HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY to everyone with a drop of Irish blood (like me! as with Americans, being 100% Mexican includes many nations) and equally to the non-Irish, like St. Patrick himself!
The patron saint of Ireland, Maewyn Succat, was born at the end of the 4th century in Wales or Scotland. Dubbed “father figure” or Patrick, he was never officially canonized, (the canonization process was not instituted until much later). So he is not Irish, not a canonized saint, and not named Patrick.
He was, however, the son and grandson of Roman Catholic priests, and was therefore educated and grew up relatively prosperous. (Priests weren't prohibited from marrying till the 12th century for financial, not religious, reasons.)
At age 16, Maewyn's town was destroyed by Irish raiders; he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland, a land and a people he would come to love. After tending sheep for 6 years as a slave, he suddenly intuits, as if the words came directly from Heaven, "this day you will walk to your freedom," so he begins walking and doesn't stop till he reaches the coast (a distance of 200 miles), where he beholds the unusual sight of an anchored ship!
In the 6th century shortly after he became blind, St. Dallan wrote "Be Thou My Vision, O Lord." Translated in 1905 by Mary Elizabeth Byrne and put into verse by Eleanor Hull, since 1919 it was set to this Irish folk tune and included in church hymnals -- great idea! (See English lyrics at end of this post.)
The lad likely had a sheep or two with him to sell along the way -- dressed in a way that did not arouse suspicion, and with money to pay his passenger fare, he was told no, this is no passenger ship. But the ship's captain pauses to look at him and immediately changes his mind. Patrick sets sail a free man.
The ship arrives in Normandy (France) to find it a smoldering ruin. For days the men scour the area searching for food to re-stock for the voyage to Britannia, but are utterly unable to find any food at all! Everything had been stolen or destroyed by Vikings.
When they can no longer stand the hunger, Patrick suggests they pray and ask God for food. The young men agree. As Patrick leads them in their first prayer, heads bowed, mid-sentence, they are interrupted by the grunts and squeals of pigs or wild boar running straight toward them. No ordinary food, the men exclaim, but the best food possible, no less!
As in the biblical story of JONAH attempting to slip away from his mission when a terrible storm hits, the pagan sailors witness a reality they never imagined possible when the raging storm suddenly turns to calm waters, terrifying them even more! They also immediately vow to follow this God of Jonah who performs miracles in response to the whispered prayers of his people.
In due time, Patrick is reunited with his family, and in A.D. 431 he returns to Ireland to preach the Gospel with great fervor. Christianity, somewhat known on the island, had not yet caught on. Patrick's message of salvation is accepted wholeheartedly and he personally baptizes around 120,000 people into the faith, making Ireland one of the first places outside the Roman Empire to accept Christ.
No less importantly, he puts an end to the Irish slave trade! We could use a man like Patrick today.
But the story of ridding the island of its snakes is purely symbolic. (Ireland is too cold for snakes.) The helplessness-domination dynamic of slavery (or any abusive system) opens the door to many dark forces (emotional blocks & strongholds) that St. Patrick cast out in Jesus' name.
March 17th, the day St. Patrick died, has been celebrated as a religious holiday since roughly the 9th century: all businesses closed (including the pubs), everyone attended mass, and gathered for a special meal.
The Secret to St Patrick's Success
1. Don't be afraid to act on your intuition. It helps to learn the difference between your own thoughts and wishful thinking, and thoughts that come to you from elsewhere.
2. Take a chance and ask for what you need. He boldly stepped forward to ask about getting onboard the ship and asked for help finding food.
3. Enthusiasm -- great love for his work.
4. Elbow grease -- he tirelessly worked, doing all he could night and day.
5. Organize to improve systems and put an end to systematic abuses.
6. Carry things to fruition. It wasn't enough to just baptize people into Christianity; he also addressed their spiritual/emotional needs to help them overcome.
7. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
–Eleanor Roosevelt
The Surprising Origins of the Shamrock
The shamrock was originally an insult. Clover and wood sorrel are perfectly edible (if sharp to the taste) and sweeten the breath, like mint, which also grows wild. But a familiar British trope was that the "wild Irish" would get down on the ground and eat clover "like cattle" -- a typical case of victim blaming. Ireland was poorer than Britain by a coincidence of geography, just as Norway was less connected to the continent and therefore poorer than Sweden and Denmark. Who can forget that British landlords collected the last sacks of food produced during the Great Famine as rent, sending countless people to their graves?
It's worth noting that England was not always like this, stubbornly ignoring the real reality (the value of human life) in favor of blind faith in an artificial, man-made system (money). England of the 8th century under King Alfred the Great seemed to have been far better connected to how things function in the big picture. He wrote an interpretation of the Book of Revelation, and with God's help figured out how the Vikings made their surreptitious attacks. Alfred the Great thus eradicated the Vikings from England.
King Solomon noted that what doesn't exist cannot be counted, which means, of course, that no food in a famine (and no work during the pandemic) means no rent/mortgage can possibly be due. The Law of Moses mandates the Year of Jubilee to erase all debts regularly. Unfortunately, Jewish bankers soon forgot that this is the ONLY way banking ceases to be the most risky of risky businesses, and the economy can continue to function over the long-term. But some people need to learn it for themselves, the hard way, I guess.
Legend has it that St. Patrick used the clover to illustrate the concept of the Trinity, 3 in 1, (Father, Son, Holy Spirit, which by the way is not scriptural -- clearly Jesus is not God, as the Gospel of John repeats many times), but there's no mention of it in his writings.
The first depiction of him with a shamrock is in 1675. The Irish, however, wore clover on their hats as a symbol of Christianity, and later as symbol of national pride, turning the insult on its head to boldly redeem it.
Today St. Patrick's Day is the most celebrated holiday worldwide.
Note: It took the Vikings many centuries until about 1700 to finally figure out that war does not pay for itself, even though they had long believed it did.
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LYRICS:
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light
Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight
Be Thou my Armor, and be Thou my Light
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tow’r
Raise Thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art
High King of Heaven, my victory won
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all
