St. Patrick- A man to be esteemed.

I just read a biography on St. Patrick by Philip Freeman.  Patrick was a man who devoted his life to the spreading of the gospel.  We celebrate him every year on the day that historians think he may have died.  However, St. Patrick's day has nothing to do with the man, his passion, or his mission, which is sad.  He is a man to be esteemed as he lived and died bringing the gospel to the people of Ireland.

In A.D. 410 Germanic Visigoths sacked and burned Rome.  This event 

marked the end of a 500 year reign by the Roman Empire spanning, what was then much of the modern world.  Just prior to this event in the last 4th century a boy named Patricus was born to a local Roman Decurion and his wife.  Patrick was born into a family of prominence and had all of his needs taken care of. His father was not only a magistrate but also a deacon and his grandfather a priest. In spite of Patrick and his family's social standing when Patrick was 15 years old something tragic happened.  Patrick who lived in Britain under Roman rule was kidnapped out of his villa by Irish raiders who sold him in Ireland as a slave.  Although a tragic event here, in Ireland, is where Patrick began hearing the voice of God in dreams and visions and consequently, had a spiritual awakening.  After six grueling years tending sheep under harsh conditions on the Irish countryside, he had a dream from God telling him to go to the coast where he could escape back to Britain, and this is exactly what he did.  However, after returning home the Lord continued to speak to Patrick and called him back to Ireland to be a missionary to the very people who enslaved him.

Patrick brought the 

gospel to Ireland and was a profound missionary.  Patrick would set up churches in small towns, combated the Druids and their paganism, converted sons and daughters of kings, and had a large following of women slaves.  Patrick devoted his life to bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth.  In the context of the Roman Empire Ireland was thought to be just that.  It was believed by some in the empire to be a cold, almost inhabitable wasteland.  It was here that Patrick gave his life.

Patrick in his own words:

"I declare in truth and with joy in my heart-before God and his holy angels- that I have ever had any motive in my work except preaching the good news and his promises.  That is the only reason I returned to Ireland-a place I barely escaped alive."

My favorite prayer attributed to Patrick:

"Christ protect me today.  

Christ with me/ Christ before me/ Christ behind me/ Christ below me/ Christ above me/ Christ to the right of me/ Christ to the left of me/ Christ where I lie/ Christ where I sit/ Christ where I stand/ Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me/ Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me/ Christ in every eye which sees me/ Christ in every ear which hears me."

"Patrick gave his life to the people who had enslaved him until he died at 77 years of age. He had seen untold thousands of people convert as between 30-40 of the 150 tribes had become substantially Christian. He had trained 1000 pastors, planted 700 churches, and was the first noted person in history to take a strong public stand against slavery."

Patrick is indeed a man to be esteemed in a long line of men who faithfully have preached the gospel and, with us are a part of the communio sanctorum (communion of saints) namely, the saint alive and dead who make up the single "mystical body" of Christ.