In honor of the beginning of Lent and the celebration of our most beloved (and perhaps most misunderstood) saint, we travel back through time and separate fact from legend as it pertains to the most successful and remarkable of all missionaries. My main sources are The Story of Ireland by Emily Lawless and St. Patrick and the Druid Priests by J. A. Wylie.
We must delve briefly into the social structures and history of the time to aid our understanding. Ireland in Patrick’s time would be unrecognizable today. The land was heavily forested, with numerous lakes and wetlands, inhabited by “clans” or “septs” who herded cattle and sheep, planting what arable land existed. There was no central government, and each clan was ruled by a chieftain and his chosen Brehon’s (or judges). The clans were grouped by blood relation, the land was owned collectively. All loyalty was to the clan, and the nature of relationships between rival clans was such that members of another clan could be robbed, killed, or enslaved with no more compunction then the slaughter of a wild boar. These people, (the female of the species was just as warlike and savage as the male) were tall, long haired, clean limbed, and hardy, able to run for miles on a handful of grain, content to rest in the lee of a rock wrapped in the same furs that formed their clothing. Pagans who looked to the many gods of the druids as their deities, these people were feared warriors who had an inexplicable affinity for song and making and playing musical instruments. The “bards” or singer/story tellers, enjoyed respect little less than the chieftains and the druid priests. Human sacrifice was not unheard of. Raiding the western shores of Britain was a practice much indulged in by the clans, raiding being the main aim and method of acquiring wealth, status, and slaves.
Born in about 400 at Dumbarton (Britain), Patrick’s father was a Catholic deacon. (Britain was Christian at the time.) Captured and enslaved at about age 14 by Irish raiders, he toiled as a shepherd for six years in the Slemish Mountains until a danger-filled escape across the wilderness resulted in his passage back home. During his enslavement, Patrick experienced a life changing conversion similar to that of St. Paul. Upon his return home, he applied for the priesthood and completed the requirements thereof. After spending some time in Gaul, Patrick tried unsuccessfully to quell the call of the Holy Spirit that urged him to return to Ireland and minister to that multitude of unbelievers. The Holy Spirit won out, and in about 432, Patrick and a few followers returned to Ireland.
Then commenced the undeniable miracle. Space forbids the telling of the deeds attributed to this amazing saint, the reader being much better served by reading the wonderful poems of Aubrey de Vere. Therein we may learn of his confrontation with King Laoghair and the Druid Priests at Tara, his successful conversion of the bards, and the baptism of whole clans of the warlike Irish people.
Perhaps more astounding is the enduring scope of the results that must be attributed to Patrick. From the fifth to the the ninth century, missionaries from Ireland flooded every pagan country to the Baltic Sea, melting opposition from heathen cults in the white-hot zeal of their faith. Countless monasteries sprang up like flowers in the spring, becoming shining beacons of knowledge and learning all over Europe.
Expelling the snakes, time and again defeating the druids, lighting the Paschal Fire on the Hill of Slane that none save he could extinguish, none of these legendary acts can compare with the unprecedented conversion of a savage pagan people that launched the most prolonged, successful, and world changing events that ever occurred, and perhaps ever will, in the history of the Christian faith. And that, friends, describes the undeniable true miracle of Blessed Saint Patrick.
Reminds us of another event, against all odds, in November, 2016!
God Bless until next time, Jeff
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