BEFORE YOU DRESS UP IN GREEN, AND SPEAK WITH AN IRISH ACCENT - READ THIS!!! ST. PATRICK WAS AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN BISHOP, NOT A LEPRECHAUN! The Feast of St. Patrick, the Enlightener of Ireland, is celebrated by the Christian Church on March 17. He is remembered as a prayerful man, who fervently preached the Gospel in the then pagan land of Ireland. Saint Patrick, the Enlightener of Ireland was born around 385, the son of Calpurnius, a Roman decurion (an official responsible for collecting taxes). His village was raided by pirates when Patrick was sixteen, and he was one of many taken captive. He was brought to Ireland and sold as a slave, and was put to work as a herder of swine on a mountain. During his period of slavery, Patrick acquired a proficiency in the Irish language which was very useful to him in his later mission. He prayed during his solitude on the mountain, and lived this way for six years. He had two visions. The first told him he would return to his home. The second told him his ship was ready. Setting off on foot, Patrick walked two hundred miles to the coast. There he succeeded in boarding a ship, and returned to his parents in Britain. Some time later, he went to Gaul and studied for the priesthood under a holy Bishop named, Germanus. Eventually, Patrick was consecrated as a bishop, and was entrusted with the mission to evangelize Ireland, and establish the Christian Church St. Patrick had a dream in which an angel came to him bearing many letters. Selecting one inscribed “The Voice of the Irish,” he heard the Irish entreating him to come back to them. His autobiographical Confession tells of the many trials and disappointments he endured. The saint had once confided to a friend that he was troubled by a certain sin he had committed before he was fifteen years old. The friend assured him of God’s mercy, and even supported Patrick’s nomination as bishop. Later, he turned against him and revealed what Patrick had told him in an attempt to prevent his consecration. Many years later, Patrick still grieved for his dear friend who had publicly shamed him. St Patrick founded many churches and monasteries across Ireland, but the conversion of the Irish people was no easy task. There was much hostility, and he was assaulted several times. He faced danger, and insults, and he was reproached for being a foreigner and a former slave. There was also a very real possibility that the pagans would try to kill him. Despite many obstacles, he remained faithful to his calling, and he baptized many people into Christ. The saintly Bishop Patrick, glowed with the virtue of humility as he refers to himself as “a sinner,” “the most ignorant and of least account,” and as someone who was “despised by many.” He ascribes his success to God, rather than to his own talents: “I owe it to God’s grace that through me so many people should be born again to Him.” St. Patrick is often depicted holding a shamrock. He used the shamrock to illustrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Its three leaves growing out of a single stem helped him to explain the concept of one God in three Persons. His apostolic work was not accomplished without much weariness and painfulness, long journeys through difficult country, and many perils; he says his very life was in danger twelve times. When he came to Ireland as its enlightener, it was a pagan country; when he ended his earthly life some thirty years later, about 461, the Faith of Christ was established in every corner. Many celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick, in a manner which is quite contrary to what this holy man taught. The Feasts of the Saints, are days in which we celebrate their way of holiness, and how they aspired to become Christ-like. It is a day in which we reflect/examine on our spiritual lives, and how we are moving in the path of theosis (becoming by grace what God is by nature). It is a day in which we seek the intercession of this champion of the Christian faith, who was so bold to preach the Gospel, even in the midst of being persecuted. Let us emulate the life of this great Saint on his joyous Feast, by being holy people, and doing holy things. St Patricks Day is a Feast of a wonderful Orthodox Christian Saint, let us celebrate, and observe accordingly. Through the prayers of our Father, St. Patrick of Ireland, O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon us and save us! - Excerpts of this write up were taken from the Orthodox Church in America & the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. ***It is worthy to note, the Feast of St. Patrick is not in the liturgical calendar of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Nonetheless, this holy father is greatly admired by the Malankara Church, for his tireless labors in established the Christian Church in Ireland.***
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 18:09:56 +0000
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