St. Patrick

This past week we celebrated the feast of St. Patrick. St. Patrick is both the patron saint of Ireland and also the patron saint of our own diocese. So this feast is of special importance for our local church, so much so that it actually gets promoted for us to a solemnity! (Hence we can be dispensed from our Lenten fasts) With that in mind, though, who actually is St. Patrick? What do we know about him?

Believe it or not, St. Patrick was not originally from Ireland. He was actually born in Scotland in 387 AD. He was abducted as a teenager by Irish pirates, taken back to Ireland and sold into slavery. Six years later, he managed to escape his slavery and returned to Britain. However, he felt called by God and would eventually be ordained a priest and then later a bishop. He felt called also to return to Ireland and, with the pope’s permission, began a mission to Ireland to evangelize his former slavers, imitating the love and mercy of Christ in loving his enemies.

He is renowned for driving the snakes from Ireland. This could be understood as literal, in that the first snakes were just found in Ireland a couple of years ago; but it could also be understood spiritually in that he singlehandedly drove the druids out of Ireland in the course of his ministry. He is also famous for explaining the Trinity to the Irish king, in a rough analogy, using the shamrock. This is why our diocesan crest features a shamrock.

May St. Patrick pray for us today, that just as he drove the serpents from Ireland, he may drive the ancient serpent from our lives as well. May he pray also for Ireland, that the faith may be ever deepened there and throughout the world!