St. Patrick’s Day has become associated with many things that have little to do with the actual Patrick, a Christian missionary who lived in the Fifth Century (he died sometime around AD 461).
Contrary to popular belief, Patrick was not Irish. He was born in what is now England in the late days of the Roman Empire’s control of Britain.
When he was 16, Irish pirates kidnapped Patrick, took him to Ireland, and sold him into slavery as a herdsman. Though the experience was terrifying and bleak, it proved to be a spiritually fruitful time for Patrick. As he wrote later:
It was [while enslaved in Ireland] that the Lord opened up my awareness of my lack of faith…. So I turned with all my heart to the Lord my God, and he looked down on my lowliness and had mercy on my youthful ignorance. He guarded me before I knew him…. He protected me and consoled me as a father does for his son.
After being enslaved for six years, Patrick finally escaped and fled to a port 200 miles away, where (aided by the power of prayer) he persuaded a reluctant ship captain to give him passage back to Britain.
The ship made it land within three days, but then the crew — with Patrick along — began an arduous weeks-long journey on foot, eventually running out of food.
The captain turned to me and said: “What about this, Christian? You tell us that your God is great and all-powerful — why can’t you pray for us, since we’re in a bad state with hunger?…”
Then I said to them with some confidence: “Turn in faith with all your hearts to the Lord my God, because nothing is impossible for him, so that he may put food in your way — even enough to make you fully satisfied! He has an abundance everywhere.”
With the help of God, this is actually what happened! A herd of pigs appeared in the way before our eyes! They killed many of them and there they remained for two nights, and were fully restored…. Many of them had grown weak and left half-alive…. After this, they gave the greatest of thanks to God.
Upon returning home, Patrick applied himself to prayer and study, seeking to deepen his understanding of the faith and discern God’s will for his life. Eventually, the Lord spoke to him through a dream.
I saw, in a vision in the night, a man whose name was Victoricus coming as it were from Ireland with so many letters they could not be counted. He gave me one of these, and I read the beginning of the letter, the voice of the Irish people…. They called out as it were with one voice: “We beg you, holy boy, to come and walk again among us.”
Steeled by the conviction that God had called him back to the very land where he was a slave, Patrick returned to Ireland — this time to preach the gospel. His evangelistic influence became so great that ultimately he was recognized as the “Apostle of Ireland.”
However, as with the biblical apostles, the work of evangelization was difficult. Patrick faced many dangers and hardships. Yet he thanked God for challenges as well as successes.
I will never stop giving thanks to my God…. I can say: “Who am I…that you have worked with me with such divine presence? This is how I come to praise and magnify your name among the nations all the time, wherever I am — not only in good times but in the difficult times too.”
Whatever comes about for me, good or bad, I ought to accept them equally and give thanks to God. He has shown me that I can put my faith in him without wavering and without end. However ignorant I am, he has heard me, so that…I can dare to undertake such a holy and wonderful work. In this way I can imitate somewhat those whom the Lord foretold would announce his gospel in witness to all nations before the end of the world….
How has this happened in Ireland? 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.
There is much more to the story, of course — a story that, sadly, has been overtaken by green beer, St. Patrick’s Day sales, and leprechauns. But now, when you see such things, think of the genuine, historical Patrick — a follower of Christ who loved God above all else and put his life at the Lord’s disposal.
So I shall make a return to him for all that he has given to me. But what can I say, or what can I promise to my Lord? There is nothing I have that is not his gift to me….
I pray that God give me perseverance, and that he grant me to bear faithful witness to him right up to my passing from this life, for the sake of my God.
*By Joseph Slife, Sound Mind Investing, March 17, 2025.
Image above is from a Stained-glass window of Saint Patrick from Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Junction City, Ohio, United States
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