Who was St. Patrick?

Tomorrow is one of the most celebrated holidays in the secular world. As with most of the secular holidays in America, it finds its source in the Christian faith. It is the official feast day of St. Patrick. Most of the celebrating will involve beer and corned beef. There is nothing wrong with those two things, but that is about the extent that most people know of the day. Being Irish, I would like to take this opportunity to pass along a few details of the life of Patrick.

There are many myths about Patrick, including that he "drove the snakes out of Ireland". Most of the myths are untrue. There are only two main sources of information about St. Patrick that are reliable. They are both letters written by him: Declaration (also known as the Confessions of Patrick), and the Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus. Patrick led an interesting and heroic life.

Patrick lived in the 5th century but the exact dates of his birth and death are not definitively known. St. Patrick begins his Confessions with the following statement, "I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned, the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many." From this, we know that was very humble and self-conscious about his lack of formal schooling. He was born on the fringes of the Roman Empire in Scotland. His ancestry included a mix of Celtic and Roman blood. We know that he had a rather privileged upbringing and his father was a deacon.

The area he lived in was particularly vulnerable to raids by nearby Celtic warriors. At the age of 16, he was captured in one of these raids and turned into a slave. At the time, he was not devout in his faith, saying "I did not know the true God." He was taken to Ireland and made to work as a shepherd. During his time in captivity, he took refuge in God and his faith flourished. He states that during this time, he said as many as a hundred prayers each day and nearly as many at night.

He was from the time of his capture somewhat embarrassed that he missed several years of formal schooling and so considered himself uneducated. He recognized many men around him who were well versed in law and scripture. He wondered at the fact that God had called him to evangelize when there were so many that were more educated than he was.

During his captivity, he heard a voice in his sleep saying "It is well that you fast, soon you will go to your own country.” Later, he again heard a voice saying "See, your ship is ready." So, he took this as a sign that he should escape. So, after 6 years of slavery, he escaped and traveled about 200 miles on foot to the eastern coast of Ireland, where he had never been before and did not know anyone.

When he reached the coast, he found a ship there. The captain of the ship and his men were reluctant to give him passage, but he prayed to God and before finishing his prayer, they invited him on board. They were pagans, and Patrick hoped they would turn to God. After 3 days of sailing, they reached land, but it was barren and deserted. They traveled for 28 days and were without food. The captain asked Patrick to pray to God for help. He responded by telling them to have faith in God, for through Him all things are possible. Suddenly, they spotted a herd of pigs and they had plenty of food from that time on.

That night, Patrick was tormented by the devil and he was held paralyzed until the sun rose. Patrick gave thanks to God for freeing him of this torment. Patrick stayed with the pagans for 2 months.

Patrick escaped from these men and finally, after a while longer, he returned to Britain, where he was joyously reunited with his family. They begged him to stay with them, but after a short time, he had a vision in his sleep of a man named Victoricus. This man handed him a letter, on reading the first line, he heard the voice of the Irish people asking him to return to their land. He was heartbroken on hearing this.

After a while, he had another dream in which he heard the calling of the Irish people, and he felt the Holy Spirit within him. Shortly thereafter, some of the local people brought up charges against him for actions he confessed to committing before he was taken as a slave and before he knew God. We do not know what the sins were, but it caused him great "shame and blame".

Patrick then had another vision in which he heard the voice of God:

"On that day, then, when I was rejected by those referred to and mentioned above, in that night I saw a vision of the night. There was a writing without honor against my face, and at the same time I heard God's voice saying to me: `We have seen with displeasure the face of Deisignatus' (thus revealing his name). He did not say, `Thou hast seen.' but `We have seen.' as if He included Himself, as He sayeth: He who toucheth you toucheth as it were the apple of my eye."

Patrick left for Ireland to preach the Gospel to the people there. He was insulted and persecuted, and even placed in bondage by the pagans there. He was willing to offer up his life for the Lord if the Lord would give him the choice. During his time in Ireland, he baptized thousands of people, ordained many priests and spread the Catholic Faith to the druids who were Sun-worshippers.

During his time in Ireland, Patrick was careful to never accept payment for baptisms or any other service. He took special care to account for all of his financial matters. It seems as though there were people who accused him of financial indiscretions. Nevertheless, Patrick did not accept money from people, and even spent his own money to bring people to the faith. He traveled to distant corners of Ireland which had never been preached to before. Some of these areas were scarcely populated. He was even captured and placed in bondage for his teachings.

Patrick is truly an inspiration to us. He is a shining example of the power of Christ to take sinners and mold them into heroic saints. We should honor St. Patrick and thank him for his work in spreading the truth of Catholicism to the pagan lands of Ireland. We should work to imitate him in our lives so that we, when called upon at the end of our days to account for our deeds, may offer to God the faithful service we rendered in His name.

Dear St. Patrick, Pray for us!