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The person who was to become St. Patrick, was probably born
in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century.
His given name was Maewyn. Although his father possibly was
a Christian deacon, it has been suggested that he probably
took on the role because of tax incentives, and there is no
evidence that Patrick came from a particularly religious family.
Far from being a saint, until he was 16 Patrick considered
himself a pagan.
Patrick was about sixteen
years old when he was abducted and enslaved by Irish marauders,
under their leader, Niall of the Nine Hostages.
There is some dispute
over where this captivity took place. Although many believe
he was taken to live in Mount Slemish in County Antrim, it
is more likely that he was held in County Mayo near Killala)
During his captivity, he became closer to God.
According to his writing,
a voice - which he believed to be God's - spoke to him in
a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland. After travelling
for more than 200 miles by foot, he was eventually given passage
on a boat travelling across the Irish Sea. His first destination
was Britain. Patrick also reported that he experienced a second
revelation - an angel in a dream tells him to return to Ireland
as a missionary.
He eventually settled
in France and studied in a monastery under St. Germain, bishop
of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training
he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans
to Christianity.
Patrick spent twenty years
of his life as a monk in Marmoutier Abbey. There he again
received a celestial visitation, this time calling him to
return to the land where he had been enslaved.
Patrick was called to
Rome in 432 whereupon Pope Celestine bequeathed the honour
of Bishop upon him before he left on his holy mission.
An Irish toast: “May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows
you're dead.”
Patrick and 24 of his
followers arrived in Ireland in the winter of 432.
Patrick and his followers
were invited to Tara by the King of Laoghaire. While he was
there he plucked a shamrock from the ground and tried to explain
the to the druids and the King that the shamrock had three
leaves just like God had three personas - The Father, The
Son and the Holy Ghost. This was called the Trinity. Before
the Christian era it was a sacred plant of the Druids of Ireland
because its leaves formed a triad.
King Laoghaire was very
impressed and chose to accept Christianity. He also gave Patrick
the freedom to spread Christianity throughout Ireland.
Patrick was quite successful
at winning converts, and this fact upset the Celtic Druids.
Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time.
While not the first to
bring Christianity to Ireland, it is Patrick who is said to
have encountered the Druids at Tara and abolished their pagan
rites. The story holds that he converted the warrior chiefs
and princes, baptizing them and thousands of their subjects
in the "Holy Wells" that still bear this name.
He travelled throughout
Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also
set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion
of the Irish country to Christianity.
Familiar with the Irish
language and culture, Patrick chose to incorporate traditional
ritual into his lessons of Christianity instead of attempting
to eradicate native Irish beliefs. For instance, he used bonfires
to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honouring
their gods with fire. He also
is said to have superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol,
onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic
cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural
to the Irish.
His mission in Ireland
lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired
to County Down. Patrick is thought to have died sometime between
463AB and 493AD, on March 17th.
There are several accounts
of St. Patrick's death. One says that St. Patrick died at
Saul, Downpatrick. His jawbone was preserved in a silver shrine
and was often requested in times of childbirth, epileptic
fits, and as a preservative against the "evil eye."
Another account says
that St. Patrick ended his days at Glastonbury, England and
was buried there. The Chapel of St. Patrick still exists as
part of Glastonbury Abbey. Relics from Patrick the Older,
believed by many to be Saint Patrick are housed at this church.
A translation feast is held on August 24th.
Today, many Catholic
places of worship all around the world are named after St.
Patrick, including cathedrals in New York City , Dublin, and
Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia.
An Irish toast : “May
your blessings outnumber, the shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you wherever you go.”
Within the Christian
calendar Patrick has been remembered as early as the ninth
century AD with the Feast of St Patrick's "falling asleep"
- in other words his passing on 17 March. The Book of Armagh
included a note directing all monasteries and churches in
Ireland to honour the memory of the saint by the celebration,
during three days and three nights in mid-spring.
Many legends and myths
surround Patrick. Some of this lore includes the belief that
Patrick raised people from the dead.
Patrick also is said
to have given a sermon that drove all the snakes from Ireland.
Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some
people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the
pagans. One story tells of his standing upon a hill, using
a wooden staff to drive the serpents into the sea, banishing
them forever from the shores of Ireland. Another legend says
that one old serpent resisted, but the saint overcame it by
cunning. He is said to have made a box and invited the reptile
to enter. The snake insisted the box was too small and the
discussion became very heated. Finally the snake entered the
box to prove he was right, whereupon St Patrick slammed the
lid and cast the box into the sea.
An Irish toast: “St.
Patrick was a gentleman, who thru strategy and stealth
Drove all the snakes from Ireland, Here's a toasting his health
But not too many lest you lose yourself and then
You forget the good St. Patrick and see those snakes again.”
The St. Patrick's Day
custom came to America in 1737.
There is a dispute as
to his place of burial; the site with the strongest claim
seems to be Down Cathedral, where a large slab of rock on
which the word Patric is inscribed.
Veneration of Patrick
was apparent in the eight century AD. At this time Patrick's
status of national apostle was made independently of Rome;
he was claimed locally as a saint before the practice of canonisation
was introduced by the Vatican.
Fables about Patrick
ridding Ireland of snakes or his use of the shamrock to explain
the Trinity, still endure as part of modern St Patrick's Day
folklore and custom.
What's good luck on Saint
Patrick's Day?: Finding a four-leaf clover (that's double
the good luck it usually is). Wearing green. (School children
started this tradition of their own -- they used to pinch
classmates who don't wear green on this holiday). Kissing
the blarney stone.
Saint Patrick's Day has
come to be associated with everything Irish: anything green
and gold, shamrocks and luck. Most importantly, to those who
celebrate its intended meaning, St. Patrick's Day is a traditional
day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries
worldwide.
In modern-day Ireland,
St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a religious occasion.
In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs
be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish
government changed this law, and last year, close to one million
people took part in Ireland 's St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin.
An Irish blessing: “May
you always have...
Walls for the winds, A roof for the rain
Tea beside the fire, Laughter to cheer you
Those you love near you
And all your heart might desire.”
According to Encyclopedia
Britannica, a shamrock is "any of several similar-appearing
trifoliate plants (plants whose leaves are divided into three
leaflets). Common shamrocks include the wood sorrel (Oxalis
acetosella) or any of various plants of the pea family (Fabaceae),
including white clover (Trifolium repens) and suckling clover
(Trifolium dubium)." Wood sorrel is shipped in large
quantities from Ireland to other countries for St. Patrick's
Day.
An Irish toast: He preached
with such wonderful force
the innocent natives his teaching,
with wine washed down each discourse,
Says he: "I detest all dry preaching!"
Writings attributed to
St. Patrick are his Epistle to Cortices accepted as authentic,
and a fine hymn in Irish, the Breastplate of St. Patrick.
The Epistle, written in Latin, beseeches Coroticus, a British
chief, to free some Irish Christians whom he had taken captive.
Croagh Patrick, colloquially
called 'The Reek', is God's conical shape beacon above the
town of Westport. The summit is the holy ground on which St.
Patrick supposedly rested, fasted and reflected during all
44 days of lent in 441 A.D. Here, too, according to legend,
is where Ireland's patron saint banished the snakes from the
island. It has been a place of pilgrimage ever since.
The mountain is renowned
for its annual Patrician Pilgrimage in honour of Patrick,
and penitential exercises have been faithfully handed down
by many generations. On the last Sunday of July each year,
its slopes are full of pilgrims, many barefooted, climbing
to the summit to attend Mass in the ancient stone church.
Near the base of the
mountain is Tobair Padraig, or Patrick's Well, named for the
natural spring nearby where Patrick baptized his first Irish
converts. The present structure was built in the 15th century,
and today is completely restored. A stone statue of St. Patrick
- holding a green clover to the heavens in his right hand
- stands at the beginning of the path.
Believe it or not, the
colour of St. Patrick was not actually green, but blue! In
the 19th century, however, green came to be used as a symbol
for Ireland.
Lough Derg (Red Lake)
Co. Donegal.
This island contains a shrine to Saint Patrick. Legend says
he killed the lake monster there and its blood dyed the water
red. Many people go there on three day pilgrimages to pray
from the first of June to the 15th of August. Lough Derg is
said to be a cure for the seven deadly sins.
Saint Patrick's Isle
is located at the Isle of Man, just off the coast of Ireland.
This island is where Saint Patrick is said to have brought
Christianity to the people there.
Downpatrick Shrine Downpatrick,
Northern Ireland.
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (originally named
Church of Dendalethglass) is where Saint Patrick, Saint Brigid,
and Saint Columba are believed to be buried. A bell, tooth,
and hand from Saint Patrick were discovered in the 12th century.
Saint Patrick's hand was enshrined in silver and placed in
the high altar of the Abbey Church. Water was poured through
it to heal sores. The bell and tooth are now in the National
Museum of Dublin.
Sabhail (Barn) (pron.
SAUL) County Down, Northern Ireland.
Legend says Saint Patrick died here and received his last
communion from Bishop Tassach.
The first church founded
by Saint Patrick is located at Mag-inis. The ground is considered
holy.
Ard Macha or Armagh (Macha's
Height) Northern Ireland.
Saint Patrick built the Cathedral Church and founded the See
of Armagh in 444 AD. The Primate of the Church of Ireland
is housed there today.
An Irish toast: “St.
Patrick was an Irish man he came from decent people
On a rock he built a church & on this church a steeple
Now it's the red rose for England, the thistle for Scot,
the shamrock for Ireland - the pride of the lot!!!
This toast often given but like my deceased grandmother
who used to deliver it, never forgot!”
Dunshaughlin Co. Meath.
Domnach Sechnaill church was built and the first hymn composed
in Ireland was written by St. Sechnall. It honors Saint Patrick,
is 23 stanzas long, and is known as Hymn in Patrick's Praise.
Dublin (Black Pool):
Saint Patrick's Cathedral (built on Saint Patrick's Day 1192
over four older churches) has a stone slab called Saint Patrick's
Well Stone. The stone covered the remains of Saint Patrick's
Well from the ninth century AD, where Saint Patrick baptized
converts and was unearthed in 1901.
An Irish toast: “The
Scots have their whisky, the Welsh have their tongue, but
the Irish have Paddy, who's second to none!”
St Patrick is credited
with establishing the Leap Year tradition of women proposing
to men. The story states this was because St Bridget complained
that women were tired of waiting for marriage proposals. The
story also says that Bridget proposed to him, but he refused! |
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