The Real Patrick: Missionary to Ireland
Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.
March 1999 by Pastor David L. Brown
What nationality do you think of when you hear the
name O’Donahue? Irish of course. I have a
good part of Irish blood running though my veins. Why? My maternal grandmother was
an O’Donahue. Her parents were directly from Ireland and like more than a million
others they fled starvation about the time of the Irish potato famine which began in 1845.
Now, when most Americans think of the Irish, they think of St. Patrick’s Day.
Yearly, on March 17th many people wear green, particularly green shamrocks, think of
leprechauns with pots of gold at the end of a rainbow, drink green beer, smile at the
thought of the old Irish saint chasing the snakes out of the emerald Isle and then the
Catholics go to a special mass in St. Patrick’s honor.
But, there’s a BIG problem with all of this. None of it’s true, except it is
perhaps true that the one called Patrick (actually Patricus) died on March 17th sometime
between 465 and 493 A.D.(the year is disputed). Actually his real name was Maewyn
Succat.
It is believe that he took the Latin name Patricius (Patrick) when he began his missionary
work. He was not Irish but was a "free born" son of an area Roman-British decurio.
A decurio was an area magistrate, a nobleman who was the leader of ten others, such
as the head of a municipal council. Further, Maewyn (we’ll call him Patrick from here
on out), would have had nothing to do with leprechan’s. These fairies have their
origins in the bloody occult religion of the Druids, whom Patrick preached against. As for
green beer, that is a the modern invention of perverse capitalists looking for a "pot
of gold" in the pockets of the drunkards they serve. Oh, I must not forget. There
were never any snakes or other reptiles in Ireland, just as their were never any kangaroos
in America (until they were imported).
Let me see. What have I missed? Oh yes. Green...shamrocks. To be sure, Ireland is the
"Emerald Isle" because of its green pastureland. Legend has it that Patrick
illustrated the truth of the Holy Trinity by using the three leaf green clover. While
there is clear evidence that Patrick did believe in and teach the Trinity, there is no
clear evidence that he used the green three-leafed clover to illustrate that Bible truth.
Oh yes, there is one more thing. Indeed, perhaps the most important thing of all. Patrick was NOT a
Catholic! Here is how Thomas Cahill puts it in his wonderful book "How The Irish
Saved Civilization" -- "Patrick’s gift to the Irish was his
Christianity -- the first de-Romanized Christianity in human history, a Christianity
without the sociopolitical baggage of the Greco-Roman world... Ireland is unique in
religious history for being the only land into which Christianity was introduced without
bloodshed." Cahill is nearly correct, with one exception. To be sure, Patrick was
not a Catholic. They claimed him later and made him over in their own image. His name
is nowhere to be found in Catholic writing until almost two centuries after he had died.
But, the first de-Romanized Christianity in human history was the Christianity of the
Apostles and the Apostle Paul which is recorded in the New Testament and which was spread
throughout the known world for the first 150 or so years after the death, resurrection and
ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. What missionary Patrick preached to the Irish pagans
was the Biblical Christianity of the New Testament. He taught salvation by grace through
faith in Christ, not a the spurious works oriented version of salvation propagated by the
Roman Church. He taught believers baptism. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s
go back to the beginning.
Part of the problem you encounter in doing research about Patrick is that there is very
little authentic information available. It is almost as difficult as doing research on
Nicholas of Myra, dubbed by Catholics as St. Nicholas. This preacher of Asia Minor has
been mythologically transformed into today’s Santa Claus.
Concerning authentic information relating to Patrick, we have two authentic documents.
The first is his Epistle to the Irish more commonly called The
Confession of Patrick which begins, I Patrick, a sinner..." It is his
testimony, written later in his life, about his life, his salvation, his beliefs, call to
missionary service and a brief accounting of his missionary trials and triumphs. The
second authentic document we have is his Letter to Coroticus which is an
open letter to British Christians under the rule of cruel king Coroticus. There is one
hymn that could have originally been authored by Patrick, but most historians believe
there have been measurable additions and changes throughout the years. It is called The
Loric or Hymn of Patrick which is also known as The Brestplate (or Shield) of
St. Patrick and The Deer’s Cry.
Patrick was born some time between 385 and 415 A.D. No one knows for sure. But he was a
Roman Brit. His father Calpurnius was a civil magistrate, a tax collector as well as a
deacon in their local church. His mother’s name was Conchessa. His grandfather,
Potitus, was a presbyter, or a pastor. He lived in England during a very turbulent time.
For 470 years, the Roman legions had held off the foreign barbarians from pillaging the
English countryside. When the last legion sailed from Britain in 400 A.D., immediately
Irish warlords and others raided the once peaceful coastal towns. These roving bands of
pirates looted, pillaged, raped and captured huge numbers of slaves to sell to the highest
bidder back in their homeland.
When Patrick was about 16 years of age a fleet of 50 currachs (longboats) weaved
their way toward the shore, where the young Roman Birt and his family lived. "The
warriors quickly demolished the village, and as Patricius darted among the burning houses
and screaming women, he was caught."1 We learn more by reading Patrick’s
Confession which says, "I was taken into captivity to Ireland with many thousands
of people, and deservedly so, because we turned away from God, and did not keep His
commandments, and did not obey our pastors, who used to remind us of our salvation. And
the Lord brought over us the wrath of his anger and scattered us among the
nations…" Patrick was sold as a slave to Miliucc, a Druid tribal chieftain
and put to work herding pigs and or sheep. He lived like an animal himself, with the
animals day and night, often in hunger and thirst. He felt helpless and hopeless. He went
from an nobleman’s son with all the privileges to a swine herding slave overnight.
Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Patrick had ignored the Lord up to this point in his life. But things were different now,
very different. He began to remember some things that his preacher grandfather had told
him. The despair of slavery and the solitude of his occupation compelled him to remember
his Christian upbringing and his need of the Lord. He writes in his confession, "I
was about sixteen but did not know the true God, but in a strange land, the Lord opened my
unbelieving eyes, and I was converted."2 Patrick came to know Christ as his
personal Savior and was freed from his slavery to sin. Patrick grew in the Lord. "His
devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ brought upon him a nickname, ‘Holy-Boy" from
his fellow slaves. Through the years, he learned to pray whether he was working or
resting."3 It is evident by his own testimony he learned to practice 1
Thessalonians 5:17 which says, Pray without ceasing. He says this in his
Confession: "After I came to Ireland, every day I had to tend sheep, and many
times a day I prayed. The Love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith
was strengthened. And my spirit was moved so that in a single day I would say as many as a
hundred prayers, and almost as many in the night, and this even when I was staying in the
woods and on the mountains; I used to get up and pray before daylight, through snow,
through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm, and there was no sloth in me…because
the spirit within me was then fervent."
Patrick remained a slave to Miliucc for six years. Then, one night, when he was 22
years old he testifies, "I head a voice while I was sleeping say, ‘…soon
you will go to your own country. See, your ship is ready." That night he fled.
Assured God was leading him, he plunged through the bogs and scaled the mountains that
separated him from the sea. In his confession he says he traveled, "perhaps 200
miles." He goes on, "I went in the strength of God who directed my way to
my good, and I feared nothing until I came to that ship." It is obvious that
Patrick believed the truth of Psalms 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered
by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
At first, the sailors would not allow him to come on the ship, but as he turned to walk
to the hut where he was staying he began to pray. He says, "before I had ended my
prayer, I heard one of them shouting behind me, ‘come, hurry, we shall take you on in
good faith; make friends with us in whatever way you like.’ And so on that day
I…hoped they would come to the faith of Jesus Christ because they were pagans."
Three days later they landed on the coast of Gaul (today called France) but found only
devastation. "Goths or Vandals had so decimated the land that no food was to be found
in this once furtile area."4 For almost a month they walked searching for food until
hunger overcame them. The pagan captain, who had mocked Patrick’s faith finally came
to him and said, "You say your God is great and all-powerful? Then pray for us. We
are all starving to death, and we may not survive to see another soul."
Patrick responded, "Be converted from your faith to the Lord my God, to Whom
nothing is impossible, that He may send you food in you way, even until you are satisfied;
because everywhere there is abundance with Him."5 Patrick believed the truth of Luke
1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible. Patrick writes in his
Confession, "With the help of God, so it came to pass: suddenly a herd of pigs
appeared on the road before our eyes, and they killed many of them." God indeed
had provided. After quite some time, Patrick made it back to Britain and his family. He
was home at last – free.
His Call To Missions &
Return to Ireland
Look at Acts 16:9. This is a passage of scripture that is referred to as
Paul’s Macedonian Call. -- And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood
a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
Well, Patrick received his Ireland Call in a similar fashion. Victoricus urged in his
dream, "We beseech thee, holy youth, come and live among us once more."
The Lord made it clear to Patrick that he was calling him back to Ireland to preach the
Gospel. The problem was that his family did not want him to go. It was well known that
escaped slaves were woven into giant wicker baskets, suspended over fires, and roasted
alive in sacrifice to the Druids gods. But Patrick was called of God and in began his
missionary work about 430 A.D. He preached the Gospel in Ireland for about 30 years.
Cahill says, "Patrick was really a first – the first missionary to barbarians
beyond the reach of Roman law."6 One source says, "he planted over 200
churches and had over 100,000 truly saved converts."7 Patrick writes in his
confession, "I am greatly a debtor to God, who has bestowed his grace so largely
upon me, that multitudes were born again to God through me…Hence, the Irish, who had
never had the knowledge of God and worshipped only idols and unclean things, have lately
become the people of the Lord, and are called the sons of God."
Patrick loved the Lord and urged his converts to follow the Great Commission. He wrote
– "As the Lord in the Gospel states, exhorts and teaches, saying: Going
therefore now, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and behold I am with you all days ever to the consummation of the world."
While the Roman empire and occupied lands were going from peace to chaos, the land of
Ireland was going from chaos to peace under the ministry of Patrick. Under his ministry,
"the Irish slave trade came to a halt, and other forms of violence, such as murder
and intertribal warfare, deceased."8
God mightily used Patrick and Patrick gave God the glory. In his confession he states, "I
give unwearied thanks to God, who kept me faithful in the days of my temptations, so that
today I can confidently offer Him my soul as a living sacrifice – to Christ my Lord,
who saved me out of all my troubles."
Patrick, the missionary to Ireland, was not a Catholic. He was a born-again, blood
bought believer who loved the Lord Jesus Christ and preached His Word. He stepped into the
presence of the Lord he loved and served on March 17th sometime between 465 and 493
A.D. (the year is disputed).
If he is not, read
the Bible passages below and call upon Christ to be your personal Savior right
now. Patrick did that when he was 16 years old. You can do it today!
- WHO IS GOOD?
Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous,
no, not one.
- WHO HAS SINNED?
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God.
- WHERE SIN CAME FROM?
Romans 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned.
- GOD'S PRICE ON SIN?
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- WHO PAID THE PRICE FOR OUR SINS?
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth (proved) His love toward
us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
- HOW CAN I BE SAVED?
Romans 10:9-10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on Him shalt not be ashamed.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved.
- Why not call upon the Lord right now and ask him to Save you
from your sins.
Pray something like this
Dear Lord Jesus,
I confess that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I
believe that you, Lord Jesus Christ, died for my sins and rose again from the
dead. I now trust only in you Christ to save me from my sins and take me to
Heaven. Come into my life, forgive my sins and save my soul. Thank you for
hearing my prayer. AMEN
End Notes
1. Christian History Magazine; Issue 60; Patrick The Saint; p.10
2. Patrick of Ireland: The Untold Story; by Rev. Roy D. Warren, Jr.
3. Ibid.
4. Christian History Magazine; Issue 60; Patrick The Saint; p.12
5. The Real Saint Patrick by H. A. Ironside; FBC Press, Corona, NY; p.11
6. How The Irish Saved Civilization; by Thomas Cahill; Doubleday; p.108
7. Patrick of Ireland: The Untold Story; by Rev. Roy D. Warren, Jr.
8. How The Irish Saved Civilization; by Thomas Cahill;
Doubleday; p.110
|
