St. Patrick’s Day brings to mind four leaf clovers, wearing green, Irish-American parades, and Shamrock Shakes. But if this is all that St. Patrick’s Day means to us, we would do well to recall the life and ministry of this day’s namesake.
Patrick was born 389 A.D. in Britain in a family of Celtic Christians. In his youth he rejected his family’s Christian faith. At the age of 16, he was captured by marauding pirates and taken as a slave to Ireland where “the Lord opened my unbelieving eyes… and I was converted with my whole heart to the Lord my God.” After six years, Patrick escaped and returned to Britain, where one night he had a vision: “I saw a man named Victorious, coming as if from Ireland, with innumerable letters; and… I read… ‘The voice of the Irish’ and while I was reading… I heard the voice… ‘Please, holy boy, come and walk with us again.’”
Patrick brought the Gospel of Christ to that pagan land, establishing over 200 churches in Ireland and baptizing many thousands in over 30 years in mission. Prayer was a way of life for St. Patrick, as we see in his prayer of thanksgiving for Christ’s saving presence in all of life’s experiences:
Christ be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ be in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise,
Christ in the heart of every one who thinks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me,
Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is of the Christ,
May your salvation, O Lord, be ever with me.
May the peace of Christ be with us all, as we journey with Jesus to the cross.
Lenten Calendar Suggestion
Pray for the Vestry.