Friday, March 17, 2006

St. Patrick, Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland


Saint Patrick was born around 387, at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland. His name is from the Latin Patricius, meaning high-born. His parents were part of the Christian minority of Britain; his father, Calpurnius, was a deacon. At the age of fourteen, he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. At age 20 he managed his escape and returned to England, 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. He established an Episcopal administration and led a monastic lifestyle. St. Patrick reposed at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, March 17, 461.

“Holy Bishop Patrick, faithful shepherd of Christ’s royal flock, you filled Ireland with the radiance of the Gospel: the mighty strength of the Trinity! Now that you stand before the Savior, pray that He may preserve us in faith and love.”

Troparion (Tone 3)
O holy hierarch, Patrick, wonderworker, equal to the Apostles and illuminator of the Irish people, pray to the merciful God that He will grant us the remission of our sins.

4 Comments:

At 3/20/2006 11:48 PM , Blogger deleted said...

Being Irish as well, I love St. Patrick... even more now that I am moving towards the Church.
...a couple snippets from The Confession of St. Patrick. ...Taken from this site...
http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/patrick.html

"1. 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 [vicus] 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."
...
"60. For the sun we see rises each day for us at [his] command, but it will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who has done Christ's will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever. Amen."

 
At 3/23/2006 2:33 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that St. Patrick is actually British. I would think that would REALLY upset the Irish. :-)

Scot

PS - Nice blog.

 
At 3/24/2006 8:51 AM , Blogger Fr. Michael Reagan said...

Good comments guys! Scot, I assume you noticed that St. Patrick was actually born in SCOTland, heh-heh...

 
At 1/19/2008 4:02 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Would St Patrick be considered Roman not only in culture but also in ethnicity?

 

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