The Epic Legend of Patrick

Saint Patrick. The legend, the lore of a great story, the edge of an epic: As a young man Patrick was stolen from his home in Britain by Irish raiders. At age sixteen he was sold into slavery in Ireland to a druid priest. He saw the pagan worship of the Celtic traditions, how when the sun was at its lowest zenith and the moon began to wane in November they would wear masks as they drove their excess cattle, which were sure to starve over winter, over the edge of the cliffs. Meat and Hides and other useful parts were taken, but the bones were stacked up and dried and then the bones were burned in great piles, hence the word “bonfires”. These fires were lit all over the hills, but no man's fire could be lighted until the Kings fire went out on penalty of death!

Patrick would go out to the woods in the misty gloaming he would pray and he found God, his prayer was “God beside me, God all around me, and God within me” and he remembered his childhood introduction to Jesus Christ.

He eventually escaped and made it back home, following his faith in Christ he became a priest and eventually a bishop in Britain. As he became aged, he began having dreams where he received letters from Irish people he knew long ago. Through these dreams he heard the cry of the Irish which moved him to compassion. He knew that God was calling him to go back and help the Irish find the one true God. Senior leaders in the church disagreed with his plan to become a missionary but he persisted and left for Ireland.

When he arrived in Ireland, the first thing he did was to pay the druid priest, his former master the price of his freedom. Anticipating the fall bonfires which would glow all night in savage pagan worship, He lit his own bonfire of wood before the king's fire, which drew conspicuous attention to him.

In dealing with the king and the druid priests, he taught with a courageous fire of conviction about the God who was “three-in-one”. He used a three leaf clover to represent the concept of the trinity; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Once the king and key druid leaders accepted Christ, the Irish began gladly accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. There were some who did not embrace Christianity but rather plotted to kill Patrick. In one account, as warriors lay in wait on a path Patrick had surely to follow, only a herd of deer passed, and thus arose the legend that Patrick changed into a deer and made his escape.

It was his love for the Irish people that won them over; he came back for them and instead of pagan druidism, a new faith arose from the old Celtic traditions. While teaching that by embracing the Gospel of Christ, man's sins were paid for by Jesus and that Restoration with God Almighty was possible through that simple faith, Patrick was careful to not expect or demand that the Irish culture was to be forsaken, rather that the simple faith of Christ and Irish heritage and culture were preserved.

Snakes, well we all have heard about Patrick and snakes in Ireland. In the real account, once as Patrick climbed a mountain in order to meet a key pagan leader on the other side he prayed for humbleness to drive out the evil spirits of the land. It is said that he drove out all the snakes in Ireland, in his own words he said the worst snake was pride and how he had to deal with his own pride in order to be God's messenger and servant to the Irish. Even today, the faithful make pilgrimages to the mountain as an act of recognizing the dangers of pride and self importance.

In a book of the history of Patrick in Ireland, written by monks sequestered on the remote island of Skellig, containing the accounts and descriptions of the missionary life of Patrick, has illustrations in beautiful calligraphy. This history of Irish Christianity has been protected and carried throughout the ages in manuscripts and by legend of folklore still told around bonfires to this day.

SAINT PATRICK AND IRELAND

Having done diligent research on the matter, consulted with and carefully observed the behavior of those who are descendants of people from the “Auld Sod”, and I am convinced that the following is true and factual :

Everyone knows that St. Patrick’s first encounter with the Irish was when he was captured and sold to them as a slave. After six years as a slave, he managed to escape to what is now France and became a monk.

He later decided that the inhabitants of the “Emerald Island”, a rude and uncouth lot to be sure, needed a bit of civilizing. He therefore returned to his former place of slavery to bring about a change.* He was highly successful in converting many of the savage tribes to Christianity but one problem remained to be overcome: Snakes.

Now Patrick in all his time as a slave and as a missionary had never seen a snake in Ireland. However, the indigenous population assured him that they were there! They appeared each day in great numbers to the inhabitants. Patrick was baffled!

Upon further investigation, Patrick determined that, according to the people, the snakes appeared at the approximately the same time each day, late in the afternoon or early evening, and stayed visible until the following morning. Patrick observed the people and noted that their daily routine varied little over time and any differences depended upon the season. Spring, summer and early fall resulted in longer days outdoors tending crops and flocks. During late fall and winter, more time was spent indoors tending to crafts and animals in the barns. Thus, the snakes appeared later in the day during the spring, summer and early fall than during late fall and winter.

Patrick also noted that there were about three whiskey stills for every four (man, woman and child) in the population and that although each still produced enough for the daily needs ten people, there was no on hand inventory of distilled spirits. He also noted that there was a direct correlation between distilled spirit consumption, seasons of the year and snake sightings.

As a result of his observations, Patrick took matters into his own hands and proceeded to destroy 99.9% of the existing stills. There was an immediate decline in snake sightings!! At the same time, this led to other advances in Irish civilization: Irish Clog Dancing evolved from the native clod dancing; Injuries to spectators from erratically aimed darts were reduced significantly; Irish cuisine (Colcannon, Bangers and Mash and Irish Onion Soup) developed.

However, residuals of the old days remain. There are still occasional sightings of snakes. Leprechauns appear now and then. Spectators are still injured by stray darts. It should be noted that those responsible for the above have, in all probability, managed to consume more than their allocated share of distilled and/or brewed spirits.

The true miracle of St. Patrick ridding Ireland of snakes isn’t that the snakes went away but that he remained alive afterwards.

*It has also been ventured that his return was motivated by the fact that Guinness was not available anywhere on the continent!

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