Patrick: The Patron Saint We Need Today

Saint Patrick’s Day is upon us and as is tradition I take some time to write about his life. I am reminded each year as I see advertisements for green everything that the ways we celebrate Saint Paddie’s Day sells his legacy short. Drinking and festive revelry are perfectly fine things but that isn’t the only thing Patrick was about. I think he has much more to teach us.

Though Patrick lived 1600 years ago I think his voice can still speak to us in the 21st Century. In a time where we have to be reminded that racial minorities and women matter, his example of female empowerment and reaching across cultural boundaries is something we can all learn from.

SO WHO WAS SAINT PATRICK?

From what we know, he was not born with the name Patrick and he wasn’t Irish. He was born into a Roman aristocratic family in what is now England. His given name was Maewyn Succat. No I cannot pronounce it either. He did not go by the Latin name Patricius, which means “Nobleman,” until after he became a priest.

When he was sixteen Maewyn’s town was raided and he, along with thousands of others, were sold into slavery in Ireland. He spent the next 6 years of his life as a sheepherder for an unknown Irish king. He writes that during this time his constant companions were hunger, nakedness, and pain.

It was during this time that he began to sense a profound connection to God. Being alone in the Irish countryside will do that to a person. One day he received a dream that he would be free and soon after he was able to escape his captors and flee Ireland.

Most people would never dream of going back. Patrick was not like most people.

Later in life, after he had completed formal training as a priest, he had another dream that called him back to the Irish people. He wanted to share the “the God of the Three Faces” with them and returned back to the island at great personal risk. His former masters would have had every legal right to re-enslave him or simply kill him.

His mission was largely successful though probably not in his lifetime. Over time Ireland was transformed from a network of feuding kingdoms into “the island of saints and scholars.” The former raiders and slavers became passionate advocates of learning. Many communities sprung up, some led by prominent women, to take up the task of preserving knowledge.

It is arguable that there are many classic works of literature would have been lost if it were not for the diligent copying of Irish scholars. They preserved Christian sacred texts as well as local Irish folklore and Greco-Roman classical writing.

After the collapse of the Roman empire, Irish scholars returned to the continent and spread their skills and learning thus saving much that was lost. The Celtic Spirituality that sprung from Patrick’s ministry continues to inspire us today almost 1600 years later.

Patrick’s life and contribution are a fascinating story but some of the particulars I want to zoom in on speak specifically and powerfully about empowering women, dismantling systems of oppression, and reaching across racial boundaries. I think his life has much we can learn from.

PATRICK: FEMINIST

Before Patrick came along Irish culture was remarkably egalitarian in comparison to his native Greco-Roman culture. Women could own property and become well-respected diplomats, priestesses, warriors, and rulers. In Ireland marriages were seen as partnerships; both parties supplied a dowry and could initiate a divorce.

From what we can tell Patrick embraced this. He enjoyed the company of women, gave them positions of senior leadership, and saw them as equals. The idea that all are one in Christ and there is no Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female is an idea his community took seriously.

When it came down to it Patrick did not let his theological training override what he saw with his own eyes. Women were just as capable as he was.

We live in a culture that is only just now waking up to the ugly world that patriarchy and toxic masculinity have created. Patrick gives us hope. He was born into a culture much like ours yet through contact and conversation he was able to change his cultural programming and celebrate the inherent value and dignity of women.

In a country where about 33 million people claim Irish descent this is a piece of their history we need to reclaim.

PATRICK: BREAKER OF CHAINS

During much of his early life Patrick would have benefited from the slave trade. For a wealthy family slavery was an easy way to generate wealth and transport assets in the ancient world. Once he became a slave himself he grew to understand the evils of the system that supported his privileges.

It isn’t a surprise then that Patrick’s only recorded conflict is over the practice of slavery. What is fascinating though is that his conflict was not with the pagan Irish but with his former people the Christians in England!

One of the few writings that can be reasonably traced to Patrick is the “Letter to Coroticus.” It was a written defense of the native Irish who were being enslaved by his former tribe. The Roman support of the slave trade was something he was not afraid to fight over. When it came down to it he was more concerned with protesting systemic oppression than he was in maintaining Christian or racial unity.

For us today we would do well to learn about the systems of oppression we inherited from our ancestors. This learning does not mean that we have to apologize for their crimes. It does mean that we have to recognize the dehumanizing systems they created and work to dismantle them even if we still benefit from them.

Patrick did not ignore the violence that supported his fellow Christian’s lifestyles. He confronted it head-on. Let us go and do likewise.

PATRICK: RADICAL PEACEMAKER

There had been other missionary attempts to convert Ireland. They came with imperial attitudes toward the Irish “thugs” and had only moderate success.

Patrick came to Ireland as a former slave. He was the lowest member of Irish society and he bore the marks of that indignity on his body for all to see. He did not come in imperial power; he came to Ireland as a criminal.

The ministry of Patrick was one of the few nonviolent conversions of a people group. From the historical evidence available to us there was no systematic bloodshed on either side as the island gradually transitioned from one faith system to another. This is truly remarkable.

Patrick had no reason to associate with the Irish after his escape. His culture and his theology taught him that they were outsiders, thugs, and beneath him. No one would have blamed him for living the rest of his life gated safely in his community.

But Ireland had changed Patrick. His time on the Emerald Isle changed his identity and his theology. His insider status as a Roman citizen no longer had the same appeal. He shows us how powerful it is when we learn to see life from a different perspective.

When we change our minds good things have an opportunity to spring into the world.

At the same time he shows us how the outsider and the minority can transform a culture. The Irish were a community of people who viewed him as less than human. He was nothing more than property to them. He was not a priest, a Roman citizen, or a child of God. He was cheap labor.

Patrick forced his former masters to see his humanity. He showed up, he offered forgiveness, and he held them accountable. By being a persistent presence he changed the culture of his conqueror. The scars on his body transformed from sources of pain into an indictment of the system that gave them.

Saint Patrick went from forced immigrant to the beloved symbol of an entire nation.

Think about that.

Call to action:

How can you celebrate and reclaim something of Patrick’s legacy this Saint Patrick’s Day?

Would you like to keep in touch?

Sign up here your email address to receive news and updates. As a bonus you will get a free copy of my short eBook Stop Believing, Start Practicing.