Saint Patrick

Patrick was born around 389 somewhere in the Roman colony of Britain.  At 16, pirates captured him and took him to Ireland as a slave. At the beginning of the fifth century, many of the Roman troops were recalled from Britain to defend the heart of the empire. This caused a breakdown of law and order, and pirates began raiding Britain, capturing and enslaving many.

Patrick spent six harsh years working as a shepherd in the mountains. He was,

“Chastened exceedingly and humbled in truth by hunger and nakedness, and that daily.”

Patrick had been a noble Briton with connections, wealth, honor, and a bright future; now he was a slave with a cruel Irish master.

Patrick’s Christian parents gave him a basic knowledge of the Gospel, but he was not a devout believer. His captivity drove him to seek God with all his heart. At the end of his fourth year of captivity, Patrick surrendered his heart completely to Christ. He spent the next two years in constant prayer and communion with God.

“And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance.”

The Lord said to him late one night, “Your hungers are over, you are going home. Your ship is here.” Although he was 200 miles from the sea, Patrick walked to it unnoticed by his captors. He found and boarded a ship heading toward his home. Back in England, he had a vision of one of his Irish captors, Victoricus, coming to him with innumerable letters.

“I read the beginning of the letter entitled, ‘The Voice of the Irish.’ As I was reading the letter, I heard the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut, and they were crying, ‘We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and walk again among us.’”

After the necessary preparation, Patrick returned to Ireland. Through a series of miracles and dramatic confrontations with the Druid priests, he was shown to be a genuine man of God.

Ireland was a dangerous and warring culture in the fifth century. The Druids dominated the nation, advocating witchcraft, pagan rituals, and child sacrifice. Patrick challenged the Druid priests and commanded them to tear down their main idol. They seized Patrick and held him until his friends would return with a child to sacrifice to the idol. As Patrick stood confidently waiting, disease broke out among the Druids. When they commanded Patrick to pray to his God for healing, he refused – saying if they tore down the idol the plague would stop. They tore the idol down and the power of false religion was shattered in Ireland.

Patrick had one goal for his mission to Ireland,

“I shall not be satisfied until all of Ireland is delivered from pagan darkness and brought to the point of accepting the true God.”

During Patrick’s thirty years of ministry, he transformed the Irish from barbarian slavers to Christian free men and women.

“I came to the Irish people to preach the Gospel and endure the taunts of unbelievers, putting up with reproaches about my pilgrimage, suffering many persecutions, and losing my birthright of freedom for the benefit of others. I am ready also to give up my life, without hesitation and most willingly, for Christ’s name. I want to spend myself for that country, even in death, if the Lord should grant me this favor. He makes this promise in the Gospel: ‘They shall come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ This is our faith: believers are to come from the whole world.”

In the Middle Ages, Ireland was called “the Island of Saints.” They sent missionaries to Scotland, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Its monasteries became the great repositories of learning in Europe.

“His thirty years or more of labor in Ireland saw much fruit. Paganism was dealt a mighty blow. Human sacrifice was all but finished. ‘Within Patrick’s lifetime or soon after his death,’ writes Thomas Cahill, ‘the Irish slave trade came to a halt, and other forms of violence, such as murder and intertribal warfare, decreased.’” (Quoted in, The Real Saint Patrick, www.cprf.co.uk/articles/stpatrick.htm)

Patrick’s obedience to Christ won an entire nation and spurred missions throughout the Middle Ages.