A Saint Patrick's Day Blessing

May the blessing of light be on you,
Light without and light within.
May the blessed Sun shine on you and warm your heart
Until it glows like a great peat fire
So a stranger may come and warm himself.

And may the light shine out of the eyes of you,
Like a candle set in two windows of a house,
Bidding the wanderer to come in out of the storm,

And may the blessing of the Rain be on you.
The soft, sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit,
So that all the flowers may spring up
And shed their sweetness on the air.

And may the blessing of the Great Rains be on you,
May they beat upon your spirit and wash it fair and clean
And leave there many a shining pool
Where the blue of Heaven shines reflected ­
And sometimes, a star.

And may the blessing of the Earth be on you,
The great, round earth.
My you ever have a kindly greeting for those you pass
As you go along the roads.
May the earth be soft under you when you lie out upon it
Tired at the end of the day.
And may it rest easily over you
When at last you lie out under it.
May it rest so lightly over you
That your soul be quickly through it, and up and off,
And on it's way to God.

– Author Unknown