Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

Patrick was born in Roman-occupied Britain, at about 387 AD. His death was on March 17th, possibly in 461 AD. He was a member of a respected Roman family. His father was a civil magistrate and a deacon in his church. He learned to pray from his mother, but did not commit his life to Christ until he was in his late teens.

The Roman empire was in rapid decline, from within. Immorality was rampant. Outside nations made periodic raids within Roman territory. Children were abandoned to the elements rather than be raised in their homes. The legal system was corrupted in favor of those with money who could manipulate the courts. Taxes became very high, and tax collectors were corrupt. Welfare was rampant – “those who live at the expense of the public funds are more numerous than those who provide them.” There was a huge bureaucratic machinery within the empire, which did not govern efficiently and incurred a fantastic amount of debt. Boundaries of the nation were overextended, and the military was cut back. The raids of the outside nations diluted the predominance of the Latin language.

As a teenager, barbarian Irish raiders burned his town and took Patrick captive, along with a number of other people. Patrick wrote in his 'Confessions'
"I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned, the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many. My father was Calpornius, a deacon, son of Potitus, a priest of the village Bannavem Taburniae…and there I was taken captive. I was then about sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God. I was taken into captivity to Ireland with many thousands of people – and deservedly so, because we turned away from God, and did not keep his commandments."

Patrick was sold as a slave to a cruel warrior chief named Milchu, possibly a Druid High Priest. Patrick herded his master’s livestock, living as an animal, enduring long periods of hunger and thirst. He lived this way for six years. It was during this time of captivity that the prayers of his mother and the words of his father came back to him and he truly committed his life to Christ.
"And there the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and be converted with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my abjection, and mercy on my youth and ignorance, and watched over me before I knew Him, and before I was able to distinguish between good and evil, and guarded me, and comforted me as a father his son."

Patrick says he began to pray fervently, as many as a hundred times per day. He sensed God’s speaking directly to him at times. One night, while asleep on frost-covered ground, he heard God’s voice saying “Soon you will go to your own country…See, your ship is ready.” Patrick took this as God’s direction to flee for the coast. He ran and hid for days, covering nearly 200 miles. He found a ship there which took him on, possibly hoping for a reward for his safe return.

The ship was blown off course, and landed in France. Not much is known about his time there, but he did spend several years there before finally being reunited with his family.

Some time after making it home, Patrick had a dream, very similar to Paul’s Macedonian Vision in Acts, of Irish boys pleading with him to come back. Patrick decided to leave his family and prepare for the ministry. He studied in France under a Bishop there, but received resistance when he asked for their blessing to go to Ireland. In AD 431, the Pope sent a bishop named Palladius to Ireland. He was never heard from again, presumably martyred. Eventually, the decision was made to allow Patrick to go back to Ireland.

In AD 432, at over 40 years old, Patrick sailed to Ireland with a small band of about a dozen monks. He immediately set out for the house of his old master, to extend forgiveness. When he got there, he found the site abandoned and burned. He learned that, not long after he left, Milchu was killed in battle, along with his household, when a neighboring tribe raided his village. Had Patrick stayed, he almost certainly would have been killed.

Patrick and his men began the practice of entering a village and speaking to the Chief. His ability to speak their language fluently was his open door. Most of the men in the village would be suspicious, and even hostile, but Patrick would nearly always win the soul of the Chief. From there, the rest of the village usually followed in faith.

The Druids had a very active cult life in Ireland. They mounted a fierce opposition to the Gospel, placing Patrick and his men in danger many times. At one point, he was bound in chains and sentence to die.

One story of Patrick, probably apocryphal, is that he was challenged by the Druids to demonstrate his ‘magic.’ The area they were in was infested with snakes. Patrick prayed, and the snakes were driven into the sea.

Patrick wrote letters very strongly condemning the institution of slavery. He had personal experience in this regard. Within his lifetime, Patrick had abolished the entire Irish slave trade.

Patrick did not have the opportunity for a longer period of education, as most entering the ministry would have had. As such, he had feelings of inferiority. From Confessions:
"Patrick the sinner, and unlearned man to be sure… I had long in mind to write, but up to now I have hesitated. I was afraid lest I should fall under the judgment of men’s tongues because I am not as well read as others…As a youth, nay, almost as a boy not able to speak, I was taken captive… Hence today I blush and fear exceedingly to reveal my lack of education; for I am unable to tell my story to those versed in the art of concise writing…"

Patrick used his lack of education as a strength in his ministry. As one example, he used the 3-leaved Irish clover as an illustration of the Trinity. This made the complex doctrine easier to understand, and easier to teach.

All in all, Patrick labored for over 30 years. Was he successful? He founded over 300 churches and baptized 120,000 converts. He implanted a missionary mindset among the Irish, to the point that in the 6th and 7th centuries, with the fall of Rome, it was Irish missionaries who traveled the former Roman Empire and re-evangelized Western Europe. Patrick is described as the man who “found Ireland all heathen and left it all Christian."

Patrick died on March 17th, possibly the year 461.

Saint Patrick. William J. Federer, Amerisearch, Inc. 2002.