Most reading these words have heard of “Saint Patrick.” He has his own holiday that’s coming up this Sunday, March 17th (Saint Patrick’s Day) and many of us vaguely connect him with Ireland. Those two bits of information are possibly the limit of knowledge of the average person as to whom Saint Patrick was. So who was this man that the Catholic church calls a “Saint”?
St. Patrick As A Youth
Britainia was ruled by the Roman Empire when the Edict of Milan was passed in 313CE, giving religious rights to Christians across the Roman Empire. Christianity had survived in the small villages scattered throughout Europe, and now spread to all British and Roman classes. Though Christianity was growing, Ireland was still full of barbarians, wizards, and idols.
Patrick was born in Britania between 363 and 373CE and his dad was a deacon; his grandfather was a priest. The clergy were not required to remain celibate until the fourth or fifth century. Not only was Patrick’s grandfather and father religious, but they were also heavily involved in politics, being members of the “Ordo,” a council that represented the people and corresponded to the Roman Senate. They were also responsible for preparing the taxation budget, maintenance of public service such as heating the public baths, sweeping the streets, cleaning the sewer systems, but they had to personally share the cost of the city entertainment which would include plays and perhaps gladiator performances.
Patrick’s family had a rich estate in Dumbarton, Britania; a home with glass windows, hot and cold running baths, and eating utensils. With male and female servants, they lived in a luxurious house compared to the round mud houses of the lower classes. But by the year 410 AD, the politicians of Britain had lost complete control of the country due to barbarous raids from Scotland and Ireland. The Romans sent word to Britania that Britania would have to look after themselves since Rome was preoccupied with attacks in northern Italy.
Thousands of Britons were taken captive during the raids and shipped to Ireland, Patrick included. Patrick was sixteen years old when captured by Scottish pirates. He was sold and remained with his master in the town of Slemish, Ireland for six years where he served as a shepherd. In Ireland, there were no network of roads, no skillfully planned towns, no theaters, amphitheaters, temples, churches, public buildings or baths, and no coinage.
In loneliness, in despair, in hunger and cold, and through the misery of slavery, Patrick “turned to the Lord,” who through oral and written history by the Hebrews and Christians, had “proved Himself to the solace of the poor and the humbled.” In Slemish, St. Patrick was with the flocks on the slopes and heard these words: “It is well that you fast, soon you will go to your own country…See, your ship is ready.”
A historian from the tenth century, Muirchu, writes that an angel named Victoricus, appeared to Patrick and announced the details of his escape. Patrick had never been to the harbor where the ship lay, nor knew anyone there, but he testified in his confessions that with God’s help, he found his way to it over 200 miles away. From there, he sailed to Wexford, Britain. Homesick, an escaped slave, and a marked man, Patrick foot-slogged his way through forest and bog, risking recapture, and attack by land owners and wild beasts. The time of his escape took place about 421 (and his mission back to Ireland to serve as a missionary began around 432).
St. Patrick As A Missionary
When Patrick returned to Britain at the age of twenty-two, he spent three years with his family, who as far as we know, were still alive and well. One night he had a dream where a group of various aged people from Hibernia, Ireland were singing to him, “We beg you, Holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us” and at another time, “He who gave His life for thee is He who speaks in thee.” Nevertheless, Patrick decided to return to Ireland and this began his mission work, but he first traveled to Gaul (present day France) where he was trained for the ministry over a course of eight years under St. Germanus.
Christianity existed in Ireland before his arrival, but the greater part of the island was destitute of its influence. The precise number of churches or converts is unknown. Patrick first came to the people of Hibernia where they communed in clans or tribes, with a chief over each. Then there was a governor over each district and finally a king over all of Ireland. Patrick addressed the leaders of each clan first and then the governors. And before his death, he spoke with the King.
Patrick began a school in his own home where he instructed ministers to oversee the churches they established. Patrick taught Greek and Latin and his home evolved into the great colleges of Clonard and Bangor. His students went on to serve in various villages. One historian in the 17th century wrote that Patrick had a hand in establishing 700 churches, ordained 700 hundred bishops, 3000 priests, and baptized all of Ireland. (Keep in mind that all literature about Patrick, other than his own confessions, was not written until 200 years after his death.)
St. Patrick’s Life In Hindsight
Patrick spent half his life in Ireland. Patrick didn’t know Latin well and he was always criticized by other bishops and priests for his lack of previous education and his rough and rowdy past as a youth. The main purpose behind writing his confessions was to answer his critics in Gaul and Britain.
When Patrick passed, almost all of Ireland had been “Christianized” and the Catholic Church established. Christian ethics and law were now part of Irish law. The Latin alphabet had been introduced, schools and monasteries had been built, a flourishing priesthood and church hierarchy was established.
He died at the age of seventy-six on March 17, 461.
by James Russell Lingerfelt, author of The Mason Jar.