I did not wear green yesterday. Did you? I usually pay no mind to the “lesser” holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, but I am a lover of history, and the tale of the Patrick whose namesake is celebrated every mid-March is worth considering, especially from a spiritual perspective. Patrick’s birth name was Maewyn Succat. He was born in the late AD300s in Roman-controlled Britain (the Gospel reached the island 150 years or so before he was born). When he was sixteen, raiders crossed the Irish Sea from the Emerald Isle, and kidnapped young Maewyn, selling him as a slave. For the next six years he was forced to labor for his captors, working as a shepherd and tending to livestock. In later writings, Maewyn (who later adopted the name Patricius) said that his time as a servant in Ireland deepened his faith and reliance on God. I imagine his work as a shepherd drew him to the Psalms, in particular. His writings often quoted from the poems of David, including:

The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
(Psalm 34:17)

When he was twenty-two, after half-a-decade in captivity, Maewyn escaped his captors and fled, on foot, for 200 miles, before finding a boat soon to depart the isle for France. At first, the sailors refused to let him board, but then he prayed and pleaded, and the sailors relented. Three days later, they arrived, but their journey was challenging. There were storms, threats of starvation, and whispers of brewing mutiny. Throughout this, Maewyn, a mere passenger, braved to approach his hosts and encouraged them with Bible verses and prayers, keeping their sanity and helping them to reach land. When they arrived, they came upon a herd of wild bore and hunted enough food to feed the entire starving crew.

Eventually, Maewyn returned to his home in Britain, but soon after entered into a missionary life, and was compelled to return to Ireland, not as an unwitting captive, but as a willful evangelist. Whereas others might have harbored bitterness or hatred for the land, or even trepidation about returning to a place that had enslaved them, Maewyn (now Patricius) reentered Ireland with the boldness and love of Christ. His tale is a remarkable one: It’s a stirring example of overcoming hardship through prayer and faith, and of letting go of grudges in order for the great commission of the Master to be fulfilled.

I don’t particularly celebrate St. Patrick’s day, but I do appreciate the history of the man, and admire his faithful resilience amidst many personal challenges. It’s a testament for us all.

~Matthew