The Irish standard., 1908-03-14
ST. PATRICK,


peculiar it remains. 1t is characteristic
Of tho Irish nation that, at the head OIL
Il long list of distinguished men, in.
Guiding warriors statesmen, orators
and scientists, stands a man who was
solely a religious teacher st. Patrick
the Apostle of ireland. IN this respect
differs from those who converted 9th
CT countries. In the method of his
work and in its permanency it differs
from that Of any other missionary. St
Augustine converted England; st. Bon.
ifacc. Germany; st. Renigius, France;
st. Palladius, Scotland. st. Eligius
Flanders; Cyril and Mcthodius Russia:
ulfrid and Eskill, Sweden; st. Fran
els Xavier, Japan and India in part
These men all preached the same
doctrine and were all commissioned
by Rome and yet how little known are
the others compared with st. Patrick
Even the great and scholarly st. Aug
JUSTINE does not now have the influence
in the world that Ireland's Apostle OK.
erts.
There is no parallel to the work of
st. Patrick in the Christianizing of the
world He brought the Gospel to Ire
land in the Fifth Century. Hc found
the Irish people pagans, and in an in
credibly short time, without the she'd
ding Of drop of blood, the whole ma
ton. chiefs ana people, embraced Chris
tlanlty. In the space of a few short
years Ireland became entirely Chris
tian. There was no contest After ST.
Patrick finished his work there was
nothing left to be done. Compare that
work even with ST. Peter and st. Paul
in Rome and the contrast is complete.
The early Church struggled in Asia
Minor, Greece and Rome. suffering per-
sccution after persecution, and IL was
not until Constantine the Great defeat
cd the army Of Maxentius and made
the Christian religion tho religion of
the Roman empire in the Third Gem
tury, that the Church enjoyed any lib
crty or made any great Roadway in
tho people of the Roman
Empire. The successors If the Apostles
obtained the support of the great Con-
stantine and through him and the civil
power made Rome Christian.
st. Augustine converted King Ethel
bert, and aided by his influence, con-
verified part of the Anglo Saxons. leav-
ing the remainder of the work to be
done by missionaries sent from the
schools established by st. Patrick in
ireland. st. Rcmigius established the
faith In Franco, but IL was not until,
Pcpin and Charlcmagnc embraced tho
faith that France became IL Christian
nation. Elsewhere than in Ireland we
find the missionaries struggling through
long years to convert the people and
succeeding only altar tue rulers en-
braccd tho religion. In ireland Chief
tans and people gathered together in
great crowds to listc.l to The preaching
of st. Patrick and at cncc and with enc
accord accepted the doctrine which lie
preached.
In another respect the work Of st.
Patrick is unique. The religion which
lie preached and which was so readily
accepted by the people of Ireland re-
mains today idcntically the same as
when it was first established. No
srhism has ever arisen among the peo-
pie to whom Patrick preached the Cos
pei. There is today small body of
schisnatics in Ireland. but they were
imported. They are not the descend
ants of those whom Patrick taught, No
other country presents Il like spectacle.
st. Augustine, a Bencdictino monk,
commissioned by Gregory at the end
of the Sixth Century to CONVEX: Eng
land, preached idcntically the same doc
trine which st. Patrick, commissioned
by Pope Celestine in the Fifth Century
preached to Ireland, but the work of
st. Augustine was partly undonc in the
Sixteenth Century by Henry VIII.
ScMsm after schism has arisen in
France. The German nation no longer.
in its entirety, follows the doctrine
preached by st. Boniface.
The contrast can be continued with
credit to the work Of st. Patrick. AL
though the Irish people accepted the
Gospel without struggle. they have
been able to retain it in the form in
which it was given to them only by suf-