Home  |  Calendar  |  Location and Directions  |  Links and Resources  |  Orthodoxy  |  Homilies  |  Bookstore  |  Contact

Saint Patrick

Most glorious art Thou, Christ our God
Who didst establish our Father Patrick
as the enlightener of the Irish and a torch-bearer on earth,
and through him didst guide many to the true Faith.
Most Compassionate One, glory to Thee.
Troparion of St Patrick: Tone 4

Our father among the saints Patrick of Ireland, Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, was born in Roman Britain. Captured and brought to Ireland as a slave, he escaped and returned home. Later, he returned to Ireland as a missionary bishop, bringing Christianity to its people. The Church commemorates Saint Patrick on March 17/30.

Saint Patrick was born around 390 AD, at Bannavem Taburniae — modern Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, Scotland. His father, Calpurnius, was a deacon; his mother Conchessa was a near relative of Saint Martin of Tours. Around the age of fourteen, Patrick was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave. At age 20 he escaped and returned to Britain, where he received clerical training. He was ordained by St. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre. Around 430 he was ordained a bishop, after which he returned to Ireland. There, he preached the Gospel, reaching tribal chieftains, gaining their permission to teach their subjects also.

Murchiú's seventh-century Life of Saint Patrick relates a prophecy, said to have been spoken by the druids. It gives an impression of how Patrick and other Christian missionaries were seen by those hostile to them:

Across the sea will come Adze-head¹, crazed in the head,
his cloak with hole for the head, his stick bent in the head².
His dish in the east³ of his house:
all his people will answer: "so be it, so be it⁴."

The saint was subjected to frequent trials at the hands of the druids and of other enemies of the Faith. He tells us in his Confession that no fewer than twelve times he and his companions were seized and carried off as captives, and on one occasion he was bound with chains, and sentenced to death. It is because of the many hardships which he endured for the Faith that, in some of the ancient Martyrologies, he is honored as a martyr.

Two writings are recognized as genuinely by Saint Patrick: His autobiographical Confession, and a letter to the pagan king Coroticus. Also attributed to him is a prayer known as St. Patrick's Breastplate. And finally, one of the earliest accounts of the saint's life is found in the Hymn of his disciple Saint Fiacc.

The saint's life is the subject of many legends. It is said that he used the shamrock, the three-leafed Irish clover, to show how the three Persons of the Trinity were one in essence.

The Church that Saint Patrick founded was characterized by monasticism, asceticism, and the sacraments. Irish Christianity from its very beginning manifested a love of the Trinity, the saints, and the Theotokos, in common with their contemporaries in the rest of the Orthodox west and east of the period.

When Patrick had gathered Ireland into the fold of Christ, he prepared for his repose. Saint Tassach administered the last sacraments to him. Saint Patrick died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, about 461 AD, on the 17th of March. His remains were wrapped in a shroud woven for him by Saint Brigid. The bishops and clergy and faithful people from all parts crowded around his remains to pay due honour to the father of their Faith. Some of the ancient Lives record that for several days the light of heaven shone around his bier. His remains were interred at the chieftan's fort two miles from Saul, where the cathedral of Down was later built.

When Patrick came to Ireland as its enlightener, it was almost entirely a pagan country; when he ended his earthly life some thirty years later, the Faith of Christ was established in every corner.

Photo: Jim Barton