AN APOSTLE TO IRELAND.
Today is the feast day of Irelands national saint, Patrick. While it is celebrated with lots of shamroguerey and oodles of Paddywhackery at its core is the historical figure of the Saint himself, one of the pioneers who preached the gospel to this country some sixteen hundred years ago. All we know for sure about Patrick’s ministry comes to us from his own pen in his Confession, written towards the end of his life. Originally he came to Ireland in chains as a slave aged only 16 but later back in his homeland Patrick heard the cries of the Irish in a dream and felt the call of God to return with the Good News of the Gospel.
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The main opponent to the Message at that time was the Druidic religion of the Celts a mishmash of pantheism and occultism overseen by a powerful priesthood. There are numerous stories about head to head confrontations between the Saint and the Celtic priests culminating with a big showdown at Tara where both attempted to show the power of their respective ‘God’ by a dazzling display of miraculous signs and wonders! Patrick emerged as the ultimate victor proving to the people of Ireland that the God of Scripture and Jesus Christ was the One alone worthy of their allegiance and devotion.
The main opponent to the Message at that time was the Druidic religion of the Celts a mishmash of pantheism and occultism overseen by a powerful priesthood. There are numerous stories about head to head confrontations between the Saint and the Celtic priests culminating with a big showdown at Tara where both attempted to show the power of their respective ‘God’ by a dazzling display of miraculous signs and wonders! Patrick emerged as the ultimate victor proving to the people of Ireland that the God of Scripture and Jesus Christ was the One alone worthy of their allegiance and devotion.
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One other lasting legacy of Patrick was the abolition of the slave trade on the island of Ireland. In fact he was one of the earliest Christians to vigorously oppose slavery his stand no doubt informed by his own experience of it as a teenager. Cortical a ruling tyrant in Britain carried off some of Patricks converts into slavery and was sent the following letter by the Saint…"Ravenous wolves have gulped down the Lord's own flock which was flourishing in Ireland," he wrote, "and the whole church cries out and laments for its sons and daughters." He called Coroticus's deed "wicked, so horrible, so unutterable," and told him to repent and to free the converts. Within Patricks own lifetime the entire slave trade had ended.
One other lasting legacy of Patrick was the abolition of the slave trade on the island of Ireland. In fact he was one of the earliest Christians to vigorously oppose slavery his stand no doubt informed by his own experience of it as a teenager. Cortical a ruling tyrant in Britain carried off some of Patricks converts into slavery and was sent the following letter by the Saint…"Ravenous wolves have gulped down the Lord's own flock which was flourishing in Ireland," he wrote, "and the whole church cries out and laments for its sons and daughters." He called Coroticus's deed "wicked, so horrible, so unutterable," and told him to repent and to free the converts. Within Patricks own lifetime the entire slave trade had ended.
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Below is a piece from the opening of his Confession in which he firmly nails his colours to the mast as a true disciple of Jesus and indeed an Apostle of His Gospel to the Irish people…
Below is a piece from the opening of his Confession in which he firmly nails his colours to the mast as a true disciple of Jesus and indeed an Apostle of His Gospel to the Irish people…
Gerard O'Shea
I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the settlement of Bannavem Taburniae; he had a small villa nearby where I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought down on us the fury of his being and scattered us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my smallness, am now to be found among foreigners.
And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son. Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under heaven.
For there is no other God, nor ever was before, nor shall be hereafter, but God the Father, unbegotten and without beginning, in whom all things began, whose are all things, as we have been taught; and his son Jesus Christ, who manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the spirit with the Father, indescribably begotten before all things, and all things visible and invisible were made by him. He was made man, conquered death and was received into Heaven, to the Father who gave him all power over every name in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe. And we look to his imminent coming again, the judge of the living and the dead, who will render to each according to his deeds. And he poured out his Holy Spirit on us in abundance, the gift and pledge of immortality, which makes the believers and the obedient into sons of God and co-heirs of Christ who is revealed, and we worship one God in the Trinity of holy name.
He himself said through the prophet: ‘Call upon me in the day of’ trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’ And again: ‘It is right to reveal and publish abroad the works of God.’
And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son. Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under heaven.
For there is no other God, nor ever was before, nor shall be hereafter, but God the Father, unbegotten and without beginning, in whom all things began, whose are all things, as we have been taught; and his son Jesus Christ, who manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the spirit with the Father, indescribably begotten before all things, and all things visible and invisible were made by him. He was made man, conquered death and was received into Heaven, to the Father who gave him all power over every name in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe. And we look to his imminent coming again, the judge of the living and the dead, who will render to each according to his deeds. And he poured out his Holy Spirit on us in abundance, the gift and pledge of immortality, which makes the believers and the obedient into sons of God and co-heirs of Christ who is revealed, and we worship one God in the Trinity of holy name.
He himself said through the prophet: ‘Call upon me in the day of’ trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’ And again: ‘It is right to reveal and publish abroad the works of God.’
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