On March 17, Irish communities all over the world celebrate the primary patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick – ‘The Apostle of Ireland’. According to tradition, the saint died on March 17, 461.
St Patrick is also the patron saint of Boston and New York, in the US, of Nigeria, of Montserrat (a Caribbean island) and even of… engineers.
In Malta, the Salesian school in Sliema is dedicated to him.
I first heard of St Patrick when I was about 11 years old. I had joined the Salesian Boy Scouts group in Victoria, where among the many things we learned was that the Union Jack incorporates the three flags of the three countries that make up the UK: that of England, Scotland and Ireland. And, then, we also learned that St Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland.
History
St Patrick was born in Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, Scotland, in 387 and died in Soul, Downpatrick, Ireland, on March 17, 461 (some give other dates). He was the son of Calphurnius and Conchessa, who were among the Romans who were sent to take care of the colonies. He is said to have been given the name Maewyin Succat but, later, when he became a priest, he chose the Latin name Patrizius.
We know that, at the age of 16, he was abducted by Irish pirates and sold as a slave to the king of North Dal Riyadh in what is now Northern Ireland.
He learned the language of the place and was brought up in the Celtic religion. The faith he embraced from his childhood gave him hope and he once wrote: “God’s love and his fear have grown and multiplied in me, as faith has grown… and I used to pray in the woods, on the mountains, even before dawn. Snow, ice, rain… never hurt me.”
He became a deacon and, later, was consecrated a bishop.
A mission
Pope Celestine I (422-432) appointed him to evangelise the British Isles, especially Ireland, where he began his mission in 431 or 432. He succeeded by combining many of the elements of the Celtic religion he once embraced with Christian elements. It was during this process that the solar cross (cross in a circle), which developed into the Celtic cross, was created – a symbol of Celtic Christianity.
A pilgrimage
At the age of 50, he went on a pilgrimage to Rome and, on returning, he settled in Northern Ireland. He died in Downpatrick (still in Northern Ireland) where his remains are buried today, near the cathedral dedicated to the Holy Trinity. There are several popular legends about how St Patrick used the shamrock (oxalis triangularis) or Irish clover − the national symbol of Ireland − to explain the mystery of the Trinity.
Myth and belief
The Irish narrate several legends about this saint. One of these says that there are no snakes in Ireland because St Patrick drove them all out to sea. The legend is linked to the Croagh Patrick hill where the saint spent 40 days and, on the last day, is said to have rung a bell in Clew beach while trying to get rid of the snakes.
There are also some wells in Ireland which, since the advent of Christianity, have been given the names of saints, including, of course, that of St Patrick. And, since well water contains many minerals, it may have a healing effect on those who wash with or drink it. That is why, then, there is a ‘miraculous’ connection between the wells and the saints who bear their name.
St Patrick’s Day
March 17 is a national holiday in Ireland.
Although the feast of St Patrick was celebrated in the local Church of Ireland hundreds of years ago, the Catholic Church included it in the liturgical calendar in the early 17th century, through the great influence of the Franciscan Father Luke Wadding.
Personal experience
In 2004, I was invited by the University of Belfast, Northern Ireland for a conference on languages. I participated with a paper ‘The Making of the Maltese Language’, which, after being delivered during the conference, was later published in the volume Legislation, Literature, and Sociolinguistics: Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Scotland, (John M. Kirk and Donall P. O Baoill, publishers), Belfast, 2005, pp. 179-94. [The Irish authorities were at the time preparing to apply for Irish to become one of the official working languages in the European Union; eventually the Irish government applied in 2005 and the Irish language was granted this status on January 1, 2007.]
On one of the days of the conference, all the participating scholars were taken on a tour of the small town of Downpatrick.
We first visited St Patrick’s Memorial Church and then proceeded to the County of Down – one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. Here, we stopped near St Patrick’s cathedral, where – on the ground on one side – we had the opportunity to see the grave of St Patrick – covered by a large Mourne granite flat stone marking the grave, lovingly venerated by the Irish and by all who cherish the Christian faith.
An inscription reads: “St Patrick was born in Britain. The 16-year-old was abducted and taken to Ireland where he was sold as a slave. From there he fled and went to France. But, once, during the night, in a dream, he heard the voice of the Irish calling him back. How Patrick responded to that call and brought Christianity to Ireland is one of the most beautiful chapters of our history.
“According to tradition, the remains of St Patrick, together with those of St Brigid and St Colomba, were re-buried at this site by John De Coursy in the twelfth century, thus fulfilling the prophecy that the three Saints would be buried in the same place.”
This granite block was placed by the Down District Council and the Department of Entertainment and Tourism, in September 1985.
The cathedral
We then visited the medieval cathedral dedicated to the Holy Trinity, which stands prominently on the Hill of Down, overlooking the ancient town of Downpatrick.
While enjoying a concert, which officially inaugurated the printing of the first book with Irish church hymns, we could enjoy magnificent and impressive Mayer of Munich stained glass windows, box pews, the 11th-century granite font and one of the finest pipe organs in the British Isles.