St. Patrick: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Author:
March 17, 2023

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! (Please celebrate responsibly.)

Patrick is a saint because he evangelized Ireland, drove the snakes off the Emerald Isle, and taught the doctrine of the Trinity with a shamrock for a prop. 

Or did he? 

A lot of what we think we know about the Apostle of Ireland is the stuff of legend, not history. Take the snakes. Ireland is free of those slithery creatures, but one should credit the Ice Age for that. Fair Éire was too cold for reptiles. When the ice melted, sea levels rose and cut off Ireland from Europe, where snakes did slither. 

No one really knows if Patrick illustrated the Trinity with a three-leafed clover, but if he did, well, he could have done a little better! The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not three parts of God. Each is fully God, and yet there is One God. (Speaking of, if you’re a theology nerd, you’ll enjoy this hilarious video in which two Irish peasants grill Patrick on the doctrine of the Trinity):

So, who was Patrick, really? He lived in the fifth century, although no one knows for sure what his birthplace, birthday, or date of death was. Two of his writings survive, a letter to a British warlord named Coroticus and a Confession he penned in response to an allegation of misconduct. From these we learn that he was the son and grandson of Christian clergy. Pirates snatched him from his home in Briton, where there was a good bit of lawlessness after the Romans withdrew. The pirates sold him into slavery in Ireland. While he worked as a shepherd for his Irish owner he had a spiritual awakening. At some point he received a revelation to flee. He made his way to a port, set sail on a ship, and eventually returned home. His parents joyfully welcomed him, but afterward he saw a vision of an angel named Victoricus who requested that he return to the land of his captors and preach the gospel to them. Imagine that! 

Patrick baptized thousands of Irish converts to Christianity. He persuaded a number of elite young women to embrace a life of chastity, prayer, and fasting. This kind of outreach irked more than a few parents, who wanted to marry off their daughters to well-born young men. Patrick spent a good bit of money on purchasing the freedom of slaves and bribing local strongmen to guarantee his safe passage. His letter to Coroticus excommunicated the warlord for ordering a raid that resulted in the killing and enslavement of Christian civilians. Perhaps in response to Patrick’s boldness in “speaking truth to power,” a clergy colleague broke confidentiality and reported to church authorities a youthful indiscretion Patrick had confessed to this colleague. In his Confession, Patrick bitterly denounced the leak and strongly defended his honor. 
Patrick lived much of his life out of control. He was enslaved, then compelled by a divine invitation to evangelize the land of his former masters. His times were chaotic and violent. He found solace in God’s sovereign will and grace. He looked back on his enslavement as a gift from God. He gave God the credit and the glory for his success in preaching the Good News. Patrick believed that God had called and predestined him to be a missionary, and the mass conversion he triggered in Ireland was a fulfillment of ancient prophecies. 

Maybe that’s the most important thing about St. Patrick’s Day, even more important than wearing green: God is faithful, even in bad times, and God both calls people to make disciples and prepares the hearts of hearers to entrust themselves to Jesus Christ. 

BACK