Saint Patrick - Ireland's Fearless Missionary
Saint Patrick, the Early Years
Saint Patrick was an English native. While in his teens, he was kidnapped by Irish Pirates. This began a chain of events that led to a personal conversion, one of the greatest missionary victories for the Lord, and the mass conversion of Pagan Ireland to Christianity. The boy who began his time in Ireland as an atheist shepherd of sheep eventually found the truth in the Lord and became a shepherd of men. He baptized, ordained, and consecrated thousands under his watch.
He "Knew Not the True God"
Patrick was born in England around 389. At this time, the Western clergy had not yet mandated celibacy. Patrick's family was an illustration of this fact as his grandfather was an ordained priest. Even though the 16-year boy also had a father who was a deacon, he disregarded faith seriously until he was abducted.
Six Years A Slave
In 403 Patrick was enslaved by Irish Pagans. It was during this time that the young man endured bodily hardships and grew in holiness. He would fast, tend his master's sheep, and talk to God. For greater clarity, it's helpful to look at Patrick's own words:
"Constantly I used to pray in the daytime. Love of God and His fear increased more and more, and my faith grew and my spirit was stirred up, so that in a single day I said as many as a hundred prayers and at night nearly as many, so that I used to stay even in the woods and on the mountain [to this end]. And before the dawn I used to be aroused to prayer, in snow and frost and rain, nor was there any tepidity in me such as now I feel, because then the spirit was fervent within."
At the end of those six years, he heard a voice in his sleep that told to him to get ready to return to England.
The Escape to England and Eventual Return to Ireland
Patrick ran away on foot and traveled 200 miles. He found an outbound ship but the sailors turned him away at first. After some silent prayer, they called him back and he gained a free ride out of Ireland. Patrick witnessed his Christianity to those men on board. They ran out of food and asked Patrick to pray for some. God answered Patrick's prayers and provided wild swine and honey. Patrick then returned to his kinsfolk, but he felt restless and felt the call to return to pagan Ireland. It's very likely that he spent about 15 years in France to become an ordained priest and train for his missionary work.
He returned to Ireland and began one of the most miraculous harvests for the Lord in history. He spent 40 years preaching and converting the people who lived in the green hills of Ireland. In 461, Saint Patrick passed away at Saul on Strangfold Lough.
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