Feast Day: March 17
St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints.
The person who was to become St. Patrick was born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387 to wealthy parents. His given name was Maewyn. Although his father possibly was a Christian deacon, there is no evidence that Patrick came from a particularly religious family. Far from being a saint, Patrick considered himself a pagan until the age of 16. Around that time, he was abducted and enslaved by Irish pirates.
According to his writings while he was in prison, a voice - which he believed to be God's - spoke to him in a dream, telling him to escape from the prison, leave Ireland and return to Britain. He eventually became a priest and bishop. He followed a second revelation to return to Ireland and fulfill a mission to convert the pagans to Christianity.
Patrick was known for creatively finding ways to explain Christianity to the pagans. He is famously known for using a shamrock to explain the Trinity to the Druids and the King. King Laoghaire was very impressed and chose to accept Christianity. He also gave Patrick the freedom to spread Christianity throughout Ireland. He converted thousands of people and set up schools and churches.
Familiar with the Irish language and culture, Patrick chose to incorporate traditional ritual into his lessons of Christianity instead of attempting to eradicate native Irish beliefs. For instance, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire. It is also said that he superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish.
His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. Patrick is thought to have died sometime between 463AD and 493AD, on March 17th.
