For hundreds of years, people all over the world have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. But very little is known about the man whose life the holiday honors. Much of St. Patrick’s story is a mystery, shrouded by centuries of myth and legend. This much we do know: St. Patrick was not Irish, He was Scottish; His real name was Maewyn Succat, and then later changed to Patricius. He lived from 389-465 AD.
The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in the United States. The Irish have been celebrating the feast of St. Patrick since the ninth century, but the first recorded parade anywhere was in Boston in 1737. The first parade was not Catholic in nature, though, because the majority of Irish immigrants to the colonies were Protestant. Ireland did not have a parade of its own until 1931, in Dublin. Even today, 18 out of the 20 largest St. Patrick's Day parades are in the U.S. -- New York's parade is the largest.
St. Patrick used a three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, forever linking the shamrock with him and the Irish. St. Patrick would tie shamrocks to his robes, which is why the color green is worn today on St. Patrick's Day.
The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in the United States. The Irish have been celebrating the feast of St. Patrick since the ninth century, but the first recorded parade anywhere was in Boston in 1737. The first parade was not Catholic in nature, though, because the majority of Irish immigrants to the colonies were Protestant. Ireland did not have a parade of its own until 1931, in Dublin. Even today, 18 out of the 20 largest St. Patrick's Day parades are in the U.S. -- New York's parade is the largest.
St. Patrick used a three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, forever linking the shamrock with him and the Irish. St. Patrick would tie shamrocks to his robes, which is why the color green is worn today on St. Patrick's Day.
Saint Patrick was the son of a deacon and the grandson of a priest. Patrick’s father was Calpornius, a magistrate and a deacon to the British church. Patrick was born in Scotland near a village called Bannavem Taberniae, which is now called Kilpatrick near Dumbarton (just northwest of Glasgow, Scotland); it is located at the joining of the Clyde and Leven rivers. He was a Scotsman, not an Irishman. He was buried in a church yard of a Protestant Cathedral in Downpatrick, Ireland. His tombstone only has one word inscribed on it: “Patric.” Church historians refer to him as “The Apostle to Ireland.” The color associated mostly with St. Patrick is blue, not green.
In Saint Patrick’s letters (The Confessions, consisting of twenty-five chapters, The Letter to Corocticus, consisting of ten chapters and The Book of Armagh which contains a Hymn written in ancient Irish called “St. Patrici Canticum Scotticum”, he is clear on some facts: He is not an Irishman; he never mentions Rome or any pope in connection with anything Biblical or Christian; and he was not born on March 17. Furthermore, Patricius was not canonized (made into a saint) until four centuries after his death; and he never even visited Dublin. Patrick recognized only the scriptures as the final authority in matters of faith and practice, not the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church. He never appealed to a bishop, council, pope, or king for any religious advice regarding any spiritual issue.
Just over 1,500 years ago (around 405 A.D), a young Scottish teenager was stolen away from his family—kidnapped by a band of Irish raiders—and sold into slavery in a foreign land (Ireland). He was carried away from Scotland to Belfast, Ireland, when he was 16 years old by a gang of marauding Picts (or Celts). After six years of tending the sheep of his slave master, he escaped and returned to England where he was again in captivity as a slave for a while. Upon receiving a commission (in a vision) to evangelize Ireland, he returned and labored there for about 53 years. Legend surrounds St. Patrick’s work from start to finish, but the documents containing these fabrications were not gathered or published as facts until St. Patrick was romanized by the Catholic church in the 8th century.
Years later, he finally managed to escape and make his way home . . . only to feel God calling him to return to the land of his slavery! Patrick was to preach the light of truth to a people lost in darkness: the people of Ireland. At that time, the Irish were pagans and druids. They worshipped all kinds of gods and spirits and supernatural beings. Their lives were held captive by fear and superstition. So great was the love God gave Patrick for the people of Ireland that he was willing to risk the very real possibility of imprisonment, torture, and death. Earlier attempts to reach the Irish had been unsuccessful. Others had thoroughly failed. But having lived in the land for six years himself, Patrick understood the language, the culture, the customs. He was able to communicate with the people in a way they understood. His mission field was wild and primitive. The people who inhabited its primeval forests were animists and they worshiped such things as trees and stones and wells. They believed that spirits dwelt in these idols and they sacrificed their little children on heathen alters to appease the gods and to secure, so they thought, better harvests.
About a year after his arrival in Ireland, Patrick did something that called much attention to his ministry. He challenged the "royal authority by lighting the Paschal fire on the hill of Slane on the night of Easter Eve. It chanced to be the occasion of a pagan festival at Tara, during which no fire might be kindled until the royal fire had been lit."
Ah, this should put iron in our blood! Glorious, audacious Patrick challenged all the forces of hell. Not a little flame did he kindle, but a bonfire! All the people were transfixed and King Loigaire was amazed at his daring and said: "If we do not extinguish this flame it will sweep over all Ireland." This prophecy proved true for it seemed that a holy fire fell from the altar of heaven and for years there were such tears of repentance as have seldom been witnessed by the angels of glory. When the flames of the great conflagration on Tara's hill, ignited by Patrick, illumined the countryside, the king was curious to see what kind of mortal this Patrick could be, and he sent for him. The druid priests were infuriated and declared they would destroy the preacher by sorcery if he dared to come.
But in the dim light of that Easter morn, in the year 428 A.D., the valiant hero of the Cross and his assistant missionaries marched boldly into the presence of the monarch and told him that Christ was the light of the world and preached Jesus crucified and risen from the dead with such persuasive eloquence that the king was born again by the Spirit of the living God. We are told that Patrick and his company advanced toward the Irish sovereign arrayed in white and carrying crosses and singing an evangelist hymn. After this the king believed on Christ, Patrick won and baptized multiplied thousands of converts and when his years of ministry were finished, most of Ireland was evangelized. Innumerable churches dotted its hills and valleys and from their ranks sent forth zealous missionaries to proclaim the message of redemption with incomparable passion to the pagan tribes of Scotland, England, Germany and Gaul.
Patrick preached that the people had good reason to live in fear—though not because they might offend some imaginary spirit beings or fail to appease man-made gods. They should fear the judgment of the one true God. Someday every human being would have to stand before Him and account for their sin—every evil thought, every unkind act, every cruel word: Sins of ignorance and sins of willful presumptuous disobedience to God’s commands.
Patricius himself, speaks of having baptized thousands of grown men. Intimately familiar with the Irish clan system (his former slave master, Milchu, had been a chieftain), Patrick's strategy was to convert chiefs first, who would then convert their clans through their influence. Reportedly, Milchu was one of his earliest converts. He is credited for having started over 300 local assemblies. It is interesting to notice that after Patrick’s death that Ireland came to be called the “island of saints.” Saint Patrick was a “Bible-believing missionary-minded evangelist. All of the monasteries set up following his ministry were missionary institutions (located in Ireland at Armagh, Bancho, Clonar, Clonmacnois, Derry, and Glendolough); they were organized to train missionaries in companies of twelve to thirteen to convert sinners in Scotland, North Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and North Italy. The thousands of Christian converts won by these missionaries never worshipped Mary or took the roman mass. Saint Patrick would walk through villages and beat a big drum to draw the people to him, and then he would stand on the drum and preach the gospel to them.
The Roman Catholic Church down through the years has been very adept at "saint-making," but this old preacher was certainly not one of them. "I, Patrick, a sinner" -- that is the way the "Patron Saint of Ireland" begins his own "Confession." He starts his letter to Coroticus in the same striking manner.
Saint Patrick’s faith was grounded soundly in the word of God. Patricius was a real man of God with gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ burning in his heart. Though he was not solely responsible for converting the island, Saint Patrick was quite successful. He made missionary journeys all over Ireland, and it soon became known as one of Europe's Christian centers. This, of course, was very important to fifth-century Christians, for Ireland at that time was one of the "uttermost parts of the earth." Hands that once fought and killed with the sword were now folded reverently in prayer. The heathen stone idols, known as Cromlechs, that once marked their graves gave way to the cross of Jesus. Druid paganism was crushed and Ireland became known as the "Isle of Saints."
This was true for the people Patrick preached to in Ireland, and it’s true for us today. The Bible tells us that all of us have fallen short of God’s holy and righteous standards. We’ve all sinned. Ultimately, the punishment for sin is death and hell—eternal separation from God. But in His goodness and mercy, God made a way for us to be reconciled to Himself. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). God sent Jesus to take the punishment in our place—to die on the cross and pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26).
We don’t have to live in fear of death. Because of Jesus, the power of sin and death has been broken. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). No matter what challenges we face, no matter how difficult our lives may be, we can draw comfort from this blessed assurance: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39).
All who trust in Him can look forward to experiencing this love forever in Heaven, a place so beautiful it defies description. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Thousands of people responded to Patrick’s message. They found peace with God, experienced His forgiveness, and began a new life through Jesus Christ. What about you? Would you like to know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and receive eternal life through Him? If you haven’t already committed your life to Christ, you might pray something like this: Dear Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. Thank You for loving me so much that You were willing to sacrifice Your life to save me, to die on the cross to set me free from sin. Help me to live in that freedom day by day. Fill my heart with joy and peace as I learn to trust in You. Amen.
A story is told about St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, and the little plant we call the Shamrock, the national emblem of Ireland. Whether the story be true or only a legend, it has in it a great truth which every one of us must know for it lies at the very foundation of the Gospel. When Patrick was preaching at Tara some of the Irish people came to him and said, "Your preaching is wrong. You tell us there is only one true God, and yet you speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. How can that be? You have three Gods, not one." "I have one God in three," said Patrick. The people shook their heads and said, "We cannot understand that." Patrick seemed distressed at their ignorance. He stooped down and plucked a shamrock which grew close by his feet, and holding it up before them, asked, "How many leaves are there?" "One," said some of the people. "Three," said others.
"Both answers are right," said Patrick; "the one divides into three; the three unite in one, and my God is three in one and one in three--Father, Son, and Spirit--one God." This is one of the great mysteries of the Book of God at which the great and wise ones of earth have stumbled. It is one of God's revelations, which we are called to believe just because He has made it known. The greatest wonder of all is that the three-one God should interest Himself in lost and ruined sinners.
This great truth is wonderfully unfolded in the gospel and in the salvation of a sinner. God loves the sinner. Christ died for him. The Spirit convicts and converts him. Thus the Godhead--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--are deeply interested in you, reader. Have you believed the love of God? Have you rested on the blood of Christ? Have you yielded to the Spirit's stirrings? Can you say, "I know God as my Father, Jesus Christ as my Saviour, and the Holy Spirit as my Teacher and Guide"? They are truly rich who can say this in truth. "Without God" the wordling is poor, even though he may be worth millions.
Saint Patrick believe the Jesus Christ was the head of the church, not the pope. He believed the word of God. There were 113 references or quotations from Scripture found in his two epistles and his alphabetical poem and, incidentally, there is never a mention of the merits of saints, salvation by sacraments, the Eucharist, relics or holy places, and you will search in vain for any superstitious teaching about the Virgin Mary and the heathenish doctrine of purgatory. The real Patrick was a Bible-reading, Bible-believing, Bible-preaching missionary and it was the Gospel of the Son of God that lifted the Irish out of the darkness of paganism into the glorious light of the Truth.
Patricius also believed that all believers were equal. Additionally, Patricius believed in repentance, faith and conversion, before baptism: He said in one of his writing: "Go, ye, teach. Meet is the order of teaching, before baptism. For it cannot be that the body, receive baptism, before the soul receives the verity of faith." He only believed in baptism by immersion, not the Roman sprinkling of babies.
