St. Paddy’s is lots of fun, with the wearin’ o’ the green and “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” buttons. But do you know why we celebrate? No, Patrick never drove snakes out of Ireland. He wasn’t a leprechaun, and he didn’t drink green beer. He wasn’t Irish, and he wasn’t even named Patrick!
Some say his given name was Succat, and some say Maewyn. Born in Wales sometime in the 4th century, he was captured by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland at the age of sixteen.
While a slave, Maewyn learned the language and customs of Ireland and converted to Christianity. After six years, a dream convinced him to escape captivity. He went home to Britain, then on to Italy to study Christianity and prepare for a life of ministry. He changed his name to Patricius (in English, it’s Patrick), to reflect the new life he now had in Jesus.
Years later, against his family’s wishes, Patrick returned to the land of his captivity. He replaced the martyred Palladius as missionary to the Irish Celts. While not the first to preach Christianity in Ireland, Patrick was very successful, leading many thousands to faith in Jesus.
He challenged the Druids at the hill of Tara. Every year, the Druids extinguished all flames and lit a huge bonfire from which all other fires must be re-lit. One year, before they started the fire, Patrick already had one going. The people were enraged. He was brought before the king, Leory, to explain.
Patrick’s explanation was that he lit the fire to tell the people about a new God, a God that is more powerful than their Druid gods. He proposed a duel, in the fashion of Elijah. The Druids would prepare with dry wood, and Patrick would prepare with green wet wood. Whichever god could light the fire was the true God. Leory agreed to the duel. The king said that if this new god was indeed more powerful, he would follow Him. The Druids’ wood never lit, but Patrick’s burst into flames. Leory embraced Christianity, and declared that all of Ireland should follow this powerful God. Many people came to faith in Jesus. Jews were not forcibly converted, nor have Jews ever been persecuted in Ireland.
Patrick remained in Ireland for thirty years, setting up schools and churches. He used shamrocks–which grow in abundance in Ireland– to illustrate the Christian teaching of the Trinity: that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist as three separate parts of one Person. He was many times arrested, and every time escaped. He wrote his confession, the story of his life and ministry, before his death. Click here to read St. Patrick’s confession.
Copyright 2009, Kathryn A. Frazier http://preciousholidays.wordpress.com
See also St. Patrick: Man Behind the Myth
Filed under: Christian, Christianity, faith, History, Holidays, Interfaith Relations, Religion, St. Patrick's Day Tagged: | Christian, Christianity, faith, History, Holidays, Ireland, Jewish, Messianic Judaism, Religion, shamrock, St. Patrick, Trinity
