Patrick
was born in Scotland. His father was Calpurnius, a local official. Patrick
waskidnapped by Irish raiders and spent 6 years in slavery. After getting a
message from God in a dream, he escaped to Britain. It said that he was reunited
with his family, and then went to the monastery and studied under St. Germain, bishop of
Auxerre. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the
pagans to Christianity. The best known passage in the Confessio, his spiritual
autobiography, tells of a dream after his return to Britain in which one Victoricus
delivered him a letter headed "The Voice of the Irish." As he read it he seemed
to hear a certain company of Irish begging him to walk once more among them. "Deeply
moved," he said, "I could read no more." He was ordained as a deacon,
then priest and finally as a bishop. Pope Celestine sent him back to Ireland to preach the
gospel. Evidently he was a great traveller, especially in Celtic countries, as innumerable
places in Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are named after him.
Patrick is most known the world over for having driven the snakes from Ireland. Different
tales tell of his standing upon a hill, using a wooden staffto drive the serpents into the
sea, banishing them forever from the shoresof Ireland. While it is true there are no
snakes in Ireland, chances are that there never have been since the time the island was
seperated from the rest of the continent at the end of the ice age. As in many old pagan
religions serpent symbols were common, and possibly even worshipped. Driving the snakes
from Ireland was probably symbolic of putting an end to that pagan practice.
While not the first to bring Christianity to Ireland, it was Patrick who encountered the
Druids at Tara and abolished their pagan rights. He converted the warrior chiefs and
princes, baptizing them and thousands of their subjects in the Holy Wells which still bear
that name.
According to tradition St. Patrick died in A.D. 493 and was buried in the same grave as
St. Bridget and St. Columba, at Downpatrick, County Down. The jawbone of St. Patrick was
preserved in a silver shrine and was often requested in times of childbirth, epileptic
fits and as a preservative against the evil eye. Another legend says St. Patrick ended his
days at Glastonbury and was buried there. The Chapel of St. Patrick still exists as part
of Galstonbury Abbey.
Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a
secular holiday. |
