Day 25: Who Is Saint Patrick?

St. Patrick, Missionary to Ireland

Who is the real saint Patrick and why do we celebrate his feast day? Today marks an occasion that has become largely cultural. Its original Christian intent has been sullied through secular traditions of excessive drinking, parades, and parties of various sorts. For any truly good celebration we must remember the reasons and purposes of the occasion from the beginning.

Patrick was a British living in the 400s, a time when all Christians still lived as members of a united Church. He was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave, where he experienced a spiritual conversion of heart. After escaping he later returned to Ireland, a land of druids and pagans, to work tirelessly until his death as a missionary. As one biographer writes, "In a dream vision it seemed 'all the children of Ireland from their mothers’ wombs were stretching out their hands' to him, [and] he understood the vision to be a call to do mission work in pagan Ireland." 

He was a firm believer in the power of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and wrote a beautiful prayer entitled "The Breastplate of St. Patrick," which is quoted as follows:

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 (source).

As we pray and witness in our own community of Alexandria, VA, let us be inspired by the example that Saint Patrick leaves us: to base our efforts on the power of Christ, and to be fervent missionaries of the Gospel of Life among our neighbors. Although we face difficulties and opposition at times, as did Patrick, the Lord will bless our work for His Glory as He did Patrick's. In the words of another biographer, "By the time he died in 461, Patrick had converted virtually all of Ireland to Christianity, and he is a reminder that God speaks to us through His servants." May Christ speak through us as we spread the message of life throughout our own city.