the feast of st patrick (bugbites & beestings)

so, I have indeed been writing everyday for lent, though of course not blogging. not all of it has been songs, though there have been a couple here and there. something longer has emerged as well, among the short stories.

anyway, for the first Feast Day of Lent, the Feast of St Patrick (which was actually yesterday), here is a new song. I am very ill right now, my voice will tell you as much, so I may try to record this again when this is not so clearly the case: but here is
Bugbites and beestings by Ben Osborn

next week perhaps I can branch out into non-fiction.

the early Christians were an interesting bunch, oscillating between brutal tribalism and a kind of proto-communism of the soul... you might say... so here is St Patrick's Prayer:

I bind to myself today The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity: I believe the Trinity in the Unity The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism, The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial, The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension, The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today The virtue of the love of seraphim, In the obedience of angels, In the hope of resurrection unto reward, In prayers of Patriarchs, In predictions of Prophets, In preaching of Apostles, In faith of Confessors, In purity of holy Virgins, In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today The power of Heaven, The light of the sun, The brightness of the moon, The splendour of fire, The flashing of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of sea, The stability of earth, The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today God's Power to guide me, God's Might to uphold me, God's Wisdom to teach me, God's Eye to watch over me, God's Ear to hear me, God's Word to give me speech, God's Hand to guide me, God's Way to lie before me, God's Shield to shelter me, God's Host to secure me, Against the snares of demons, Against the seductions of vices.

the first yesterday of lent. 'The Monster'

Ash Wednesday

as per 2009, I'm giving up non-writing for Lent.

here's today's effort; a song for a friend:
Don't go off the radar by Ben Osborn
Don't Go Off The Radar

The smartest thing I
did in my whole life
was to keep on swimming
when I couldn't see the other side.