know much about St. Patrick. So I took a crash course in “St. Patrick 101” to see what I could find out about him.

 

It turns out that Patrick wasn’t originally from Ireland, rather Scotland. When he was 16, he was kidnapped, taken to Ireland and forced to shepherd the flocks of his captor, Milchu (a druid high priest in Dalriada). This is where Patrick was first drawn to the Church. Every day he would pray fervently to persevere through the hardships of being kept from his family, and to endure the rough manual labor. He later wrote about those times: “…and the faith grew in me, and the spirit was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same, so that whilst in the woods and on the mountain, even before the dawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurt from it, whether there was snow or ice or rain; nor was there any slothfulness in me, such as I see now, because the spirit was then fervent within me.”

How many of us, at 16, really concentrated on God as a central point in our lives? I’m sure my thoughts were more off concentrating on homework, girls, cars, sports, work and girls. One could argue, that since he was a prisoner, he didn’t have all the distractions we have today. Ah, but look at what he was distracted with. He was probably forced into very difficult physical work and probably at constant fear of being beaten or killed because he was just some stolen property to his masters. Yet, facing all that, he was still able to look to God for strength. He never lost his faith that God would lead him to safety.

After six years, God did just that. An angel appeared to Patrick and inspired him to break from his captivity. When Patrick regained his freedom at age 22, he discerned God’s call to the religious life. He studied in Lérins and Auxerre, France. Under the guidance of St. Germain, he worked as a missionary in Britain to combat heresies that were spreading. Patrick worked well against the heretical teachings, and Germain was very pleased with his abilities.

At age 43, Patrick was ordained a Bishop. Pope St. Celestine I commissioned him with the task of spreading the Gospel to the pagan nation of Ireland. Patrick already knew his calling because he had been having dreams about the children of Ireland stretching out their hands and calling him back: “O holy youth, come back to Erin, and walk once more amongst us.”

Patrick had learned the Celtic language during his years of captivity, so he was very adept at teaching the people. Patrick gained the conversions and trust of local kings, who granted him safety in his work. One of the first places Patrick went was his former captive land, Dalriada. In accord with the Gospel, Patrick loved his persecutor so much that he taught him the ways of Christ. Patrick quickly spread the Church’s teachings throughout all of Ireland, which then sent missionaries out and strengthened the faith throughout Europe.

St. Patrick is a model for young adults today. We can learn a lot from his boldness to serve the Church and his willingness to step into hostile lands and proselytize the druids. In his eagerness to do God’s bidding, he was able to do great things for the Church: performing many miracles, defending against heretical beliefs, and teaching the Truth to an entire nation.

May we continue to work hard for the Church using the mindset of St. Patrick: “Christ shield me this day: 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 arise, Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me” (from “The Breastplate of St. Patrick”).