Resurrecting St. Patrick – A Brief Bio

Resurrecting St. Patrick – A Brief Bio (this post is in process and will be completed soon)

“I declare in truth and with joy in my heart – before God and His holy angels – that I have never had any motive in my work except preaching the good news and its promises. That is the only reason I returned to Ireland – a place I barely escaped alive.” (Patrick, from his Confessions).

St. Patrick’s Timetable (all these dates and ages are approximate but still give us a relatively accurate glimpse):

… The Young Boy: Born around 390 AD in or near Wales in Roman Britain;

… The Teenage Slave: Kidnapped by Irish slave traders from roughly 406-412 AD, when Patrick was 16 years of age, and was enslaved in Ireland for about 6 years;

… The Obscure Priest: Trained for the priesthood somewhere in Britain and/or France, and ordained around 430 AD;

… The Pioneer Missionary: Traveled and preached mostly in northern Ireland for thirty years, between 432-462 AD.

The Young Boy. Patrick’s birthname was apparently Mawynn Succat, but at some point assumed the name Patricius. As his name points out, he was a patrician, born into the upper class of Roman Britain and thus a privileged member of the British elite. The exact birthplace is unknown, but was probably in Wales near the British coast. Patricius was most likely raised in a prosperous and well-established farmstead villa like any other rich boy who lived on the outer edges of the Roman Empire. It appears that his father was a deacon in the local church as well as an important local political figure, and that Patricius was raised in a rather nominal Christian faith that he didn’t take seriously. Patricius never gave Christianity a second thought until his whole life turned upside-down at about 16 years of age.

The Teenage Slave. The mostly uncivilized Irish natives were infamous during the 4th-5th centuries for their slave trade. They would silently glide into a British coastal area in their boats and kidnap whomever they thought would make a profit back in their homeland. It was during one of these slave raids that teenage Patricius ws taken by force from his comfortable home, placed in chains, and made to endure a trip back to Ireland. He would have immediately been placed on the slave block for sale, and was purchased by a farm owner to labor as a shepherd in the wild countryside of rural Ireland. He would remain with this one slave master for six years, working and sleeping outside through all the typical Irish weather… very hot, freezing cold, pouring rain with icy blasts of wind. Patricius would be tending the sheep in the untamed pastureland one day and then the rocky mountainsides the next. He learned to toughen up and adapt to whatever each day brought him. But that’s not all Patricius learned during his difficult days in slavery. He picked up the Gaelic language, the customs of the Irish culture, the elements of the Irish religious traditions, and the coping skills needed for life in the wilderness. So his days as a young slave were actually a blessing, especially as those years brought him close to God. He developed an intimate friendship with God and a sturdy faith in Him. Patrick is quoted as saying that he learned to pray as a slave, and he often prayed as much as a hundred prayers during the day, and then an equal amount at night. Patrick also grew to adopt fasting as an important part of his growing faith in Christ. Since most prayers were said out loud in that era, it’s no surprise that his impatient acquaintances would mockingly call him “holy boy.” After six years of living in misery and in a growing sanctity, Patricius had a dream, the first in a long sequence of dreams that were instrumental through the rest of his life. One night he heard the voice of God saying to him, “You have hungered well. Soon you will be going home.” And the very next night he dreamed that God told him, “Behold, your ship is ready.” So with no hesitation Patricius acted on those divine words, sneaked away from his slave master in the dead of night, and escaped into parts unknown for a mysterious ship. He walked over 200 miles in search of a coast and a waiting ship, through treacherous bogs, flowing rivers, thick forests and rocky mountains, all the while alert to wild animals and the danger in being caught. In Ireland at that time, a fugitive slave was legally equivalent to a murderer or major thief, and there would be fatal consequences if he were apprehended. After this difficult journey of about a month, Patricius finally arrived at a coastal bay where a ship was indeed waiting. After initial resistance, he was allowed to climb on board as a working shipmate, and they sailed away on their three-day voyage to Roman Britain. Patrick’s days as a slave were over as he landed on British soil.

 

‘If I have done anything good for my God whom I love, I beseech Him to grant me that with these new believers and those in captivity I may pour out my blood for His name, even if my body should be denied burial, and be miserably torn limb from limb by dogs or fierce beasts, or that the birds of heaven should devour it… It is certain that we shall rise one day in the brightness of the sun – that is, the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer.” (Patrick, from his Confessions).