Believe it or not, much of what we hear about St. Patrick is not true. He did not always wear green, pinch people who failed to wear green, or drive all of the snakes out of Ireland. He was, way back in the 5th century, a faithful servant of God who brought a message of hope to the island of Ireland – an island steeped in paganism.
Maewyn Succat was a Briton born towards the end of the 4th century. While a teenager he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave. Several years later (and stronger in his faith) he escaped, but, as the story goes, was haunted by the cries of the lost Irish calling to him to come and share the Gospel with them.
Amazingly, having once been a slave, he returned and began to travel throughout the country with the message of the Gospel.
While we aren’t sure of a lot of what Patrick actually wrote, several things are attributed to him which you might be familiar with.
“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.”
His most famous work is his Confessions, which is widely available online to read. It is short and worth the read.
So, whatever you do tomorrow on St. Patrick’s Day, just remember that Patrick was more than snake charming old man in a green robe. He was a follower of Jesus who wanted to take others with him.