Do you know the true story of St. Patrick? Beyond the festive trappings of March's familiar revelry, the real St. Patrick lived a life that was absolutely transformed by Jesus.
In this episode, as we commemorate the first anniversary of our podcast, we delve into Patrick's early life in Britain, his trials during captivity in Ireland, and the profound faith that guided him through his darkest moments. Patrick's escape and subsequent return to the land of his enslavement reveal a narrative not of a mythical saint, but of a true Christ follower, whose legacy of spreading Christianity is punctuated by remarkable courage and devotion.
Join me (Tosha Williams) in reflecting on how St. Patrick's life gives us an example to follow, as he brought the light of Christ to a dark country. In addition, Patrick's teachings became woven into the fabric of Irish culture, fostering literacy and the creation of revered texts like the Book of Kells. Patrick also championed the end of slavery and the value of women, leaving an indelible mark on history extending far beyond the confines of his feast day.
We'll close with a blessing inspired by Patrick's own words, a call to live with the same conviction and purpose that defined the life of one of history's most enduring spiritual icons. Let's honor the true essence of St. Patrick's Day by considering the true story that he leaves behind - - - which is about so much more than shamrocks and leprechauns!
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Speaker 1:
It's St Patrick's Day and green food, shamrocks and leprechauns come to mind. People have parties, towns have parades and schoolchildren wear greens so they don't get pinched. But how would the real St Patrick like to be celebrated? And who was he? Anyway? Did you know he lived an amazing, powerful, inspirational life? Probably not, because all we hear about St Patrick's Day is, well, the green stuff. At least, that's all I knew about him.
Speaker 1:
St Patrick's Day was kind of just an annoying holiday to me until about five or six years ago, when I began learning more about his story, and now I must say it's one of my favorites. This next month we are coming up on the one year anniversary of this podcast and I am so thrilled about that. But I'm especially excited about this particular episode because of St Patrick's Day. You see, for multiple years I've written discipleship conversations based on the life of St Patrick and I've written different blog posts and I've shared different pieces in writing, but his story is so amazing that I've always wanted to share so much more. Well, here we are For the first time, we are circling back in the calendar to St Patrick's Day witha podcast. So with no further ado, I want to welcome you to this episode of it Starts with a Conversation Hi, my name is Tasha Williams and I'm the founder of the Family Disciple Me Ministry. Our goal is to make Christ known and His word home, and you can subscribe to our ministry by simply going to FamilyDiscipleMeorg. Forward slash subscribe. Also, the link to the discipleship conversation that goes along with this particular episode can be found in the show notes below.
Speaker 1:
This week we get to dive into this amazing story of St Patrick, With all the legends and lore surrounding him. The incredible thing about his story is that we have so much of it in his very own words, written in a book called Confession, as well as a letter to Carodacus. Patrick's story begins somewhere in Great Britain about 400 years after Christ. His parents were Roman citizens sent to govern a colony there. They were probably somewhat wealthy, and Patrick's father, or possibly his grandfather, was a deacon in their church. Patrick had the beginnings of a good education and his childhood was relatively normal until everything changed when he was 16 years old, pirates attacked their estate, their town.
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Patrick was captured, potentially along with some of his siblings, when he was sold in Ireland to the pagan Irish chieftain Melioch. For six long years, far from home and family. Patrick was Melioch's slave. He tended his livestock, he endured the elements, he lived in solitude, away from human companionship, and he was often hungry and thirsty. Often think about that circumstance in light of a 16-year-old or a teenager that you know. It's kind of unimaginable. It was an awful season of his life. But something amazing happened during that enslavement.
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As hard as slavery was, Patrick's heart didn't grow hard toward God. In fact, he grew closer to the Lord he had learned about in his childhood. He was raised in a Christian home, but he had never given his life to Christ. He didn't know God personally and yet there in his captivity, he began to pray and talk to God. I think it's really interesting to hear St Patrick's own account of this, so let me read some of his words to you.
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There was he wrote that the Lord brought me to a sense of the unbelief in my heart that I might call my sins to remembrance and turn with all my heart to the Lord, who, regarded my low estate and, taking pity on my youth and ignorance, watched over me before I knew him or had since to discern between good and evil, and counseled me and comforted me, as a father does a son. I was employed every day in feeding cattle, and often in the day, I used to but take myself to prayer, and the love of God thus grew stronger and stronger, and his faith and fear increased in me, so that in a single day I could utter as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night almost as many. And I used to remain in the woods and on the mountains and would rise for prayer before daylight, in the midst of snow and ice and rain, and I felt no harm from it. Nor was I ever unwilling, because my heart was hot within me. I was not, from my childhood, a believer in the only God, but continued in death and in unbelief until I was severely chastened. And in truth I have been humbled by hunger and nakedness, and it was my lot to go about in Ireland. Every day soar against my will, until I was almost worn out. But this proved rather a blessing to me, because by means of it I have been corrected of the Lord, and he has fitted me for being what it once seemed unlikely that I should be, so that I should concern myself about the salvation of others, whereas I used to have no such thoughts even for myself. Wow, we could stop and end this podcast right there, just based on his testimony.
Speaker 1:
Did you ever have any idea that there was so much more to St Patrick's Day, so much more like this? Well, once Patrick gave his life to Jesus, everything changed. In fact, he became so devoted to Christ that fellow slaves nicknamed him Holy Boy. Well, after six years, God gave that Holy Boy a dream, a vision to escape his captors and return home. Patrick dared to believe God for the impossible. He walked about 200 miles from County Mayo, where it's believed he was held, to the Irish coast without being captured. Stop and think about that for a minute. Would you be bold enough to run for your life for 200 miles on foot, being pursued by slave catchers and dogs all along the way, fear of death in every step? What's more, if God told you to do that for your freedom and he told you he was going to set you free, would you believe Him and go? Well, that's exactly what Patrick did. He later wrote in his autobiography I turned on my heel and ran away, leaving behind the man to whom I had been bound for six years. But I came away from Him in the power of God, for it was he who was guiding my every step for the best. Even getting on that ship, finally, and heading home did not make Him home free, though.
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After a three-day journey, the men landed in Gaul, which is modern France, but there they found only devastation. The ships, or vandals, had just decimated the land and there wasn't any food to be found. The ship's captain taunted him what do you have to say for yourself, Christian? You boast that your God is all-powerful. Well, where's the food? Patrick answered confidently. Nothing is impossible to God. Turn to Him, and he will send us food for our journey, Would you believe it At that exact moment. He later wrote that a herd of pigs appeared, almost like blocking their path. Of course, Patrick became an instant celebrity with his companions, as they gorged on fresh bacon, ham and sausage. But then they started making food sacrifices to their pagan idols. And well, that's when Patrick backed away, because he wasn't going to offer food sacrifices to idols, for he was sold out to Jesus. And indeed, Jesus guided Patrick's way all the way back to his country and his family.
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Returning home as a Christ follower, Patrick grew in his newfound faith. He studied God's word and he committed to vocational ministry. But then God gave Patrick another vision. Another dream, this time beckoning him to return to the land from which he had just recently escaped. Patrick later wrote I had a vision in my dreams of a man who seemed to come from Ireland. His name was Victorius and he carried countless letters, one of which he handed over to me. I read aloud where it began the voice of the Irish. And as I began to read these words, I seemed to hear the voice of the same men who lived beside the forest of Falkloot, and they cried out as with one voice, we appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk with us. I was so deeply moved in heart and I could read no further, so I awoke.
Speaker 1:
This was Patrick's clarion call to return to the land of his slavery to share the gospel with those who didn't yet know Jesus. I can only imagine the fears and the trauma that would surround accepting that call that Patrick did. He spent the next fifteen or so years preparing for this ministry, doing pastoral and theological studies. I imagine he was probably also making up for the education he missed during his six years in slavery. So then, in his mid-forties, despite his fears, despite, possibly, his family's protest, Patrick obeyed God's call to take scripture back to Ireland and he spent the rest of his life there, going from county to county telling people about Jesus.
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All over Ireland, Patrick shared the good news of God's salvation. He was in constant danger for this many times, just narrowly escaping death, often times having to pay rewards and redemption prices. At one point he wrote daily I expect murder, fraud or captivity, but I fear none of these things. Because of the promises of heaven, I have cast myself into the hands of God Almighty who rules everywhere. With this mindset, he never quit. He never stopped.
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Now, back in those days, in Ireland, only the wealthiest, and usually only men, were allowed the privilege of learning how to read. Such was considered a luxury not worth wasting on commoners or poor people or females. However, a long life's way, Patrick taught people everywhere how to read, and he taught them how to read God's Word. So profound was his impact that the Irish culture fell in love with the Bible during his day. And they didn't just fall in love with the Bible, they fell in love with the beautiful lettering and words of the Bible. They treasured God's Word so much that, as a culture, they made multiple beautiful copies of it. The Trinity College Museum in Dublin today houses so many gorgeously illustrated copies of the Bible, known as the Book of Kells. I've seen those books and they're gorgeous, but when I saw them I didn't know this story, and I look back and I think how much more amazing they would have been to me had I known this story of St Patrick. Well, now I do know and I'm sharing it with you, and I must say it doesn't stop there. There is so much more.
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You know, one of the greatest enemies Patrick fought was something that he was extremely personally familiar with, and that was slavery. Out of the pain of what he experienced, he became one of the first Christians, if not the first, to speak out against the practice. He wrote ravenous wolves have gulped down the Lord's own flock, which was flourishing in Ireland, and the whole church cries out and laments for his sons and daughters. Patrick allowed his greatest point of pain to become the very place he made an impact in this world, and I just have to think about our lives and our points of pain. Patrick did not have to go back to Ireland. He could have stayed in the relative safety of Britain, but instead he chose to follow God's call, even when it led him back to his deepest point of pain. And when it came to that pain point of slavery, within Patrick's lifetime or shortly thereafter, he was the one who helped bring an end to the entire Irish slave trade. Ireland was the first country in the world to abolish slavery.
Speaker 1:
Are you beginning to see how significant Patrick was? And I'll remind you, he wasn't a saint, he actually still isn't a technical saint, but he was a godly hero. And as we come to St Patrick's Day, there is definitely more to celebrate than leprechauns, rainbows and green shamrocks. Like what about this? In Patrick's Day, women were nothing more than a commodity to be bought or sold or traded. Patrick taught women their value and worth in Christ, so much so that many of them began to choose to commit their lives to Jesus, and I can tell you that definitely upset the social order of the day, but for the better. The stories could go on and on and on, and I'm almost at my time limit for this podcast, so maybe I'll save some of those for next year. But let me just say Patrick was known as a man of prayer and his famous Christ Behind Me, Christ Before Me Prayer is one of the most powerful, memorable prayers in history. Patrick was also accredited for doing some miracles. But again, that's another story for another time.
Speaker 1:
Patrick's life is fascinating. His story is so inspiring. It's believed that he died on March 17th, 460 AD. But he left behind a legacy of a man loving God and loving his words so much that he spent his entire adulthood sharing both. The legacy of his life trickles down through the centuries to us as we celebrate St Patrick's Day, I think it's an amazing time to stop and consider some of the powerful lessons from his life. Lessons like not letting our hearts grow hard when life is hard. Lessons like not becoming bitter toward God when he's doing the work in the solitary places. Lessons like learning to cry out and pray to him with all of our hearts, even when circumstances are bleak. Lessons like listening to God's voice when he tells us what he wants us to do, even though the doing of it is dangerous or hard. Lessons like following his voice again when he speaks, telling us the next thing he wants us to do. Lessons like standing up for the weak, standing up for the abused, standing up for those who have been deprived of their rights. Lessons like making somebody else's life matter because Jesus loves them so much. I honestly think that the lessons from St Patrick's powerful legacy are overwhelming and we've just scratched the surface. Friend, this is just a little bit of whatever he searched. I guess we'll have to circle back to this next year.
Speaker 1:
For now, enjoy St Patrick's day. May you encounter this holiday like you never have before and be inspired to live for Jesus like St Patrick's Day the rest of your life. As we close this podcast, I want to pray over you a blessing that is a variation of St Patrick's famous prayer Christ with you, Christ before you, Christ behind you, Christ in you. Christ beneath you. Christ above you. Christ on your right. Christ on your left, Christ when you lie down, Christ when you sit down, Christ when you arise, May you feel God's blessing and shine as His light as surely as St Patrick. Go with God, friend, Until next time.