Reluctant Heroes

This month I'm reflecting on St Patrick as it's St Patrick's Day 17th March; and King George VI - with all the Oscar success of the The King's Speech. I recently shared with you a favourite poem of King George VI and the Queen Mother.

But what do St Patrick and King George VI have in common? 

Answer - they were both reluctant heroes.

King George VI reluctantly became King when his brother, King Edward VIII, chose abdication in preference to abandoning his marriage plans to a divorced woman. The oscar winning The King's Speech depicts George's journey from stammering obscurity to King of Great Britain.

St Patrick was not Irish, neither can he have been particularly keen on Ireland originally, because when he was sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and sold into slavery there! He escaped six years later when God appeared to him in a vision and showed him how to escape. Some years later God sent him back to Ireland as priest and he later became Bishop of Ireland.

Which reminds me of the prophet Jonah who when summoned by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh, ran in the other direction! It took Jonah three days of whale captivity for him to change his mind!

Listening to God is a challenging business. I wonder if you've ever wanted to run from the call of God? I know I have! When God called me to become a missionary, I wanted to run away. I was reluctant, because I thought God would send me to India or Africa. Thank goodness God knows our hearts and uses us where we are and where we can most effectively serve him.

In order to follow God's leading, we need God's strength. I love this prayer attributed to St Patrick. Try praying it aloud several times:

I arise today

Through the strength of heaven:

Light of Sun,

Radiance of moon,

Splendour of fire,

Speed of lightening,

Swiftness of wind,

Depth of sea,

Stability of earth,

Firmness of rock.

Celtic Treasure

'I can do all things through him who gives me strength.' Philippians 4:13

So who was St Patrick?

We have much to learn from those who have gone before us in the faith and so I thought I'd give you a brief overview of St Patrick. 

Saint Patrick (387-461) is the most famous Irishman of all time and yet he wasn’t born in Ireland but at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton in Scotland. He was the son of a deacon and worked on his father’s farm as a young boy, but at the age of sixteen, he was captured by Irish raiders and sold into slavery in Ireland. He escaped six years later when it is said God appeared to him in a vision and showed him how to escape. Patrick embraced the monastic way of life and became a priest, but God called him back to Ireland and he later became Bishop of Ireland. Many stories have been told of Patrick’s travels across Ireland, preaching and converting people as he went.  Irish people all around the world will be celebrating his achievements tomorrow, March 17^th, which is said to be the anniversary of his death. This extract from St Patrick’s Declaration gives a wonderful insight into his life: 

After coming to Ireland I was put to work tending cattle, sheep and hogs, and many times during that day I would pray. More and more the love of God and the fear of God came to me, so that my faith was strengthened and my spirit moved. In a single day I would pray as often as a hundred times, and nearly as often at night, when I was staying in the woods and the mountains, I would rouse myself before daylight to pray, whether in snow, frost, or rain; it made no difference, and I felt no bad effects. Because the Spirit in me was fervent, I knew no sluggishness. St Patrick

(Quoted from p.26 Celtic Treasure - Liz Babbs)

Why are Americans interested in St Patrick?

I'm fascinated by the lengths Americans will go to in order to celebrate St Patrick's Day, so I thought I'd ask American author Cindy Thompson why she was is interested in St Patrick.

"Oh, my goodness! St. Patrick’s Day is huge in America. But for Americans the saint means green stuff: green beer, green carnations, shamrocks, cupcakes with green icing…and it’s also a time for celebrating Irish America, which is a good thing. However, my experience has been that Americans know little about the saint himself. The stories we hear is that he drove the snakes out of Ireland, that he brought Christianity to Ireland, and that he explained the Triune God by using the three-leafed shamrock as an example. None of these things, by the way, is supported by historical evidence. There is so much more to St. Patrick than that!

Most people know that there were no snakes in Ireland—there still aren’t. It’s generally accepted that the reference to snakes was symbolic, either as evil or as the old religion. However, none of St. Patrick’s writings refer to snakes. He did spread Christianity throughout Ireland, however what most people don’t know is that there were Christians in Ireland before St. Patrick came to convert it. What a lot of Americans don’t realize is that St. Patrick was not Irish. He was kidnapped and brought to the island as a slave, and was born somewhere in Wales or Scotland or northern England."

Top 10 things you might not know about St Patrick!

We're heading towards St Patrick's Day, so I thought I'd ask fellow author Cindy Thompson who is American and knows a lot about St Patrick to give our St Patrick's top 10.

Top Ten Things You might not know About St. Patrick

1.  He wasn't Irish. He was a British Roman, possibly born in Wales.
2.  He did not drive the snakes from Ireland (not literally).
3.  He first came to Ireland as a slave.
4.  He returned to Ireland years after escaping because of a dream.
5.  He was not the first Christian in Ireland.
6.  He was not the first bishop sent to Ireland.
7.  His traditional burial place is in Downpatrick with St. Brigid and St. Columba.
8.  There are two original writings that survive: Confession and Letter to Coroticus.
9.  St. Patrick's Breastplate, attributed to him, was written in a later time period.
10. There is no proof that he used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, but no proof that he didn't.




Many thanks to Cindy Thompson who wrote 'Celtic Wisdom' (Lion Hudson 2009).

Starting the day with Saint Patrick

I think a great way to start the day is with this prayer attributed to Saint Patrick:

Bless to us, O God

The morning sun that is above us,

The good earth that is beneath us,

The friends that are around us,

Your image deep within us,

The day which is before us.

St Patrick