The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1889-03-15
LEGENDS OF st. pAreics.
6sas or the Marvellous Deeds Ascrtbed -
Hin, "a, Aneieut scrtIDer.


The reader unfamiliar with Catholic esTe-
cially Irish Catholic. literature Is apt Ia tn
into the error that the legends and ss<wtes
about St ihtrics are essential parts ~ tho
Catholic faith They are no more sp-IaSr
much less a'-than the pOpuar Jokes crectitsd
To Abraham i.In'Oln and the popular stArtcs
abnut him are essential parts OF An,eriran
history Aside from her authentic iives e
the saints, the church neither nilirnB asc
denies The legends are To Ike real and a.
niired for their beauty or hunOr the ainfaint
OF truth IN them is simply matter 1t Ms
toric criticism q few instances are here
givou
Que lcscrd relates that before the boy
Patrick arri ed IN Ireland as slave tho
Druid priests inscribed on q rock In tho tkp-
main OF Miliuc a Quatrain IN the old lon
Guage. which translated, read thus
"A Taiicend shall come VITO will founA
cemeteries make cells anew and posneeA
houses and have princes hearing croeieys;
and whom tlice signs shall come our ad0sa-
ton and high honor viii vanish.
Among the first the saint preached To was
Miliuc twho had been his masteri bat che
Druids persuaded Miiiuc that II was unto
coming 10 believe one who had iIeen his SER
want Then, adds the old legend, ~ colnpla-
Gently as II II were the most natural thing In
the world
"A demon came in counsel To min he went
into his royal house with Ills gold and siIvesy
AMI he set the house Oh fire and was burned
with all his treasures. and his soul went To
hell"
The same author gives us long history Of
miracles performed by st Patrick, and con
clutles his collection with this.
I'm inf A vic Nm.
year this Life OF st Patrick was written.
liT7, and Tomorrow will he l.amnias aights
And in Balle-,n. Miouin. in the House Of
Troightish, this was written by Dohmna1i
Albanach OTroightigb; ct Dec gratlas
Jes,i."
"And tomorrow will be Lammas nigiscss
Would anybody but an freshman havo
thought OF such method Of fixing the datee
Two hundred years later another author COL
lected the legends OF 81 Patrick, but In Ills
preface o,ie can easily see proof that they
were not SO generally believed, for he says,
wherefore, in reading the lives and acts OF
the saints composed in a rude manner or bar
barous dialect, disgust Is often excited end
not seldom hardness of belief. And hence 10
is that the life Of the most glorious priest
Patrick the patron md apostle OF Ireland, 60
llustrious in signs and miracles being FRO
quently written By illiterate persons, Is ~
most people neither liked nor understood.
but If any snake i'll the way or serpent In
the path shall rashly accuse us herein OF pro-
sumption, and attack our hand with the viper
tooth, yet do we with the blessed Paul, cei-
lect the vine twigs for tho fire and cost tho
vaper wltO the flame"
And after this rather serious warming no
goes on to relate series OF most extyaardi.
nary miracles. how ST Patrick restored tor
who had been torn to pieces by wild hogy
how he caused fountains to spring up in dry
places and bogs to dry. how no raised tho
dead, cured disease, overthrow the DruA
magicians, COMPOUNDED assasssins and neutral.
lied poisons, and how. finally, when ho sa1
that the demon continually made Use Of tho
serpents and dragons, be collected all tho vile
crawiers into one place and drove them tnto
the sea, never again to have place in lreland.