“My name is Patrick…
I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many. My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon; his father was Potitus, a priest, who lived at Bannavem Taburniae. His home was near there, and that is where I was taken prisoner. I was about sixteen at the time.”
Saint Patrick’s story is shrouded in myth and fervor alike. He has long been regarded as a hero (nearly legendary) by many of the Irish people throughout history. Yet, he was not even born Irish. Around the year AD 385, he was born in Roman Britain and he bore the name Maewyn Succat. His journey to Ireland began in his youth, around the age of sixteen, when he was taken from his home and brought to Ireland as a slave. Yet, although he escaped, he returned to Ireland later in his life as a bishop, and it is at that time when his devout work in Ireland truly began.
ST. PATRICK’S RETURN TO IRELAND:
What convinced St. Patrick to return to a land where he was once enslaved? During the six years in Ireland he spent as a slave, where he tended sheep in the woods and mountains, he turned himself to God, which was something he failed to do earlier in his youth. In his own words:
“It was there that the Lord opened up my awareness of my lack of faith. Even though it came about late, I recognised my failings. So I turned with all my heart to the Lord my God, and he looked down on my lowliness and had mercy on my youthful ignorance. He guarded me before I knew him, and before I came to wisdom and could distinguish between good and evil. He protected me and consoled me as a father does for his son.”
After returning home to Britain, he was welcomed warmly by his family, who urged for him to never leave them again. Yet, young Maeywn had a vision in the night:
“It was while I was there that I saw, in a vision in the night, a man whose name was Victoricus coming as it were from Ireland with so many letters they could not be counted. He gave me one of these, and I read the beginning of the letter, the voice of the Irish people. While I was reading out the beginning of the letter, I thought I heard at that moment the voice of those who were beside the wood of Voclut, near the western sea. They called out as it were with one voice: “We beg you, holy boy, to come and walk again among us.” This touched my heart deeply, and I could not read any further; I woke up then. Thanks be to God, after many years the Lord granted them what they were calling for.”
With this, he was inspired to make a return to Ireland, yet this time as a bishop. It is unclear where his ecclesiastic training took place, but some of his writings suggest that this took place in Gaul, and possibly a disciple of St. Germanus of Auxerre. Regardless, his journey from slave to saint was underway, and now he returned to Ireland to bring them a gift rather than vengeance.
CONVERTING IRELAND AND THE DIFFICULTIES THEREIN:
Although St. Patrick has been credited with converting Ireland to Christianity, there is debate within the historical community. In a papal document, it is said that a man named Palladius was sent to Ireland by the pope in AD 431. St. Patrick’s traditional arrival is in the year AD 432, although, in reality, it may have been an entire generation later. In the end, the two traditions merged into one. Regardless of accuracy and debate, it was St. Patrick who had the most success, and who was accepted by the people for having turned them to this new faith.
To summarize his troubles, though, he was an outsider in a world rigorously structure around kinship and family groups. With no family connections, Patrick was vulnerable to the many dangers of Irish society. This groups were called túatha (singular túath). His progress through these communities was slow, because their very nature meant that Ireland was heavily fragmented. Without a centralized power to enforce a new order, or to suppress the old, he had to slowly wander and preach while frequently being attacked.
“At times I gave gifts to kings, over and above what I paid to their sons who travelled with me. Despite this, they took me and my companions prisoner, and very much wanted to kill me, but the time had not yet come. They stole everything they found in our possession, and they bound me in iron.”
Yet, according to his own words, he remained humble and kind through these troubling times.
“You all know, and God knows, how I have lived among you since my youth, in true faith and in sincerity of heart. Towards the pagan people too among whom I live, I have lived in good faith, and will continue to do so. God knows that I have not been devious with even one of them, nor do I think of doing so, for the sake of God and his church. I would not want to arouse persecution of them and of all of us; nor would I want that the Lord’s name should be blasphemed on account of me; since it is written: “Woe to the one through whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed.”
Despite the many troubles that he faced, he persisted. In his Confession, he tells us about his hardships, yet he also tells us about his joys and successes:
“I am greatly in debt to God. He gave me such great grace, that through me, many people should be born again in God and brought to full life. Also that clerics should be ordained everywhere for this people who have lately come to believe, and who the Lord has taken from the ends of the earth.”
“Perhaps, however, when I baptised so many thousands of people, did I hope to receive even the smallest payment? If so, tell me, and I will return it to you.”
“I spend myself for you, so that you may have me for yours. I have travelled everywhere among you for your own sake, in many dangers, and even to the furthest parts where nobody lived beyond, and where nobody ever went to baptise and to ordain clerics or to bring people to fulfilment. It is only by God’s gift that I diligently and most willingly did all of this for your good.”
ST. PATRICK’S LEGACY:
Although his own words are humble, his fame and legend grew large in the hearts of the Irish who embraced his ways. His impact upon Ireland would last far beyond his own life, although it took until the sixth century before Christianity really took hold in Ireland. St. Patrick’s impact goes beyond spirituality alone, though, for he brought to Ireland more than just piousness. St. Patrick brought a system of church government, though this system blended with the native system of politics, creating a fairly unique social situation. Yet, he also brought monastic life to Ireland, which eventually flowered into a Golden Age that existed up to the coming of the Vikings at the end of the eighth century.
“The trend towards monasticism, which from the beginnings had thus enjoyed an important but by no means predominant position within the Irish church, became more pronounced after the saint’s death.”
A new system took hold, but many of these centers held a special attachment to St. Patrick, such as Armagh, which, according to tradition, St. Patrick founded as his main church. Armagh later became the florist center of Ireland’s Golden Age, and it still remains an important religious center to this day.
Furthermore, up to this point in time, Ireland was the only country to have been converted to Christianity without producing any martyrs. In other words, no one was killed in the name of the new faith, meaning that, in a certain sense, the conversation was unusually peaceful. The nature of this conversion, at least on this scale, would not be seen again until the conversion of Iceland around the year AD1000, where Christianity was embraced through a legal, democratic judgement.
ST. PATRICK TODAY:
Today, St. Patrick symbolizes far more than the triumph of Christianity over Ireland many years ago. In fact, one could argue that the holiday has a unique significance to those of Irish descent living in North America, many of whom fled their homeland unwillingly due to starvation and hardship. To many of these immigrants, St. Patrick was a part of their new identity abroad. This is particularly evident in the United States, where St. Patrick’s day has become a celebration of Irish heritage in general, rather than being just a feast day in which the people peacefully honor a saint who risked his life to convert Ireland.
St. Patrick’s image today has grown into a symbol for Irish identity, and not just a religious symbol, at least for those living abroad. In fact, the largest celebration for St. Patrick’s day is actually held in Boston, not Ireland. As his name continues to be mixed with legend and fervor, he will continue to become and vital symbol for the Irish, as well as serving as an image and reminder of Irish heritage for those who left their home long ago.
Lá fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh!
(Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to you all!)
SOURCES:
Lectures:
1. Dr. Jennifer Dukes-Knight, “Saint Patrick,” Lecture, Celtic History, University of South Florida, 2015.
2. Dr. Jennifer Dukes-Knight, “Catholicism and Identity,” Lecture, Irish in America, University of South Florida, 2016.
Book Source:
3. Thomas, Cardinal Ó Fiaich, “The Beginnings of Christianity: 5th and 6th Centuries,” in The Course of Irish History, 5th ed., edited by T. W. Moody, F. X. Martin, and Dermot Keogh, with Patrick Kiely. (Lanham, MD: Roberts Rhinehart Publishers, 2012), 53-7.
Online Source:
4. Saint Patrick’s Confessio, English translation. Royal Irish Academy. Most of the quotes used in this post were taken from this source, with the only exception being the final quote of the post, which comes from the book cited above.
Images:
5. (COVER) Saint Patrick, Sainted Glass.
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