Pineridge Blog

Saint Patrick

I got to thinking that you never hear much about the Saint in St. Patrick. I looked into it a bit and found that, as with anyone who lived centuries ago, there are layers of myth and legend surrounding who Patrick of Ireland truly was.

Most agree that the core story of his life is that he was not originally from Ireland, and in fact was first taken there against his will. When he was a teenager Patrick was abducted from his home in England by Irish pirates who took him back to Ireland to tend their herds. During that terrible, lonely time his faith and trust in God seems to have grown greatly. He had something of a visionary experience in that when he was in his early 20’s the way to escape his captivity was revealed to him in a dream. Following the instruction of the dream he was able to return home. But once home the dreams continued taking the form of letters from the people of Ireland calling him back to share his faith with them.

Patrick studied for the priesthood in order to prepare for the great task of returning to Ireland to spread the gospel. His family thought he was crazy. After he was ordained he returned to Ireland and met with great success spreading the Good News among the people of the Emerald Isle.

The native religion of Ireland was Celtic worship, in which the spirits of nature were central to their faith. St Patrick is often depicted with a shamrock, because instead of denying the native faith of the Celtic people, he used what was familiar to them to help them understand Christianity. In the shamrock they could see the three leaves representing the Trinity, the three persons of God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), as well as their one shared spiritual life.

On this St. Patrick’s Day I give thanks that in some real sense Patrick of Ireland is our spiritual ancestor who helped people learn about Christianity by building on what they already knew and believed.