CHURCH
HISTORY
Apostle
to the Irish: The Real Saint Patrick
By
Charles Colson
Breakpoint Ministry
CBN.com
-- If you ask people who Saint Patrick was, you're likely to hear that
he was an Irishman who chased the snakes out of Ireland. It may surprise
you to learn that the real Saint Patrick was not actually Irish -- yet his robust
faith changed the Emerald Isle forever. Patrick was born in Roman Britain
to a middle-class family in about A.D. 390. When Patrick was a teenager, marauding
Irish raiders attacked his home. Patrick was captured, taken to Ireland, and sold
to an Irish king, who put him to work as a shepherd. In his excellent book,
How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill describes the life Patrick
lived. Cahill writes, "The work of such slave-shepherds was bitterly isolated,
months at a time spent alone in the hills." Patrick had been raised in
a Christian home, but he didn't really believe in God. But now -- hungry, lonely,
frightened, and bitterly cold -- Patrick began seeking out a relationship with
his Heavenly Father. As he wrote in his Confessions, "I would pray constantly
during the daylight hours" and "the love of God . . . surrounded me more and more."
Six years after his capture, God spoke to Patrick in a dream, saying, "Your
hungers are rewarded. You are going home. Look -- your ship is ready." What
a startling command! If he obeyed, Patrick would become a fugitive slave, constantly
in danger of capture and punishment. But he did obey -- and God protected him.
The young slave walked nearly 200 miles to the Irish coast. There he boarded a
waiting ship and traveled back to Britain and his family. But, as you might
expect, Patrick was a different person now, and the restless young man could not
settle back into his old life. Eventually, Patrick recognized that God was calling
him to enter a monastery. In time, he was ordained as a priest, then as a bishop.
Finally -- thirty years after God had led Patrick away from Ireland --
he called him back to the Emerald Isle as a missionary. The Irish of the
fifth century were a pagan, violent, and barbaric people. Human sacrifice was
commonplace. Patrick understood the danger and wrote: "I am ready to be murdered,
betrayed, enslaved -- whatever may come my way." Cahill notes that Patrick's
love for the Irish "shines through his writings . . . He [worried] constantly
for his people, not just for their spiritual but for their physical welfare."
Through Patrick, God converted thousands. Cahill writes, "Only this former
slave had the right instincts to impart to the Irish a New Story, one that made
sense of all their old stories and brought them a peace they had never known before."
Because of Patrick, a warrior people "lay down the swords of battle, flung away
the knives of sacrifice, and cast away the chains of slavery." As it is
with many Christian holidays, Saint Patrick's Day has lost much of its original
meaning. Instead of settling for parades, cardboard leprechauns, and "the wearing
of the green," we ought to recover our Christian heritage, celebrate the great
evangelist, and teach our kids about this Christian hero. Saint Patrick
didn't chase the snakes out of Ireland, as many believe. Instead, the Lord used
him to bring into Ireland a sturdy faith in the one true God - and to forever
transform the Irish people. For further reading:
Thomas Cahill,
Hinges of History:
How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role From
the Fall of Rome to Rise of Medieval Europe (Doubleday, 1996).
T.
M. Moore, Celtic
Flame: The Burden Of Patrick (Xlibris, 2000).
The
Confession of St. Patrick, translated from the Latin by Ludwig Bieler
| From
BreakPoint, Copyright Prison Fellowship Ministries. "BreakPoint
with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship
Ministries. Reprinted with permission of Prison Fellowship, P.O. Box 17500, Washington,
DC, 20041-0500." Heard on more than 1000 radio stations nationwide.
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