[Nyerges is the author of several books,
such as Enter the Forest and Extreme Simplicity: Homesteading in the
City (co-author), and How to Survive Anywhere. He has led wilderness expeditions since
1974. He can be reached at Box 41834,
Eagle Rock, CA 90041 or via ChristopherNyerges.com]
There’s a lot of green right now in our town. Saint Patrick green:
shamrocks, leprechans, beer. But who was Saint Patrick? Was he a real person? Children are told "Saint Patrick wore a green suit, talked
to leprechans (he was probably drunk at the time), and while trying to convert
the pagans with a shamrock, he marched all the snakes out of
Ireland." Will the real Saint
Patrick please stand up?
His real name was Maewyn Succat,
born around 385 A.D., somewhere in Scotland, or possibly somewhere else, as
there is conflicting historical data on his exact date and place of birth. His baptismal name was Patricius.
Around age 16, he was sold into
slavery in Ireland and worked for the next 6 years as a shepherd. Keep in mind that human slavery, as well as
human sacrifice, was considered normal for those times.
After his six years in slavery, he believed that an
angel came to him in a dream, prompting him to escape and seek out his
homeland. He actually walked about 200
miles to the coast, where his dream indicated a ship would also be waiting for
him. He successfully escaped, and spent
the next twenty years of his life as a monk in Marmoutier Abbey. There he again
received a celestial visitation, this time calling him to return to the land
where he’d been enslaved, though now with a mission as a priest and converter.
Patrick was called to Rome in 432,
where Pope Celestine bequeathed the honour of Bishop upon him before he left on
his mission.
Patrick returned to Ireland not
alone, but with 24 supporters and
followers. They arrived in
Ireland in the winter of 432. In the
Spring, Patrick decided to confront the high King of Tara, the most powerful
King in Ireland. Patrick knew that if he had the King's support, he would be
free to take his Christian message to the people of Ireland.
Patrick and his followers were
invited to Tara by the King of Laoghaire. It was there that he was said to have
plucked a shamrock from the ground as he tried to explain to the Druids and the
King that the shamrock had three leaves just like the idea of God’s three aspects - The Father, The Son and the
Holy Ghost. This was called the Trinity.
Of course, triads and trinities were a common
concept among the Druids. In fact, one
could argue that the trinity (a term not found in the Bible) was a concept
given to Christianity by the Druids, rather than the other way around. Nevertheless,
King Laoghaire was very impressed and chose to accept Christianity. He
also gave Patrick the freedom to spread Christianity throughout Ireland.
When Patrick returned to Ireland, he
treated the "pagans" with the respect implicit in his dream. Part of
this respect was attempting to communicate with the Druids on their terms,
which is why he used the shamrock as a teaching tool. He also blended the Christian cross with the
circle to create what is now known as the Celtic cross. He used bonfires to celebrate Easter, a Holy
Day that Christianity supplanted with the already-existing spring equinox
commemoration. In fact, he incorporated many of the existing symbols and
beliefs into his Christian teachings.
He spent his last 30 years in
Ireland, baptizing the non-Christian Irish, ordaining priests, and founding
churches and monasteries. His persuasive powers must have been astounding,
since Ireland fully converted to Christianity within 200 years and was the only
country in Europe to Christianize peacefully. Patrick's Christian conversion
ended slavery, human sacrifice, and most intertribal warfare in Ireland.
Patrick was also unique in that he
equally valued the role of women in an age when the church ignored them. He
always sided with the downtrodden and the excluded, whether they were slaves or
the “pagan” Irish.
According to Thomas Cahill, author
of How the Irish Saved Civilization, Patrick's influence extended far
beyond his adopted land. Cahill's book, which could just as well be titled How
St. Patrick Saved Civilization, contends that Patrick's conversion of
Ireland allowed Western learning to survive the Dark Ages. Ireland pacified and
churchified as the rest of Europe crumbled. Patrick's monasteries copied and
preserved classical texts. Later, Irish monks returned this knowledge to Europe
by establishing monasteries in England, Germany, France, Switzerland, and
Italy.
When the lights went out all over
Europe, a candle still burned in Ireland. That candle was lit by Patrick.
Veneration of Patrick gradually
assumed the status of a local cult. He
was not simply remembered in Saul and Downpatrick, he was worshipped. Indeed,
homage to Patrick as Ireland's saint was apparent in the eight century AD. At
this time Patrick's status as a national apostle was made independently of
Rome. He was claimed locally as a saint
before the practice of canonization was introduced by the Vatican. The high
regard in which the Irish have held St Patrick is evidenced by the salutation,
still common today, of "May God, Mary, and Patrick bless you".
Patrick was not Irish, had nothing
to do with leprechauns, almost certainly was not a drunkard, and didn't drive
all the snakes out of Ireland. In fact,
there were no native snakes in Ireland, though this story is believed to be an
analogy for driving out the so-called “pagans,” or, at least, the pagan
religions.
Patrick was one of the
"greats" of history who nearly single-handedly preserved the best of
Western culture when much of Europe was devolving into chaos and ruin. He deserves far better than remembering him
in the silly ways we do today, such as wearing green, pinching each other, and
getting drunk. Rather, he deserves an
accurate memory, and our emulation.
Unfortunately, like all true Saviors of history, they are either killed
off, or relegated to the closet of ridicule.
Perhaps it's time for all of us to
re-think how we commemorate this special man, and his vast contribution to
world culture.
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