In just a few days, countless numbers of Americans will celebrate St. Patrick\u2019s Day. Many will do so with no small share of adult spirits.<\/p>\n
Yet how many of these people genuinely know anything about Saint <\/em>Patrick?<\/p>\n While it\u2019s true that many of the details of his life are lost in the midst of time, and while it is equally true that some conventional accounts are purely mythological, those who have taken the time to research Patrick seem to be in essential agreement over a few things that have more less been accepted as fact.<\/p>\n (1)Patrick came from a relatively well-to-do Christian family of the 5th<\/sup> century in what is today recognized the world over as Britain.\u00a0 His father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest.<\/p>\n (2)When Patrick was 16 years of age, Irish pirates descended upon his family\u2019s estate, raiding it. They abducted Patrick and forced him into bondage.\u00a0 For the next six years, the young man would be made to attend to animals in what is now known as Ireland.<\/p>\n (3)While a slave, Patrick spent much of his time alone. Lonely and fearful, he proceeded to draw closer to the God of his parents\u2019 faith.\u00a0 In his writings, Patrick remarked that it was at this juncture that, through much prayer, he became a disciple of Christ.\u00a0 It was also during his captivity that Patrick subsequently claimed to have had dreams in which he made Christian converts of the people of Ireland.<\/p>\n (4)Patrick said that God spoke to him six years into his captivity, assuring him that he would soon return home, for his ship was about ready to sail back to Britain. So, Patrick escaped and walked approximately 200 miles <\/em>to the port at which the boat that would sail him home was docked.\u00a0 It took some doing on his part, but the ship\u2019s captain reluctantly allowed Patrick to come on board.<\/p>\n (5)After three days of sailing, the ship landed in Britain. \u00a0Over the span of four weeks they walked, hungry and exhausted, through what Patrick would characterize as a \u201cwilderness.\u201d\u00a0 Patrick prayed for nourishment.\u00a0 Shortly afterwards, he and his group encountered a herd of wild boar. Consequently, his companions came to esteem him, for in their trials, Patrick continually implored them to trust in God.\u00a0 The availability of food, <\/em>in their eyes, vindicated Patrick\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n Eventually, when he was in his early 20\u2019s, Patrick made it home.<\/p>\n (6) After he returned to Britain, Patrick continued to study and deepen his Christian faith.\u00a0 A few years after being home, he had a vision.\u00a0 Patrick wrote:<\/p>\n \u201cI saw a man coming, as it were, from Ireland.\u00a0 His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them.\u00a0 I read the heading: \u2018The Voice of the Irish.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Patrick continued: \u201cAs 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\u2014and they cried out, as with one voice: \u2018We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n As to whom \u201cVictoricus\u201d refers, there remains debate.\u00a0 Fortunately, for our purposes, we needn\u2019t concern ourselves with this matter, for the vision seems to have been the final catalyst to have provoked Patrick to enter the priesthood.<\/p>\n (7)Fifteen years later, upon his ordination, Patrick was deployed to be a missionary to the Irish.\u00a0 Apparently, though, there were already some<\/em> Christian communities in Ireland; Patrick was entrusted with a twofold purpose.\u00a0 He was to minister to those Christians that already lived in Ireland and make new Christians from the Celtic polytheists, the majority, that resided there.<\/p>\n (8)Not infrequently, Patrick met with hostility on the part of the chiefs of tribes that he encountered. He would write: \u201cNever before did they know of God except to serve idols and unclean things.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet after his labors, Patrick noted the stark changes that occurred among the inhabitants of the land that once enslaved him.\u00a0 \u201cBut now, they have become the people of the Lord, and are called children of God. The sons and daughters of the leaders of the Irish are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ!\u201d<\/p>\n Patrick wrote that he \u201cbaptized thousands of people,\u201d including the sons of kings.\u00a0 Patrick ordained priests and endowed them with authority to preside over the burgeoning Christian communities.\u00a0 Wealthy women, persuaded by his efforts, resisted pressure from their families and become nuns.<\/p>\n Patrick\u2019s commitment to his mission must have been second to none.\u00a0 Because he refused to accept gifts from kings, he had no legal protections.\u00a0 He claimed that, on at least one occasion, he was pummeled, deprived of all of his belongings, enchained, and thrown into jail to await his execution.<\/p>\n Somehow, Patrick managed to dodge the fate that awaited him.\u00a0 But he also said that \u201cmany years later,\u201d he was again a captive\u2014but this time for 60 days.\u00a0 Patrick disclosed no other details regarding this incident.<\/p>\n Still, he persisted\u2014and prevailed.<\/p>\n (9)Patrick converted Ireland into a bastion of the Christian faith.\u00a0 He did so by utilizing the Irish\u2019s own pagan traditions so as to shed light on the insights of his own faith.\u00a0 To this end, since the Irish were accustomed to honoring their gods with fires, Patrick used fire to celebrate the Resurrection, Easter.\u00a0 And he superimposed a sun\u2014a rich Irish symbol\u2014on the cross, hence giving rise to what would become the Celtic cross.<\/p>\n It was eventually said that Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock of Ireland to teach his prospective converts about the Holy Trinity.\u00a0 The number \u201cthree\u201d was of significance for the Irish and, according to Wikipedia<\/a>, they had many \u201ctriple deities.\u201d\u00a0 Furthermore, some suggest that the shamrock itself may have symbolized to the Irish natives the regenerative powers of nature, an idea that was then reframed within a Christian context.<\/p>\n (10)Patrick was among the first figures in history to publically disavow slavery.\u00a0 In this respect he was centuries ahead of his time.<\/p>\n