Happy St. Patrick's Day

     Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I know that most Christians see St. Patrick’s Day as another worldly holiday that we should ignore and just get through. Like most holidays, the world and Satan has done their part in changing its meaning. Today, it is a time of drinking parties and wearing green so you don’t get pinched! So, to help counteract the world, I am once again reminding you of the origin of St Patrick ’s Day.

     What we know of his life is taken from his two works: the Confession, a public letter he addressed to Coroticus, a British chief who raided Ireland, killing and enslaving Christian converts. Patrick tells us he was born at Bannavem Taberniae, but just where that was we do not know. It is calculated to be in England, Scotland, or Whales. He was, as far as anyone has been able to determine, a Britannic Celt, raised a Roman Catholic. The year of his birth and the date of his death are equally confusing. It is a scholarly debate! We also do not know if March 17 was the birth or the death date of St. Patrick; it may in fact be neither.
     At the age of sixteen Patrick was captured by Gaels and taken by boat to Ireland where he was sold as a slave. His six years of captivity were spent tending flocks. During this time he experienced a spiritual awakening and began to have dreams and visions which he considered to be divinely inspired. One of these dreams contained a message to escape, telling him that a ship would be lying ready for him. He made his escape and traveled two hundred miles to find his expected ship. Three days later he landed in either Britain or Brittany. Wandering through the barren countryside, Patrick and the crew avoided starvation when a herd of wild pigs appeared in answer to Patrick's prayers.
     He returned to his home, but once more the course of his life was directed by a dream. He saw a man approaching him, bearing a letter from the people of Ireland which urged him to free them from slavery; "We beseech thee, holy youth, to come and walk once more amongst us."
     Patrick studied and became a priest and then a bishop. He went to Ireland and to spread Christianity among the pagans of that land. Missionaries had been to Ireland before him, but the country was still primarily ruled by the Druids. Though St. Patrick never claimed the performance of a miracle in his own writing, tales of his miraculous exploits against the troublesome Druids abound.
     One of the stories concerning St. Patrick which is often judged authentic, is the tale of the shamrock and the Trinity. The doctrine of Three Gods in One, each separate and distinct, yet each totally God, is claimed by Christians to be a mystery and is accepted on faith. In trying to teach his converts about the Trinity, St. Patrick held up a shamrock explaining that the three leaves represented the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while the stem was the Godhead itself from which they proceeded. This is said to be the origin of the use of the Shamrock which is customarily worn on St. Patrick's Day.
     St. Patrick lived a life of strenuous missionary activity before until he died in either 461 or 492. Many thousands of Irishmen were converted through his labors. He founded churches and schools, at least one college, and generally organized the Church of Ireland.
     There are several things we could do to celebrate the life of this man known as St. Patrick. We could boldly share the love of Christ with someone today as St. Patrick did to the people who had taken him into slavery. Another thing we could do is to wear a shamrock; not only to honor the trinity but to help produce the opportunity to share the real meaning of St. Patrick and how he used the shamrock to teach people about the God, the Savior, and the Spirit we serve!