Who was St. Patrick and Why Do We Celebrate His Life?
St. Patrick's Day is known as a day of celebration and
festivities, but very few people know the true story of St.
Patrick and who he really is. By tradition, he is a patron saint
of the Catholic religion because of the captivity that he went
through, the time of solitude and his great faith, and
eventually the number of people that were converted to know God
through him. It is legend that he heard angels and they helped
him in his decisions. All in all, he is known as the patron
saint of good luck and blessings to the Catholics in that era up
until the 21st century.
St. Patrick was a real live person born in the time around 400
AD in Roman Britian, when the British Isles were still under the
domain of the Romans. He was born with the name Maewyn. His name
wasn't changed until he was in the monastery. His father was a
soldier in the army, and Patrick also reports him to be a
deacon, civil official, and a town councilor, who was a son of a
Romano-British priest. The family was Christian, but they
weren't extremely religious, some historians even say Patrick
was agnostic in his childhood.
According to his most famous work, the Confessio, Patrick was
captured along with many others when his village was attacked,
and he was taken to Ireland as a slave. Patrick was under the
authority of a druid high priest and his family and here he
learned the native Celtic language which he later used to
communicate, and help those to be converted.
After 8 years in captivity, he escaped at the age of twenty-two,
and legend has it that an angel directed him to spend twelve
years in a monastery near Paris, France, where he adopted the
name Patrick. It was during this time of captivity that Patrick
found God and developed the habit of praying throughout the day
to strengthen himself and to be closer to God. It is recorded in
the Confessio that he would often pray up to 100 times a day.
One night, while in the monastery, he said he heard many voices
that were calling him back to Ireland to help the remaining
slaves. At this time he was somewhere in his mid thirties and so
he answered the callings. He became one of the first Christian
missionaries in Ireland.
He was confident in the Lord, and he journeyed far and wide,
baptizing and confirming with untiring zeal. Indeed, Patrick was
successful at converting Ireland to christianity . And he even
made important converts even among the royal families. For 20
years he had travelled throughout Ireland, establishing
monasteries, schools and churches, which would aid him in his
conversions. He died on March 17th.
You can see how originally this was a Catholic holy day, but
today St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular
holiday. Or, rather, 'be Irish Day '. Speculation as to why this
holiday is so popular could be the coming of spring that occurs
within just a few days.