By Donal Healy of Dublin, Ireland
There's more to St. Patrick then "Leprechauns and green beer!"
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| The name of Patrick was carried
around the Western world by the Irish missionaries - peregrini as they
were called - in the sixth and seventh centuries, and in recent centuries
many cathedrals and churches were named after him under the influence of
the Irish Diaspora. What do we know of the man? We know more about him
then any other Church figure in these islands on the fringe of western
Europe, in the fifth century, thanks to his writings. He was born, the
son of a Roman official, a deacon named Calpurnius, the son of a priest,
probably in Wales about 385 AD. In his youth he had little interest in
religion or study. At the age of 16 he was kidnapped and carried off to
Ireland and sold as a slave. His master Milchu set him tending sheep or
swine on a bleak hillside in Antrim. Six years on the side of the mountain
with the isolation, hunger and cold turned the heedless boy into a very
prayerful youth. As he wrote "After I came to Ireland; I herded flocks;
and often during the day I prayed. The love of God and the fear of Him
increased more and more, and my faith grew, and my spirit was aroused,
so that in a single day I said as many as a hundred prayers, and at night
nearly as many, even when I was out in the woods and on a mountain. Before
the dawn I used to arouse myself to prayer in snow and frost and rain;
and I minded no pain, nor was there any sluggishness in me . . . because
the spirit was fervent in me." Following a dream in which a voice told
him a ship would be waiting to bring him home, he walked 200 miles and
so escaped to France (about 406 AD). The detail of his life between his
escape and return to Ireland 26 years later are sketchy. He may have spent
some time in Europe, but eventually he arrived home and settled down. When
at home he had a dream in which a man named Victoricus appeared to him
with letters from Ireland. Patrick read one which was from the "Voice of
the Irish" pleading with him "to come back and walk again amongst us".
For Patrick this was an appalling prospect, but he could not refuse. He
went back to Gaul to prepare for his mission. He studied probably under
St. Amator (died 418) who ordained him deacon and also under St. Germanus.
There was already a small number of Christians living in Ireland The Church
decided to send a bishop. Patrick was the obvious choice. He knew the language
and he knew the country, but no! At the meeting to decide on the matter
Patrick's best friend, a person to whom he had confided a sin of his youth
denounced him as unfit to be bishop, even though he had told him privately
that he was the man for the job. He had spent years preparing for his Irish
mission and now disaster - the worst possible outcome. Palladius was chosen,
commissioned by Pope Celestine, and arrived in Ireland in 431. He got a
poor reception, and made just modest progress, and by the next year he
was dead. Patrick was selected to replace him and with a small band arrived
in Ireland in 432. The initial reception was hostile, so they moved on
and landed on the coast of Co. Down, in the north east of the island. They
found a barn to shelter in, but were discovered and taken as sea raiders.
The owner of the barn, Dichu was alerted. The upshot was that he became
Patrick's first Irish convert and then gave the barn to Patrick. The group
spent the Winter there and as Spring arrived decided to set out for Tara
to the palace of the High King, Laoghaire to get his permission to evangelize
throughout the island. On Holy Saturday Patrick arrived at the Hill of
Slane within sight of Tara. Easter that year fell on the same day as the
great Celtic fire festival which greeted the coming of Spring. Every fire
in the land had to be extinguished until the Sunday morning when the King's
fire at Tara was first lit, and this was the signal for the lighting of
fires throughout the land. Then as all awaited the King's fire at Tara,
over on the Hill of Slane, some few miles away, the unthinkable was seen.
Patrick in celebrating the Easter ceremonies had lit the Pascal fire. The
druids were enraged and told the king that if that fire was not extinguished
at once, it would last forever. Laoghaire set out to confront the one responsible,
and the upshot of all this was, that while Laoghaire himself did not accept
Christianity, he gave permission for evangelization throughout the country.
The lovely story, that to explain the Trinity to Laoghaire, Patrick plucked
from the earth a three leafed shamrock, as a illustration of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, three in one, is just a story! Nevertheless the shamrock
has been incorporated into the Irish culture. Likewise the myth that Patrick
banished the snakes from Ireland, is just another lovely story, but unhistorical.
So Patrick's mission started in earnest and for the next 30 years or so
he traversed the country till his death probably on March 17th 461. His
writings tell us a lot about the sort of man he was. The principal two
of them that have survived are the Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus
and the Confession - a autobiography of sorts. The earlier one, the Letter,
was sent to a prince somewhere in Britain. His soldiers on a raid had come
across a group of newly baptized Irish Christians, still in their white
robes, and with the baptismal oils still on their foreheads. Some they
slew, some they took as slaves. Patrick's first letter of protest has not
survived. The second demands that these Christian slaves be set free. Thomas
Cahill writes "The greatness of Patrick is beyond dispute: the first human
being in the history of the world to speak out unequivocally against slavery.
Nor will any voice as strong as his be heard again till the seventeenth
century." "As you are children of Christ, so be you children of Rome".
St. Patrick
St. Patrick's Breastplate (translated from the Irish) This is attributed to St. Patrick, but was probably composed later. Cahill writes "It is Patrician to the core, the first ringing assertion that the universe itself is the Great Sacrament, magically designed by its loving Creator to bless and succour human beings. The earliest of European vernacular poetry, it is in attitude the work of a Christian druid, a man of both faith and magic." The title is probably taken from Eph. 6:14f So stand your ground, with truth buckled round your waist, and integrity for a BREASTPLATE, wearing for shoes on your feet the eagerness to spread the gospel of peace, etc. In the original Irish it is known as the Deer's Cry. (?from the psalm: like the deer which yearns for running streams, so my soul yearns for you my God.) This is the version most commonly used: a longer version is also available. |
The Prayer to Glorious Saint Patrick
Author: Donal Healy I bind unto myself today The strong name of the Trinity: By invocation of the same The Three in One and One in Three. I bind this day to me forever, By power of faith, Christ's incarnation, His baptism in the Jordan River, His death on the Cross for my salvation. His bursting from the spiced tomb, His riding up the heavenly way, His coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today! I bind unto myself today The power of God to hold and lead: His eye to watch, his might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need; The wisdom of my God to teach, His hand to guide, his shield to ward; The word of God to give me speech, His heavenly host to be my guard! Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in the hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. I bind unto myself the name, The strong name of the Trinity: By invocation of the same, The Three in One and One in Three; Of whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word: Praise to the Lord of my salvation -- Salvation is of Christ the Lord. |
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