HYMN - I Bind Unto Myself Today (St. Patrick's Breastplate)

[MrPaulVanRavenswaay]

thanks for the tune, very well done. unknown to me for 40 some years but now very enjoyable!! what is the organ? i couldn't find anything on it in your profile/comments page. it sounds good!

[loggats]

Pray for us, St Patrick, and this beautiful Roman Catholic hymn, a wonderful piece of the heritage of the Church of Christ. The One church.

[nessunopassato]

St. Patrick's Breastplate is not a hymn...it is a prayer. The prayer he created.

[HiFiHymnBook]

@nessunopassato It's also the name of the hymn tune.

[nessunopassato]

@HiFiHymnBook no, the name of the hymn is "I bind unto myself today". what you reference it as is not what it is.

[HiFiHymnBook]

@nessunopassato It does get a bit confusing...

The hymn is called "I Bind Unto Myself Today" (which are the words in the first line)

"St. Patrick's Breastplate" is the prayer attributed to St. Patrick and also the name of the tune the words are set to (see something I copied below)

Words: attributed to St. Patrick circa 372-466; Paraphrased by Cecil F. Alexander, 1889.

Music: 'St. Patricks Breastplate' Charles V. Stanford, 1902.

Setting: The English Hymnal, 1906

[Loiginer]

Saint Patrick, pray for us!

From an Orthodox Christian!

IC XC + NI KA

[USAsoldier1955]

+ Thank God for St. Patrick....

Great Champion Our Protestant Catholic Faith

AGAINST ALL PAPIST PRETENDERS! :)

[nessunopassato]

@USAsoldier1955 no such thing as protestant catholic faith. . . the two words are in conflict with each other.

St. Patrick followed the Holy order that is the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.

[MarcellusTheGreen]

@nessunopassato Protestant doesn't mean anti-Catholic; it means anti-Papal.

[Lexy4eva1]

sang this today for trinity sunday! best song ever!

[louisa1832]

@Lexy4eva1 You bet it is!

[termeerjames]

really people? going and turning this hymn into a religious and political debate? why cant you just accept that everyone finds God in their own way?

[badmotherbear]

Was played and sung as my wedding - - priest thought this was an unusual request, but understood completely - - made the event

[temple26797]

The hymn is nice, but the section that deals with deliverance is missing from the hymn. Unfortunate because the church today desperately needs that authority.

[briank06261973]

I remeber this hymn being quite long. The time we did this song was when our deacon was ordained. I am a member of the choir at my church and we processed into the church with this song. Very beautiful hymn.

[MarcellusTheGreen]

@briank06261973 This is my favorite hymn; indeed it "goes on by the yard" as our organist says. It is difficult to get my fellow Episcopalians to sing all the way through!

[Rexicano]

I didn't know Van Gogh was a Bishop!

But you can see he is missing his ear.

You can tell he painted the green part of his hat too.

[celticqueen0206]

Yes it is true that binding comes from witchcraft, but that is the beauty of the song, that the old ways of the Celt, have been transformed to bind one self with christ, and ther can be no strnger power, St. Patrick was in Ireland, and he was responsible for the conversion of Ireland to christanity. Because of him we know the love of Christ.

[Kenchely]

One of my favorite hymns on Trinity Sunday

[MATTSHONDRICK]

This binding of love. is one only a man of truth faith and devotion can peform the ceremony of the bonds of matrimony. and only through god can this companionship truely be accomplished. and all things faithful will gain interest.

[Boudicca1959]

As a young girl chorister of 12 back in the 70"s this hymn taken from the older version of the english hymnal became one of my favorites.

As with most old unfashioned hymns they become a thing of the past.

The coming september my husband and I celebrate 30 years of marriage and will be renewing our wedding vows and this hymn will be sung ..As members of our church choir we will be doing our personal bit to keep this wonderful hymn alive,,,,,,

[ecocanyon]

To usenetposts:

Under the term of binding and loosing are contained all those acts of discipline which Peter and his brethren performed as apostles: and undoubtedly what they thus performed on earth, God confirmed in heaven. Mat_18:18

[noleyplatz]

@ecocanyon Jesus told the disciples that what they bound or loosed on earth would be bound/loosed in Heaven on the assumption that they would be tuned in to Heaven's directions, not that what they did would automatically be confirmed in heaven! This is presumption, ignorance and blasphemy.

[ecocanyon]

@noleyplatz

One must only need to read the other comments.

[jessebickeldotcom]

Just sang this tonight, don't think I'd ever heard or sung it before... maybe we did but I don't remember. Rocks.

[PippoMotty]

happy st patrick day!

[xsuasox]

Sang this with some students and monks at a priest's (another monk) ordination in St. Meinrad, IN. This stained glass window is in the Basilica of Belmont Abbey, NC by the way. I stare at it almost every day, being a student there. Belmont Abbey has one old Irish-American monk who could tell you all about St. Patrick if you catch him buzzing around campus on his scooter! Love those monks...love St. Patrick!

[thegoldleaf100]

Amen! I love it that this is organ music and not MIDI. This is my prayer upon arising every morning, and it was wonderful to sing it this day.

[diego4407]

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 today to me forever By power of faith, Christs incarnation; His baptism in 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

[usenetposts]

@diego4407 A binding is a kind of spell in Paganism. I hope that is not supposed to be taken literally.

[HiFiHymnBook]

@usenetposts Spellbinding! Gotta love those wacky pagans.

[michaelnrdx]

@usenetposts Perhaps this is not so different from the concept of binding in magic. Binding is simply attaching an energy to something--yourself, someone else, an amulet/talisman. So the prayer here probably attaches a sort of protective energy to your aura.

[svrazel]

@michaelnrdx This kind of binding is as different from magical binding as the power of Christ is different from power of magic.  This is a binding in the sense of love, devotion, and duty to the Trinity, to the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, Love. It expresses trust in God's providential care that comes entirely from his goodness and mercy, and has nothing to do with a "protective energy." Such an equivocation to paganism is precisely what St. Patrick would have fought against in Ireland.

[HiFiHymnBook]

@svrazel Well said!

[noleyplatz]

@svrazel Don't you get fed up with New Age (pagan) ignorances?! They talk about 'energy', we talk about 'life'. They don't know their ankle from their elbow.

[tenorismo]

@usenetposts A binding of the Holy Sprit. A seal of the Holy Sprit.

[1narizushi]

When I was growing up, the choirs at my church -- both the adult choir and the children's RSCM choir, would sing this together. We had a phenomenal organist; I wish I had a recording of his rendition. It literally gave us all chills.

[Kenchely]

This was one of the hymns at my mother's funeral, together with Once to Every Man and Nation and Behold a Host Arrayed in White (Den Store Hvide Flok).

[Musiccalculater]

Psytrance remix did i hear someone just wisper to me!? O.oO.O . im gunna do it.

[Joefunk3121]

The greatest hynm ever. At least in the top three or four.

Blessings

[ragnarthesemigreen]

@Joefunk3121 I don't know; Lord of the Dance is good, as is O Come, O Come Emmanuel; and who can forget Thy Strong Word?

[Mascro1977]

@Joefunk3121

this hymn was #1 on a desert island poll at Anglicans online

[JJVDEBROEN]

Seems like this would be a great wedding hymn.

[BobAdamsFL]

It's often heard at ordination ceremonies

[bobwaters]

Not if you read the words.

[badmotherbear]

@JJVDEBROEN had this played and sung at my wedding - - - as family was being seated - - was a peaceful and calming grace to a jittery bride :)

[hongbao]

Beautiful--but even better with the Trinitarian and Incarnational words!

Thank you for posting this.

[tww1491]

As choir member, we sing this as an anthem in Pentecost. It changes from unison to parts I think in verse 3.

[adaugo123456789]

we sang this song at church today i immediatly loved it!

[AutumnSunlight]

This is one of my favorite hymns but we never sing it because it is so long.

[bizchaplain]

(1) Sing fewer stanzas.

(2) Omit Dierdre.

[cihbraasch]

Absolutely transcendent ... I want this one sung at my funeral!

[socwoods]

Love this when sung by an Episcopal/Anglican straight-tone choir!

[85mello07]

The first time I heard it was by the monks of a Trappist Abbey. They weren't trained voices, but I don't think I've ever heard it more beautifully done.

[badmotherbear]

@85mello07 when it comes from the heart - - no trained voice can compare

[urbanmom]

gorgeous!!! thank you so much for posting this. one of my favorite hymns of all time.

[weirdschool]

Long live Western rite Orthodoxy! +

[enigmatik3n1]

Amen! ;O)

[Graham1952]

very nice indeed!

[rparesi]

Absolutely Beautiful Hymn enjoyable and sanctified

[imsixftsix]

My favorite hymn in the Episcopal hymnal

[bobthestick99]

agreed, unfortunately I only hear it on Trinity Sunday and during other special occasions.

[episcopalcatholic]

I love this hymn thanks for playing

[LostArtOfMe]

Yeah! Yeeeeeaaaaah! Grr. Manly stuff!

[Antjammat]

Sancte Patricius, Ora Pro Nobis!!

[hurrahburrah]

Amen!

[USAsoldier1955]

@Antjammat He can't hear you, go with Christ instead! :)