Who was St. Patrick? That is a very good question and a bit of a difficult one to answer considering that there may have been two Patricks, the Roman Saint “Palladius” a predecessor of his being the other. A theory conceived and popularized by T. F. O’Rahilly in 1942 when he published a lecture entitled “The Two Patrick’s”. So comes the trouble of separating the attributes of each from one another.
For starters, we know that the one called “Patrick” was originally named Magonus Sucatus or Maewyn Succat. We also know that he was not Irish, not even a wee bit. In fact, he was a “British” or more accurately a Celtic Briton (Romanized Celts) missionary who was abducted by King Niall of the Nine Hostages when he was about 16 years old. He spent his days as a slave serving as a shepherd in the Slemish Mountain (a speculated location) to Meliuc or Milchu of Antrim, a landowner and druid high priest who bought him. That is until he escaped their clutches around the age of 20 by heeding the advice of a “voice” within a dream which inspired devout faith as he interpreted it as being God’s own. He then hiked 200 miles to Wexford where he prayed for passage aboard a ship which he was refused then later granted. A second dream he accounted, involved a missionary named Victorious. According to his Confessions.
“I saw, in a nocturnal vision, a man named Victoricus coming as if from Ireland, with a large parcel of letters, one of which he handed to me. On reading the beginning of it, I found it contained these words: ‘The voice of the Irish;’ and while reading it I thought I heard, at the same moment, the voice of a multitude of persons near the Wood of Foclut, which is near the western sea; and they cried out, as if with one voice, ‘We entreat thee, holy youth, to come and henceforth walk amongst us. ‘ And I was greatly affected in my heart, and could read no longer; and then I awoke.”
There were two possible saints whom could have been the mysterious visitor who beckoned Maewyn to Ireland. St. Victorious was the great fourth century missionary of the Morini. The other was a martyr named Victoricus died at Amiens in 286 A.D., the subject is still debated.
Prior to the abduction Maewyn had professed that he had no strong feelings for Christianity and before his captivity considered himself a pagan. He was the son of Calpornius (father) and Conchessa (mother). Despite having a deacon for a father and a priest for a grandfather (Potitus). It is speculated that his father had only taken on the role for tax incentives which could help explain young Maewyn’s outlook on religion. The ironic part of his upbringing was that his family had owned slaves at their villa near Bannavem Taburniae, Maewyn’s place of birth (then part of Britain).
Over the next fifteen years since his escape, he studied in the monasteries of St. Martin’s of Tours then of Lerins, France. Patrick then went to Auxerre, France. There he studied under (Saint) Germanus, a French bishop. After being ordained, Pope Celestine agreed to let Maewyn return to Ireland to spread God’s message. Before Maewyn left, the pope gave him the name “Patritius” or Patrick, derived from two Latin words meaning the father of his people. He (approx. age 35) then indeed returned to Ireland to convert the natives as a Bishop. The most challenging of these were the Druid priests and priestesses. Unlike many missionaries, Patrick decided to adapt and weave pre-existing pagan practices in with the Christian traditions. He used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Celtics honored their gods with fire. He also combined the powerful Druid symbol of the sun with that of the Holy cross (forming the Celtic cross) to make a more natural conversion. He did all of his conversions without bloodshed unlike say holy raids by kings in the name of Christianity. Therefore it is safe to say, that because he took on the mission, many lives were spared.
Celtic Cross.
We know all this because of his aforementioned self written apologetic work entitled the Confessio or Declarations as his defense in a trial by the very church that sent him to convert his former captors. It is not stated what the charges against him were exactly, presumably financial impropriety and ministering for self gain. It states that he returned gifts to wealthy women and did not profit for ordaining priests nor for performing baptisms. It also states that he had indeed paid for many gifts to kings, judges, and the sons of chiefs to accompany him. The Declaration also served as a spiritual autobiography presumably for the years between 432-461 A.D., according to Coilin Owens, an Irish literature expert and Professor Emeritus of English at George Mason University. He also suggests that Saint Patrick is credited with bringing written word to Ireland as well by promoting legal texts and the Bible. Based on an article at Kaboose.com written by Alecia Dixon citing Owens. Though other scholars date his life as between 387 – 493 A.D., give or take. Keep in mind that Palladius had already been sent by Pope Celestine I to Ireland at Leinster in 431 A.D., particularly in the area around Clonard. A good thirty years at least before Patrick started his missionary works. This is when the two Saints had become intertwined in history as one entity through facts and myths regarding both men, probably regarding similarities in action and feats.
The rest of what we know of Saint Patrick stems from his stern, angry, and very resentful letter to Coroticus the British King of Alcluid (Strathclyde), in which he condemns Cororticus and his soldiers, dubbing them as “citizens of the demons”. The reason is that they had captured and brutally slaughtered many of the Irish people that the Bishop Patrick had just converted and baptized with “just” being very literal. Those that were not killed were sold to the Picts and Scots.
The exact year and date that St. Patrick died is as unknown as his date of birth. It is believed to had been on or around March 17th of 460-463 A.D., hence the feast day. While he was never officially canonized a saint by any of the Popes when he was alive or since his death, he still managed to get his name on the List of Saints and graduating from the rank of Bishop. He is believed to be buried at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, County Down, alongside St. Brigid and St. Columba. According to a myth:
Prior to his death, an angel had told him that he should have two untamed oxen yoked to his funeral cart and that they should be left to decide where he should be buried. With great political foresight, the oxen chose Downpatrick.
St. Patrick
The amazing turn of events surrounding those uncertain years, whenever they were, shaped him into the man that Christians remember and honor every March 17th. That is why Patrick is the Saint of Ireland and who Maewyn really was meant to become.
Resources:NewAdvent.org, Wikipedia, Kaboose.com, Letter to Coroticus, Confessio, History.com, National Geographic
Subscribe to RSS feed
