The Story of St. Patrick
If you wanted to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a big way this year, you could:
- Go to Chicago to see the Chicago River dyed green.
- Enjoy “I Love Ireland” Day in Tokyo.
- Attend the St. Patrick’s Day street party in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- See the Sydney Opera House lit up green in Australia.
- Watch a parade in Munich, Germany.
Of course you could celebrate in Dublin, Ireland—their party lasts for days—but if you want to watch the biggest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world, the place to be is right here in the USA in New York City.
Caroline Auclair, age 6, and her mother,
Mrs. Marie Auclair of West New York, New Jersey,
at the 1953 St. Patrick’s Day parade
in New York City, photo by Walter Albertin,
courtesy of the Library of Congress,
Prints and Photographs Online Catalog
The real St. Patrick would be shocked at the hoopla. Patrick was born into a wealthy family on the island of Great Britain around 389. Patrick himself said that he came from Bannavem Taburniae. Its exact location is unknown, but residents of tiny Banwen in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, claim that he was born there. Many people believe that he was born in Scotland, perhaps at Kilpatrick. Both Patrick’s father Calpornius and his grandfather Potitus served in leadership roles in the church.
In the late 300s, the Roman Empire was withdrawing its army from Britain. This left Britain vulnerable to attacks from people from other lands. When Patrick was 16 years old, Irish raiders attacked, taking thousands of prisoners to Ireland. Patrick was one of those prisoners. Patrick wrote about his life in a work he called his Confessio, or Confessions. He said this about his time in Ireland:
It was there that the Lord opened up my awareness of my lack of faith. Even though it came about late, I recognized my failings. So, I turned with all my heart to the Lord my God, and He looked down on my lowliness and had mercy on my youthful ignorance. He guarded me before I knew Him, and before I came to wisdom and could distinguish between good and evil. He protected me and consoled me as a father does for his son.
Patrick was enslaved and made to tend sheep every day. During this time, he came to love and trust God more and more. He recalled praying dozens or even hundreds of times each day. He wrote:
It was there one night in my sleep that I heard a voice saying to me: “You have fasted well. Very soon you will return to your native country.” Again, after a short while, I heard a someone saying to me: “Look—your ship is ready.” It was not nearby, but a good two hundred miles away. I had never been to the place, nor did I know anyone there. So, I ran away then, and left the man with whom I had been for six years. It was in the strength of God that I went—God who turned the direction of my life to good . . . .
Patrick did make it to the ship and eventually was able to go home to his parents. At his parents’ home, Patrick had another dream, this time of Irish people begging him to “walk among us once more.” Patrick struggled with this call to evangelize Ireland, because he didn’t think he was educated enough. However, he finally decided to go. When he returned to Ireland about 432, he was bold and confident in his faith. He spent the rest of his life teaching, converting, and influencing thousands of Irish. In his Confessio, Patrick wrote:
How has this happened in Ireland? Never before did they know of God except to serve idols and unclean things. But now, they have become the people of the Lord and are called children of God.
Ireland had many small towns and villages, and each had a king. Patrick converted some of the local pagan kings and priests, but his work was not easy. Patrick and many converts suffered persecution. Some of the pagan kings and priests felt threatened. On one occasion, Patrick was beaten and put in chains. He sometimes faced the real possibility of losing his life. Some converts to Christianity were put to death.
Nothing stopped Patrick from the work to which he was convinced God had called him. He demonstrated true moral and spiritual greatness.
Thousands of the Irish people became believers in Jesus. There are several wells or pools where Patrick baptized them by immersion. After decades of devotion to God and evangelism among the Irish, Patrick died in Ireland on March 17, 461. The date is observed each year as St. Patrick’s Day.
Patrick is associated with at least two famous geographic features in Ireland. The Hill of Tara, located in the northeast, was the place where many kings were crowned in the name of a pagan deity. An annual pagan practice in the spring was to light a fire on Tara. Before this happened, fires which had been lit on nearby hills were extinguished. This ceremony took place around the time of Easter.
One spring, around the year 433, after the other fires were extinguished, Patrick lit a fire on the nearby Hill of Slane in quiet defiance of this pagan practice. This is called the Paschal Fire of Patrick. The commonly accepted story of the event says that the pagan king was furious and had Patrick arrested. When he appeared before the king, Patrick supposedly used the three-leafed shamrock, a species of clover common in Ireland, to illustrate the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Impressed by Patrick’s intelligence and eloquence, the pagan king released Patrick, who continued his evangelistic work. The shamrock has become the symbol of Patrick and of Ireland.
Croagh Patrick is a mountain in northwestern Ireland. Patrick is said to have fasted forty days and forty nights on the mountain around the year 441. Croagh Patrick is the site of a yearly pilgrimage on the last Sunday in July when thousands of people climb the mountain. The day is called Reek Sunday. Reek means “high hill” in Gaelic.
Patrick established monasteries where monks copied the Bible and ancient literature. Irish monks continued this practice when they moved to Europe and established monasteries there. Patrick’s ministry in Ireland, proclaiming the freedom of Christ to the people of an island he first knew as a slave, has had an influence that reaches around the world.
I think what Patrick would want people to remember today are the words of Jesus in Matthew 28.
“Go therefore and make disciples
of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe
all that I commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20