Evil
In my research of the prayer called The Breastplate of Saint Patrick, I found that most people refer to basically the same version as you've seen in my posts on this site. I think this is because of the issue of brevity and a desire to keep things positive. Through influence of Cahill's book How The Irish Saved Civilization and the version cited there, however, I have found older versions that have more text dealing with darkness and evil of all sorts. Ooh, sounds like fun! Let's go there!
Everybody likes evil, right? When was the last time you saw a news broadcast that had a tally of how many times boy scouts helped old ladies across the street, or how many times neighbors lent out cups of sugar? Uhh, let me guess...ZERO! Why? Because good news is boring, that's why! It's more fun to hear how some starlet's marriage is imploding than it is to report on how many people are sticking it out with each other through tough times. I have a theory about evil. Want to hear it? I know you do.
All of us struggle with evil. It is as ancient a struggle as survival itself. Evil is fueled by what I call "the lie." Notice that I did not say "lies" but "the lie." THE LIE. That's a quote from the first chapter of Romans, "who exchanged the truth of God for the lie." Did you notice that? The lie. What is the lie? It's the original lie of all lies, the promise given to Adam and Eve that they would "be as God." And ever since then we have been tempted with this same lie of all lies. The goal of someone under the influence of the lie is to be a "self for self's sake," to quote Malcolm Smith. C.S. Lewis said, "The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first - wanting to be the centre - wanting to be God, in fact." So the source of all evil after it is this one terrible lie.
Now I have no sympathy for the Devil, nor for anyone who follows his lie. Nor do you, in fact; whether you are a Christian or not. We all believe in absolutes, or we would not even be able to argue against them without them. And so the statement "there are no absolutes" is an absolute statement. In fact we are all good legalists at heart. We keep track of whether things are fair or not, and point out when others are hypocritical. We "judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions." To do anything else would be to deny human nature.
Evil is also a squatter. It lives in the boundaries of Good-town, but lists it's address as Bad-town, USA. All evil is is messed up good. Without good there would be no such thing as evil. One more time, there is such a possible thing as pure goodness, but there can never be pure evil, because .000001% of pure evil is good, so there! So the next time you have a conversation with the Devil, tell him that he is good at heart and that he can't be all bad because God made him! And then run! Because that's the one thing he's not happy about.
And so we need to pray for protection against all manner of real evils in the world, against all the forces of wickedness that come upon us from every direction.
And so here's the extended, “Minority Report” version of the Breastplate of St. Patrick. Now with extra EVIL!
St. Patrick's Breastplate
I arise today
Through a mighty strength,
the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels, In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today
through the strength of Heaven,
the rays of the sun,
the radiance of the moon,
the splendor of fire,
the speed of lightning,
the swiftness of the wind,
the depth of the sea,
the stability of the earth
the firmness of rock.
I arise today
through the power of God:
God's might to comfort me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to lead me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's Heavenly Host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
May Christ shield me today
against poison and fire,
against drowning and wounding,
so that I may fulfill my mission
and bear fruit in abundance.
Christ behind and before me,
Christ behind and above me,
Christ with me and in me,
Christ around and about me,
Christ on my right and on my left,
Christ when I lie down at night,
Christ when I rise in the morning,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone that speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
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