Legend has it that Patrick (385-461) used a shamrock to teach the Irish people about the Trinity. Since the shamrock is a three-leafed plant, it’s an ideal metaphor to illustrate our three-in-one God. But there is no mention of a shamrock anywhere in Patrick’s writings (nor is there any reference to the legend of Patrick driving snakes off the island). However, the message of redeeming love by our triune God is central to Patrick’s ministry. He writes in the introduction to his autobiography Confession, “This is the one we acknowledge and adore—one God in a Trinity of the sacred name.”
We need to recover the rich theology of our tri-personal God. God the Father, Jesus the Son and God the Holy Spirit share the same essence. This triune God also models community for believers to emulate. The Father, Son and Spirit are united in love, each outdoing one another in putting forward the other two before self.
Today’s prayer is the final portion of Patrick’s breastplate prayer. The first stanza of the prayer opens with the words, “I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the three in one and one in three.” The prayer closes in identical fashion by binding those who pray to the strong name of the Trinity–Eternal Father, Spirit, Word: