ST. PATRICK

British Library

15th Century Image

Island of ‘St. Patrick’s Purgatory

Although we will not gather at the Meetinghouse for a St. Patrick's day dinner this year,  we can remember and we can anticipate the time when we will sit together at table, will laugh and sing and give thanks together. In the meantime we can read of the life and faith of St. Patrick, see his image, pray his prayer, and listen to the voices of those who love Ireland.  

---

From TIME:

"The March 17 celebration started in 1631 when the Church established a Feast Day honoring St. Patrick. He had been Patron Saint of Ireland who had died around the fifth century.

'We know that he was a Roman citizen, because Britain was Roman then, and then he was enslaved and taken to Ireland, where he either escaped or was released,' Casey says. 'And then he became a priest and went back to Ireland, where he had a lot of luck converting the Druid culture into Christians.'”

---

From WORLD HISTORY ENCYCLOPEDIA:

"When he arrived in Ireland he was hardly welcomed. He writes how, when he landed (probably at Wicklow) the people were so hostile to him he quickly moved on north. Patrick knew the language of the Irish from his years in captivity and, just as importantly, knew their beliefs. He seems to have been adept at sharing the Christian message in a way he knew the people would best understand and receive. There has been much written about the famous episode in which Patrick explains the Trinity using a shamrock, for instance, and historians, scholars, and theologians have debated whether the event actually happened. Whether that event ever took place is not as important as what the story says about Patrick's method of reaching the people. The concept of the triple deity, a supernatural being represented in three aspects, was well known in Ireland. The ancient goddesses Eriu, Fodla, and Banba, although not written about until the 11th/12th centuries CE, were known through oral tradition for centuries as the three sisters who gave their names to Ireland. They were, in effect, three aspects of the spirit of the land. The goddess Brigid, likewise, was represented as three sisters who embodied the life force through healing, creativity, and productivity. The story of St. Patrick and the shamrock would have reflected how St. Patrick drew upon the spiritual and physical world the Irish knew to explain the gospel in familiar terms."

---

The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick
by James O'Leary
The Confession of St. Patrick, by Saint Patrick

 

[Patrick wrote the following of his encounter with God which redirected his life toward serving the people of Ireland.]

"And on another night, whether in me or near me God knows, I heard eloquent words which I could not understand until the end of the speech, when it was said: "He who gave His life for thee is He who speaks in thee"; and so I awoke full of joy. And again, I saw one praying within me, and I was, as it were, within my body, and I heard, that is, above the inner man, and there he prayed earnestly with groans. And I was amazed at this, and marvelled, and considered who this could be who prayed in me. But at the end of the prayer it came to pass that it was a bishop, and I awoke and remembered that the apostle said: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings." And again: "The Lord is our advocate, who also maketh intercession for us." [And when I was tried by some of my elders, who came and spoke of my sins as an objection to my laborious episcopate, I was on that day sometimes strongly driven to fall away here and for ever. But the Lord spared a proselyte and a stranger for His name's sake, and mercifully assisted me greatly in that affliction, because I was not entirely deserving of reproach. I pray God that they may not be found guilty of giving an occasion of sin; they found me after thirty years, and brought against me words that I had confessed before I was a deacon; from anxiety, with sorrow of mind, I told my dearest friend what I had done in my youth, in one day, nay, rather in one hour, because I was not then able to overcome. I know not, God knows, if I was then fifteen years of age, and from my childhood I did not believe in the living God, but remained in death and unbelief until I was severely chastised, and, in truth, I have been humbled by hunger and nakedness; and even now I did not come to Ireland of my own will until I was nearly worn out. But this proved a blessing to me, for I was thus corrected by the Lord, and he made me fit to be to-day that which was once far from my thoughts, so that I should care for the salvation of others, for at that time I had no thought even for myself."

---

Hymn

Prayer

---