A Beautiful St. Patrick's Day!

 

My great-great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Griffin was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland around 1840. That makes me maybe 3% Irish, assuming that none of my other ancestors have Irish roots. Today was a day to celebrate anything green!

Winter has refused to loosen its grip this month and we shovelled snow more days than not over the past week. Yesterday was supposed to be warm but fog and clouds prevailed keeping temperatures down. But today was a spring day that reminded me of the sudden transition from winter to spring in Narnia. We still have a lot of snow, but in open areas, it has retreated quickly in the past 24 hours as temperatures approached 20 C. I checked out the area near the river where snowdrops bloom in March. The plants were still surrounded by snow but the blooms were just starting to open. 

I started to walk down the trail along the river with my walking poles but quickly changed my mind as the pathway was solid ice. The neighbourhood here is lovely and it was much safer to stick to sidewalks. I was surprised to see that someone had tapped a couple of sugar maple trees along the city street. The pails were half-full as the sap ran quickly in the sunshine. Hopefully, our local sugar bushes were very productive today as well. 

Our yard is still snow-covered and Robins pecked around looking for whatever they could find in the bits of mud near the house. Juncos ate seeds from dead plants in the garden (a good reason not to clean up the garden completely in the fall), and many other birds visited our feeders. 

A Mourning Cloak Butterfly emerged from hibernation and flew by. They spend the winter in "cryo-preservation" under loose bark or in tree cavities. Their wings are often tattered and worn, but their return to life as the temperatures rise above freezing is nothing short of amazing for such a fragile creature.

To top it off, a beautiful full moon rose in the east. Technically, it will be full after midnight but I choose to call this "Worm Moon" a St. Patrick's Day full moon.

There are many Irish blessings shared on this day but my favourite is known as the Breastplate of Saint Patrick. The lorica is a prayer of protection and the classic version has eleven stanzas. Here is a paraphrase of the eighth stanza. 

Christ above me, very God of very God.

Christ beneath me, incarnate of the earth.

Christ before me when seen.

Christ behind me when unseen.

Christ at my right hand in my strength.

Christ on my left in my weakness.

Christ all around me, filling all things everywhere with himself.

Christ within me formed by faith.