St. Patrick’s Day Poem/Prayer

Archbishop Murphy was a very gifted writer. It was one of his passions. The archbishop wrote and delivered this prayer/poem at the Annual Friends of St. Patrick Dinner. There is an interesting backdrop to this story. The Seattle chapter of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick sponsored this event since 1941. This organization did not admit women as members. Under strong encouragement from Archbishop Murphy and after a brief period of discernment, the organization changed its membership policy in 1989 to accept women and men and adopted a new name: The Society of the Friends of St. Patrick. Just a decade later, Carol Costello became the first female president of the organization.