 |
Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Britain as Maewyn Succat in 387 A.D. to the family of a Roman official, Calphurnius. At the age of 16 he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland. After six years in captivity, he managed to escape by boat to Britain and from there he travelled to France to Saint Martin's monastery in Tours where he studied under the tutelage of Saint Germain of Auxerre and was ordained a priest. Pope Calestine I gave him the name Patricius and send him abroad on missionary work in Ireland.
He returned to Ireland in 432 A.D. and through his missionary work he successfully converted the people of the island from paganism to Christianity. History reports that he used the shamrock leaves to explain the meaning of the Holy Trinity. Among his works he wrote "The Confession" defending his life of service, and "A Letter to Coroticus" denoucing slavery and the British King Coroticus for kidnapping and enslavement of his converts. These are the only surviving documents after the fall of Rome and are now in Bibliothèque National in Paris, France.
During his tenure of his missionary work, he travelled to many places especially the Celtic countries. Evidently, many places in Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are named in his honour.
In 455 A.D. Saint Patrick became primatial bishop at Ard Macha, a place not far from Emain Macha, seat of the Ulster Kings. He died on March 461 A.D. The date of his death has been a dispute some believing it to be March the 8th and others March the 9th. Therefore to arrive at a conclusion both dates were added together and since then the official date is March the 17th.
Saint Patrick is much adored by many Christian churches and he is the patron saint of the Church of Ireland. Sacred wells, mountains and placenames in his honour have drawn many people throughout the year.
History and legend are interwoven in the story of Saint Patrick, where actual history and legend are difficult to seperate.
Tales of Saint Patrick driving snakes out of Ireland is well known throughout the world. One version of the legend tells of Saint Patrick standing upon a hill with a wooden staff casting the serpents to the sea thereby banishing all serpants from the shores of Ireland.
Anther legend tells that an old serpent resisted the banishment. He is said to have made a box and invite the serpent to enter. The serpent protested that the box was too small and the discussion turned to heated argument, and finally the serpent was prompted to enter the box to proof his point. As the serpent entered the box, Saint Patrick abruptly closed to lid and immediately cast the box into the sea.
It is a fact that there are no snakes in Ireland, but there is the possibility that there never was any snake in Ireland since the period the island was seperated from the continent at the end of the ice age. Or perhaps Saint Patrick really did banish all the snakes from Ireland.
The serpent was a common symbol of pagan religious worship. The banishing the serpents from Ireland could probably be symbolic of the conversion of the people from paganism to Christianity. Although Saint Patrick was not the first to introduced Christianity to Ireland, he was responsible for abolishing the pagan rights of the Druid at Tara. The warrior chief, princes and thousands of their followers were baptised in the Holy Wells which bear his name till today.
In the Middle Ages, there were great anxiety to mystify the bodies or the relics of the saints. This result in discrepancies in the tradition as to the burial places of the Christian saints including Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick died in 493 A.D. according to a tradition and was buried among the graves of Saint Columba and Saint Bridget in Downpatrick, County Down. Saint Patrick's jawbone was preserved in a silver shrine as a relic against evil and are often requested at childbirth or when needed for epileptic fits. Other legend mention that Saint Patrick spent his last days at Glastonbury and was buried there. Today, the Chapel of Saint Patrick still stands as a part of Glastonbury Abbey. In 688 A.D. there is evidence that a group of Irish pilgrims lead by Saint Indractus made pilgrimage to his tomb during the reign of the Saxon King Ine, where they were subsequently murdered.
St. Patrick's Day Greeting Card
Send your St. Patrick's Day greeting card now.
History and Legend of St. Patrick
Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born to the family
of a Roman official. At age 16 he was kidnapped into slavery, six year later he escaped from his captors and from then begin his journey where he
later returned to the land of his captivity to spread the gospel.
