Many blessings

Today Brian and I headed out to St. Patrick's to get a blessing from Father Jeff before the CT Scan tomorrow. Godmother Lauren met us out there. Father Jeff is the single most wonderful priest on the face of the planet. Just being in contact with him over email helped me to feel better about all that we are going through, so I knew being in his presence would help even more.

When we arrived, we went into the church and Jeff got out the Holy Chrism. He suggested that we do the blessing downstairs in the preschool room so that all of the 3 and 4 year olds could pray over Brian. Last year I remember praying the rosary at school everyday of Lent and the joy I got from hearing the Kindergartners trying to pray the many, many Hail Marys required of them. So, I jumped at this chance. The kids were so cute. Father Jeff explained to them that Brian has to go to the hospital, so he wanted them to do a good deed and pray for him. The teachers told the kids to fold their hands and we recited The Our Father, one of the two prayers they know by heart. I just loved hearing their little voices! After, Father Jeff said a blessing over Brian and anointed his head. Then, we all recited The Hail Mary, the other prayer the preschoolers know.

After thanking the kids and their teachers (and explaining a little bit more to the teachers about the situation), we headed back upstairs. Father Jeff took Brian over to a picture of Jesus and explained that it wasn't him that had blessed Brian, it was Jesus. He told Brian that Jesus was going to watch over him during all of this, and always.

Father Jeff, in his wonderful way, could sense my anxiety and decided he needed to anoint me as well. He also asked if I would like to receive Communion. Not one to turn down any assistance, I immediately said yes ! He blessed both me and Lauren, and we both received Communion. After, he said the communal blessing over all of us and told Brian that the entire community of St. Patrick's would be keeping him in their prayers.

As we left the church, Jeff pointed out the prayer of St. Patrick which is hand painted around the molding of the church walls. He said St. Patrick wrote it when he was a teenager, but believed it was what helped him during his persecution in Ireland. Jeff said he wanted it to wrap around the church as a reminder that God wraps all of his children in his arms and protects them. This is the prayer:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Please say a quick prayer to Saint Patrick when you're thinking of Brian over the next few days. We find out the results of the CT Scan on St. Patrick's Day, so it can't hurt :)