IF the virtue of children reflects an honor on their parents, much more
justly is the name of St. Patrick rendered illustrious by the
innumerable lights of sanctity with which the church of Ireland, planted
by his labors in the most remote corner of the then known world, shone
during many ages; and by the colonies of saints with which it peopled
many foreign countries; for, under God, its inhabitants derived from
their glorious apostle the streams of that eminent sanctity by which
they were long conspicuous to the whole world. St. Patrick was born in
the decline of the fourth century;[1] and, as he informs us in his
Confession, in a village called Bonaven Taberniae, which seems to be the
town of Killpatrick, on the mouth of the river Cluyd, in Scotland,
between Dunbriton and Glasgow. He calls himself both a Briton and a
Roman, or of a mixed extraction, and says his father was of a good
family, named Calphurnius, and a denizen of a neigh-boring city of the
Romans, who, not long after, abandoned Britain, in 409. Some writers
call his mother Conchessa, and say she was niece to St. Martin of Tours.
At fifteen years of age he committed a fault, which appears not to have
been a great crime, yet was to him a subject of tears during the
remainder of his life. He says, that when he was sixteen, he lived still
ignorant of God, meaning of the devout knowledge and fervent love of
God, for he was always a Christian: he never ceased to bewail this
neglect, and wept when he remembered that he had been one moment of his
life insensible to the divine love. In his sixteenth year he was carried
into captivity by certain barbarians, together with many of his father's
vassals and slaves, taken upon his estate. They took him into Ireland,
where he was obliged to keep cattle on the mountains and in the forests,
in hunger and nakedness, amidst snows, rain, and ice. While he lived in
this suffering condition, God had pity on his soul, and quickened him to
a sense of his duty by the impulse of a strong interior grace. The young
man had recourse to him with his whole heart in fervent prayer and
fasting; and from that time, faith and the love of God acquired
continually new strength in his {600} tender soul. He prayed often in
the day, and also many times in the night, breaking off his sleep to
return to the divine praises. His afflictions were to him a source of
heavenly benedictions, because he carried his cross with Christ, that
is, with patience, resignation, and holy joy. St. Patrick, after six
months spent in slavery under the same master, was admonished by God in
a dream to return to his own country, and informed that a ship was then
ready to sail thither. He repaired immediately to the sea-coast, though
at a great distance, and found the vessel; but could not obtain his
passage, probably for want of money. Thus new trials ever await the
servants of God. The saint returned towards his hut, praying as he went,
but the sailors, though pagans, called him back, and took him on board.
After three days' sail, they made land, probably in the north of
Scotland: but wandered twenty-seven days through deserts, and were a
long while distressed for want of provisions, finding nothing to eat.
Patrick had often entertained the company on the infinite power of God:
they therefore asked him, why he did not pray for relief. Animated by a
strong faith, he assured them that if they would address themselves with
their whole hearts to the true God, he would hear and succor them. They
did so, and on the same day met with a herd of swine. From that time
provisions never failed them till on the twenty-seventh day they came
into a country that was cultivated and inhabited. During their distress,
Patrick refused to touch meats which had been offered to idols. One day
a great stone from a rock happened to fall upon him, and had like to
have crushed him to death, while he was laid down to take a little rest.
But he invoked Elias, and was delivered from the danger. Some years
afterwards, he was again led captive; but recovered his liberty after
two months. When he was at home with his parents, God manifested to him,
by divers visions, that he destined him to the great work of the
conversion of Ireland. He thought he saw all the children of that
country from the wombs of their mothers, stretching out their hands, and
piteously crying to him for relief.[2]
Some think he had travelled into Gaul before be undertook his mission,
and we find that, while he preached in Ireland, he had a great desire to
visit his brethren in Gaul, and to see those whom he calls the saints of
God, having been formerly acquainted with them. The authors of his life
say, that after his second captivity, he travelled into Gaul and Italy,
and had seen St. Martin, St. Germanus of Auxerre, and pope Celestine,
and that he received his mission, and the apostolical benediction, from
this pope, who died in 432. But it seems, from his Confession, that he
was ordained deacon, priest, and bishop, for his mission in his own
country. It is certain that he spent many years in preparing himself for
those sacred functions. Great opposition was made against his episcopal
consecration and mission, both by his own relations and by the clergy.
These made him great offers in order to detain him among them, and
endeavored to affright him by exaggerating the dangers to which he
exposed himself amidst the enemies of the Romans and Britons, who did
not know God. Some objected, with the same view, the fault which he had
committed thirty years before as an obstacle to his ordination. All
these temptations threw the saint into great perplexities, {601} and had
like to have made him abandon the work of God. But the Lord, whose will
he consulted by earnest prayer, supported him, and comforted him by a
vision; so that he persevered in his resolution. He forsook his family,
sold, as he says, his birthright and dignity, to serve strangers, and
consecrated his soul to God, to carry his name to the end of the earth.
He was determined to suffer all things for the accomplishment of his
holy design, to receive in the same spirit both prosperity and
adversity, and to return thanks to God equally for the one as for the
other, desiring only that his name might be glorified, and his divine
will accomplished to his own honor. In this disposition he passed into
Ireland, to preach the gospel, where the worship of idols still
generally reigned. He devoted himself entirely for the salvation of
these barbarians, to be regarded as a stranger, to be contemned as the
last of men, to suffer from the infidels imprisonment and all kinds of
persecution, and to give his life with joy, if God should deem him
worthy to shed his blood in his cause. He travelled over the whole
island, penetrating into the remotest corners, without fearing any
dangers, and often visited each province. Such was the fruit of his
preachings and sufferings, that he consecrated to God, by baptism, an
infinite number of people, and labored effectually that they might be
perfected in his service by the practice of virtue. He ordained
everywhere clergymen, induced women to live in holy widowhood and
continence, consecrated virgins to Christ, and instituted monks. Great
numbers embraced these states of perfection with extreme ardor. Many
desired to confer earthly riches on him who had communicated to them the
goods of heaven; but he made it a capital duty to decline all
self-interest, and whatever might dishonor his ministry. He took nothing
from the many thousands whom he baptized, and often gave back the little
presents which some laid on the altar, choosing rather to mortify the
fervent than to scandalize the weak or the infidels. On the contrary, he
gave freely of his own, both to pagans and Christians, distributed large
alms to the poor in the provinces where he passed, made presents to the
kings--judging that necessary for the progress of the gospel--and
maintained and educated many children, whom he trained up to serve at
the altar. He always gave till he had no more to bestow, and rejoiced to
see himself poor, with Jesus Christ, knowing poverty and afflictions to
be more profitable to him than riches and pleasures. The happy success
of his labors cost him many persecutions.
A certain prince named Corotick, a Christian, though in name only,
disturbed the peace of his flock. He seems to have reigned in some part
of Wales, after the Britons had been abandoned by the Romans. This
tyrant, as the saint calls him, having made a descent into Ireland,
plundered the country where St. Patrick had been just conferring the
holy chrism, that is, confirmation, on a great number of Neophytes, who
were yet in their white garments after baptism. Corotick, without paying
any regard to justice, or to the holy sacrament, massacred many, and
carried away others, whom he sold to the infidel Picts or Scots. This
probably happened at Easter or Whitsuntide. The next day the saint sent
the barbarian a letter by a holy priest whom he had brought up from his
infancy, entreating him to restore the Christian captives, and at least
part of the booty he had taken, that the poor people might not perish
for want; but was only answered by railleries, as if the Irish could not
be the same Christians with the Britons: which arrogance and pride sunk
those barbarous conquerors beneath the dignity of men, while by it they
were puffed up above others in their own hearts.. The saint, therefore,
to prevent the scandal which such a flagrant enormity gave to his new
converts, wrote with his own hand a public circular letter. In it he
styles himself a sinner and an ignorant man; for such is the sincere
{602} humility of the saints, (most of all when they are obliged to
exercise any acts of authority,) contrary to the pompous titles which
the world affects. He declares, nevertheless, that he is established
bishop of Ireland, and pronounces Corotick and the other parricides and
accomplices separated from him and from Jesus Christ, whose place he
holds, forbidding any to eat with them, or to receive their alms, till
they should have satisfied God by the tears of sincere penance, and
restored the servants of Jesus Christ to their liberty. This letter
expresses his most tender love for his flock and his grief for those who
had been slain, yet mingled with joy, because they reign with the
prophets, apostles, and martyrs. Jocelin assures us, that Corotick was
overtaken by the divine vengeance. St. Patrick wrote his Confession as a
testimony of his mission, when he was old.[3] It is solid, full of good
sense and piety, expresses an extraordinary humility and a great desire
of martyrdom, and is written with spirit. The author was perfectly
versed in the holy scriptures. He confesses everywhere his own faults
with a sincere humility, and extols the great mercies of God towards him
in this world, who had exalted him, though the most undeserving of men:
yet, to preserve him in humility, afforded him the advantage of meeting
with extreme contempt from others, that is, from the heathens. He
confesses, for his humiliation, that, among other temptations, he felt a
great desire to see again his own country, and to visit the saints of
his acquaintance in Gaul; but durst not abandon his people; and says,
that the Holy Ghost had declared to him that to do it would be criminal.
He tells us, that a little before he wrote this, he himself and all his
companions had been plundered and laid in irons for his having baptized
the son of a certain king against the will of his father: but were
released after fourteen days. He lived in the daily expectation of such
accidents, and of martyrdom; but feared nothing, having his hope as a
firm anchor fixed in heaven, and reposing himself with an entire
confidence in the arms of the Almighty. He says, that he had lately
baptized a very beautiful young lady of quality, who some days after
came to tell him that she had been admonished by an angel to consecrate
her virginity to Jesus Christ, that she might render herself the more
acceptable to God. He gave God thanks, and she made her vows with
extraordinary fervor six days before he wrote this letter.
St. Patrick held several councils to settle the discipline of the church
which he had planted. The first, the acts of which are extant under his
name in the editions of the councils, is certainly genuine. Its canons
regulate several points of discipline, especially relating to
penance.[4] St. Bernard and the tradition of the country testify, that
St. Patrick fixed his metropolitan see at Armagh. He established some
other bishops, as appears by his Council and other monuments. He not
only converted the whole country by his preaching and wonderful
miracles, but also cultivated this vineyard with so fruitful a
benediction and increase from heaven, as to render Ireland a most
flourishing garden in the church of God, and a country of saints. And
those nations, which had for many ages esteemed all others barbarians,
did not blush to receive from the utmost extremity of {603} the
uncivilized or barbarous world, their most renowned teachers and guides
in the greatest of all sciences, that of the saints.
Many particulars are related of the labors of St. Patrick, which we pass
over. In the first year of his mission he attempted to preach Christ in
the general assembly of the kings and states of all Ireland, held yearly
at Taraghe, or Themoria, in East-Meath, the residence of the chief king,
styled the monarch of the whole island, and the principal seat of the
Druids or priests, and their paganish rites. The son of Neill, the chief
monarch, declared himself against the preacher: however, he converted
several, and, on his road to that place, the father of St. Benen, or
Benignus, his immediate successor in the see of Armagh. He afterwards
converted and baptized the kings of Dublin and Munster, and the seven
sons of the king of Connaught, with the greatest part of their subjects,
and before his death almost the whole island. He founded a monastery at
Armagh; another called Domnach-Padraig, or Patrick's church; also a
third, named Sabhal-Padraig, and filled the country with churches and
schools of piety and learning; the reputation of which, for the three
succeeding centuries, drew many foreigners into Ireland.[5] Nennius,
abbot of Bangor, in 620, in his history of the Britons,[6] published by
the learned Thomas Gale, says, that St. Patrick took that name only when
he was ordained bishop, being before called Maun; that he continued his
missions over all the provinces of Ireland, during forty years; that he
restored sight to many blind, health to the sick, and raised nine dead
persons to life.[7] He died and was buried at Down in Ulster. His body
was found there in a church of his name in 1185, and translated to
another part of the same church. His festival is marked on the 17th of
March, in the Martyrology of Bede, &c.
* * * * *
The apostles of nations were all interior men, endowed with a sublime
spirit of prayer. The salvation of souls being a supernatural end, the
instruments ought to bear a proportion to it, and preaching proceed from
a grace which is supernatural. To undertake this holy function, without
a competent stock of sacred learning, and without the necessary
precautions of human prudence and industry, would be to tempt God. But
sanctity of life, and the union of the heart with God, are
qualifications far more essential than science, eloquence, and human
talents. Many almost kill themselves with studying to compose elegant
sermons, which flatter the ear yet reap very little fruit. Their hearers
applaud their parts, but very few are converted. Most preachers,
now-a-days, have learning, but are not sufficiently grounded in true
sanctity, and a spirit of devotion. Interior humility, purity of heart,
recollection, and the spirit and the assiduous practice of holy prayer,
are the principal preparation for the ministry of the word, and the true
means of acquiring the science of the saints. A short devout meditation
and fervent prayer, which kindle a fire in the affections, furnish {604}
more thoughts proper to move the hearts of the hearers, and inspire them
with sentiments of truer virtue, than many years employed barely in
reading and study. St. Patrick, and other apostolic men, were dead to
themselves and the world, and animated with the spirit of perfect
charity and humility, by which they were prepared by God to be such
powerful instruments of his grace, as, by the miraculous change of so
many hearts, to plant in entire barbarous nations not only the faith,
but also the spirit of Christ. Preachers, who have not attained to a
disengagement and purity of heart, suffer the petty interests of
self-love secretly to mingle themselves in their zeal and charity, and
have reason to suspect that they inflict deeper wounds in their own
souls than they are aware, and produce not in others the good which they
imagine.
Footnotes:
1. According to Usher and Tillemont, in 372. The former places his
death in 493: but Tillemont, about the year 455. Nennius, published
by Mr. Gale, says he died fifty-seven years before the birth of St.
Columba, consequently in 464.
2. St. Prosper, in his chronicle, assures us that pope Celestine
ordained St. Palladius bishop of the Scots in 431, and by him
converted their country to the faith; this apostle seems to have
preached to this nation first in Ireland, and afterwards in
Scotland. Though Palladius be styled by St. Prosper and Bede their
first bishop, yet the light of the faith had diffused its rays from
Britain into Ireland before that time, as several monuments produced
by Usher demonstrate. But the general conversion of the inhabitants
of this Island was reserved for St. Patrick.
The Scot are distinguished from the native Irish in the works of St.
Patrick, and in other ancient monuments. As to their original, the
most probable conjecture seems to be, that they were a foreign
warlike nation, who made a settlement in Ireland before the arrival
of St. Patrick. We find them mentioned there in the fourth century.
Several colonies of them passed not long after into Scotland. But
the inhabitants of Ireland were promiscuously called Scots or Irish,
for many ages.
3. The style is not polished; but the Latin edition is perhaps only a
translation: or his captivities might have prevented his progress in
polite learning being equal to that which he made in the more
sublime and more necessary studies.
4. A second council, extant in the same collection, ought rather to be
ascribed to a nephew of this saint. Other Irish canons, published in
the ninth tome of D'Achery's Spicilege, and more by Martenne,
(Anecd. tome 4, part 2,) though they bear the name of St. Patrick,
are judged to have been framed by some of his successors. See
Wilkins, Conc. Britan. & Hibern. t. 1, p. 3.
The treatise, of the Twelve Abuses, published among the works of St.
Austin and St. Cyprian, is attributed to St. Patrick, in a
collection of ecclesiastical ordinances made in Ireland, in the
eighth age, by Arbedoc, and in other ancient monuments. The style is
elegant; but it may be a translation from an Irish original. Sir
James Ware published the works of St. Patrick at London, in 1658, in
octavo.
5. It seems demonstrated that the St. Patrick who flourished among the
hermits of Glastonbury, and was there buried, was distinct from our
saint, and somewhat older.
6. C. 55, 56, 57, 58, 61.
7. The popular tradition attributes the exemption of their country from
venomous creatures to the benediction of St. Patrick, given by his
staff, called the staff of Jesus, which was kept with great
veneration in Dublin, as is mentioned in the year 1360, by Ralph
Higden, in his Polychronicon, published by Mr. Gale and by others.
The isle of Malta is said to derive a like privilege from St. Paul,
who was there bit by a viper.
St. Patrick's purgatory is a cave in an island in the lake Dearg, in
the county of Donnegall, near the borders of Fermanagh. Bollandus
shows the falsehood of many things related concerning it. Upon
complaint of certain superstitious and false notions of the vulgar,
in 1497, it was stopped up by an order of the pope. See Bollandus,
Tillemont, p. 787, Alemand in his Monastic History of Ireland, and
Thiers, Hist. des Superst. t. 4. ed. Nov. It was soon after opened
again by the inhabitants; but only according to the original
institution, as Bollandus takes notice, as a penitential retirement
for those who voluntarily chose it, probably in imitation of St.
Patrick, or other saints, who had there dedicated themselves to a
penitential state. The penitents usually spend there several days,
living on bread and water, lying on rushes or furze, and praying
much, with daily stations which they perform barefoot.