By Mary Kroner
For the Register
You might have heard of Augustine’s Confessions, but have you heard of St. Patrick’s Confession?
In his autobiographical work detailing his journey of faith, the fifth century saint, whose feast is marked March 17, offers an inspiring account of his conversion.
Captured from his home country of Britain at a young age, he writes, “I was taken into captivity to Ireland with many thousands of people—and deservedly so, because we turned away from God, and did not keep His commandments, and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our salvation.”
Patrick found himself among pagan strangers in Ireland and was forced into slavery as a herdsman for six years. His experience in captivity might have been expected to harden his heart against God, but it actually had the reverse effect.
“And there the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and be converted with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my abjection, and mercy on my youth and ignorance, and watched over me before I knew Him, and before I was able to distinguish between good and evil, and guarded me, and comforted me as would a father his son.”
The 16-year-old had a profound sense of his unworthiness before God, but an equally profound sense of confidence in God’s Fatherly love. As a result, his love of prayer increased and he applied himself to the practice of it continuously.
“But after I came to Ireland—every day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed—the love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And my spirit was moved so that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many in the night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountains; and I used to get up for prayer before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm, and there was no sloth in me—as I now see, because the spirit within me was then fervent.”
Patrick praises and gives thanks to God for His graces as well as the suffering He gave to him, saying, “Hence I cannot be silent—nor, indeed, is it expedient—about the great benefits and the great grace which the Lord has deigned to bestow upon me in the land of my captivity; for this we can give to God in return after having been chastened by Him, to exalt and praise His wonders before every nation that is anywhere under the heaven.”
The “great grace” Patrick received with no little astonishment was a call to the priesthood.
“And He inspired me—me, the outcast of this world—before others, to be the man (if only I could!) who, with fear and reverence and without blame, should faithfully serve the people to whom the love of Christ conveyed and gave me for the duration of my life, if I should be worthy; yes indeed, to serve them humbly and sincerely.”
As an uneducated man, Patrick considered himself unqualified for a priestly vocation. Overwhelmed at receiving such a high calling, he also understood God to be calling him to be a missionary to the pagan people of Ireland, a calling which was accompanied by a great deal of danger.
Patrick did not allow doubt and fear to paralyze him, but rather accepted God’s call and responded with fervor.
“In the light, therefore, of our faith in the Trinity I must make this choice, regardless of danger I must make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, without fear and frankly I must spread everywhere the name of God so that after my decease I may leave a bequest to my brethren and sons whom I have baptized in the Lord—so many thousands of people.”
After a full life of service to God’s people in Ireland, Patrick died in 461 A.D. on March 17.
Patrick’s missionary spirit and zeal for souls offers a model for all Christians today living in an increasingly pagan society. Saint Patrick, pray for us!
Confession excerpts taken from https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/confession-of-st-patrick-5728, where the full text can be accessed.
