Patrick of Ireland
A.D. 461
Feast Day: March 17

It seems odd that a newsletter dedicated to Celtic Christianity waits until its fourth year to highlight St. Patrick. Perhaps it is because Patrick is too well known, too available. However, even  though Bede never mentions him in his references to the Celtic saints, Patrick is central to the revival of Celtic Christianity in our times.

 Before looking into that aspect of his influence it is best to dispose of the scholarly problems regarding Patrick. First of all, there is little consensus as to the period of his work. The  primary agreement is that it was in the 5^th century. The reference to a bishop assigned to the Christians who are in Ireland somewhat before Patricks time also raises questions about the nature of his mission. Some scholars have posited the idea of two Patricks, some have tried to link the bishop sent by Rome with Patrick. Regardless of the lack of scholarly unity on the subject, we do have two documents generally regarded as his authentic writings and it is these which reveal the character of the man.

 The longest document is a defense of his life and ministry, an apologia. It appears that Patrick was under some severe criticism from the bishops in Britain and felt a need to set forth  the story of his conversion, his call and his later ministry. The Latin in which he wrote is not polished, but it is remarkably sincere. The story which he tells is straightforward and humble. There is an interesting similarity  to the defense of the prophet Amos when challenged by the priests of the northern kingdom of Israel. When told to practice his prophetic ministry elsewhere, Amos responded: I was neither a prophet nor a prophets son, but I was  a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me Go, prophesy to my people Israel. (Amos 7:14-15). In other words, Amos did not claim to be a religious  professional, simply an obedient child of God.

 Patrick himself had an ecclesiastical background. His grandfather was a priest (in the days before mandatory celibacy) and his father a deacon as well as a minor Roman official. Like many a  preachers kid since then, he found religion a rather indifferent occupation. However, his youthful life was dramatically disrupted by an Irish raid in the territory where he lived. Patrick was taken prisoner to Ireland where he  served as a slave, tending cattle. During lonely nights in the woods he found a living relationship with a living God and prayer became the central stay of his life. After some years, a vision of an angel gave him his chance to  escape.

 Patricks description of what happened afterwards is none too clear. Whatever occurred and wherever he went Patrick ended up ordained as a bishop, serving perhaps in Britain. During this time he  had a dream of an Irish youth calling him to return to the land of his slavery as a missionary. This he did, with a number of companions.

 Patrick found himself in conflict with the druids, though as much for political as for religious reasons. The druids, by the structures of Irish society, played a vital role in the political life  of the nation. Patricks presence as a messenger of a new religion was a powerful threat to the druids powerbase. Once the political battle had ended in the next generation, the conversion of the druids en masse was a testimony  to the original nature of the conflict. Even so, with that conflict, there were very few martyrs in the conversion of Ireland.

 Patrick, as a Roman Briton, attempted to form a church on the continental model, with the traditional episcopal hierarchy. However, the continental model was based on the cities established by  the Roman empire and the models of structure and order the empire had bequeathed to Europe. The empire had never gained a foothold in Ireland, and the first city built in Ireland, Dublin, was not built by the Irish, but by the  Danes in the later Viking invasions. The structure Patrick sought to establish died with him.

 Yet Patricks wisdom in attaching the Gospel to whatever of the present spirituality that could contain it created an Irish ownership of the message of the Christian faith. Patricks structure died, but his  community survived and thrived. Over the following centuries the Irish Christian community built a form of Christianity which today we look back upon in admiration.

 The legacy of Patrick for the renewal of Celtic Christianity is the legacy of a man of humility, owing his work to the power of God; a man of passion, inflamed by the Holy Spirit; and a man of  wisdom, looking for the prevenient grace of God in the culture to which he preached.