Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1916-03-11
The Story Of ST. Patrick
BY Rev. Father Chadwick.

st. Patrick did not land on the
shores of Ireland and expect the ma
ton to fall down at his feet. For
thirty or more years he studied to
prepare himself for the work. Nor
did he begin by preaching to the ig-
norant. He attacked the highest in
tellects-the Druids-first, and he
knew that once he pursued them
they would be his apostles.
Since the Confessions Of st. Pat
rick have been accepted as authentic
we have something to rely upon for
a knowledge of him.
His name was Patricius in the orig
inal. This indicates that he was
man of noble birth. Roman. From
circumstantial evidence 1t Is believed
that he was the son Of an officer in
the Roman legions, and had been
born and brought up In a Roman
camp in the North of England some
time late In the fourth century.
He lived in this camp until his
sixteenth year. He was a Christian,
as most Romans in England were at
that date, but seldom heard of God
in the camp. He notes that in his
Confessions.
In a raid of the Irish on the North
Of England he was captured and Ia
ken to Ireland. Six years he re-
NAMED In bondage. There are stories
of how he was reused at night by
voice that called upon him to hasten
to the shore and embark, a stow
away, on a ship that was about to
sail. Whether there Is truth in the
legend or not It is evident that he
escaped when in his twenty-second
year, the sixth of his bondage.
He made his way back to the
North Of England and presumably
took possession of his estates, or at
least obtained recognition of his
birth. 1t Is evident that he had
position and probably a fortune.
He stayed at home some time.
One night he tells of a vision that
came to him. He saw the Irish peo-
pie crying out to him to save them
from the pagan worship that he had
witnessed.
So impressed was he that imme-
diately he resolved to prepare him
self to be a missionary among them.
He knew the Irish people, knew
their priests and history. Unless he
could preach to their priests he knew
he could not reach their people.
He tells then of sailing for France.
For years he was pupil OF st. Mar
tin, at Tours afterward one of the
patron saints of France, and with st.
Germanus he soon knew all they
could teach him. Then he went to
the Erlius Islands, where he spent
thirty years preparing himself for
his work.
Armed at every point, he set out
for Rome. 1t was from one of the
early Innocents that he received his
commission, when about sixty years
old, to undertake the life work for
which he received the inspiration
when twenty-odd years old.
Landing in Ireland, he made his
way direct to the men whose sway he
had come to contest-the Druid
~ iOoboB bhC pOCbS anu thO hioIOli
He talked with them and presented
the doctrine of Christianity as the
fruit of his tfirty-odd years of study.
They received him as a scholar.
1t must be remembered that the
Druid civilization was the highest
type of its generation and that Ire
land was the most highly civilized
nation in the world at the time.
st. Patrick challenged the Druids
TO a public debate, as we would call
1t to-day. The most learned Druids
came from their meditations and ar
gued before the people with the new
truth. They fell behind and followed
him, conquered by his learning, his
logic and inspiration.
When they had acknowledged the
new faith as the truth they had been
out blindly for in the wor-
ship of the at ars, the moon and the
sun, thousands became Christians.
arose. Ireland was cleo
trified with It's new belief that had
he sanction of its learned and wise
nan.