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Celebrating the Saint of Ireland - St. Patrick

Legends and Lore, by True Thomas the Storyteller

Thousands of churches are named after him, as are children, and many places. Even the Irish nick-name “Paddy” is in a way a tribute to him. I don’t know what he would think of our modern celebrations. He was a driven man, with a fire within him, to spread his version of the gospel to the Irish. What we know about him, we have from hundreds of stories and legends, and from a few of his actual writings. And from the many accounts of the people he influenced. Irish humor is heavily leavened by Irony. And so it is with our Apostle, Saint Patrick.

He’s not Irish!

He was not from Ireland. Some have him coming from the coast of Wales. Others in Kilpatrick, in Scotland. His father was named Calphurnius and his mother was Conchessa. The former belonged to a Roman family of high rank and held the office of decurio in Gaul or Britain. Conchessa was a near relative of the great patron of Gaul, St. Martin of Tours. Patrick's original name was probably Sucat, or Maelwyn.

By his accounts he lead a rather uneventful life, until he was taken captive by Irish marauders, possibly Niall of the Nine Hostages. He was sold as a slave to a chieftain named Milchu in Dalriada, a territory of the present county of Antrim in Ireland, where for six years he tended his master's flocks in the valley of the Braid and on the slopes of Slemish, near the modern town of Ballymena.

Imagine if you will, being raised in an upper class family, and to find yourself suddenly starving and freezing while tending sheep, in a distant land, where you did not speak the language. On those hillsides a fire started within Patrick. He prayed incessantly, and learned the language of the Gael, and what knowledge he could get from Milchu, who was druidically trained as well. As he became more passionate, he said that God spoke to him, and told him that there was a boat waiting for him. It was 200 hundred miles away, and it took a few miracles, but Patrick eventually got home. Inside him the faith still shone brightly. At this point he became a priest and studied under the best minds he could find.

Visions

Then God gave him another vision. In Confessio, Patrick writes:

"In a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming as it from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: 'The Voice of the Irish', and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and they were crying as if with one voice: 'We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.'"

Patrick knew what needed to be done, but first he needed to convince the others within the Church that he was the man for the job. He heads to France. In France, he went to monastery where he studied under St. Germaine, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. Even though his Latin was not the best, he convinces them, and he heads back to the land of his captivity. And they gave him the name of Patritius (Patrick).

He also had a very delicate task. There had been other Christian missions to Ireland. And these missions had been highly influenced by the writings and ideas of of Pelagius. Whom the Church had found as heretical. These ideas had been well received by the Irish. He had a fine line to walk indeed.

Back to Erin

In 432, Patrick and 24 of his followers went back to Ireland. Patrick was different, and a powerful force to be reckoned with. His simple doctrines and persuasive speeches made many converts. By most accounts, his command of Gaelic was phenomenal. He landed and immediately started preaching. He headed towards Slemish, when a warrior chieftain named Dichu attempted to stop him by sword. Unfortunately, the warriors arm became suddenly frozen. And Patrick gently talked him into converting. One of the first stops Patrick planned to make was to his old master, to buy his freedom, and to convert him. But as Patrick advanced, the fortress of Milchu sprang into flames. It seemed the druid had no desire to be converted by his ex-slave, and perished with his fortress.

From Dichu, Patrick learns that a Druid holiday is about to happen, where all the fires are to be extinguished except that of the druids. This is an opportunity, Patrick can’t miss.

On to Tara

He moves on to Tara, where the sacred fire will come from, and sets himself up on a nearby hill. And as all other fires go out, Patrick lights his. The druids at once raised their voice. "O King", (they said) "live for ever; this fire, which has been lighted in defiance of the royal edict, will blaze for ever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished." By order of the king and the agency of the druids, repeated attempts were made to extinguish the blessed fire and to punish with death the intruder who had disobeyed the royal command. But with no success. As the druids prophesied the fires could not be put out and Patrick managed to avoid the various chieftains allied against him. Legend says that later there was a battle between the Druids and Patrick. They summoned a terrible storm, and he broke it with sunshine. The Arch-Druid Lochru, flew into the air, and Patrick prayed, and Lochru fell, and was dashed on the rocks. This, by the way, is only one of the many “magical/miracle” events that follow the legend of Patrick.

Patrick goes on to "fight the good fight" for 30 years, during which time he was imprisoned twice and had many confrontations with Druids, the Celtic nobles and warrior culture. Patrick is no stranger to battle and from his writings and other accounts of him, he works passionately to help those in bondage and to help the suffering. He fights not only the local religion but, because he has Visions, many of his viewpoints are disagreed with within the church as well. St. Patrick died on March 17th AD 461, and we honor his passing to this day.

After Patrick

He was worshipped for many years, and was proclaimed a Saint, even before the "Catholic" Church had been formed. A huge body of folklore and legends sprang up around his story, including the story of where he had picked up a Shamrock (a symbol of spring), and used its three leaves to educate people on the Christian holy trinity (Father, Son, Holy Ghost.) It is even said that Patrick “wrestled” God, fighting for some special dispensations for the Irish. One of them being that Ireland will be flooded 7 years before the coming of the Anti-Christ, so as to spare them from temptation. And that one of his dispensations is to be the Judge for the Irish Race, on the last days of mankind.

As the Irish immigrate to the rest of the world, the legend of Patrick travels with them, and it is no surprise that “Paddy” invokes Patrick - the Patron Saint of Ireland.

It is said that once St. Patrick was traveling and saw that his group was about to be ambushed. He uttered a prayer that has since been called "the Lorica (breastplate) of St. Patrick" or, The Deer's Cry (Faed Fiada). Here are some excerpts:

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

What ever your beliefs are, Patrick was a remarkable man, with a great love for Ireland. If you get a chance, some of his writings still exist, the "Confessio" and the "Epistola ad Coroticum". Take a look at them, and hear the words of the Saint of Ireland.

Happy St. Patricks Day!
Beannachtam na Femle Padraig!