Prayer~~~
As I arise today, may the strength of God pilot me, the power of God uphold me, the wisdom of God guide me. May the eye of God look before me, the ear of God hear me, the word of God speak for me. May the handof God protect me, the way of God lie before me, the shield of Goddefend me, the host of God save me. May Christ shield me today...Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me. Amen.
~Saint Patrick of Ireland ~
Feastday: March 17Patron Irelandb. 387 d.461
Saint Patrick
St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints. Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461.
Along with St. Nicholas and St. Valentine, the secular world shares our love of these saints. This is also a day when everyone's Irish.
There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, but this is his story.
Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies.
As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.
During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote
"The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."
Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britian, where he reunited with his family.
He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more."
He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years.
Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. One legend says that he met a chieftain of one of the tribes, who tried to kill Patrick. Patrick converted Dichu (the chieftain) after he was unable to move his arm until he became friendly to Patrick.
Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick's message.
Patrick by now had many disciples, among them Beningnus, Auxilius, Iserninus, and Fiaac, (all later canonized as well).
Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461.
He died at Saul, where he had built the first church. Why a shamrock?
Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and has been associated with him and the Irish since that time. In His Footsteps:
Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.
Promise of Belief and Trust~~~
I recall a story about a tightrope walker who stretched a two-inch cable across the gorge of Niagara Falls. He asked the crowd that gathered if they believed he could carry a man across the gorge. The crowd had seen him successfully make the trip across the cable, so they cheered that they believed he could carry someone else across. Then the tightrope walker asked who was willing to climb on his shoulders for the trip across the gorge. The crowd fell silent. They believed HE could do it, but no one was able to trust him with their own life. Finally,the performer's manager stepped forward to volunteer. He had known the performer for many years and had complete confidence in him. As they prepared for the dangerous feat, the performer gave the following instructions to his passenger: "You must not trust your feelings, but mine. If you trust your feelings, we both will fall. You must become part of me.
"If we are to safely traverse this life's journey, we must become a part of Christ. Ideally, He should be so much a part of us and we should be so much a part of Him that we cannot distinguish where one stops and the other begins. We will instinctively trust Him to direct every movement and every decision we make.
Psalm~~~
In Christ alone my hope is found; He is my light, my strength, my song; This cornerstone, this solid ground, Firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace, When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!My comforter, my all in all —Here in the love of Christ I stand. In Christ alone, Who took on flesh, Fullness of God in helpless babe! This gift of love and righteousness, Scorned by the ones He came to save. Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied; For every sin on Him was laid —Here in the death of Christ I live. No guilt in life, no fear in death —This is the power of Christ in me; From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand; Till He returns or calls me home —Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.
(Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townsend)
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