What Does St. Patrick’s Day Mean To Me? by Sharon K. Connell ... pages

St. Patrick’s Day is what most people think of in the month of March. Everyone wants to be Irish for one day. While it’s a day for the wearin’ o’ the green, and pinching those who don’t, it’s also a day when many get drunk. Is that what the day is all about? I trow not.

The celebration on March seventeenth started in 1631 when a Feast Day for honoring St. Patrick was established. So who was this man Ireland honors one day a year? I’m glad you asked. I’d like to tell you about the faith of a man called St. Patrick.

Oh, that we could have the faith of this man. What mountains we could move.

From what I’ve read about Patrick (whose real name may have been Maewyn Succat, according to research) he truly sought to bring God’s amazing grace to a pagan nation. He brought the Gospel to the people of Ireland.

The feast day of March 17 remembers Patrick as the one who led a fifth-century Christian mission to Ireland. Unlike Britain, the Emerald Isle was beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire. The Irish were considered uncivilized barbarians, and many thought their illiteracy and volatile emotionalism put them outside the reach of the gospel. I gleaned this information from The Faith and Mission of Saint Patrick, an article by David Mathis, Executive Editor at desiringGod.org.

Patrick was born in what is now northeast England around the year 385. His father was a deacon in whatever religion they were a part of at the time (probably something akin to Presbyterians), and his grandfather a priest or presbyter. His mother instilled Scripture in him. However, according to George Hunter in his book, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Patrick apparently rebelled and lived a wild life.

So what happened to this British Patrick, and why does everyone think he’s Irish? Why does everyone, Catholics, Protestants, as well as the Irish, want to claim him?

Kidnapped at the age of 16, Patrick was taken from England to Ireland and served as a slave for six years under a tribal chief, a druid. During that time, God opened Patrick’s eyes to the gospel of his childhood, and he developed a softened heart for the Irish people (not unlike missionaries of today serving in foreign lands). He not only learned their language but their culture. By the time he escaped, he was a Christian and a changed man. Back in England, he studied for the ministry, and led a parish in Britain for around twenty years.

Patrick could have stayed in England, but at the age of forty-eight, he apparently felt a Macedonian Call (Acts 16:9). Again, according to George Hunter’s book, “an Irish accent pleaded, ‘We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.’” Patrick returned to Ireland.

In some ways, Patrick strikes me as being much like The Apostle Paul. Philippians 1:12 (AKJV) states, “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;”

It makes me wonder if I would be so loving and forgiving to a people who had enslaved me. Would I have enough grace to evangelize them?

Years ago, I was in possession of a small poster that told of Patrick founding a church in Ireland. I wish I could tell you the source of that poster, but it is long gone now. But other research found that Patrick founded his ecclesiastical center in what is now Armagh City, near the ancient center of power in Ulster, where the Protestant cathedral now stands. He is laid to rest on the grounds of the Protestant cathedral in Downpatrick.

For Patrick to build a church and preach in Ireland was evidence of the faith that he had in God. He had been captured in a raid, became a slave, and was forced to tend his master’s sheep in Ireland. Yet, he obviously grew to love the people of Ireland.

Now I ask you, would you have done it?

“But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4 AKJV)

We live in what is called a Christian nation, although personally, I don’t see much Christianity in it anymore. There are people all around us who are lost and on their way to hell. We’re not in America as slaves. We’re not really abused as Christians, although I do know abuse goes on in this country. We have the freedom of speech. But do we use that freedom to proclaim the Gospel to others? Or do we let them stumble on through life not knowing there’s a God who loves them and wants to keep them out of hell?

Our fellow Americans have not stolen us away from our families, as was the case for Patrick. And yet, he went back to bring the Gospel to the people of Ireland so they could hear the Good News. He had a burden for souls.

Do we?

“and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,” (Ephesians 6:19 AKJV)

Author, Sharon K. Connell lives in Houston, Texas from where she writes Christian Romance Suspense, containing a bit of mystery and as much humor as she can get into a story. She’s also written many award-winning short stories in a variety of genres.

Sharon attended college in Illinois, graduated from the Pensacola Bible Institute in Florida, and holds a certificate in fiction writing from the International Writing Program through the University of Iowa.

She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, Scribes Critique Group, Houston Writers Guild, and CyFair Writers. She is also the founder of the global Facebook Christian Writers & Readers group forum. Her monthly newsletter, Novel Thoughts, goes out every month to its subscribers in all parts of the world. Visit the offical website of Sharon K. Connell https://www.authorsharonkconnell.com/