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Saint Patrick and a Bit O’ Irish History

happy-st-patrick-day-squirrel

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The Real Saint Patrick

Interested in learning the real truth about Saint Patrick? You have come to the right place! Saint Patrick’s Confession and his Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus are the only two surviving documents from the man himself. And you must have some Irish in ya cuz, lucky for you, I have recorded audio of both of these documents in some previous podcasts! Here they are:

What’s in this Episode?

The podcast featured in this post is a hilarious episode where my friend Michael and I break out our best Irish brogue and chatted about certain aspects of Patricks story. We also read and discuss some of his Letter to the Soldiers. We get into the Irish Potato famine of 1846 and what came of that.

happy-saint-patrick-day-squirrel

Saint Patrick Show Notes:

First of all we talk about how Patrick models The Fear of God – this speaks of a deep reverence, respect, and honor for God. “The Fear of God” has been rendered as “reverential trust” by some and I really like that. Especially the trust part. Isn’t love, adoration, and trust a far more beautiful motivation for living a good life than being dictated by fear of consequences or the coming judgement?

Patrick seems like he is mimicking the apostle Paul in so much of his writing.  He seems to model Pauls letters as if, just before writing his confession, he had just read or studied Paul’s letters to Timothy.

I find one fault however in Patrick’s theology.  He didn’t seem to quite connect with the fact that he has a new nature as a believer. He continually calls himself a sinner and perhaps his actions convinced him of this, yet God and the holy Bible calls him a saint. This is important because our perception of ourselves dictates our actions.

How important is it to see ourselves as saints as God has made us?

Which is more true, God’s word about your new nature or your own faltering experience?

You are a saint if you have received Christ!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Drunkenness is Idolatry?

We discuss the fact that a life of choosing sin is the evidence of rejecting God:

“Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Potato famine 1845 to 1849

We talk about the Irish PBS Victoria episode in which Victoria asks herself, “What can we do to do what is right for conscience sake? Do we do nothing? and quotes 1 Corinthians 13, “faith hope and love (charity) and the greatest of these is charity”.

Robert Traill was recognized for his compassion during the Great Famine in Ireland from 1846. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Traill_(clergyman)

His story reminds me of the machine gun preacher who invested his all into service for others and the kingdom of God.

Especially relevant to us is the question:

What should our response be to crisis in our sphere at the present?

How do we practically show love to those in need around us?

Love (or charity as the KJV puts it) is the only answer. “Charity” is indicative of action, is it not?

James chapter 2 says:

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.f Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?”

In conclusion, the holy Scriptures inform us that when love is put into action that we light up. Our enlightenment only comes through showing tangible love. May we all follow the advice of Jesus and love the people that we are with in the moment as we go through life!

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St. Patrick’s Confession – SOZO EP0007

the real st patrick

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Enjoy this reading of St. Patrick Confession – with hilariously unique intro and read with an accent!

The only thing you really need to know about St. Patrick is that he was fond of all things green – wearing green robes (as you can see from the very accurate portrayal of him below), was fond of drinking green beer, giving out shamrocks, and dancing with leprechauns. He carried a staff and with it drove all the snakes out of Ireland (I heard from from a reliable source that he put ’em all in a wooden box and threw ’em in the river).

st patrick snakes

What can truly be known of the life of St. Patrick? Many legends and myths surround the man but thankfully there are two documents that scholars believe to have been written by Patrick himself. The Confessio and his Epistola. (Source material for these and much other historical evidence can be found HERE).

Here is the episode where I read St Patrick’s Epistola or his “Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus”!

St Patrick and His Breastplate

st patrick breastplateSorry, but “St. Patrick’s” Breastplate does not seem to have been written by the man himself. A friend of mine really digs this writing, however, so maybe it’s worth checking out?

My favorite line of “Patrick’s” Breastplate prayer/hymn is:

“Christ in the poop”

Christ certainly does enter our poop to be with us when we insist on sitting in it, doesn’t he? The angels are ever changing our poopy diapers when we choose sin. I don’t know too many who aren’t actively playing in the poop. Maybe I need some more friends who actually know and love Jesus?

Okay, so he is actually referencing the poop deck on a ship… or so I would imagine.

Here is the entire poem (thanks Wikipedia):

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop [deck],
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

So, whatdya tink o that? eh?

Could the Legends of St. Patrick be True?

There are a great deal of legends and stories about Patrick that are not verifiable. (How can you verify events of nearly 1600 years ago?) As one who seeks to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I still have more thorough research to do myself to ascertain what is true or not.

I certainly would like to believe that Patrick raised the dead among the Irish as some documents have claimed. The following article is from a friend and mentor and fellow blogger and pastor and simply just a beloved child of God just like you, Mel Wild: https://melwild.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/the-man-who-raises-dead-people-remembering-st-patrick/

Here’s a snippet from the above blog where St. Patrick himself personally attested to these miracles:

“And let those who will, laugh and scorn–I shall not be silent; nor shall I hide the signs and wonders which the Lord has shown me many years before they came to pass, as He knows everything even before the times of the world.”

“The Lord hath given to me, though humble, the power of working miracles among a barbarous people, such as are not recorded to have been worked by the great Apostles; inasmuch as, in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I have raised from the dead bodies that have been buried many years….”

– Quotes from his  “Letters” (Confessions and Letter to Coroticus)

By the way, Mel Wild will likely and perhaps be future guest on this show in the near future?

(Of course I know raising the dead is possible because my very first Sozo Episode was to interview Robby Dawkins who had raised someone from the dead!)

Even St. Patrick himself in his Confession hints to a great many more stories that never made it into any lasting work by the man… so we think. Perhaps many of the legends were based on fact and actual events. Who knows?

Did Patrick teach the Trinity with a Shamrock? Maybe.

Trivia fact for the day: St. Patricks given name is Maywen Succot

I had a real fun time crafting the intro and hope you enjoy it, and learning more about this man we honor every March 17th for his courage and obedience and the impact he had on the nation of Ireland and the world!