drop of the Three

To fill thee with Their pleasantness.

 

The little drop of the Three

To fill thee with Their virtue.

 

O the little drop of the Three

To fill thee with Their virtue.

 

And then these mother’s words to them as they left the home on their wedding day:

 

The benison (blessing) of God be to thee,

The benison of Christ be to thee,

The benison of Spirit be to thee,

And to thy children,

To thee and to thy children.

 

The peace of God be to thee,

The peace of Christ be to thee,

The peace of Spirit be to thee,

During all thy life,

All the days of thy life.

 

The keeping of God upon thee in every pass,

The shielding of Christ upon thee in every path,

The bathing of Spirit upon thee in every stream,

In every land and sea thou goest.

 

And each day ended with a bedside prayer:

 

I am lying down tonight as beseems

In the fellowship of Christ, son of the Virgin of ringlets,

In the fellowship of the gracious Father of glory,

In the fellowship of the Spirit of powerful aid.

 

I am lying down tonight with God,

And God tonight will He down with me,

I will not lie down tonight with sin, nor shall

Sin or sin’s shadow lie down with me.

 

I am lying down tonight with the Holy Spirit,

And the Holy Spirit this night will lie down with me,

I will lie down this night with the Three of my love,

And the Three of my love will lie down with me.

 

And then as a dear friend, parent or spouse approached the gates of heaven, these words were spoken:

 

Sleep now, sleep, and away with your sorrow,

Sleep now, sleep, and away with your sorrow,

Sleep now, sleep, and away with your sorrow,

Sleep, my loved one, in the Rock of the fold.

 

Sleep, O sleep in the calm of all calm.

Sleep, O sleep in the guidance of guidance.

Sleep, O sleep in the love of all loves.

Sleep, my loved one, in the Lord of life.

Sleep, my loved one, in the God of life.

 

The shade of death lies upon your face, my loved one,

But the Jesus of Grace has his hand round about you;

In nearness to the Trinity, farewell to your pains;

Christ stands before you and Peace is in his hand.

 

 

 

Poems taken from Every Earthly Blessing: Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition  by Esther de Waal and Celtic Daily Prayer compiled and published by the Northumbrian Community