Category: Ireland

The Call
Christian. · Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

The Call

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Before we read this section of Patrick’s story, let’s look at a few references he makes.  Hibernia is a Roman name for Ireland.   Victoricus was a Roman missionary who brought the gospel to the celtic people of Europe.  Foclut is likely a forest on the western side of Ireland and people suspect the place where Patrick was a slave.

 And, of course, there, in a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming as if from Hibernia with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: “The Voice of the Hibernians”, and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and they were crying as if with one voice: “We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.” And I was stung intensely in my heart so that I could read no more, and thus I awoke.

Thanks be to God, because after so many years the Lord bestowed on them according to their cry.

And another night– God knows, I do not, whether within me or beside me– most words which I heard and could not understand, except at the end of the speech it was represented thus: “He who gave his life for you, he it is who speaks within you.” And thus I awoke, joyful.

And on a second occasion I saw Him praying within me, and I was as it were, inside my own body , and I heard Him above me– that is, above my inner self. He was praying powerfully with sighs. And in the course of this I was astonished and wondering, and I pondered who it could be who was praying within me. But at the end of the prayer it was revealed to me that it was the Spirit. And so I awoke and remembered the Apostle’s words: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we know not how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for utterance [Romans 8:26].” And again: “The Lord our advocate intercedes for us [Romans 8:27].”

God placed dreams in Patrick’s head involving a famous missionary who died for Christ and letters from those of the land where Patrick had escaped.   God called Patrick to return to Ireland and tell those who lived there about Jesus.

Since God spoke to Patrick through a series of dreams, I have a notion Patrick was not wild about the idea at first. It took more than one call.  He never says it, but remember he mentioned his mom and dad did not want him to ever leave again.  But eventually, Patrick heard God’s call.

Again? Really?
Christian. · Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

Again? Really?

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Some Christians hold to the idea that if we believe in God and trust Him; then we will not see trouble in our lives.  Patrick’s life shows a man of great faith and prayer.  A man obedient to God’s commands who faced many trials.  God acted over and over in Patrick’s life, but that does not mean hardships didn’t also come into Patrick’s life.  He had one reaction each time–prayer.

Patrick,as a slave, prayed night and day.  God answered the prayers and set him free.  He reached a ship but they tell him “no go”.  Then in a flash, after prayer,  they agree to let him sail with them.  The ship lands and they end up in no man’s land for days with no food.  Patrick prays and food appears. Those with Patrick take Christ as their savior.  Immediately after, Patrick is attacked in his sleep.

And a second time, after many years, I was taken captive. On the first night I accordingly remained with my captors, but I heard a divine prophecy, saying to me: “You shall be with them for two months.” So it happened.

Patrick trusted God.  But when I hear Patrick talking here, I think I know how he felt.  You lean on God and come through a spiritual journey.  You are on the back side and you are thinking how God brought you through.  You might even be feeling a little good about how you trusted and God was faithful.  How you learned a spiritual lesson.

And then there you are and you are back where you started.  In Patrick’s case, a slave again.

The Spirit Speaks What We Do Not Know To Speak
Christian. · Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

The Spirit Speaks What We Do Not Know To Speak

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Patrick, a man of prayer, at this moment cries out without even understanding his own prayer.  He believes the Holy Spirit prayed for him when he did not know what to pray.

The very same night while I was sleeping Satan attacked me violently, as I will remember as long as I shall be in this body; and there fell on top of me as it were, a huge rock, and not one of my members had any force. But from whence did it come to me, ignorant in the spirit, to call upon Elijah?

And meanwhile I saw the sun rising in the sky, and while I was crying out “Elijah, Elijah” with all my might, lo, the brilliance of that sun fell upon me and immediately shook me free of all the weight; and I believe that I was aided by Christ my Lord, and that his Spirit then was crying out for me, and I hope that it will be so in the day of my affliction, just as it says in the Gospel:

“In that hour”, the Lord declares, “it is not you who speaks but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you [Matthew 10:20].”

Romans 8:26

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Questioning God.
Christian. · Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

Questioning God.

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Do people ever ask you questions about God?  Why does God allow things to happen?  Here those on the boat started questioning Patrick.

.

And after three days we reached land, and for twenty-eight days journeyed through uninhabited country, and the food ran out and hunger overtook them; and one day the steersman began saying: “Why is it, Christian? You say your God is great and all-powerful; then why can you not pray for us? For we may perish of hunger; it is unlikely indeed that we shall ever see another human being.”

Matthew 17:

20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

And thus, Patrick told them they should trust Jesus and have faith.

 In fact, I said to them, confidently: “Be converted by faith with all your heart to my Lord God, because nothing is impossible for him, so that today he will send food for you on your road, until you be sated, because everywhere he abounds.”
And with God’s help this came to pass; and behold, a herd of swine appeared on the road before our eyes, and they slew many of them, and remained there for two nights, and they were full of their meat and well restored, for many of them had fainted and would otherwise have been left half dead by the wayside.
And after this they gave the utmost thanks to God, and I was esteemed in their eyes, and from that day they had food abundantly. They discovered wild honey, besides, and they offered a share to me, and one of them said: “It is a sacrifice.” Thanks be to God, I tasted none of it.
Pray, Pray Pray
Christian. · Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

Pray, Pray Pray

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So as we left Patrick, he ran away from his master and traveled a great distance to find a boat.  He believes God called him to follow this path.  The boat owners turn him down and tell him no way can he sail on their ship.  Patrick turns and walks away praying.

 

Hearing this I left them to go to the hut where I was staying, and on the way I began to pray, and before the prayer was finished I heard one of them shouting loudly after me: “Come quickly because the men are calling you.” And immediately I went back to them and they started to say to me: “Come, because we are admitting you out of good faith; make friendship with us in any way you wish.” (And so, on that day, I refused to suck the breasts of these men from fear of God, but nevertheless I had hopes that they would come to faith in Jesus Christ, because they were barbarians.) And for this I continued with them, and forthwith we put to sea.

The fact God calls us does not mean there will not be obstacles but we should preserve as Patrick did.  He prayed asking God to show him the way.  God answered Patrick immediately, sometimes we have to wait and pray longer than Patrick did.   But if God calls a person, and the person holds to faith and trusts God, the Lord will open the path.

Look at Moses.  God called the Israelite out of Egypt.  Before them was Red Sea and behind them the armies of Egypt.

Exodus 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

15 And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lordfighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

God Called; Patrick Ran
Christian. · Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

God Called; Patrick Ran

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And it was there of course that one night in my sleep I heard a voice saying to me: “You do well to fast: soon you will depart for your home country.”

Do you ever fast?  The one thing you don’t see in Patrick’s list of things he was doing was fasting.  He doesn’t make a big deal about it.  He mentions over and over how he is praying to God.
But when God speaks to Patrick, His first words commend Patrick for fasting because he is about to face something new.

A few years back someone introduced me to the idea that you can fast in many ways.  Limiting food and concentrating on God is one way. Some times it makes sense to fast those things in your life that take your focus off of God–TV, internet, social media.   Our Lord fasted for 40 days (Luke 4:1-4).  During this time, he prayed alone and prepared his spirit for the temptation which he would face.

Back to Patrick.

And again, a very short time later, there was a voice prophesying: “Behold, your ship is ready.” And it was not close by, but, as it happened, two hundred miles away, where I had never been nor knew any person.

And shortly thereafter I turned about and fled from the man with whom I had been for six years, and I came, by the power of God who directed my route to advantage (and I was afraid of nothing), until I reached that ship.

And on the same day that I arrived, the ship was setting out from the place, and I said that I had not the wherewithal to sail with them; and the steersman was displeased and replied in anger, sharply: “By no means attempt to go with us.”

God called Patrick and he obeyed.  He ran and followed a path he did not know, towards a destination just as unknown.  He trusted God and there it was the ship that would take him away from the land of his slavery.  Do you think he doubted or trusted his calling when the man said Patrick could not sail with them?  Do you think Patrick question if he really heard God’s call now that the plan was not working out?

How often we think because we hit an obstacle that we must have miss understood God’s calling for our life.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night
Christian. · Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night

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And I was not worthy, nor was I such that the Lord should grant his humble servant this, that after hardships and such great trials, after captivity, after many years, he should give me so much favour with these people, a thing which in the time of my youth I neither hoped for nor imagined.

But after I reached Hibernia I used to pasture the flock each day and I used to pray many times a day. More and more did the love of God, and my fear of him and faith increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day [I said] from one up to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number; besides I used to stay out in the forests and on the mountain and I would wake up before daylight to pray in the snow, in icy coldness, in rain, and I used to feel neither ill nor any slothfulness, because, as I now see, the Spirit was burning in me at that time.

Can’t you see our Patrick.  They have captured him and dragged him to land he did not know.  A slave, he is made to watch the sheep.  Away from family, away from the easy life, Patrick prays.  Day and night he talks to God about his issues.  He prays.  The spirit grows inside him.  Patrick prays.

When I look at the lives of the men and women who have served God in mighty ways and  have done hard things for God, I find one common denominator.  They pray.

Jesus prayed.  God, in human form while on earth, prayed.
Luke 5:16 tells us that Jesus frequently withdrew to an isolated place and prayed.

I have been think a lot about prayer.  I think we need to spend quite time talking and listening with God.  But I also think we should be discussing the day to day things with God.  The times I have felt closest to God have been when I ask Him through the day about decision I have to make.  When I discuss my concerns as they arise.  Our prayers like Patricks should be through out our day as we proceed through our lives.

What’s Your Excuse?
Christian. · Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

What’s Your Excuse?

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Over 1500 years after he lived, Patrick’s name is famous for bringing Christianity to Ireland.  But if you listen to him, he doesn’t believe he has any skills.  He wishes he were better educated. The others have skills he never obtained.

A young man, almost a beardless boy, I was taken captive before I knew what I should desire and what I should shun. So, consequently, today I feel ashamed and I am mightily afraid to expose my ignorance, because, [I am not] eloquent, with a small vocabulary, I am unable to explain as the spirit is eager to do and as the soul and the mind indicate. 

But had it been given to me as to others, in gratitude I should not have kept silent, and if it should appear that I put myself before others, with my ignorance and my slower speech, in truth, it is written: “The tongue of the stammerers shall speak rapidly and distinctly [Isaiah 32:4].”

How much harder must we try to attain it, we of whom it is said: “You are an epistle of Christ in greeting to the ends of the earth… written on your hearts, not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God [2 Corinthians 3:3].”

And again, the Spirit witnessed that the rustic life was created by the Most High. 

I am, then, first of all, countrified, an exile, evidently unlearned, one who is not able to see into the future, but I know for certain, that before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mire, and he that is mighty came and in his mercy raised me up and, indeed, lifted me high up and placed me on top of the wall. And from there I ought to shout out in gratitude to the Lord for his great favours in this world and for ever, that the mind of man cannot measure.

Therefore be amazed, you great and small who fear God, and you men of God, eloquent speakers, listen and contemplate. Who was it summoned me, a fool, from the midst of those who appear wise and learned in the law and powerful in rhetoric and in all things? Me, truly wretched in this world, he inspired before others that I could be– if I would– such a one who, with fear and reverence, and faithfully, without complaint, would come to the people to whom the love of Christ brought me and gave me in my lifetime, if I should be worthy, to serve them truly and with humility.

According, therefore, to the measure of one’s faith in the Trinity, one should proceed without holding back from danger to make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, to spread God’s name everywhere with confidence and without fear, in order to leave behind, after my death, foundations for my brethren and sons whom I baptized in the Lord in so many thousands.

God calls us.  He uses our weaknesses and our past pains to touch others.  We think we have to be great orators in order to preach, great writers to document our experiences or the ultimate charmer to share the gospel with others.  It only takes someone willing to do what God asks them to do.  We may never know how he uses what we do.  The impact maybe years later.  Maybe only one person accepts Christ and learns to follow the teaching.  

What is your excuse for not spreading Christ’s message and love to others?

Patrick’s Words on Why He Wrote The Confession
Christian. · Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

Patrick’s Words on Why He Wrote The Confession

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I am imperfect in many things, nevertheless I want my brethren and kinsfolk to know my nature so that they may be able to perceive my soul’s desire.  

I am not ignorant of what is said of my Lord in the Psalm: “You destroy those who speak a lie [Psalm 5:6].” And again: “A lying mouth deals death to the soul.” And likewise the Lord says in the Gospel: “On the day of judgment men shall render account for every idle word they utter [Matthew 12:36].”

So it is that I should mightily fear, with terror and trembling, this judgment on the day when no one shall be able to steal away or hide, but each and all shall render account for even our smallest sins before the judgment seat of Christ the Lord.

And therefore for some time I have thought of writing, but I have hesitated until now, for truly, I feared to expose myself to the criticism of men, because I have not studied like others, who have assimilated both Law and the Holy Scriptures equally and have never changed their idiom since their infancy, but instead were always learning it increasingly, to perfection, while my idiom and language have been translated into a foreign tongue. So it is easy to prove from a sample of my writing, my ability in rhetoric and the extent of my preparation and knowledge, for as it is said, “wisdom shall be recognized in speech, and in understanding, and in knowledge and in the learning of truth.”

But why make excuses close to the truth, especially when now I am presuming to try to grasp in my old age what I did not gain in my youth because my sins prevented me from making what I had read my own? But who will believe me, even though I should say it again?

 

Patrick Can’t Keep Silent
Ireland · March · March 17 · St. Patrick · St. Patrick's Confession · St. Patty's Day

Patrick Can’t Keep Silent

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Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under heaven:

  For there is no other God, nor ever was before, nor shall be hereafter, but God the Father, unbegotten and without beginning, in whom all things began, whose are all things, as we have been taught; and his son Jesus Christ, who manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the spirit with the Father, indescribably begotten before all things, and all things visible and invisible were made by him. He was made man, conquered death and was received into Heaven, to the Father who gave him all power over every name in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe. And we look to his imminent coming again, the judge of the living and the dead, who will render to each according to his deeds. And he poured out his Holy Spirit on us in abundance, the gift and pledge of immortality, which makes the believers and the obedient into sons of God and co-heirs of Christ who is revealed, and we worship one God in the Trinity of holy name.

Can’t keep silent.  Today we some how believe it is wrong to talk about the acts of God in our lives.  I grew up in a church where on Wednesday nights and some times Sunday nights people stood and told their testimonies.  You don’t hear Christians telling other Christians what God has done in their lives much any more.

The Lord answers prayers in my life.  He rescues me from the jams I get myself into.  He has prepared me before hand for a crisis I will be asked to face.  But the Lord also does sweet miracles (God kisses) that may not seem like big things to others but mean all the world to me.  Over and over God cares for me, but it is seldom I tell people.

Patrick can’t help but tell others about what God has done for him.  He says it is what is owed to God.

For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under heaven:

Jesus said

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Why I am so silent when I should be shouting out everything my Lord has done for me?  Why do I allow our society to coward me into silence?  Why do we not practice sharing what God has done in  our lives with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Patrick continues

He himself said through the prophet: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me [Psalm 50:15].” And again: “It is right to reveal and publish abroad the works of God.”