{BLOG} Josh Markovich – Who Was St. Patrick?

To many of us, when we think of St. Patrick’s Day, we automatically think; Irish celebration day where we get to drink green beer, wear the color green (if not you get pinched), and eat corned beef and cabbage. But have you ever wondered who St. Patrick was and why he was significant enough to get his own day?

St. Patrick was in fact a very influential individual that spent most of his life spreading Christianity to the country of Ireland during the 4th century. One author wrote, “Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.”

Here are some quick facts about the life of St. Patrick:

• He lived 387– March 17, 493 A.D. (hence the date we celebrate) and born into a wealthy family in Britain.
• Around age 14, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave. During his over 6 year captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote
  “The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same.” “I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain.”
• He escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland. (Awesome story, see the history.com web-page for more details.)
• Once home in Britain he had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him “We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more.”
• For over 40 years Patrick and his disciples preached and converted thousands of people and built churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity after hearing Patrick’s message.
• See links below for more in depth information. Also look up Hagiography (study of the saints) for the most widely accepted details of St. Patrick’s life.

The part of St. Patrick’s story that stands out to me the most is his crystal clear and fearless devotion to trust in God! How can we not be moved by hearing accounts of someone risking their life by escaping imprisonment, walking 200 miles to a coast to find someone that just might have a boat to help him return to his country, ALL based on a dream in which God told him to escape?! We should all desire faith that strong. How about the fact that once returning home to his wealthy family from being a slave, the first thing he wanted to do was become a Bishop to spread God’s Word to the very people that held him captive for almost a decade?!?! He truly did trust in the Lord.

Each of the two times stated above that St. Patrick was prompted by a vision or a dream to follow Gods will and trust in the Lord, Patrick obeyed. He did not let anything else get in the way of following his faith. This is an easy thing to talk about, “walking out the faith”, but a much harder thing to do. From the major life changing decisions such as career changes, significant other decisions, or dealing with heavy family issues to the smaller day-to-day decisions such as helping others in need, or choosing to use kind words when it’s easier not to, I too often choose to use my mind as opposed to my heart. I let things get in the way of my decision making…things like; peers opinions, finances, selfish motives, and temper. Learning to not let the insignificant aspects of my life influence or shape the significant parts of my life is the key. What is insignificant in your life that you’re treating as significant?

Now you can imagine how bad I felt to just recently learn the truth about this wonderful man who literally helped shape the salvation and devotion of an entire country…and all these years I thought that just drinking a green beer was honoring St. Patrick’s Day. Well I was clearly mistaken. American’s have such a mixture of culture, and therefore a mixture of holidays, that it is easy to be misinformed of why we celebrate the things we do. So on this St. Patty’s Day and future ones to come, please pass along some truth about who St. Patrick was and his incredibly positive impact for Christianity! (Possibly even while drinking a green beer).

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone!

Sources:
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=89
http://www.history.com/topics/who-was-saint-patrick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick