St. Patrick

St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints. He was born in Roman Britain and when he was fourteen or so, he was captured by Irish pirates during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. At the time, Ireland was a land of Druids and pagans but Patrick turned to God and wrote his memoir, The Confession. In The Confession, 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."

Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britain and was reunited with his family.

A few years after returning home, Patrick saw a vision he described in his memoir:

"I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: 'The Voice of the Irish.' As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea-and they cried out, as with one voice: 'We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.'"

The vision prompted his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years, and was later ordained a bishop and sent to take the Gospel to Ireland.

Patrick arrived in Slane, Ireland on March 25, 433. There are several legends about what happened next, with the most prominent claiming he met the chieftan of one of the druid tribes, who tried to kill him. After an intervention from God, Patrick was able to convert the chieftain and preach the Gospel throughout Ireland. There, he converted many people -eventually thousands - and he began building churches across the country.

He often used shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity and entire kingdoms were eventually converted to Christianity after hearing Patrick's message.

Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461.

He died at Saul, where he had built the first Irish church. He is believed to be buried in Down Cathedral, Downpatrick. His grave was marked in 1990 with a granite stone.

St. Patrick's Day Quotes

St. Patrick's day quotes that help sum up this rowdy and revered holiday

Irish Recipes for St. Patrick's Day

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day in true Irish style with "the freshest of food and oldest of drink."

Writings of St. Patrick

Confessio: The Confession of St. Patrick
Epistola ad Coroticum: Letter To Coroticus
De abusionibus saeculi
De Tribus habitaculis
Collectio Hibernensis Canonum: Irish Collection of Canon law

Prayers of St. Patrick

Prayer about St. Patrick
Lorica of Saint Patrick
St Patrick's Breastplate
Prayer for the Faithful by Saint Patrick

St. Patrick in the Catholic Encyclopedia

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907) is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history.

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Complete listing of St. Patrick

Croagh Patrick, i.e. St. Patrick's mountain. This mountain was one of his places of retreat and stories state this is where his ministry to Ireland began.

St. Patrick's Purgatory, one of his chosen places of solitude and retreat was the island of Lough Derg.

Patrician Brothers, founding the Religious congregation of the Brothers of Saint Patrick.

Maynooth College, the National College of Saint Patrick, at Maynooth in County Kildare, about twelve miles from Dublin, founded in the year 1795.

Marie de France contributions to French literature consist of lays, the "Ysopet", and a romance published by Roquefort under the title, "Legend of the Purgatory of Saint Patrick"

Aubrey Thomas Hunt de Vere traces the progress of spiritual thought in the development of the nations, notably Ireland, in "The Legend of St. Patrick" (London, 1872)

In His Footsteps:

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. So complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission, he feared nothing -not even death.

"The Breastplate," Patrick's poem of faith and trust in God:

"Christ be within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ inquired, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger."