|
This year, St Patrick's day falls on Sunday. Now for many, this is a day to celebrate Irish Heritage and drink green beer. As fun as all the St Patrick's day celebrations may be, I will confess to finding the legends around St Patrick to be more interesting.
Patrick lived in the fifth century. He was raised in a noble family in Britain until he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland. He worked for many years as a shepherd. His faith and prayer sustained him through these difficult days until he at last escaped and returned home to his family. (That is a fun story including a ship of hunting dogs on their way to France who wouldn't stop howling when the ship's captain wanted to leave Patrick behind!)
After he returned home, Patrick began to feel called to return to Ireland as a missionary. The Christian faith had not spread in Ireland and Patrick felt called in a dream to take the Gospel to them. He studied as a missionary and returned to Ireland. He brought others with him and he has been designated as a Bishop. For the rest of his life, he built the church in Ireland and shared the gospel. There are some wonderful legends. For instance, one says that there are no snakes in Ireland to this day because St Patrick got mad at them and banished them.
A lot of what we know about St Patrick is made up of legends and tales passed along through generations. But his faith was strong and his commitment to sharing that with others clearly changed the lives of many.
There are many versions of "St Patrick's Breastplate" or St Patrick's Rune, but one I particularly like was shared in the writing of Madeline L'Engle which I think was excerpted from a much longer writing:
“On earth in this fateful hour,
I place all Heaven with its power
And the sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness,
And the fire with all the strength it hath,
And the lightning with its rapid wrath,
And the winds with their swiftness along their path,
And the sea with its deepness,
And the rocks with their steepness,
And the earth with its starkness,
All these I place
By God’s almighty help and grace
Between myself and the powers of darkness!”
Have a blessed week!
Rev Paige Besse-Rankin
| 
