For over 1000 years Patrick (ca 386-461) has been celebrated as the patron saint of Ireland. He was simply a dedicated servant of Jesus working where he was planted. March 17 has been set aside as a special day of remembrance. Born in Britain, captured and enslaved in Ireland for 6 years as a shepherd, he escaped and returned home. With little formal training and even outright discouragement from parents and the church leaders after he got back home he returned about a decade later with a passion to share the good news of Jesus to the heretofore illiterate tribal and warring people who had earlier captured him. His efforts changed the course of these peoples lives, established monasteries, inspired ‘peregrini’ (wandering evangelists) and brought faith back into a stagnant European church. By any standard, the achievement of Patrick, a man with limited learning and meager resources, who throughout the course of his ministry struggled against incredible odds, was remarkable.
Just about everyone seems to know something about the patron saint of the Irish:
-He is Ireland's most cherished native son.
-He bested the high king's druids at Tara, in a match of wits and power.
-He taught the doctrine of the Trinity using a shamrock.
-He drove the snakes out of Ireland.
For all of which reasons he merits his own day, March 17, on which the sons and daughters of Ireland, scattered all over the world, celebrate him and his achievement by dressing up like leprechauns, parading through major cities, and drinking green beer to the point of stupefaction. Except that none of the reasons for which the memory of Patrick is celebrated today are true. And the ways by which he is remembered are nothing short of a sad disgrace. Patrick is without peer in his generation, the greatest saint of the 5th century, and a man whose name deserves to be remembered with seasons of worshipful gratitude, repentance, and taking of vows.
Church history provides us with many examples of men and women who, having received a clear and compelling call to serve the Lord, moved faithfully ahead for the entire course of their lives, obedient to the Lord and His example. Patrick is one of these. From his experience we can learn a great deal about finding and following the Lord's call in the midst of growing confusion and deepening darkness, and about the power of a clear and compelling call from God to shape everything in our lives.
A calling out of shame and seeking
Patrick's calling crystallized out of his experience of desperate depravity and shame, through sincere seeking after the Lord. His experience as a slave in Ireland brought him the sorrow both of loneliness and fear, as well as of shame and repentance.As he labored faithfully to care for his master's flocks, Patrick began to search his soul and to seek the Lord, eager to find some comfort and direction for his life. From his autobiographical Confessions he declares:
it was when I was yet a slave, for more than six long years, that I with tears then sought Him strenuously, and found Him - as I ought to have done much sooner on..
-lines 657-661
Prayer was the starting-point for Patrick in seeking the Lord and searching out His will:
And so I turned to prayer to find relief in God, although I had not made belief my firm conviction as of yet.
I prayed throughout the day, and many times I stayed awake, beseeching God to pity me.
I found the love and fear of God to be advancing in my soul;
my faith began to grow, and I began to understand that God was working in my spirit.
I would pray a hundred times each day, and by the light of moon and stars, as often, too.
I found through prayer a pleasant means to do my work without complaint or fear, and would remain out on the mountain and in the woods through snow or frost or rain.
I rose to pray before the morning light appeared each day, and suffered no adversity, nor was I sluggish in my work.
It was because the Spirit of the living God was in me seething, freeing me from fear and sin.
lines 309-328
His faith kindled and emboldened through prayer, even before he knew God, is reason enough to honor and get to know him as an example like the ones recalled in Hebrews:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
Hebrews 12:1,2a
Maybe this will inspire us to help dispel the tawdry way he is ‘celebrated’ and get to know him better.
David Boyd March 16, 2025
(grateful acknowledgment to ‘The Legacy of Patrick’ by T M Moore for much source material)
コメント