At Tara today in this fateful hour
I place all Heaven with its power,
And the sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness,
And fire with all the strength it hath,
And lightning with its rapid wrath,
And the winds with their swiftness along their path,
And the sea with its deepness,
And the rocks with their steepness,
And the earth with its starkness
All these I place,
By God's almighty help and grace,
Between myself and the powers of darkness.
The Rune of St. Patrick, condensed from the much longer Lorica.
St. Patrick's Day, the Feast of St. Patrick, is such a popular civil holiday that it practically drowns out the saint himself.
Indeed, that fact contributes to a lot of odd rumors and misimpressions about Patrick (I once had a high school chemistry teacher maintain that there was no evidence for his existence, which is a really remarkable statement about a man about whom so much is known and who left writings). For example, some uniformed professor who published an article in the Salt Lake newspaper recently wrote that "he's not really a saint as he's never been canonized", showing that he had a nitwit's understanding of the definition of "saint". None of the early saints were canonized, which is a more recent juretical process with the Catholic Church which does not, in any fashion, disrupt the saintly status of those who were saints before that.
St. Patrick is regarded as the Apostle of Ireland for establishing the Faith in that land. He wasn't the first Catholic missionary there, but he was massively effective. He was not Irish himself, but rather was Roman British, born near what is now called Kilpatrick near Dumbarton Scotland (which wouldn't have bee Scotland) in 387, prior to the Scots invasions of the north and prior to the collapse of the Roman Empire, but during that period of time during which Rome was becoming increasingly weak and had abandoned its British colony to its own fate. Indeed, the people who became the Scots, and who invaded northern Britain slightly after this period, were the Irish and Patrick, in his writings, referred to the Irish in Latin as the Scotti, the name that would later give us the term Scots for the people who live in Scotland today.
Patrick's actual name was Patricius, a name symbolizing that he was of significant patrician origin. He came from a line that had strong affiliation with the Church, and indeed by his own account his father, Calphurnius, was a Deacon in the church and his grandfather a Priest, this being of course well before the Latin Rite of the Church imposed a rule of celibacy upon Priests.
Patrick, by his own account, was not a religious man until he was kidnapped by the pirates as a sixteen-year-old and sold as a slave in Ireland. It's often claimed that he was sold as a youth, but at that time, he would not have been really regarded as so much as a youth as a young man. He spent six years as a slave in Ireland, the property of a cruel master. The experience was Providential, however, as the Roman youth learned Irish Gaelic and experienced a deep religious conversion. Indeed, a metaphysical one. He escaped, managed to return to Britain, having formed the intent to enter religious life and return. He did just that, and was remarkably able at this mission, being a very tough man who was readily capable of dealing with a very tough people. Remarkable in that, he lived a very long time in an age and occupation in which that would not have been expected, perhaps approaching or even exceeding a lifespan of 100 years.
In spite of that, at some period, Patrick suffered an attack by some who accused him of something of which we are now unaware. He therefore suffered the trial that so many who are orthodox and effective do today of coming under accusations by others, even within the Church. In his case, this motivated him to write his Confessio, in Latin, to defend himself. It's survived, but the accusations against him have not.
We can pick up his own words from there:
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.
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.'
I am imperfect in many things, nevertheless I want my
brethren and kinsfolk to know my nature so that they may be able to
perceive my soul's desire.
I am not ignorant of what is said of my Lord in the
Psalm: 'You destroy those who speak a lie.' And again: 'A lying mouth
deals death to the soul.' And likewise the Lord says in the Gospel: 'On
the day of judgment men shall render account for every idle word they
utter.'
So it is that I should mightily fear, with terror and
trembling, this judgment on the day when no one shall be able to steal
away or hide, but each and all shall render account for even our
smallest sins before the judgment seat of Christ the Lord.
And therefore for some time I have
thought of writing, but I have hesitated until now, for truly, I feared
to expose myself to the criticism of men, because I have not studied
like others, who have assimilated both Law and the Holy Scriptures
equally and have never changed their idiom since their infancy, but
instead were always learning it increasingly, to perfection, while my
idiom and language have been translated into a foreign tongue. So it is
easy to prove from a sample of my writing, my ability in rhetoric and
the extent of my preparation and knowledge, for as it is said, 'wisdom
shall be recognized in speech, and in understanding, and in knowledge
and in the learning of truth.'
But why make excuses close to the truth, especially
when now I am presuming to try to grasp in my old age what I did not
gain in my youth because my sins prevented me from making what I had
read my own? But who will believe me, even though I should say it again?
A young man, almost a beardless boy, I was taken captive before I knew
what I should desire and what I should shun. So, consequently, today I
feel ashamed and I am mightily afraid to expose my ignorance, because,
[not] eloquent, with a small vocabulary, I am unable to explain as the
spirit is eager to do and as the soul and the mind indicate.
But had it been given to me as to others, in
gratitude I should not have kept silent, and if it should appear that I
put myself before others, with my ignorance and my slower speech, in
truth, it is written: 'The tongue of the stammerers shall speak rapidly
and distinctly.' How much harder must we try to attain it, we of whom it
is said: 'You are an epistle of Christ in greeting to the ends of the
earth ... written on your hearts, not with ink but with the Spirit of
the living God.' And again, the Spirit witnessed that the rustic life
was created by the Most High.
I am, then, first of all, countryfied, an exile,
evidently unlearned, one who is not able to see into the future, but I
know for certain, that before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in
deep mire, and he that is mighty came and in his mercy raised me up and,
indeed, lifted me high up and placed me on top of the wall. And from
there I ought to shout out in gratitude to the Lord for his great
favours in this world and for ever, that the mind of man cannot measure.
Therefore be amazed, you great and small who fear
God, and you men of God, eloquent speakers, listen and contemplate. Who
was it summoned me, a fool, from the midst of those who appear wise and
learned in the law and powerful in rhetoric and in all things? Me, truly
wretched in this world, he inspired before others that I could be-- if I
would-- such a one who, with fear and reverence, and faithfully,
without complaint, would come to the people to whom the love of Christ
brought me and gave me in my lifetime, if I should be worthy, to serve
them truly and with humility.
According, therefore, to the measure of one's faith
in the Trinity, one should proceed without holding back from danger to
make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, to spread God's
name everywhere with confidence and without fear, in order to leave
behind, after my death, foundations for my brethren and sons whom I
baptized in the Lord in so many thousands.
And I was not worthy, nor was I such that the Lord
should grant his humble servant this, that after hardships and such
great trials, after captivity, after many years, he should give me so
much favour in these people, a thing which in the time of my youth I
neither hoped for nor imagined.
But after I reached Ireland I
used to pasture the flock each day and I used to pray many times a day.
More and more did the love of God, and my fear of him and faith
increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day [I said] from one up
to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number; besides I used to
stay out in the forests and on the mountain and I would wake up before
daylight to pray in the snow, in icy coldness, in rain, and I used to
feel neither ill nor any slothfulness, because, as I now see, the Spirit
was burning in me at that time.
And it was there of course
that one night in my sleep I heard a voice saying to me: 'You do well to
fast: soon you will depart for your home country.' And again, a very
short time later, there was a voice prophesying: 'Behold, your ship is
ready.' And it was not close by, but, as it happened, two hundred miles
away, where I had never been nor knew any person. And shortly thereafter
I turned about and fled from the man with whom I had been for six
years, and I came, by the power of God who directed my route to
advantage (and I was afraid o nothing), until I reached that ship.
And on the same day that I arrived, the ship was
setting out from the place, and I said that I had the wherewithal to
sail with them; and the steersman was displeased and replied in anger,
sharply: 'By no means attempt to go with us.' Hearing this I left them
to go to the hut where I was staying, and on the way I began to pray,
and before the prayer was finished I heard one of them shouting loudly
after me: 'Come quickly because the men are calling you.' And
immediately I went back to them and they started to say to me: 'Come,
because we are admitting you out of good faith; make friendship with us
in any way you wish.' (And so, on that day, I refused to suck the
breasts of these men from fear of God, but nevertheless I had hopes that
they would come to faith in Jesus Christ, because they were
barbarians.) And for this I continued with them, and forthwith we put to
sea.
And after three days we reached land, and for
twenty-eight days journeyed through uninhabited country, and the food
ran out and hunger overtook them; and one day the steersman began
saying: 'Why is it, Christian? You say your God is great and
all-powerful; then why can you not pray for us? For we may perish of
hunger; it is unlikely indeed that we shall ever see another human
being.' In fact, I said to them, confidently: 'Be converted by faith
with all your heart to my Lord God, because nothing is impossible for
him, so that today he will send food for you on your road, until you be
sated, because everywhere he abounds.' And with God's help this came to
pass; and behold, a herd of swine appeared on the road before our eyes,
and they slew many of them, and remained there for two nights, and the
were full of their meat and well restored, for many of them had fainted
and would otherwise have been left half dead by the wayside. And after
this they gave the utmost thanks to God, and I was esteemed in their
eyes, and from that day they had food abundantly. They discovered wild
honey, besides, and they offered a share to me, and one of them said:
'It is a sacrifice.' Thanks be to God, I tasted none of it.
The very same night while I was sleeping Satan
attacked me violently, as I will remember as long as I shall be in this
body; and there fell on top of me as it were, a huge rock, and not one
of my members had any force. But from whence did it come to me, ignorant
in the spirit, to call upon 'Helias'? And meanwhile I saw the sun
rising in the sky, and while I was crying out 'Helias, Helias' with all
my might, lo, the brilliance of that sun fell upon me and immediately
shook me free of all the weight; and I believe that I was aided by
Christ my Lord, and that his Spirit then was crying out for me, and I
hope that it will be so in the day of my affliction, just as it says in
the Gospel: 'In that hour', the Lord declares, 'it is not you who speaks
but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you.'
And a second time, after many years, I was taken
captive. On the first night I accordingly remained with my captors, but I
heard a divine prophecy, saying to me: 'You shall be with them for two
months. So it happened. On the sixtieth night the Lord delivered me from
their hands.
On the journey he provided us with food and fire and
dry weather every day, until on the tenth day we came upon people. As I
mentioned above, we had journeyed through an unpopulated country for
twenty-eight days, and in fact the night that we came upon people we had
no food.
And after a few 'ears I was
again in Britain with my parents [kinsfolk], and the welcomed me as a
son, and asked me, in faith, that after the great tribulations I had
endured I should not go an where else away from them. And, of course,
there, in a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus
coming as it from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one
of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: 'The Voice of the
Irish', and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at
that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of
Foclut which is near the western sea, and the were crying as if with one
voice: 'We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk
again among us.' And I was stung intensely in my heart so that I could
read no more, and thus I awoke. Thanks be to God, because after so many
ears the Lord bestowed on them according to their cry.
And another night-- God knows, I do not, whether
within me or beside me-- ... most words + ... + which I heard and could
not understand, except at the end of the speech it was represented thus:
'He who gave his life for you, he it is who speaks within you.' And
thus I awoke, joyful.
And on a second occasion I saw Him praying within
me, and I was as it were, inside my own body , and I heard Him above
me-- that is, above my inner self. He was praying powerfully with sighs.
And in the course of this I was astonished and wondering, and I
pondered who it could be who was praying within me. But at the end of
the prayer it was revealed to me that it was the Spirit. And so I awoke
and remembered the Apostle's words: 'Likewise the Spirit helps us in our
weakness; for we know not how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit
Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for utterance.' And again:
'The Lord our advocate intercedes for us.'
And then I was attacked by a goodly number of my
elders, who [brought up] my sins against my arduous episcopate. That day
in particular I was mightily upset, and might have fallen here and for
ever; but the Lord generously spared me, a convert, and an alien, for
his name's sake, and he came powerfully to my assistance in that state
of being trampled down. I pray God that it shall not be held against
them as a sin that I fell truly into disgrace and scandal.
They brought up against me
after thirty years an occurrence I had confessed before becoming a
deacon. On account of the anxiety in my sorrowful mind, I laid before my
close friend what I had perpetrated on a day-- nay, rather in one
hour-- in my boyhood because I was not yet proof against sin. God
knows-- I do not-- whether I was fifteen years old at the time, and I
did not then believe in the living God, nor had I believed, since my
infancy; but I remained in death and unbelief until I was severely
rebuked, and in truth I was humbled every day by hunger and nakedness.
On the other hand, I did not proceed to Ireland of
my own accord until I was almost giving up, but through this I was
corrected by the Lord, and he prepared me so that today I should be what
was once far from me, in order that I should have the care of-- or
rather, I should be concerned for-- the salvation of others, when at
that time, still, I was only concerned for myself.
Therefore, on that day when I was rebuked, as I have
just mentioned, I saw in a vision of the night a document before my
face, without honour, and meanwhile I heard a divine prophecy, saying to
me: 'We have seen with displeasure the face of the chosen one divested
of [his good] name.' And he did not say 'You have seen with
displeasure', but 'We have seen with displeasure' (as if He included
Himself) . He said then: 'He who touches you, touches the apple of my
eye.'
For that reason, I give thanks to him who
strengthened me in all things, so that I should not be hindered in my
setting out and also in my work which I was taught by Christ my Lord;
but more, from that state of affairs I felt, within me, no little
courage, and vindicated my faith before God and man.
Hence, therefore, I say boldly that my conscience is
clear now and hereafter. God is my witness that I have not lied in
these words to you.
But rather, I am grieved for my very close friend,
that because of him we deserved to hear such a prophecy. The one to whom
I entrusted my soul! And I found out from a goodly number of brethren,
before the case was made in my defence (in which I did not take part,
nor was I in Britain, nor was it pleaded by me), that in my absence he
would fight in my behalf. Besides, he told me himself: 'See, the rank of
bishop goes to you'-- of which I was not worthy. But how did it come to
him, shortly afterwards, to disgrace me publicly, in the presence of
all, good and bad, because previously, gladly and of his own free will,
he pardoned me, as did the Lord, who is greater than all?
I have said enough. But all the same, I ought not to
conceal God's gift which he lavished on us in the land of my captivity,
for then I sought him resolutely, and I found him there, and he
preserved me from all evils (as I believe) through the in-dwelling of
his Spirit, which works in me to this day. Again, boldly, but God knows,
if this had been made known to me by man, I might, perhaps, have kept
silent for the love of Christ.
Thus I give untiring thanks to God who kept me
faithful in the day of my temptation, so that today I may confidently
over my soul as a living sacrifice for Christ my Lord; who am I, Lord?
or, rather, what is my calling? that you appeared to me in so great a
divine quality, so that today among the barbarians I might constantly
exalt and magnify your name in whatever place I should be, and not only
in good fortune, but even in affliction? So that whatever befalls me, be
it good or bad, I should accept it equally, and give thanks always to
God who revealed to me that I might trust in him, implicitly and
forever, and who will encourage me so that, ignorant, and in the last
days, I may dare to undertake so devout and so wonderful a work; so that
I might imitate one of those whom, once, long ago, the Lord already
pre-ordained to be heralds of his Gospel to witness to all peoples to
the ends of the earth. So are we seeing, and so it is fulfilled; behold,
we are witnesses because the Gospel has been preached as far as the
places beyond which no man lives.
But it is tedious to describe in detail all my
labours one by one. I will tell briefly how most holy God frequently
delivered me, from slavery, and from the twelve trials with which my
soul was threatened, from man traps as well, and from things I am not
able to put into words. I would not cause offence to readers, but I have
God as witness who knew all things even before they happened, that,
though I was a poor ignorant waif, still he gave me abundant warnings
through divine prophecy.
Whence came to me this wisdom which was not my own, I
who neither knew the number of days nor had knowledge of God? Whence
came the so great and so healthful gift of knowing or rather loving God,
though I should lose homeland and family.
And many gifts were offered to me with weeping and
tears, and I offended them [the donors], and also went against the
wishes of a good number of my elders; but guided by God, I neither
agreed with them nor deferred to them, not by my own grace but by God
who is victorious in me and withstands them all, so that I might come to
the Irish people to preach the Gospel and endure insults from
unbelievers; that I might hear scandal of my travels, and endure man
persecutions to the extent of prison; and so that I might give up my
free birthright for the advantage of others, and if I should be worthy, I
am ready [to give] even m life without. hesitation; and most willingly
for His name. And I choose to devote it to him even unto death, if God
grant it to me.
I am greatly God's debtor, because he granted me so
much grace, that through me many people would be reborn in God, and soon
a after confirmed, and that clergy would be ordained everywhere for
them, the masses lately come to belief, whom the Lord drew from the ends
of the earth, just as he once promised through his prophets: 'To you
shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Our
fathers have inherited naught hut lies, worthless things in which there
is no profit.' And again: 'I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles
that you may bring salvation to the uttermost ends of' the earth.'
And I wish to wait then for his promise which is
never unfulfilled, just as it is promised in the Gospel: 'Many shall
come from east and west and shall sit at table with Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob.' Just as we believe that believers will come from all the
world.
So for that reason one should, in fact, fish well
and diligently, just as the Lord foretells and teaches, saying, 'Follow
me, and I will make you fishers of men,' and again through the prophets:
'Behold, I am sending forth many fishers and hunters, says the Lord,'
et cetera. So it behoved us to spread our nets, that a vast multitude
and throng might be caught for God, and so there might be clergy
everywhere who baptized and exhorted a needy and desirous people. Just
as the Lord says in the Gospel, admonishing and instructing: 'Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always to
the end of time.' And again he says: 'Go forth into the world and preach
the Gospel to all creation. He who believes and is baptized shall be
saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned.' And again: 'This
Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached throughout the whole world as a
witness to all nations; and then the end of the world shall come.' And
likewise the Lord foretells through the prophet: 'And it shall come to
pass in the last days (sayeth the Lord) that I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your
young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams; yea,
and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out
my Spirit and they shall prophesy.' And in Hosea he says: 'Those who are
not my people I will call my people, and those not beloved I will call
my beloved, and in the very place where it was said to them, You are not
my people, they will be called 'Sons of the living God'.
So, how is it that in Ireland,
where they never had any knowledge of God but, always, until now,
cherished idols and unclean things, they are lately become a people of
the Lord, and are called children of God; the sons of. the Irish
[Scotti] and the daughters of the chieftains are to be seen as monks and
virgins of Christ.
And there was, besides, a most
beautiful, blessed, native-born noble Irish [Scotta] woman of adult age
whom I baptized; and a few days later she had reason to come to us to
intimate that she had received a prophecy from a divine messenger [who]
advised her that she should become a virgin of Christ and she would draw
nearer to God. Thanks be to God, six days from then, opportunely and
most eagerly, she took the course that all virgins of God take, not with
their fathers' consent but enduring the persecutions and deceitful
hindrances of their parents. Notwithstanding that, their number
increases, (we do not know the number of them that are so reborn)
besides the widows, and those who practise self-denial. Those who are
kept in slavery suffer the most. They endure terrors and constant
threats, but the Lord has given grace to many of his handmaidens, for
even though they are forbidden to do so, still they resolutely follow
his example.
So it is that even if I should wish to separate from
them in order to go to Britain, and most willingly was I prepared to go
to my homeland and kinsfolk-- and not only there, but as far as Gaul to
visit the brethren there, so that I might see the faces of the holy
ones of my Lord, God knows how strongly I desired this-- I am bound by
the Spirit, who witnessed to me that if I did so he would mark me out as
guilty, and I fear to waste the labour that I began, and not I, but
Christ the Lord, who commanded me to come to be with them for the rest
of my life, if the Lord shall will it and shield me from every evil, so
that I may not sin before him.
So I hope that I did as I ought, but I do not trust
myself as long as I am in this mortal body, for he is strong who strives
daily to turn me away from the faith and true holiness to which I
aspire until the end of my life for Christ my Lord, but the hostile
flesh is always dragging one down to death, that is, to unlawful
attractions. And I know in part why I did not lead a perfect life like
other believers, but I confess to my Lord and do not blush in his sight,
because I am not lying; from the time when I came to know him in my
youth, the love of God and fear of him increased in me, and right up
until now, by God's favour, I have kept the faith.
What is more, let anyone laugh and taunt if he so
wishes. I am not keeping silent, nor am I hiding the signs and wonders
that were shown to me by the Lord many years before they happened, [he]
who knew everything, even before the beginning of time.
Thus, I should give thanks unceasingly to God, who
frequently forgave my folly and my negligence, in more than one instance
so as not to be violently angry with me, who am placed as his helper,
and I did not easily assent to what had been revealed to me, as the
Spirit was urging; and the Lord took pity on me thousands upon thousands
of times, because he saw within me that I was prepared, but that I was
ignorant of what to do in view of my situation; because many were trying
to prevent this mission. They were talking among themselves behind my
back, and saying: 'Why is this fellow throwing himself into danger among
enemies who know not God?' Not from malice, but having no liking for
it; likewise, as I myself can testify, they perceived my rusticity. And I
was not quick to recognize the grace that was then in me; I now know
that I should have done so earlier.
Now I have put it frankly to my brethren and
co-workers, who have believed me because of what I have foretold and
still foretell to strengthen and reinforce your faith. I wish only that
you, too, would make greater and better efforts. This will be my pride,
for 'a wise son makes a proud father'.
You know, as God does, how I went about among you
from my youth in the faith of truth and in sincerity of heart. As well
as to the heathen among whom I live, I have shown them trust and always
show them trust. God knows I did not cheat any one of them, nor consider
it, for the sake of God and his Church, lest I arouse them and [bring
about] persecution for them and for all of us, and lest the Lord's name
be blasphemed because of me, for it is written: 'Woe to the men through
whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed.'
For even though I am ignorant in all things,
nevertheless I attempted to safeguard some and myself also. And I gave
back again to my Christian brethren and the virgins of Christ and the
holy women the small unasked for gifts that they used to give me or some
of their ornaments which they used to throw on the altar. And they
would be offended with me because I did this. But in the hope of
eternity, I safeguarded myself carefully in all things, so that they
might not cheat me of my office of service on any pretext of dishonesty,
and so that I should not in the smallest way provide any occasion for
defamation or disparagement on the part of unbelievers.
What is more, when I baptized so many thousands of
people, did I hope for even half a jot from any of them? [If so] Tell
me, and I will give it back to you. And when the Lord ordained clergy
everywhere by my humble means, and I freely conferred office on them, if
I asked any of them anywhere even for the price of one shoe, say so to
my face and I will give it back.
More, I spent for you so that they would receive me.
And I went about among you, and everywhere for your sake, in danger,
and as far as the outermost regions beyond which no one lived, and where
no one had ever penetrated before, to baptize or to ordain clergy or to
confirm people. Conscientiously and gladly I did all this work by God's
gift for your salvation.
From time to time I gave rewards to the kings, as
well as making payments to their sons who travel with me;
notwithstanding which, they seized me with my companions, and that day
most avidly desired to kill me. But my time had not yet come. They
plundered everything they found on us anyway, and fettered me in irons;
and on the fourteenth day the Lord freed me from their power, and
whatever they had of ours was given back to us for the sake of God on
account of the indispensable friends whom we had made before.
Also you know from experience how much I was paying
to those who were administering justice in all the regions, which I
visited often. I estimate truly that I distributed to them not less than
the price of fifteen men, in order that you should enjoy my company and
I enjoy yours, always, in God. I do not regret this nor do I regard it
as enough. I am paying out still and I shall pay out more. The Lord has
the power to grant me that I may soon spend my own self, for your souls.
Behold, I call on God as my witness upon my soul
that I am not lying; nor would I write to you for it to be an occasion
for flattery or selfishness, nor hoping for honour from any one of you.
Sufficient is the honour which is not yet seen, but in which the heart
has confidence. He who made the promise is faithful; he never lies.
But I see that even here and now, I have been
exalted beyond measure by the Lord, and I was not worthy that he should
grant me this, while I know most certainly that poverty and failure suit
me better than wealth and delight (but Christ the Lord was poor for our
sakes; I certainly am wretched and unfortunate; even if I wanted wealth
I have no resources, nor is it my own estimation of myself, for daily I
expect to be murdered or betrayed or reduced to slavery if the occasion
arises. But I fear nothing, because of the promises of Heaven; for I
have cast myself into the hands of Almighty God, who reigns everywhere.
As the prophet says: 'Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain
you.'
Behold now I commend my soul to God who is most
faithful and for whom I perform my mission in obscurity, but he is no
respecter of persons and he chose me for this service that I might be
one of the least of his ministers.
For which reason I should make return for all that
he returns me. But what should I say, or what should I promise to my
Lord, for I, alone, can do nothing unless he himself vouchsafe it to me.
But let him search my heart and [my] nature, for I crave enough for it,
even too much, and I am ready for him to grant me that I drink of his
chalice, as he has granted to others who love him.
Therefore may it never befall me to be separated by
my God from his people whom he has won in this most remote land. I pray
God that he gives me perseverance, and that he will deign that I should
be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing.
And if at any time I managed anything of good for
the sake of my God whom I love, I beg of him that he grant it to me to
shed my blood for his name with proselytes and captives, even should I
be left unburied, or even were my wretched body to be torn limb from
limb by dogs or savage beasts, or were it to be devoured by the birds of
the air, I think, most surely, were this to have happened to me, I had
saved both my soul and my body. For beyond any doubt on that day we
shall rise again in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of
Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as children of the living God and co-heirs of
Christ, made in his image; for we shall reign through him and for him
and in him.
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.
Behold over and over again I would briefly set out
the words of my confession. I testify in truthfulness and gladness of
heart before God and his holy angels that I never had any reason, except
the Gospel and his promises, ever to have returned to that nation from
which I had previously escaped with difficulty.
But I entreat those who believe
in and fear God, whoever deigns to examine or receive this document
composed by the obviously unlearned sinner Patrick in Ireland, that
nobody shall ever ascribe to my ignorance any trivial thing that I
achieved or may have expounded that was pleasing to God, but accept and
truly believe that it would have been the gift of God. And this is my
confession before I die.
This isn't Patrick's only surviving writing, amazingly enough. Some people have claimed that the Confessio is short, but given the nature of writing at the time, it's actually amazingly long, given the ordeal that writing such a long letter entails. Patrick himself notes that he was rustic in nature, which downplays his patrician origin, but if we consider that he had been kidnapped when only sixteen years old, there was no doubt truth to his claim.
He left a very long letter in addition to the Soldiers of Coroticus complaining about the violent treatment given to some recently baptized converts and instructed that it be openly announced. A prayer, the Lorica of St. Patrick, also survived and is believed to have been authored by him.
One of my favorite saints, for a variety of reasons, and one whose is more contemporary in terms of our present needs than we sadly realize.
