I’m guessing that St. Patrick is not exactly happy with
the celebration of his day being planned for today!
First, he’s not Irish but British.
Second, he never drove snakes out of
Ireland.
And third,
although he’s not technically a Roman Catholic saint,* he would be rolling his
eyes at the unsaintly behavior of his partiers.
The spirit of Patrick is quite different! He writes, “My name is Patrick. I am a
sinner. I most certainly believe that it is the gift of God that I am what I
am. He is the fount of holiness.”
Not exactly what comes to mind when we
think of St. Patrick’s Day.
According to his autobiography, Confessio, he was kidnapped at age 16 by Irish
pirates and served as a slave for six years caring for livestock. During this
time, he writes that his Christian faith grew much deeper. He escaped and
returned to Britain where he studied for the ministry. In the fifth century, he
traveled back to Ireland to share the gospel with the people who practiced a
form of Celtic polytheism. Patrick writes, “Never before did they know of God except to
serve idols and unclean things. But now, they have become the people of the
Lord, and are called children of God.”
And, as far as banishing snakes from Ireland, all evidence indicates that
post-glacial Ireland never, ever had the reptiles. Snakes were likely a
metaphor for the druids, who Patrick is said to have driven out of Ireland when
he established Christianity there.
So, here’s to celebrating the real
Patrick on his special day!
* Patrick was never formally canonized, having lived before the current laws of
the Catholic Church in these saintly matters. Nevertheless, he is venerated as
a saint in the Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
source: jameswatkins
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