The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-03-14

tells US that the ag6u hlASAiO' N'
sumed with ayarice and remorse, per-
ished miserably by his own hands De
fore the saint could reach him. HIS
children. however. became Christians
and died in the odor of sanctit%. Ihe
historian naturally Hrgers over these
dim records-the first glimmerings OIL
da wn which was soon to break with
such dazzling radiance over the Whole
island.
Easter 433, found Patrick already as
sured of success in his mission. King
Laeghaire, Ardrish (chief-king) OIL
Erin, was about to hold his solemn res
tival at Tara. Princes and priests OIL
Erin were gathered around him. me
sacred fire that he would light should
be the first in all the land to pierce the
gloom. But Patrick, not knowing ana
not caring, as st. Erin says, lit nigh
upon the hills of Slane, over against the
hill of Tara, the Easter fire: for 1t was
Holy Saturday. The angry king saw II
and stormed against the offender. But
the Druids said: IF that fire is notI
out before morning, it will never be put
out" Summoned to the royal presence
to answer for his act. Patrick advanced
with his little Christian band; chanting
| as he had learnt to chant in Lerins
and in Rome, the litanies of Easter.
The king received him with coldness-
for had he not broken the laws OF
Erin? One bard. with instructive rev.
crence, rose at his approach and re-
ceived. in reward, the gift of faith.
To the assembled court, as they sat
with the rims of their shields against
their chins,' Patrick declared his mis-
sion. The Druids saw that the hour
had come when they must conquer, or
forever disappear. The powers of evil
We're at hand to help them. And then
and there. in the sight of king and
court and people, Patrick, in the might
of God wrought such terrific miracles
| as Druid never dreamed of. The tenn
pest in the heaven was not as awful as
the rage of those pagan beasts. The
heaVing earth was streWn with the
corpses of men who had been fallen on
by their fellows and slain, no one knew
why. The kings treacherous vengeance
was evaded by the miraculous escape
of the saint and his followers. Next
day the saint returned boldly. though
he knew they had a mind to kill him.
With the sign of the Cross he drove the
poison from he cup prepared for his de-
struction. When, by the powers of
darkness. the Druids wrought malig-
nant miracles in the plain before Tara,
Pa trick undid their evil and far sur
passed their wonders. If they were al
lowed by God to bring on snow and
darkness, Patrick alone had power to
remove these. In more terrible proof
still, the boy Benignus, clothed in the
Druid's robe, was to be placed on dry
faggots. then fire was to be set to both.
The trial WAS accepted. The flames on
the one hand touched not the dry wood
nor the Christian boy; only the robe he
wore was consumed. while on the
other, the green wood and the miser-
a BILE magician was reduced to ashes,
amid which lay, unscorched, the cloak
of Patrick. Even this miracle was
poyFerless to move King Laeghaire's
heart. 1t was Only when the earth
opened and engulfed many of his fol-
lowers that he seems to have relented.
He granted Patrick the freedom he
craved to preach the Gospel unmolsted,
though he himself remained as the
saint called him. "a son of death" Ira
dition has it that it was on this occa-
sion that Patrick, in his sermon on the
Blessed Trinity, plucked the green
shamrock from the sward of Tara,
making the triple leaf at once an illus
tration of his sacred subject and an
emblem of Christian Erin. 1t was at
Tara also that we first hear of his fam
Gus prayer called his "Lorica" or
"Breastplate" Amid the perils of that
awful day some such defence was sure
ly wanting. And what could be more
suited for all who are under stress of
temptation than invocation such as
these?
Christ be with me- Christ before me,
Christ be after me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me. Christ above me,
Christ at my right hand, Christ at my
lcs...
C,bric+ II, +Ioa forf Nbrie+ ir, tba ohio riot
Christ in the ship,
Christ IN the heart of every man who
thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who
speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me-"
Such a trust was never yet con-
founded; and we read in the acts of the
Bollandists that after this Patrick,
with his disciples went through the
whole land baptizing all that believed
in the name of the Blessed Trinity; and
God was his helper, and confirmed the
word by the signs which followed
1t seems to have been very soon after
the saints first great victory at Tara
that he passed from Meath into Cavan,
to the plain of Alterations, where
whatever of idolatry foUrished in Erin
had it's center. The huge Crom Crauch
of Milesian days was still standing
there, with twelve smaller idols. Pat
rick with his staff overturned them all
and raised on the spot a church to the
living God. Indeed, the Irish seem not
to have had much taste for the worship
of figures of wood and stone. Their
favorite god was the sun. and their re-
ligion was characterized by the freedom
and picturesque beauty of rite always
found in that form of worship. OF the
staff before which Crom Crauch fell.
there is a world of legend but little of
authentic history. 1t was called the
staff of Jesus" and was said to have
been made or carried by our Lord, and
was given in vision to Patrick, while
he prayed on his happy isle in the
Mediterranean. 1t is described by st.
Bernard as one of the great relics of the
church of Armagh. where it was pre-
served in a richly jewelled case of gold.
| It's sanctity and its value tempted the
fanaticism and the cupidity of the re-
formers. one of whose bishops burned
the staff and kept the gold and jewels.
1t mattered little 10 him that it had
been treasured by the Irish Church for
more than a thousand years
Connaught was next visited. Churches
and monasteries were now beginning to
mark the apostles path. At Elphin
| Assicus, deft worker in brass as we'll as
saint and bishop. was left to rule the
! Church. 1t was also westward of the
| Shannon at Cruachan, in Roscommon
| that Patrick converted the two prin-
| cesses, Ethne and Feidelm, daughters
of King Laeghaire. Won by the saints
| eloquence, the maidens ask for Bap-
! tism and Holy Communion. Their re-
quest is granted, and insthe joy of their
first morning of Christianity they pass
away to the joys of heaven. But
where Croagh Patrick towers over the
western wave the interest of our saints
! Connaught mission centers. A very