Will the real Patrick please stand up...

Wow... this is late! I started this post on Saturday before St. Pats, but didn't finish it till now.  Better late than never I suppose.

When we think of St. Patrick's Day what instantly hits the average person?  Parades?  Green beer?  The Chicago river dyed green?  Leprechauns, pots of gold and four leaf clovers?  All of these have nothing whatsoever to do with Patrick.

The real Patrick is hard to track down because of the legends that surround him, but what follows is one of the likely truths.

In the late 300's AD in Scotland, Maewyn Succat, the son of Roman officials was captured by Irish pirates and taken back with them and sold into slavery. For six years Maewyn served a man by shepherding his sheep out in the wilderness.  It was there that Maewyn developed a relationship with the God of his father, Jesus Christ.  In the countless hours spent alone in the wilderness tending the flock of his master, he prayed for release.  At the end of six years, Maewyn had a vision from God telling him to journey over 200 miles to the coast where he would find a ship to return him to his home.  Maewyn followed the heavenly instructions and indeed there was the ship that took him home.

After arriving again in Scotland, Maewyn became a priest, some think he even went to Rome for education.  After he completed his training, again he received a vision.  He heard the voices of the Irish begging for him to return and help them.  Maewyn changed his name to Patrick and he and a group of priests journeyed to Ireland again.

Ireland at this time was totally controlled by the Druids, an order steeped in the occult, even practicing human sacrifices.  When Patrick arrived, he went strait to the King and presented his case.  After several years of working, the King of Ireland became a convert to Christianity and within the century, the druids were gone.

The fruit of Patrick's ministry to his former masters directly resulted the saving of western culture during the many hardships that would come later, like the fall of Rome, the rise of pagan hordes who destroyed much of Europe, but Ireland was largely spared.

So, next year when you start to think of little leprechauns, remember that behind the fun, lies a real man who selflessly gave of himself and returned with a message of hope to the people who had mistreated him.