Irish Blessings Column for Greensburg Daily News

We live with tto much bane and not little blessing, too many curses and not enough blessing. The Irish knew full well the pain of life’s poverty, so they made an art out of the blessing. They applied to the blessings to most of the circumstances of life.

One of my favorite Irish blessings concerns the Sacrament of Penance or Confession. By the tiem I was a teenager, I learned that one could go shopping for a priest who was easier on some sins, say taking a drink at a party, than others. Usually, you were assigned lots of prayers and sometimes a work of mercy. I heard an Irish blessing ‘If you tell the priest that you were with a woman, may your penance be to say three alleluias.”

When a child is born we could hear: ”bless this day of new beginnings/smile upon this child/surround this child, Lord/with the soft mantle of your love.” Let me share a house blessing. “Bless these walls firm and stout/keeping want and trouble out/bless the roof and the chimney tall/let thy peace be over all/bless the doors that they may prove/ever open to joy and love/bless the windows shining bright/letting in God’s heavenly light bless the hearth ablazing there/with smoke ascending like a prayer.” Life is not easy so: “may God give you for every storm a rainbow/every tear, a smile/every care, a promise/a blessing in every trial/for every problem that life sends/a faithful friend to share/for every sigh, a sweet song/and an answer for every prayer.” I like one that remembers the world as we rest in the night: “bless those tending cattle/and those minding sheep/and those fishing the sea/while the rest of us sleep.”

If ever we need a blessing, it is in time of sorrow. “may you see God’s light on the road ahead/when the road you walk is dark/may you always hear/even in your hour of sorrow./ the gentle singing of the lark/when times are hard/may they never turn your heart to stone/may you always remember./when the shadows fall/you do not walk alone.” Even death receives a blessing. “may the good earth be soft under you/when you rest upon it/may it rest easy over you/when you lay out under it/may it rest so lightly over you/that your soul may be out from under it quickly/and up, and off, and on its way to God.”

As a spiritual practice for Lent and for St. Patrick, consider composing some of your own blessings. Pick some things that touch everyday life such as: “may any line you are in be short/may the lines for your enemies be long./ may the gas prices go down every time you pull into the service station./May your boss be on vacation during March Madness games./ may your test have only exactly what you studied for.” Our prayers sometimes get a bit general. Pick some specific time of day to bless, or some room in the house. (We could run a contest on best bathroom blessings). Our prayers tend too much toward asking for things. We do well to bless others, along with our own life. It opens our eyes more readily to the good and gives trouble a better perspective.

“May the newspaper be blessed with people who can spell/may its mistakes be few and not noticed/may it be filled with ads of companies looking for good workers at high pay/may its readers see only good stories about themselves/ may good news always fill the community/ may their seed grow in good soil with warmth and rain/ may your children be wiser than their parents/ may your heart’s desire greet you with a smile.”