Saint Patrick of Ireland

Readings: Psalm 97:1-12, Ezekiel 36:33-38, 1 Thessalonians 2:2b-12, Matthew 28:16-20
First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, March 17th 2013

A printable PDF file can be found here

Patrick was born about 390, in southwest Britain, somewhere between the Severn and the Clyde rivers, son of a deacon and grandson of a priest. When about sixteen years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland.

Much of what we know about him comes from his own writings. He has left us an autobiography (called the Confessions), a 'Letter to Coroticus' in which he denounces the slave trade and rebukes the British chieftain Coroticus for taking part in it, and there is a poem known as the 'Lorica' or 'Breastplate', that is traditionally attributed to his influence.

Patrick's confession of faith begins:-“I am Patrick. I am a sinner; the most unsophisticated of people, the least among all Christians, and to many, the most contemptible. I am the son of the deacon Calpornius, as he was the son of the priest Potitus who belonged to the village on Bannavem Taburiae. When aged about sixteen I was taken captive. I was then ignorant of the true God and along with thousands of others was taken into captivity in Ireland.

There the Lord opened my understanding to my unbelief, so that however late, I might become conscious of my failings and turn with all my heart to the Lord. For it was He who looked on my lowliness and had mercy on the ignorance of my youth, and looked after me before I knew Him and before I had gained any wisdom.”

Patrick's spiritual journey begins in a similar way to many people of faith. Something happens that strips away all the things he took for granted and caused him to question what life is about. In the midst of changing circumstances he is convicted of the enormity of the grace of God that is reaching out to him and transforming him, an experience that he feels totally unsuited for.

After six years, he either escapes or is freed, and makes his way to a port 200 miles away, where he persuades some sailors to take him onto their ship. He returns to his family much changed, and begins to prepare for the priesthood, and to study the Bible.

In his own words, “After a few years I was again with my parents in Britain who welcomed me as a son. They, in good faith, begged me, after all those great tribulations I had been through, that I should go nowhere, nor ever leave them. And it was there, I speak the truth, that I saw a vision in the night: a man named Victorious, like one from Ireland, coming with innumerable letters. He gave me one of them and I began to read what was in it: 'The voice of the Irish'. And it was at that very moment as I was reading out the letter's opening, I thought I heard the voice of those around the wood of Folcut, which is close to the Western Sea. It was if they were shouting with one voice, “O holy boy, we beg you to come back and walk among us” I was broken-hearted and could not read another word.”

Initially Patrick is reluctant to go back to Ireland. But after a series of further visions and with the counsel of those around him, around 435, Patrick is commissioned, perhaps by bishops in the area of Southern France then known as Gaul, to go to Ireland as a bishop and missionary.

He made his headquarters at Armagh in the North, where he built a school, and had the protection of the local King. From this base he made extensive missionary journeys. Many times he faces opposition from local chieftains and land owners. Threats on his life appear to have been frequent. Later stories of his life tell of daring deeds, miracles and of the masses of people who embrace the Christian message under his leadership. The number of churches, both in Ireland and beyond, that claim him as their inspiration, is beyond counting. Under his influence Ireland is converted from paganism to Christianity.

He writes to the Irish people in his confession, “I spend myself for you that you might lay hold of me. Indeed I have traveled everywhere for your sake; I have gone amid many dangers; I have gone to places beyond where anyone lived; and I have gone where no one else had gone to baptize people, or ordain clergy, or complete people. With God's help I have carried out all these things lovingly, carefully and most joyfully for your salvation.

I was not the sort of person you would expect the Lord to give this grace to, nor did I deserve it, for I know with the greatest certainty that poverty and woe are more my line than pleasures and riches, after all, Christ the Lord was poor for our sakes. Not a day passed but I expected to be killed or taken back into slavery or assaulted in some other way. But for the sake of the promise of heaven I fear none of these things. Indeed I have cast myself into the hands of God, the Almighty One who rules everywhere as the prophet has said, “Cast Your Burden on the Lord and He will sustain you.”

Patrick's spiritual life is built upon an unwavering trust in God. His spiritual journey is informed not only by Scripture, but by personal dreams and visions and the counsel of those around him. He has a deep sense of the presence of Jesus Christ within Him and all around him. He sees the presence of Christ everywhere, even in those who stand against him.

For Patrick God is One who reveals love to the world through the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Patrick's view of the Trinity the three persons of the Trinity are in a state of constant dynamism. God is all in all and through faith in God's grace, revealed in Jesus Christ, we become caught up in the action of God's Holy Spirit and our lives are transformed by God's love.

This is so wonderfully expressed in the words we used to open our worship this morning. “Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in     quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the One in Three, of whom all nature has creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word. Praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.”

This is the theology expressed in Celtic art, wonderful spiraling patterns that when you trace them you realize are actually just one line! A world peopled not only with humans, but angels and demons and saints and creatures beyond our comprehension, yet in the midst of  all the mystery stands Christ as Savior, Redeemer and Center of all.

In the celebrations of St Patrick's Day it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the one being celebrated was a humble christian missionary who knew nothing of parades, leprechauns and dark beer. The real Saint Patrick was a man of overcoming faith that led a nation to embrace the Christian message.

He offers a theology that embraces all of life and speaks of the presence of God in Christ, acting through God's Holy Spirit, within us around us and through our communal life as faith communities. For Patrick God is so intractably entwined in all of life, that we only find life by participating in the dance of the Trinity. 

Patrick is a reluctant servant who would probably be scornful of the honor laid upon him. He concludes in his confession. “I now pray for anyone who believes in, and fears God, who may perchance come upon this writing which Patrick, the sinner and the unlearned one, wrote in Ireland. I wrote it so that no one might say that whatever little I did, or anything I made visible according to God's pleasure, was done through ignorance. Rather you should judge the situation and let it truly believed that it was 'the gift of God'. And this is my declaration before I die.”

Truly we can say that Patrick was a gift of God, not just to the Irish, but to the Christian church across the centuries. May the example of his humble leadership and faithful adherence to the tasks God was calling him to, continue to inspire people across the generations. Amen.
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt

Footnote on our closing hymn: 'BE THOU MY VISION'

In 433 AD St. Patrick came to the Hill of Slane in County Meath. It was the night before Easter, and concurrently the beginning of the Druidic festival of Bealtine, as well as the beginning of the Spring Equinox. High King Leoghaire (pronounced "Leary") mac Neill had issued a decree that no fires were to be lit until the lighting of the blaze atop nearby Tara Hill that would usher in the Spring Equinox.

The first fire, however, was not that of King Leoghaire. Rather, it was a flame lit by St. Patrick to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Instead of executing him, King Leoghaire was so impressed by St. Patrick's courage that he allowed him to continue with his missionary work throughout Ireland.

About 100 years later, inspired by the events on the Hill of Slane, Irish poet Dallan Forgaill wrote the original words to "Be Thou My Vision" in Gaelic The poem was not translated into English until 1905 when Mary E. Byrne wrote a literal translation. The words were made into verse and published by Eleanor H. Hull in a 1913.  The tune  is appropriately called 'SLANE', a centuries old Irish folk melody, and recalls Patrick's Easter fire lighting. The hymn first started appearing in Irish hymnals around 1919 and has been a favorite of many people ever since.