Prayer was offered for the intentions of all Lumiere Charity readers at the grave of Saint Patrick in Ireland.
Saint Patrick, pray for us!
ST PATRICK MISSIONARY TO THE IRISH c. 389 - 461
CENTURIES AGO A BUBBLING WELL IN THE HEART OF DUBLIN WAS THE SCENE OF COUNTLESS BAPTISMS AT THE HANDS OF THE CELEBRATED SAINT PATRICK.
Today, pilgrims stand and pray at the sacred site of the ancient well which lies outside the walls of St Patrick's Cathedral.
Devotees to the Saint still walk on pilgrimage to sites all over Dublin, following in the footsteps of the great Saint.
This devotion, many centuries after this man walked on Ireland's green hills, give rise to the question;
Who was Patrick?
Ancient Ireland
Ireland was the last piece of land on the journey west; it was known as 'the back of beyond'.
In Latin this translated as ultima Thule; the voyage's last stop.
Celtic culture held full sway over the island when the young Patricius arrived, having been captured as a slave.
In the fifth century AD, Ireland's population depended on mixed farming and the rearing of cattle and sheep.
There were no cities as we know them today. Instead, early Celtic settlements had ring-forts enclosing the dwellings.
Thick forests covered large areas of the land, and about one hundred chieftains ruled as clan kings.
Within one hundred years after the death of Patricius - eventually known as Patrick - the influence of this man of God had led to the warrior-kings converting to Christianity.
Patrick's early life
Patrick grew up in a place called Bannavem Taberniae - possibly in Britain.
His father, Calpurnius, was a local governing official who was also a deacon in the Church.
Potitus, Patrick's grandfather, was a priest - a presbyter.
The family lived in a villa on a farm, and owned slaves, to whom Patrick was very attached.
They were devout Christians, and Calpurnius' role in the Church included duties during worship and visiting Church members when they were sick or in need.
Around 400 AD, before his sixteenth birthday, Patrick was abducted from his home by slavers.
His enslavement abruptly interrupted his education, and in later years this sad fact deeply affected Patrick.
He felt that he had not been as well educated as many of his peers, and this had impact on his self image and mood.
However, this did not affect his ministry, which flourished under his God-given vocation to preach, teach, and covert to Christ.
Slavery in Ireland
Many thousands were enslaved alongside Patrick that fateful day.
A ship had come in from Ireland in search of plunder and valuable slave labour.
At that time, large slave markets flourished in early Dublin, with buyers coming in from all over the known world.
In the Iron Age, Roman power was gradually declining towards the end of the 3rd century.
Britain fell prey to attacks from those closest to her borders.
Irish chieftains raided across the water and expanded their territories eastward.
The kingdom of Dalriada in the north-east extended into northern Britain and Scotland.
This created a route for some of the first Irish missionaries.
Most famous of raiders and slavers was Niall of the Nine Hostages.
It is said he controlled land through hostages taken from the Scots, Saxons, Britons and Fench, as well as Irish. [1]
He is reportedly credited with capturing the young Patrick and bringing him back to Ireland as a slave in the middle of the 5th century.
Mound of the Hostages
It is believed, prior to being sold, Patrick was held at the Mound of the Hostages on the Hill of Tara.
Patrick became the slave of a master on a farm near the woods of Foclut, by the western sea in County Mayo.
It is believed that the master was a warrior chief, whose opponents' heads sat atop sharp poles around his palisade in Northern Ireland.
Patrick became a herder, protecting the animals from attack by wild animals.
He toiled in his duties, battered by wind and rain, on the side of Slemish Mountain. [2]
His life as slave in Ireland was a harsh one, and he endured long bouts of hunger and thirst. [3]
He also lived in complete isolation from other human beings for months at a time - a psychologically searing experience indeed.
Patrick worked as a slave from age 16 until he was 22 on this mountain.
The mountain - which rises to 1,500 feet - lies in County Antrim.
During this time of trial, Patrick's relationship to God - not very deep initially despite his Christian upbringing - strengthened and deepened.
One of his continually used prayers was eventually woven into a song called 'St Patrick's Breastplate' [the [Lorica]].
One verse reads;
'Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me.
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me;
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.'
Lifted up high
Patrick placed trustful reliance on the creed, and experienced numerous dreams and visions sent by God.
In one vision Patrick saw himself portrayed as a lifeless stone. The Almighty took hold of the stone of Patrick, lifted him from the mud, and set him on top of the wall.
The inference was clear; what was slave and seen as of low consequence was about to be made leader; to be lifted to a position of pivotal importance in God's Holy Service.
Escape from Captivity
One night, in his sleep, Patrick heard a voice saying to him,
'It is well that you fast, soon you will go to your own country.'
Again, after a short while, he heard a voice saying, 'See, your ship is ready'.
In obedience to this heavenly message, Patrick made a break for freedom.
After six years of slavery, he started on the two hundred mile journey to the east coast.
When Patrick arrived at the ship which had been foretold, it had already raised anchor for sail.
The crew - initially reluctant to take him on as passenger - eventually relented.
They set sail with Patrick safely on board.
After three days at sea, all disembarked on the opposite shore.
It is uncertain whether they landed in Britain or France.
Homecoming and Priesthood
From there Patrick made his way home again, where his parents gave him warm welcome.
Despite his joyous return, this young man - susceptible to dreams, visions and the moods they bring - was not the same young lad who had been abducted.
His whole outlook had changed, and he now tended towards the Church.
Patrick underwent Church training near his home in Britain.
It is probable he received further training in a Gaul Monastery in preparation for ordination.
It is thought that Patrick received guidance from Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre in France.
Trial by friendship
Patrick was broken hearted when a close friend betrayed his confidence.
He had confided a past life difficulty to this person who then took the opportunity to shame him publicly.
This affected Patrick's position in the Church, and the experience affected him greatly.
God Himself comforted the mortified and betrayed Patrick.
This He did by means of prophetic dream.
The dream proved fortuitous for Patrick, who had been left deeply shaken by the recent events.
His confidence had been affected by his embarrassment and inner sufferings.
In the dream, Patrick saw his own face on a coin. The head of Roman emperors were often engraved on coins with words of honor and praise inscribed in letters around the head.
In Patrick's dream, the words surrounding his head were words of disgrace and shame.
Then he heard God's Voice, saying, 'We have seen with displeasure the face of Deisignatus.'
God disapproved of the words which attempted to tarnish Patrick's reputation.
Patrick arose from the dream, comforted and resolved.
Call to Ireland
Patrick felt called to return to Ireland after a prophetic dream.
In this dream-vision, he saw a man called Victoricus standing in front of him.
In his hand he held a countless letters.
Victoricus gave Patrick one of them, and he read the opening words of the letter, which were 'The voice of the Irish'. [4]
At the same moment he read the beginning of the letter, he thought he heard their voices - they were those beside the Wood of Voclut, which is near the Western Sea - and they cried out as one,
'We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more.'
A series of dreams and visions prepared Patrick for his great task ahead; they contained warnings and encouragement for the difficult task that lay ahead.
It turned out to be no less than the evangelization of an entire nation.
Patrick was commissioned as a bishop to serve in Ireland; and set sail back to the very land he had fled before.
Ministry in Ireland
Patrick wasted no time once back on Irish soil.
He tramped all over Ireland, serving as Bishop.
Patrick preached the Word of God, baptized the people into Christianity and celebrated the sacraments.
It is said among the local people in Dublin that Patrick used to wade through a ford near the River Liffey - [the ford no longer extant] - in order to reach the higher hill area where the present day Church of St Audoen stands. [5]
One day as he was wending his way up the hill Patrick stopped, leaned on his staff and looked over the whole wooded area.
It was apparent he had just seen a vision, and he declared that where there was just ford, wood and settlements,
"One day there will rise a magnificent city, as far as the eye can see."
That prophecy came true; the extended city of Dublin lies in that very area, as far as the eye can reach and further.
Many pilgrims still walk in the footsteps of Saint Patrick.
From the present day Church of St Audoen, it is a short walk to where countless Irish were baptized by the great Saint.
Patrick baptized royalty and villagers, kings and shepherders alike.
Well of Saint Patrick
The well of Saint Patrick - no longer extant, but commemorated down the centuries and marked by a plaque in the grounds of Saint Patrick's Cathedral Dublin - was the site of the mass baptisms.
In 1901 building works beside the Cathedral unearthed six Celtic grave slabs. These were subsequently dated to the 10th century.
One of these large stones covered the remains of what looked like an ancient well.
It is possible that this is the same well which Saint Patrick used in the fifth century.
The presence of the stones [still to be viewed in the Cathedral] prove that the site has been in use for at least one thousand years.
The first record of there being a building was in 890 AD when Gregory, King of Scotland, visited a church.
The decision to build a church there was probably based upon the close connection with the Saint.
In 1190 the site was chosen by Archbishop John Comyn to be raised to Cathedral status and eventually the wooden church was replaced with the great structure which can be viewed today. [6]
Confession
More than fifteen hundred years ago Saint Patrick wrote a Letter in Latin.
At a later stage he authored a personal account of his work as a bishop of Ireland, called his Confession.
The Confession and the Letter to the soldiers under the command of Chieftain Coroticus are recognized as authentically the work of Patrick.
Written in the 9th century, The Book of Armagh contains accounts of St Patrick's life, a copy of St Patrick's own Confessio, as well as a complete New Testament.
It was written by the monk, Ferdomnach, who died in 846 AD.
According to this book, Patrick asked the local chieftain for a site on which to build his church.
The chieftain, Daire, refused Patrick the site he requested.
He gave him instead the place now called 'St Patrick's Fold' or 'Ferta Martyrum', in the present Scotch Street. [7]
Pilgrimages
As Patrick baptized the Irish people into Christianity, he nurtured their faith as well.
Some 30 000 Irish, among them some elderly and ailing, left Ireland assisted by Patrick.
He gave his permission and benediction for their pilgrimages.
One group set off for the Holy Land, Jerusalem their destination.
A second group left for the pilgrimage destination of Rome.
A third group left to visit the graves of the Apostles, including that of beatissimus Jacobus in Compostela.
Christian pilgrimage thereafter became ever more popular.
Foundations of pilgrims' hostels in Dublin in 1216 and Drogheda - where St James' Street and St James' Gate still evoke the original dedication- testify to the massive numbers of pellegrini among the Irish through the centuries.
In October 1996 more than thirty burials were discovered during archeological rescue excavation in Mullingar, County Westmeath.
Two of them contained scallop shells - proof of pilgrimage in honor of Saint James.
Ten years earlier, similar finds of scallop shells had been made during excavations of Saint Mary's Cathedral, Tuam, County Galway.
They were also of thirteenth to fourteenth century origin.
In recent times, further shell-associated burial sites have been found during excavation of the Augustinian Friary at Galway.
In 1992, a pewter scallop shell was discovered underneath the wall of a late medieval tomb at Ardfert Cathedral.
Mounted within the shell was a little bronze-gilded figure of St James.
This shell is a pilgrim badge. The emblem of the shell has always been connected with the Apostle James.
The occurrence of the shell at a burial site indicates that the deceased had been a pilgrim to the grave of the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain. [8]
Missionary expeditions
During his missionary expeditions, it is believed that Patrick sailed through Strangford Lough, [9]
to land just outside the town of Downpatrick. [10]
In 432 AD Patrick established his first church in a simple barn.
This church became known as Saul Church.
Two miles outside Downpatrick, a replica of this first church stands today. [11]
Close by, on the crest of Slieve Patrick, is a huge statue of the saint.
Bronze panels illustrate scenes from the life of Ireland's patron saint.
Armagh is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland; Patrick called the city 'my sweet hill' and founded his first large stone church here in 445 AD.
Armagh's two Cathedrals are dedicated to him. The Armagh County Museum, the Armagh County Library and No. 5 Vicar's Hill hold material highlighting the city's role in the history of Christian Ireland. [12]
Patrick called his ministry 'hunting and fishing'. He spiritually hunted after people in the Name of Christ, fishing patiently among them to help them
Patrick unfortunately experienced enslavement a second time.
After word from God, he found his freedom again - doubtless traumatized by the repeated experience.
Pascal fire at Slane
Patrick had taken as his mission the spread of Christianity across Ireland.
When he returned to Ireland after becoming a priest, there would already have been converts to the new faith with Palladius as their Bishop.
Small groups of Christians in rural Ireland had naturally evolved into autonomous communities - a monastic system.
Patrick founded many churches, each time leaving them in the care of a trusted follower.
Trailblazer
Patrick blazed his trail through Ireland. He made his mark on the Rock of Cashel.
The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster for several hundred years.
Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St Patrick in the 5th century. [13]
Croagh Patrick - a high mountain and an important site of pilgrimage in Co Mayo in Ireland - was the site where Patrick fasted and prayed to God for forty days and nights.
Croagh Patrick thereafter became the focus of Christian pilgrimages after Patrick, and is a popular site of pilgrimage to this day. [14] and [15]
Croagh Patrick had originally been a site for pagan pilgrimage; now redirected by Patrick in the service of God.
Patrick is said to have confronted the Corra, or serpent goddess, the symbol of pagan power, at Lough Derg in Donegal.
Thus Patrick faced the powers of darkness symbolized by the serpent goddess, at this venue - and triumphed. [16]
St Patrick's Chair and Well can be found about 5 miles out of Aughnaclay. This is Altadaven on the north eastern flank of Slieve Beagh. Its name means 'the cliff of demons'. St Patrick's chair is a massive and well worn stone in the shape of a seat with a back rest, a seat of dimensions more suited to a giant than a saint.
The chair sits on a high ridge surrounded by other enormous boulder stones, with a number of cup marks on the stones.
According to local tradition, Patrick was passing this way as he journeyed from Clogher to Armagh, when he came upon a pagan rite being performed at the site.
Instead of destroying the rock as he did at Killycluggin, he merely banished the pagan spirits to a nearby lake.
He then preached from the chair, and baptized people with water from the rock area.
This is the Well of Lughnasa, one of the famous wells of St Patrick. [17]
The Killycluggin Stone can be found by a right turn to Bawnboy.
This replica is a marker. The original is in Cavan County Museum in Ballyjamesduff and is an Iron Age ritual stone, a rounde boulder.
The stone is about 5 feet tall, elaborately decorated with closely coiled spirals interconnect with La Tene style patterns.
The top was damaged by St Patrick during his confrontation with Crom Dubh at Killycluggin.
The stone stood at one time outside the stone circle in Killycluggin and was decorated all over with gold.
It represented the god Crom Cruach, or Crom Dubh who is the dark god, the 'bent one' who received the 'first fruits' at Lughnasa or harvest in the form of the corn maiden.
The ritual or sacrifice of the girl was held to ensure the continuing fertility of the earth.
When Patrick travelled this way, he smashed the pillar stone and overturned the stones of the circle in an attempt to destroy the powerful hold this dark entity [satan] had on the people.
The Hill of Tara
Patrick also focused his attention on places of power. He challenged the High King at Tara when he lit the pascal fire at Slane.
The distance from the Hill of Tara to Slane is 23 kilometers.
There was good reason for Patrick's actions. According to the religion of the druids, fires were forbidden on the eve of the Spring Festival.
The Hill of Tara, known as Temair in gaeilge, was the seat of ancient power in Ireland.
142 kings are said to have reigned there in prehistoric and historic times.
Temair was considered the sacred place of dwelling of dwelling for the pagan gods, and was the entrance to the otherworld.
By lighting the Fire of Christ on the Eve of the Christian Festival, Patrick was proclaiming the God's Kingship above the power of the Irish Kings and their religion.
Patrick came to Temair to confront the ancient religion of the pagans at its most powerful site. [18]
When Patrick lit the fire of the Easter Vigil at Slane, the druids predicted the fire would destroy Tara.
They were correct; the ancient religion went into decline, in correlation with the spread of Christianity across the country.
It must be remembered, too, that the fire on Tara was lit in view of the slave holdings.
Patrick's defiant claiming of Christianity was also a message to the captives; according to the Gospel, they would eventually be set free not only from sin, but from their fetters.
As, indeed, history proved. The slave markets of Dublin are no more.
Letter to Coroticus
Patrick challenged many. He wrote an open letter to chieftain-king Coroticus in southern Scotland.
This man had enslaved some of Patrick's newly confirmed Christians, murdered a number of them, mistreated the evangelized, and sold from their number.
Patrick tried to buy back the captives without success.
He suffered deeply as he thought about the Christians now suffering so deeply.
He wrote a letter to Coroticus which was searing in its condemnation of the actions of the chieftain-king and his followers.
Fulfilment of Patrick's life
Patrick was an inspiration during his lifetime.
Patrick is a continued inspiration today, and deeply beloved in Ireland.
Eventually Patrick went home to God, leaving his earthly body - his outer coat, as it were - in his beloved Ireland.
Patrick's body lies in Downpatrick graveyard, on the grounds of the Cathedral.
His resting place is marked by a flat boulder stone. [19]
This man - youth, son, slave, priest, bishop, maligned, missionary - ranged the land of Ireland and claimed it for God.
It is fitting that today - in every town and city in Ireland, and every year on a special Feast Day - the people of Ireland reclaim him as their Holy Patron Saint.
[1] Meehan, Cary. The Traveller's Guide to Sacred Ireland. 2002. Gothic Image Publications; England
[2] Slemish Mountain
[3] Cagney, Mary. Patrick the Saint.
www. christiantoday. com/history / issues/ issue-60/patrick-saint. html
[4] The Confession of Saint Patrick
[5] St Audoen's Church, Dublin
[6] St Patrick and the Cathedral
[7] Meehan, Cary. The Traveller's Guide to Sacred Ireland, Page 48. 2002. Gothic Image Publications; England
[8] http:// www. historyireland.com/ medieval-hitory -pre-1500/the- irish-medieval-pilgrimage-to-santiago-de-compostal/
[9] Strangford Lough Lookout
[10] Downpatrick
[11] Saul Church
[12] Armagh
[13] Rock of Cashel
[14] Meehan, Cary. The Traveller's Guide to Sacred Ireland, Page 25. 2002. Gothic Image Publications; England
[15] Teach na Miasa, Croagh Patrick Visitor Center at the Foot of the Holy Mountain. www. croagh-patrick. com
[16] Meehan, Cary. The Traveller's Guide to Sacred Ireland, Page 40. 2002. Gothic Image Publications; England
[17] Meehan, Cary. The Traveller's Guide to Sacred Ireland, Pages 143 to 144. 2002. Gothic Image Publications; England
[18] Tara - Temail
[19] Down Cathedral and Saint Patrick's Grave
The True Story of Saint Patrick
The Saint Patrick Centre
Resource;
Simms, George Otto. 2004. Saint Patrick, Ireland's Patron Saint. The O'Brien Press; Dublin.
With thanks to ireland.com, catholicplanet.com, wikipedia.org, stpatrickscathedral.ie, Ireland.com, mythicalireland.com, youtube
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