ST.
PATRICK
ST.
PATRICK
True
history and legend are interwined when it comes to St. Patrick. It is known
that he was born in Scotland and was kidnapped and sold in Ireland as a
slave. He became fluent in the Irish language before making his escape
to the continent. Eventually he was ordained as a deacon, then priest and
finally as a bishop. Pope Celestine then sent him back to Ireland to preach
the gospel. Evidently he was a great traveller, especially in Celtic countries,
as innumerable places in Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Ireland
are named after him.
Here it is where actual history and legend become difficult to seperate.
Patrick is most known the world over for having driven the snakes from Ireland. Different tales tell of his standing upon a hill, using a wooden staff to drive the serpents into the sea, banishing them forever from the shores of Ireland. One legend says that one old serpent resisted, but the saint overcame it by cunning. He is said to have made a box and invited the reptile to enter. The snake insisted the box was too small and the discussion became very heated. Finally the snake entered the box to prove he was right, whereupon St. Patrick slammed the lid and cast the box into the sea. While it is true there are no snakes in Ireland, chances are that there never have been since the time the island was seperated from the rest of the continent at the end of the ice age. As in many old pagan religions serpent symbols were common, and possibly even worshipped. Driving the snakes from Ireland was probably symbolic of putting an end to that pagan practice.
While not the first to bring Christianity to Ireland, it was Patrick who encountered the Druids at Tara and abolished their pagan rites. He converted the warrior chiefs and princes, baptizing them and thousands of their subjects in the Holy Wells which still bear that name.
According to tradition St. Patrick died in A.D. 493 and was buried in the same grave as St. Bridget and St. Columba, at Downpatrick, County Down. The jawbone of St. Patrick was preserved in a silver shrine and was often requested in times of childbirth, epileptic fits and as a preservative against the evil eye. Another legend says St. Patrick ended his days at Glastonbury and was buried there. The Chapel of St. Patrick still exists as part of Galstonbury Abbey. There is evidence of an Irish pilgrimage to his tomb during the reign of the Saxon King Ine in A.D. 688, when a group of pilgrims headed by St. Indractus were murdered.
The great anxiety displayed in the middle ages to possess the bodies, or at least the relics of saints, accounts for the many discrepant traditions as to the burial places of St. Patrick and others.
What the World Book
Says about Saint Patrick: Patrick, Saint (about
389-461), is the patron saint of Ireland. Patrick was chiefly responsible
for converting the Irish people to Christianity. He became known as the
Apostle to the Irish. His name in Latin is Patricius.
His life:
Patrick was born in Britain. His father was a wealthy alderman and a
Christian. When Patrick was 16 years old, pirates captured him during a
raid and sold him as a slave in Ireland. He served as a shepherd of an
Irish chieftain in Ulster. During his captivity, Patrick dedicated himself
to religion. He escaped after six years of slavery and returned to his
home in Britain.
As a result of his experiences in Ireland, Patrick became driven by the
idea of converting the Irish to Christianity. To prepare himself for that
task, he studied in the monastery of Lerins, on an island off the southeast
coast of France. Patrick also went to Auxerre, France, and studied religion
under Saint Germanus, a French bishop. Partly because Patrick's earlier
education was inadequate, his religious superiors were reluctant to let
him return to Ireland as a missionary. But Palladius, the first Irish missionary
bishop, died in 431. Pope Celestine I then sent Patrick to Ireland.
Patrick began his work in northern and western Ireland, where no one had
ever preached Christianity. He gained the trust and friendship of several
tribal leaders and soon made many converts. Patrick is said to have founded
more than 300 churches and baptized more than 120,000 people.
Patrick brought clergymen from England and France for his new churches.
He succeeded in his mission in Ireland, even though many British clergymen
opposed him and the way he organized his churches. Patrick preached in
Ireland for the rest of his life.
His writings serve as
the most important sources of information about Patrick's life and work.
During his later years, he wrote Confession, an account of his spiritual
development. Patrick wrote this book to justify his mission to Ireland.
In the book, Patrick expressed his humility and thankfulness that God called
him to serve the Irish. Patrick also wrote Letter to Coroticus. In this
letter, he criticized a raid on Ireland conducted by Coroticus, a British
chieftain. Several of Patrick's converts were killed during the raid. The
letter also shows Patrick's resentment of the scornful attitude of British
clergymen and nobility toward the Irish.
Legends about Patrick: Many stories
about Patrick are based only on legend. One of the best-known tales tells
how he charmed the snakes of Ireland into the sea so they were drowned.
According to another legend, Patrick used a three-leaf shamrock to illustrate
the idea of the Trinity. Many people believe the shamrock came to be the
traditional symbol of Ireland as a result of this legend. Today, Irish
Catholics throughout the world celebrate Saint Patrick's Day on his feast
day, March 17
Saint Patrick brought Christianity to
Ireland in the A.D. 400's. Saint Patrick was born in Britain and was taken
to Ireland as a slave in the early 400's. After six years of slavery, he
escaped to France, where he studied for the priesthood. He returned to
Ireland as a Christian missionary in 432. The Irish accepted Christianity
and came to regard Patrick as their patron (guardian) saint. Today, his
feast day, March 17, is celebrated as a national holiday.
Saint Patrick also introduced the Roman alphabet and Latin literature into
Ireland. After his death, about 461, Irish monasteries flourished as centers
of learning.
What
is an Irishman?
It's not shamrocks or shillelaghs that makes
the Irish true
Nor clay pipes or leprechauns or Galway Bay so blue
It's their boundless sense of humour and their warm and gentle smiles
It's their trust in human kindness as naive as a young child's
It's their hatred of oppression and compassion for the weak
It's their love of family, faith and country and the words with which we
speak
It's a sea of wild emotions with lots of tears and laughter too
And yes, an Irish temper that can explode without a clue
It's a Celtic's sense of combat and the will to work til dark
Tis courage to face misfortune and the strength of one's own heart
It's their gift for song and poetry and of music for our ears
It's pride in Ireland's traditions and its folklore of the years
It's a spirit not a costume that makes the Irish proud
Cross continents and oceans and mountains tall and loud
It's a feeling words and pictures cannot too well relate
And for those who are not Irish, can only hope to emulate
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