The Rune of Saint Patrick  for Ukraine

 

What is a rune? According to a dictionary, the word has a lot of meanings. It can be an ancient alphabet, a poem, a mysterios saying or even a spell. As this one is connected with Saint Patrick it's definately a prayer, I think.

It was originally written in Gaelic many centuries ago by an unknown poet. As I mentioned, some early sources even attribute the poem to Patrick of Ireland, himself ― saying he composed it on Easter Saturday, A.D. 433, on his way from Slane to the Royal Palace of Tara. The legend says that St Patrick was brought before the pagan King in Tara Hill, but through his eloquence (it is said this is when he used the shamrock to explain the Trinity), he was allowed to go free and continue preaching Christianity throughout the Isle.

The rune - prayer starts like this:

At Tara today in this fateful hour

I place all Heaven with its power, ....

Tara - the traditional residence of the ancient Irish kings was according to the legend the place where Saint Patrick spoke a prayer.

It is believed that if you’d like to use it as a prayer in time of great distress, you can replace “At Tara” with either your location (“In .... in this fateful hour...”).

No doubts that the Rune of Saint Patrick should be dedicated to Ukraine today:

 

At Ukraine today in this fateful hour

I place all Heaven with its power,

And the sun with its brightness,

And the snow with its whiteness,

And fire with all the strength it hath,

And lightning with its rapid wrath,

And the winds with their swiftness along their path,

And the sea with its deepness,

And the rocks with their steepness,

And the earth with its starkness

All these I place,

By God's almighty help and grace,

Between myself and the powers of darkness.

Here is a little glossary which can help to understand some ancient words:

fateful - important, but usually refers to negative results

hath - has

wrath - anger

swiftness - quickness

steepness - related to a high angle

starkness - the state of being cold and empty