st. Patrick was born not in Ireland but
in Britain around 8035 well actually he
wasn't called st. Patrick at the time or
even Patrick but was referred to as
maewyn succat good thing he change his
name later st. May Wednesday just
doesn't have the same ring well stick
with Patrick just a case I'm
slaughtering that pronunciation Patrick
was quite far from being a saint growing
up until he was 16 he considered himself
a pagan or maybe even an atheist by
today's definition it was at that age
when he was taken into slavery by a
group of Irish murders that attacked his
village
Patrick was sold to his master a druid
chief in Ireland and served him for six
years it was during his captivity that
he became a Christian one day he heard
what he described as a voice compelling
him in his sleep to leave his master and
find a ship that awaited him he fled to
the coast of Ireland and eventually made
it back to his home he then decided to
study in the monastery and stayed there
for 12 years during which he decided
that his calling was to convert the
pagans to Christianity eventually he
adopted his Christian name
Patricius or Patrick as we now know it
and returned to Ireland after being
appointed a bishop
Patrick was very successful winning
commerce which upsetted the Celtic
druids who had him arrested several
times but he managed to escape each
arrest
Patrick traveled through Ireland
establishing monasteries schools and
churches throughout the land eventually
Patrick returned to where he had once
been a slave to pay his ransom to his
former master despite being treated
cruelly Patrick didn't hold a grudge
against him as Patrick approached his
master's old homestead to his horror he
saw that it was in flames Patrick found
out that the stories people told about
him had preceded him and in a fit of
frenzy his old master gathered all his
treasures into his mansion set them on
fire and then threw himself into the
flames
an ancient record adds that his pride
could not endure the thought of being
vanquished by his former slave there are
a lot of legends surrounding Saint
Patrick some say that he raised people
from the dead others say that he drove
snakes out of Ireland but since there
aren't any fossil records of snakes in
Ireland at that time it's highly
unlikely unless he drove out the fossils
as well many think that snakes was a
metaphor for the conversion of the
pagans meaning that he drove paganism
out from Ireland Green wasn't the
original color associated with Saint
Patrick it was first blue it eventually
changed for various reasons probably
because of being used in various Irish
flags and
Green is associated with Ireland itself
Patrick worked in Ireland for 30 years
afterwards he retired and then died on
March 17th in AD 461 there wasn't a
canon ization process when Patrick died
that didn't come up until the 12th
century he would have been declared a
saint by acclamation and his sainthood
approved by a local bishop soon after he
died st. Patrick's Day was originally a
Catholic holiday and still is but has
also evolved into a secular holiday
being celebrated by non Irish non
Catholics and ironically enough even
atheists today when people think of st.
Patrick they imagine a leprechaun in a
green jacket hat pipe clover and a pot
of gold
not a man who devoted 30 years of his
life to teaching and helping the Irish
hopefully you now know a little more
about the history of st. Patrick
you
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