Prayer For Personal Protection

The well-known “Breastplate Prayer” of St. Patrick has seven stanzas of invoking blessings on oneself to be empowered by God’s strength. The most famous of the stanzas states trust in God to protect a person while living a godly life.

I arise today, through
The strength of God to pilot me,
The might of God to uphold me,
The wisdom of God to teach me,
The eye of God to watch over me,
The ear of God to hear me,
The word of God to give me speech,
The hand of God to protect me,
The shield of God to shelter me,
The host of God to defend me against
The snares of devils,
Temptation of the world, and
Everyone who mediates injury to me
Whether far and near.

I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and 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 an abundance of reward.

St. Paul wrote of putting on the “Armor of God” in his letter to the Ephesians (6:11) to fight sin and evil inclinations. In this day and age we don’t wear armor while living our daily lives, but the Breastplate Prayer can function as divine armor for protection against spiritual adversity.