St Patrick’s day is celebrated as an occasion of Irish pride. But his first introduction to Ireland was involuntary. At 16 he was kidnapped from his village in Britain by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland as a slave. “I was chastened exceedingly and humbled every day in hunger.”
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Eventually he escaped and made his way home. But the young man returned from the dead was no longer the same care-free adolescent. He bore the scars of his ordeal but also the zeal of a profound faith. He believed both his abduction and deliverance were ordained for some purpose.
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While studying for the priesthood in Gaul he had a dream in which Irish voices, the voices of those who had stolen his youth, cried out to him to return and “walk once more among us.” In 432, now a bishop he returned to Ireland.
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Patrick played a critical role in establishing the church in Ireland. But he was first a victim of Irish injustice before ever becoming a symbol of Irish pride. His return to the site of his oppression to implant the reconciling seeds of his own faith deserves commemoration.
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The spiritual conquest of Ireland followed the prior victory of love over the anger and bitterness in his own heart. One way to defeat our enemies is to make them our friends. amazon.com/All-Saints-Ref
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“Christ be with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me...
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every one that hears me.”
—Prayer of St Patrick (389-461)
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