What Saint Patrick Can Teach Us
Christ in the heart of all who think of me,
Christ on the tongue of all who speak of me,
Christ in the eye of all who see me,
Christ in the ear of all who hear me.
The above lines are from “I Rise Today,” also known as “Saint Patrick’s Breastplate” or the “Lorica of Saint Patrick,” an Old Irish prayer attributed to Saint Patrick. See the full text here: christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/i-rise-today. Centuries after Patrick’s life, it was translated, adapted to music, and used as a hymn. Today, March 17 is celebrated across the world as the day on which Patrick is supposed to have died. But who was he, really?
The story of Patricius, now commonly known as Saint Patrick, is steeped in legend and myth. But his life and ministry offer models Christians can learn from and follow today.
God can use anyone to accomplish His purposes in the world.
In the 5th century, a sixteen-year-old Roman British boy named Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and transported to Ireland as a slave. Patrick was taken to work with his master’s pigs, in deplorable conditions and mainly alone. Six years later, he escaped to the coast, left Ireland, and eventually made his way back to Britain. As a teen and young adult in servitude, I doubt Patrick ever envisioned great plans for himself. Nevertheless, he has had a lasting impact on both Ireland as a nation and the spread of Christianity globally.
God can make even the worst circumstances work out for good.
Oddly enough, Patrick’s devotion to Christ is believed to have grown due to his extreme social isolation. In his lonely years tending to the pigs, he remembered the Christian teachings from his youth in Britain and turned to God for comfort, praying constantly. After he escaped, Patrick felt called in a dream to evangelize in Ireland, and he returned to support and grow the Christian church there. His years of hardship and slavery in Ireland had made him uniquely suited to be a missionary in that country, since he knew the culture and language.
God can use anything to help bring people to Christ.
Patrick used what he had available for his mission work. Because he understood the culture where he was ministering, he made headway by incorporating beliefs and symbols the Irish already had in their traditions and in Celtic paganism. For example, legend holds that he used the shamrock, already an important revered plant, to explain one of the most difficult concepts of Christian theology—the Trinity—with the concept of three in one. Despite his humble beginnings and relative lack of education, with God’s help he made use of his unique knowledge and circumstances to confront druids, convert kings, and found churches and monasteries across Ireland.
There are many other strange and miraculous tales surrounding his life and ministry. As we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day and Irish culture this week, I invite you to explore some of those tales on your own. It can often be difficult to separate fact from fiction, but remember that even in the wildest legends, Patrick’s story started with an isolated slave boy who loved God and ended by permanently changing the world. God can use you and me too, perhaps in ways we can’t predict. Even if our ministry is a small one, we can all pray those lines from the “Lorica of Saint Patrick,” asking God to show Christ through us. If these lines represent Patrick’s legacy, I hope they will represent mine too:
Christ in the heart of all who think of me,
Christ on the tongue of all who speak of me,
Christ in the eye of all who see me,
Christ in the ear of all who hear me.
Further reading for the curious:
- A collection of Saint Patrick’s Day topics from com: www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day
- “How the Irish Were Saved,” 1998 back issue of Christian History: org/magazine/issue/how-the-irish-were-saved
- How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. By Thomas Cahill, published by Doubleday, 1995.