St. Patrick
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About 400 years after the time of Christ, a boy called Patrick lived with his family on the West coast of Britain. His family and friends were Christians and Patrick grew up with a strong personal faith in God. When Patrick was 16 years old, the town was raided by pirates. Some people managed to escape but Patrick and some of his friends were captured and put on board a ship and brought to Ireland. The leader of the pirates was Niall of the Nine Hostages. |
| Patrick was sold to a chieftain called Milchiu. He left Patrick on the lonely hillside of Sliabh Mis with the instruction, “Take good care of my sheep and pigs”. |  |
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Patrick
was often cold and hungry but he never lost his faith. He
prayed 100 times a day and as many at night.One night as
he was praying, a voice spoke to him. “Go to the
coast,” said the voice. “There will be a ship
there, waiting to take you home”. Patrick
immediately set off , believing that God had spoken to
him in answer to his prayers. When he got to the coast,
it was just as the voice had said. After a long voyage, Patrick reached home. His family and friends were delighted to see him. At night, he continued to have strange dreams. He could hear children’s voices calling, “Come back and walk among us again”. He knew God was asking him to go back to Ireland and teach the pagan Irish people about Jesus. Patrick studied hard and became a priest. After further study, he became a bishop. |
| He returned to Ireland in 432 AD. When he arrived, he set out to visit the High King at Tara. It was the custom at that time for the people to light a fire in honour of the pagan god of Spring. King Laoire decreed that he, as High King, should light the first fire.On Holy Thursday, Patrick and his followers were camped on the nearby hill of Slane. Unaware of the king’s order, Patrick instructed his men to light a fire to celebrate Easter. King Laoire saw Patrick’s fire and he was furious. “Who has dared to light a fire before me? Arrest that man and bring him to me!”, he ordered.So Patrick came face to face with King Laoire. “I did not mean to offend your Majesty,” said Patrick humbly. “I only wished to celebrate Easter. That was when Jesus Christ the Son of God was crucified to save us from our sins. On Easter day, He rose again from the dead. Now the Holy Spirit lives with us as our helper and guide.” King Laoire was a little confused and said, “I don’t understand”. |  |
So Patrick picked a shamrock saying,
“Just as the shamrock has 3 leaves on 1 stem so our God is
made up of 3 parts- God the Father, our Creator, God the Son, our
Redeemer and God the Holy Spirit, our Helper.”
King Laoire was so impressed that he gave Patrick permission to preach throughout Ireland although he did not become a Christian himself. So Patrick spent the rest of his life in Ireland preaching and teaching and baptising new Christians. He died in 461 AD and is believed to have been buried in Downpatrick in Co.Down.The work that he began was carried on after his death by those whom he had taught. This was the beginning of the Christian church in Ireland and is the reason why we celebrate St. Patrick’s day.
