My love for The Lorica (Latin for “breastplate”) is no secret to you. The song is a spirited eighth-century battle anthem which tradition attributes to Saint Patrick, an early missionary to Ireland. When we sing this hymn we are cultivating a holy imagination. We are fusing together our own world of swim lessons and funeral homes with the world of Christ’s Jordan River baptism and his death tomb escape. We are learning to ‘see Him who is unseen’ (Hebrews 11:27).

The song invites us into a world where the salt sea splashes the cliffs of creation; where the virtues of a starlit heaven populate the universe with God’s promises; where our worship is warmed by holy angels who burn on fire before the throne; where confessors’ faith, apostles’ word, prophets’ prayer and patriarch’s scrolls together train us in holy obedience.

Rise out of bed with The Lorica and you are bursting from the spiced tomb. Walk out the door with it and you feel the wind’s tempestuous shocks. Sing it during your morning commute and Christ is there – in front, behind, beside. Take it to your grave and your head is groomed for the crown of God.

We need such songs. Our hearts are fickle. Our faith gets unimaginative. We are walled in by evil. This is no time to be asleep, no time to dawdle. This is no time for a waltz. There are casualties in this battle. Defectors. We need warrior songs – a melody that moves the blood, a rhythm that quickens the pulse. We need combat armor – faith, courage, hope, Word and Spirit. We need help in keeping formation with each other.

This is why we name our newsletter, The Lorica. Not because we invoke the luck of the Irish. Not because we are crusading with physical weapons against the ‘infidels’. Rather, we intend to make bold the fact that we are in a battle and God has given us what is useful for our salvation: the strong name of the Trinity, the whiteness of the moon, the mystery of Christ’s incarnation, his riding up the heavenly way, his coming at the judgment hour. These are the emblems that don out coat of arms. This is the blood that colors our shield. Together we follow our great Captain who conquers the world in self-giving love, justice and mercy.

With this monthly newsletter, we call attention to the presence of the kingdom. By printing articles, Bible studies, book reviews, quotations, poetry, interviews, church news and refrigerator reminders, we keep on the look out for what God is doing. We map out God’s strategy for the saints at Christ Our King. We help arm your faith with wise and courageous words that prepare you to “fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, and win with them the victor’s crown of gold” (For All the Saints).