Written by: CampUs4
3/11/2010 3:21 PM

 Shamrocks, Snakes, and Spirits

by JD Morris

Quick! What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Saint Patrick’s Day? I think of things like green boxers, shamrocks, leprechauns, corned beef and cabbage, March 17^th, my favorite Irish band, “Gaelic Storm” (seriously, look them up on ITunes and see if they are not amazing!), parades, and getting pinched. Saint Patrick’s Day is the one day of the year that we are all Irish! My wife, who is part Irish, swears that her light green eyes turn a fuller green on March 17^th every year! And I have to say, I believe it because I’ve seen it!

While all of these icons have their place in the long history of celebrating Irish culture, it is safe to say that we have forgotten all about the man whom this day is meant to honor, Patrick. In fact, many people don’t even think about the fact that Saint Patrick’s Day is named after an actual man. Growing up, I just thought Saint Patrick was a fictitious leprechaun running through a field of shamrocks at the end of a rainbow guarding his pot of gold. But I now know that Patrick was actually a very important figure, not only in Ireland, but in the history of Christianity. And a brief study of his life, as we prepare to celebrate the day of his death, would do us all a little good!

Baby Patrick was actually born in Scotland in the late 300’s. He learned Scottish things, like how to say, “laddie”, and how to change his kilt in public if it got dirty. But by age six, he was kidnapped and taken away to Ireland where he was sold into slavery. His master was a Druid high priest (don’t mix that up with the “Droid”). Druidism was the main religion of Ireland at this point in history.

Patrick remained a slave for six years. Despite the pressures of his master’s religion, he relied completely on God to get him through this time of his life. He would later reflect back on his faith in God during his time as a slave in his “Confessio”:

“…and His fear increased in me more and more, and the faith grew in me, and the spirit was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same, so that whilst in the woods and on the mountain, even before the dawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurt from it, whether there was snow or ice or rain; nor was there any slothfulness in me, such as I see now, because the spirit was then fervent within me.”

After six years of slavery, Patrick escaped his master and fled to the coast of Ireland where he was able to board a ship and sail to Britain. By then, Patrick’s relationship with God was so deep that he knew he could do nothing else with his life but serve Him in ministry.

Over time, Patrick was able to serve under Germain in Britain and was eventually promoted to priesthood. However, no matter where he went or what he did, Patrick could not keep his mind from wandering back to Ireland.

Finally, when the priest who was supposed to be doing mission work in Ireland left for fear of the opposition, Pope Celestine I commissioned Patrick to go to the land of his childhood slavery and unite all of Ireland under Christ. Patrick did not hesitate, and spent the rest of his life in the dangerous mission field of Ireland, fighting the spiritual battles between Christ and the hostile religion of Druidism. Legend has it that the entire island of Ireland was converted to Christianity within 200 years of Patrick’s arrival. Rumors even say that Patrick exterminated all snakes off of the island before he died!

There are many lessons we can learn from the Patrick’s story. We can learn lessons about loving your enemies, listening to God’s call in your life, speaking boldly to unbelievers about Christ, casting all fears aside in order to do God’s work, and devoting ourselves to prayer, just to name a few. But whatever you learn from him, when you wake up on March 17^th and put on your green boxers, make sure you take time to remember Saint Patrick and the example he left for us.

Sources:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=89

JD Morris is the youth minister at Central Church of Christ in Spartanburg, SC.  He has a BA in Bible with a concentration in youth ministry from Lipscomb University.  He has an amazing wife, Megan, a beautiful 17-month-old daughter, Caroline, and a stud muffin newborn son, Braden.

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