Saint Patrick of Ireland was born Maewyn Succat in 385 AD to a wealthy family in what is now known as Cumbria, England. According to his own writing called the Confession of Saint Patrick, he was kidnapped at the age of 16 by a group of Irish pirates and taken to Ireland where he was a captive for six years. We know from his book Confession that during this time in captivity he worked as a shepherd and through prayer and mediation, grew closer to God and converted to Christianity. He writes that one day he heard a voice from God tell him that he should return home, and that he would find a ship would be ready. He thus escaped his captors, fled to the coast, saw a ship, boarded it, and returned to Britain, where he became a priest.
In 432 AD, Patrick received a divine calling to return to Ireland as a missionary and spread the message of Christianity throughout the land. He described it thus:
I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: “The Voice of the Irish”. As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Folcut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.”
St. Patrick’s mission included “baptizing thousands of people,” ordaining priests to lead the newly Christian communities and establish churches and monasteries in many locations. He converted many of the ruling class (intentional strategy?), and inspired the development of a new Irish culture based on Roman Catholicism. Of his mission, he wrote in Confession that:
Never before did they know of God except to serve idols and unclean things. But now, they have become the people of the Lord, and are called children of God. The sons and daughters of the leaders of the Irish are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ!
His teachings centered around the Gospel of Christ, emphasizing the importance of faith, repentance, and salvation. He preached the doctrines of the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, and the power of prayer, using a variety of strategies to communicate these teachings to the people of Ireland including. Famously, he showed the people the three-leafed shamrock to illustrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity to the three leafed shamrock. He employed storytelling, preaching, and even performed miracles to inspire his audience and lead them towards conversion.
St. Patrick not only spread the Christian faith but also contributed to the development of Irish culture and language. He established schools and monasteries that became centers of learning and preserved many of the ancient texts of Ireland (as described in the wonderful book “How the Irish Saved Civilization). He encouraged the development of the Irish language and used it in his liturgy and preaching.
His feast day is celebrated March 17, as tradition has it he died on this day in 461 AD – it’s a day of great celebration, reflection, and … well … ill-mannered frivolity. His legacy lives on in the many churches, monasteries, and institutions he established throughout Ireland, as well as in the deep respect and reverence that the Irish people continue to hold for him.
The celebration of his feast day continues to inspire Catholics around the world, reminding us of the power of faith and the impact that one person can have on a culture and a nation.
Cheers and God bless!
This is the earliest known image of Saint Patrick, from a 13th-century manuscript. Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.