Less than a century after the death of St. Alban a sixteen year-old boy was taken captive by Irish raiders and carried off into slavery. Occasionally something insignificant in itself turns out to have undreamt of consequences; this was one of those times. The chain of events that began with this young man’s abduction led to the establishment of Christianity in Ireland. From there it spread to Scotland and ultimately back to northern and eastern England, where the Christian faith had disappeared after the Romans left and were replaced by the pagan Anglo-Saxons.
The unlucky captive was Patricius, the son of a Roman official named Calpornius. Patrick, as he has become known, grew up on his family’s estate at a place called Bannavem Taburniae. Nobody knows for sure where this was, but it is likely it was somewhere in the south west of Britain. Patrick’s family was Christian, but as a child his faith was lukewarm,. During the years he spent tending sheep for his Irish master he grew closer to God. He tells us:
After I came to Ireland the love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And my spirit was moved so that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many in the night … I used to get up for prayer before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm.
After six years of bondage Patrick heard a voice speak to him in a dream, telling him to return to his own country. He walked across Ireland and found a ship prepared to take him back to Britain. His difficulties were not over. The ship landed in a deserted part of the land and food soon ran short. After traveling for twenty-eight days Patrick and the rest of the ship’s company were starving. The captain turned on Patrick, demanding to know why his God did not send them food if he was truly all-powerful as Patrick claimed. Patrick, full of confidence, told him that God would indeed send food. Soon afterwards the party came upon a herd of wild pigs and ate their fill.
After some time Patrick returned to his old home and his family. One night he saw in another dream a vision of a man from Ireland. In the dream the man gave him a letter In which he both saw and heard the voice of the Irish asking him to return. He did not do so immediately. It may be have been at this time that he travelled to Gaul where he studied for many years – probably with St. Germain at Auxerre – and became first a priest and then a bishop.
When Patrick eventually began his mission to the Irish in 433, he was faced with many difficulties. Ireland was not a united country, but a place of many clans and tribes ruled by more than one hundred and fifty kings and chieftains. The most powerful of these was known as the high king. Britain and Gaul had both been ruled by the Romans for centuries and had adopted Roman ways. Ireland had never become part of the Roman Empire and its culture and society was quite different to that of its neighbours. Patrick, who had already spent many years there, would have had an understanding of the people he wanted to convert that few other would-be missionaries could have shared. Even for Patrick, the work was not easy.
Many stories are told about Patrick’s years in Ireland, so many that it is hard to work out what really happened and when. what truly happened and what was legend. Patrick probably began his mission by converting some of the lesser Irish chieftains. He travelled to the court of the high king Laeghaire** at Tara, where he overcame pagan opposition by signs and miracles and was permitted to preach the Christian faith. King Laeghaire himself did not become Christian, but many of his family and followers did and Christianity became at least officially tolerated. In 439 three bishops were sent to help Patrick, and he was also joined by an Irish convert, Benignus, who later succeeded him as archbishop. Some time after this Patrick may have traveled to Rome to visit Pope Leo the Great, and the Irish Church was formally organised and divided into bishoprics. Patrick himself was appointed primate of Ireland and archbishop of Armagh.
Patrick worked tirelessly for nearly thirty years to convert the Irish, travelling widely through the country. In the Confession he wrote towards the end of his life he tells us that he was in danger of death no less than twelve times. The danger was not only from pagans: at one point many of his converts were killed or taken captive by a Christian Welsh prince. Patrick’s hard work and courage was rewarded, and by the time he died in 461 the Christian faith had been established throughout Ireland.
PRAYERS:
God our Father, you sent Saint Patrick to preach your glory to the people of Ireland. By the help of his prayers, may all Christians proclaim your love to all men. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
St.Patrick’s Breastplate: (extract)
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation.
FEAST DAY: March 17th
TIMELINE: Born c.385; died 461
HISTORICAL NOTE: Two well known biographies of Patrick survive, but both were written long after his death and contain a mixture of facts and popular stories. Various places have been suggested as Patrick’s birthplace, including Dumbarton in Scotland and south Wales, but historians now think it was probably somewhere in south-west England. The name of Patrick’s mother is traditionally thought to be Conchessa. She is sometimes said to be the niece of St. Martin of Tours, but there is no evidence to support this.
FURTHER READING:
And God Blessed the Irish by Chris Driscoll
© Kathryn Faulkner 2005. All rights reserved.
