An Irish Blessing



Sunrise at Inishowen, Ireland (from Picture That)

May the blessed light be on you, light without and light within.  May the blessed sunlight shine on you and warm your heart until it glows like a great fire, so that the Stranger may come and warm himself at it, and also a Friend.

And may the light shine out of the two eyes of you like a candle set in two windows of a house, bidding the Wanderer to come in from out of the storm.

And may the blessing of the rain be on you -- the soft, sweet rain.  may it fall upon your spirit so that all the little flowers may spring up, and shed their sweetness on the air.

And may the blessing of the great rains be on you; may they beat upon your spirit and wash it fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue of heaven shines reflected, and sometimes a star.

And may the blessing of the earth be on you -- the great and round earth; and may you ever have a kindly greeting for them you pass as you're going along the roads.  May the earth be soft under you when you lie upon it, tired at the end of the day, and may it rest easy over you, when, at the last, you lie under it; may it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be quickly through it, and up, and off, and on its way to God.  may God always bless you, love you, and keep you.

And a Prayer

O God, Who deigned to send blessed Patrick, Thy confessor and bishop to preach Thy glory to the nations, grant, through his merits and intercession, that those commands which Thou doest set before us we may by Thy mercy be able to fulfill.

-- From the Mass of St. Patrick's Feast


Happy and Blessed St Patrick's Day, Everyone!