St Patrick: separating the man from the myth.

Just in time for what is usually an annual beer-fest and pseudo-Irish celebrations, I thought I would shed a little light on the patron saint of the emerald isle.
The following video is a nice place to start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TCB5QhHVJA
However, if you'd care to read it, the following is a paper I wrote on St Patrick:

Every March 17th, in cities and towns across North America, people flock to the nearest Irish pub, dressed green all over, trading their nationality for an Irish one just to enjoy a few pints of green beer, watch a parade, and sing ‘O’ Danny Boy’ to honour a saint some 1,500 years ago.


St Patrick is one of three of the most popular of all saints; recognised world wide along with St Nicholas and St Valentine. However, his character and story, as with Nicholas and Valentine, seem clouded in mystery and fable. Mythopoeia in nature, stories of his chasing snakes from Ireland and using a shamrock to explain the Trinity come out every March 17th as the world celebrates his feast day. It will be the intent of this paper to uncover the true St Patrick and explain why he is worthy of remembrance and admiration.

In order to learn about and better understand the man behind the myth, one must ask several questions of the subject. Using his only surviving writings and works from specialists in Celtic history and the Irish church this paper will discuss several aspects. a) Patrick’s personal background and history. b) Who Patrick was as a person and his theology. c) What he did for Ireland and the Church during his time. d) How he has become known and why. e) Lastly, a consideration of the importance and impact he has for study and life in the Church today.

Realising the unknown about the past and the fact this ‘saint’ was human, different perspectives are taken into account. After such an evaluation, it should be clearer who this fifth century saint was.

Fortunately, for the student of St Patrick, he has written somewhat of an autobiography in his Confession. Discussion of this work develops later, but to address it now for some introductory information is helpful. The exact place and time of St Patrick’s birth is something unknown with certainty. However, the evidence from his own writings suggest he is born near the village of Bannavem Taburniae , but it is not precise and has no modern day equivalent. It can be said that he was born in Britain in what is perhaps now Wales, but noting in the fourth century it was a Roman Britain and very much not what is understood as the Britain of modernity. The best argument for a date sets it between the years 387-90, though some historians put it much later. He is born to parents Calpornius, a deacon, and Concessa his wife. His given name, ‘Patricius Magonus Sucatus’ honours the customs and relationships of the time . What his life was like during his first 15 years is the realm of conjecture, but Patrick does allude to being brought up in a well-to-do lifestyle where the religion of his father as deacon and grandfather as priest was not truly known to him (Conf. 1). Other commentators and biographers will draw from Irish Annals and the like what is known about his father or that time, but due to Patrick’s silence, not much is certain. In his Confession He speaks of only one unknown sin committed in an hour when he is 15, an act he privately confesses to a friend, and then says nothing until his kidnapping when he is 16.

It is this kidnapping along with thousands of others that Patrick attributes as God’s punishment for his lack of faith and obedience to Him (Conf. 1). Not much is known from his works about all that happened in his captivity, but we can deduce he was made to work for King Neill at herding sheep and spent long days and nights alone.

This captivity is crucial in his life. It is a time when God does a work in his heart and mind. Patrick tells us how, with so much time alone with his thoughts, he would pray hundreds of times a day and night, as God opened his unbelief and showed him his sin and His salvation. The captivity lasted approximately six years until he had a dream and heard a voice telling him that he must escape and return to his homeland. Boarding a ship, he made the long trek home.

Patrick’s escape was an adventurous time. He helped his shipmates when the food was gone to pray to God for provision. An approximate chronology of events from his escape, (411) to the time when Patrick is consecrated as Bishop (432) covers time at Lerins before getting back to Britain. Then there is study at the monastery in Auxerre where he is ordained. It is at Auxerre where he spends several years as deacon before he is sent to Ireland by Germanus, (a bishop) . Seeming to fast-forward several points, Patrick comes to Ireland through a calling from God (Conf. 3).

He does not come to a land without any Christian influence already there. Palladius is first sent to Ireland as Bishop, but was killed after one year of mission. It is important to know Patrick built upon the existing, weak Christian church. Patrick came not to battle heresy or Pelagianism, but to further the Church of Rome. As a result of his work, Ireland came into connection with the rest of the Roman Empire and made part of universal Christianity. He helped to convert more of the west than was previously reached, something that would otherwise have failed in Ireland due to paganism’s predominance. As well, he helped to organise the existing church, secured its permanence, and introduced Latin along with Roman culture, literature and ideas to the Irish, which allowed them to eventually increase their worldview and status in the world.

Many of the stories perpetuated about Patrick’s work in Ireland are either untrue or unreliable. There is not a mentioning of teaching the doctrine of the trinity through using a shamrock, nor is there report of chasing snakes out of Ireland. Surely if he had done so, he would have written of it himself in the confession.

Most of his ministry in Ireland is understood from the perspective of a biographer or, in the case of Patrick’s earliest accounts, save his own writings, hagiography. Muirchu and Tirechan of the 7th and 8th centuries are the first men to write a ‘Life of Patrick’ but have both been found unreliable. Patrick’s efforts seem to have good affects and be unchallenged, but some event originating in Britain brings controversy to Patrick’s life and gives purpose for his writing his two major works. No one can say when the event occurs, but late in his ministry, the prince Coroticus came to the Irish coast and ruthlessly raided many of Patrick’s recent converts. Patrick writes a strong letter of rebuke to the man who murdered his converts and seeks to save the ones that are still alive. The letter has a similar tone as his later work, the Confession, in that there is much in he way of defence and theology explicit throughout. He urges Christians to shun those having to do with the atrocity; he seeks repentance from Coroticus and excommunicates them who carried it out.

The Confession is primarily an apologetic, but the reason given by Patrick himself is that it is to render thanksgiving to God for His hand in Patrick’s life. Agreement across the board by all biographers is that Patrick writes as one who knows his Bible, the Latin Bible, and his lack of knowledge with literacy and rhetoric is obvious in his writing of these works. At times he will simply quote scripture at the risk of overstating his point simply because he will rely upon it for wording and communication. At times, it is to express his authority as bishop. Notwithstanding, Patrick’s humility comes though on every page as he speaks of his lowly state and position before God and how unlearned he is. As for the popular ‘Lorica’, or ‘Breastplate of St Patrick’, it is wrongly recognised as his. Due to its dating centuries after Patrick, the Latin used is also unlike the raw Latin of the Confession or Letter.

Patrick has greatly influenced the church through his acts of holiness and leaving behind his two small works. The importance of studying him today is due to his openness within those works; we feel we can truly know him because of his frankness. It can help us to understand Ancient Christian Britain and we are able to see character in his humility, the shortcomings that he does not hide, but pursues God’s call all the same. We can follow his journey as a young boy kidnapped, serving his master, escaping back to his homeland and returning as bishop to his captors eventually giving his life to them as he establishes God’s Kingdom there

Patrick died in 461 in Ireland in the county of Saul, though he longed to return to the church he founded in Armagh to rest. A man of integrity, compassionate to the people he ministered amongst; his story is one of inspiration. Fortunately, he left behind an imperishable memorial, his Confession, helping separate man from myth.





SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bury, John B. The Life of St Patrick and His Place in History. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1905

Cathcart, William. The Ancient British and Irish Churches: Including the Life and Labours of St Patrick. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1894

Chadwick, Nora K. The Age of the Saints in the Early Celtic Church. London: Oxford University Press, 1961

Gallico, Paul. The Steadfast Man: A Biography of St Patrick. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co, Inc. 1958

Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1984.

Hanson, R.P.C. The Life and Writings of the Historical Saint Patrick. NY: Seabury Press, 1983

McNeill, John T. The Celtic Churches: A History, A.D. 200 to 1200. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974

Olsen, Ted. Christianity and the Celts. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2003

Vann, Father Joseph, ed. Lives of Saints. New York: John J. Crawley & Co., Inc., 1954.