St. Patrick's Feast Day - March 17th

St. Patrick is Ireland's Patron Saint, known for spreading Christianity throughout the country as a missionary during the 5th century.

       

The man who would come to be known as St. Patrick,  Apostle of Ireland, was born in Britain Circa 386. Much of his life is unknown to contemporary historians and can't be verified, though some sources have listed his birth name as Maewyn Succat, with the name Patrick later taken on during his future religious journeys or ordainment.  He was captured by Irish pirates at the age of 16 and  brought him to Ireland where he was sold into slavery in Dalriada. There his job was to tend sheep. Patrick's master, Milchu, was a high priest of Druidism, a Pagan sect that held major religious influence over the country at the time. During his enslavement, he was called to Christianity and escaped his captors after six years. He returned to Ireland as a missionary, and in his teachings combined Irish pagan beliefs with Christian sacrament, devising the Celtic cross.  Patrick came to view his enslavement as God's test of his faith. During his six years of captivity, he became deeply devoted to Christianity through constant prayer. In a vision, he saw the children of pagan Ireland reaching out their hands to him and grew increasingly determined to convert the Irish to Christianity.

His father, Calphurnius, was a deacon from a Roman family of high social standing. Patrick's mother, Conchessa, was a close relative of the great patron St. Martin of Tours. Patrick's grandfather, Pontius, was also a member of the clergy. Surprisingly, Patrick himself was not raised with a strong emphasis on religion. Education was not particularly stressed during his childhood either. Later in life, this would become a source of embarrassment for the spiritual icon, who in the early 440s would write in his Confessio, "I blush and fear exceedingly to reveal my lack of education."

Circa 408, the idea of escaping enslavement came to Patrick in a dream, in which a voice promised him he would find his way home to Britain. Eager to see the dream materialize, Patrick convinced some sailors to let him board their ship. After three days of sailing, he and the crew abandoned the vessel in France and wandered, lost, for 28 days—covering 200 miles of territory in the process, with Patrick ultimately becoming reunited with his family.  A free man once again, Patrick went to Auxerre, France where he studied and entered the priesthood under the guidance of the missionary St. Germain. As time passed, Patrick never lost sight of his vision to convert Ireland to Christianity. Circa 431, Pope St. Celestine I consecrated St. Patrick Bishop of the Irish, and sent him to Ireland to spread "The Good News," or gospel, to nonbelievers while also providing support to the small community of Christians already living there.

Upon his arrival in Ireland, Patrick was initially met with resistance, but managed to spread Christian teachings far and wide, along with other missionaries, through preaching, writing and performing countless baptisms. Recognizing the history of spiritual practices already in place, nature-oriented pagan rituals were also incorporated into church practices. Patrick is renowned for coming up with the Celtic cross, which combined a native sun-worshiping ideology with that of the Christian cross.

Throughout his missionary work, Patrick supported church officials, created councils, founded monasteries and organized Ireland into dioceses.

St. Patrick died circa 461 in Saul, Ireland and is said to have been buried in Ulster, County Down. Though he was never formally canonized as a pope, Patrick is on the list of saints and was declared a Saint in Heaven by many Catholic churches. St. Patrick was also venerated in the Orthodox Catholic Church, and his writings, noted for their humble voice, can be seen in works like the autobiographical Confessio and Letter to Coroticus.
The Episcopal Church annually honors St. Patrick with the celebration of St. Patrick's Day on March 17 (which some cite as the date of his death), which falls during the Christian season of Lent. For more than 1,000 years, the Irish have observed St. Patrick's Day as a religious holiday. Traditionally, on St. Patrick's Day, families would attend church in the morning and embark on other rituals later—including eating a traditional meal of cabbage and Irish bacon. The holiday has notably expanded into the secular world as well, representing a robust international celebration of Irish culture and heritage. 

He is annually honored internationally on March 17.