The Confession of Saint Patrick by Patrick of Ireland

His desire for converting the Irish did not find favor with his superiors, mainly because of his defective education, for which he had never been able to compensate properly. Perhaps he visited colonies of monks at L érins and on the islands of the Tyrrhene Sea. He went to the Continent to train for the priesthood and probably stayed for some time as disciple of St. Once in a dream he even heard the 'voice of the Irish' calling him back. A desire to preach the Christian faith to the Irish grew within him to the certainty of a vocation. For the worldly youth that he had been, though a nominal Christian, captivity had become a means of spiritual conversion.

After six years' servitude as a shepherd, and encouraged by a voice in his sleep, he escaped, found a ship to take him on board, and eventually reached home. At the age of 16, while staying on his father's country estate (probably near Ravenglass), he was seized by Irish raiders and sold as a slave in Ireland. The dates of his birth and death are disputed, as is his chronology generally.

Patrick (Patricius), as he himself relates, was born in Roman Britain, son of the decurio (alderman), and later deacon, Calporn (i) us. I never felt the worse for it, and I never felt lazy - as I realise now, the spirit was burning in me at that time.Apostle of Ireland b. I even remained in the woods and on the mountain, and I would rise to pray before dawn in snow and ice and rain. More and more the love of God increased, and my sense of awe before God.įaith grew, and my spirit was moved, so that in one day I would pray up to one hundred times, and at night perhaps the same. It was something which, when I was young, I never hoped for or even thought of.Īfter I arrived in Ireland, I tended sheep every day, and I prayed frequently during the day. I didn't deserve at all that the Lord would grant such great grace, after hardships and troubles, after captivity, and after so many years among that people. That is why I must shout aloud in return to the Lord for such great good deeds of his, here and now and forever, which the human mind cannot measure. Then he who is powerful came and in his mercy pulled me out, and lifted me up and placed me on the very top of the wall. But this I know for certain, that before I was brought low, I was like a stone lying deep in the mud. I do not know how to provide for the future.

'So I am first of all a simple country person, a refugee, and unlearned. Some passages from Saint Patrick’s confession:

The Confession of Saint Patrick by Patrick of Ireland