Written by Dr. Marcus J. Serven
Patrick (A.D. c.390-c.461), a young man raised by loving Christian parents, was thoroughly acquainted with the Bible and the evangelical faith. He was also greatly influenced towards faith in Christ by an old family friend by the name of Julias, who had been a slave in Ireland many years before. One day when Patrick was sixteen years old, he was out working on his Father’s farm and became aware of a disturbance on the beach near his house. He could tell something was going on by the loud cries of the sea gulls. Upon further investigation he discovered that “sea raiders” from Ireland had invaded the English coast and were preparing to attack the nearby village of Banavem. Knowing that he should warn his Father and Mother who were in the village Patrick tried to slip away undetected, but in his haste slipped and fell down the cliff overlooking the beach. As he tumbled downwards, he hit his head on a boulder and landed unconscious at the feet of the Irish leader. They tied him up in their boat and kidnapped him! Much later, when Patrick awakened he realized that he would probably never see his parents or England again. He put himself in God’s providential care. However, God did not leave him all alone for Julius, his Father’s friend, had also been captured in the battle for Banavem. By God’s grace they were able to stay together in captivity.
For six long years Patrick (sometimes known by the name, Maewyn Succat) served as a shepherd to an Irish chieftain by the name of Michlu (a Druid priest). He learned the language (Gaelic) and the local customs of the Irish, but he refused to worship the false deities of the Druid religion. Strangely, the Druid Priests had widely prophesied that a man from over the sea would come amongst them. He would humble the leaders of the land and lead the people to the Great God. The Druids greatly feared this man, yet they also acknowledged that he would cause them to take up “shepherd’s staffs” in submission to the Lord and end their war-like ways. Patrick often wondered who this man might be, but he never dreamed that he was the very man! Julius in the meantime discipled him, as he would his own son, teaching him the doctrines of the Bible. Patrick said of this time, “The Lord opened to me the sense of my unbelief that I might remember my sins and that I might return with my whole heart to the Lord my God.” It was during these formative years that Patrick matured in his own faith and in his desire to communicate the Gospel to the Irish people. His first interested listeners were the three children of Michlu: Gussacht, Emer, and Bronach. After six years, Patrick escaped with Julias to France and eventually returned home to England. He believed that God had called him to become a minister of the gospel and he was ordained. During his studies he experienced an intense desire to return to Ireland and evangelize his former captors. He once even had a dream when he heard a voice calling to him in Gaelic saying “Holy Boy, we beseech you to come and walk among us once more.”
Patrick finally returned to Ireland in A.D. 432, when he was 43 years old, and spent the next thirty years laboring there. He was appointed a missionary Bishop over that pagan land and risked his life many times in order to further the gospel. He had special ties to several of the chieftains and established many monasteries and preaching points throughout the land. He is the object of many legends and spurious tales, but none of these take away from the real man of God that he truly was. During his extended ministry he established thirty churches and baptized over 120,000 persons. How do we evaluate the ministry of Patrick? Merle d’Aubigne makes this learned assessment. He writes,
Succat, afterwards known as St. Patrick…returned to Ireland…ever active, prompt, and ingenious, he collected the pagan tribes in the fields by the beat of drum, and then narrated to them in their own tongue the history of the Son of God. Erelong his simple recitals exercised a divine power over their rude hearts, and many souls were converted, not by external sacraments or by the worship of images, but by the preaching of the Word of God. The son of a chieftain, whom Patrick calls Benignus, learnt from him to proclaim the Gospel, and was destined to succeed him. The court bard, Dubrach MacValubair, no longer sang druidical hymns, but canticles addressed to Jesus Christ. Patrick was not entirely free from the errors of the time; perhaps he believed in pious miracles; but generally speaking we meet with nothing but the gospel in the earlier days of the British church.
Merle d’Augbigne, The Reformation in England, Vol. 1, 28-29
The legacy of Patrick continues to survive today due many legends of dubious quality and his recognition as a “Saint” by the Roman Catholic Church. Thankfully, Patrick himself leaves an autobiographical book, The Confessions of Patrick, and a powerful poem entitled, The Breastplate of Patrick. The words of his poem give some idea of Patrick’s immense courage and unflagging resolve in facing down the wicked Druids. He placed his faith in “the strong name of the Trinity” and trusted that God would providentially protect him from “all Satan’s spells and wiles.” The Lord did not fail him, and he significantly blessed the ministry of this missionary-evangelist to Ireland. It is good for us to remember, that what others meant for evil (his kidnapping and enslavement), God meant for good (his knowledge of Ireland’s language and his love for the Irish people). Let us, then, rejoice in the life and ministry of Patrick and give thanks to God for the powerful gospel we proclaim!
The Breastplate of Patrick
I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three.
I bind this day to me forever, by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation; His baptism in the Jordan river; His death on the cross for my salvation. His bursting from the spiced tomb; His riding up the heav’nly way; His coming at the day of doom; I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead, His eye to watch, His might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need; The wisdom of my God to teach, His hand to guide, His shield to ward, The word of God to give me speech, His heav’nly host to be my guard.
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles, against false words of heresy, against the knowledge that defiles, against the heart’s idolatry, against the wizard’s evil craft, against the death-wound and the burning, the choking wave, the poison’d shaft, protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and the One in Three, of whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word, Praise to the Lord of my salvation: Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
“Patrick’s Breastplate” Translated by C. F. Alexander in Eerdman’s Handbook to The History of Christianity, 212
Resources for Further Study:
Cahill, Thomas. How the Irish Saved Civilization. New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1995.
Christian History Magazine. Vol. XVII, No. 4, Issue 60. “How the Irish Were Saved: The Culture & Faith of Celtic Christians.”
Douglas, J. D., ed. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Revised Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.
- “Celtic Church” by Robert G. Clouse
- “Ireland” by Adam Loughridge
- “Ireland, Church of” by Adam Loughridge
- “Missions, Christian” by Ian Breward
- “Ninian” by J. D. Douglas
- “Patrick of Ireland” by Hugh J. Blair
d’Aubigne, Merle J. H. The Reformation in England. S. M. Houghton, ed. Volume 1. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1962.
Douglas, J. D., ed. Who’s Who in Christian History. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale Publishers, 1992.
Dowley, Tim, ed. Eerdman’s Handbook to The History of Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977.
“Patrick’s Confessions and Breastplate” in Great Christian Classics. Kevin Swanson, ed. Parker, CO: Generations With Vision, 2010.
Neill, Stephen. A History of Christian Missions. Second Edition. New York, NY: Penguin books, 1986.
Olsen, Ted. Christianity and the Celts. Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 2003
Reynolds, Quentin. The Life of Saint Patrick. New York, NY: Random House, 1955.
Wace, Henry and William Piercy, eds. A Dictionary of Christian Biography. London, England: John Murray, 1911; Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendricksen Publishers, 1994.
Woodbridge, John D. Great Leaders of the Christian Church. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
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