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c. 385-461 bishop, confessor

c. 385-461 bishop, confessor
Published: March 16, 2011 05:00 PM GMT
Updated: March 17, 2011 03:55 AM GMT

As everyone knows, St Patrick is the patron of Ireland. he is said to have achieved the single-handed conversion of Ireland in an astonishing ten years, as well as the setting up of a church with bishops, clergy and religious whose missionary zeal would spread to Europe and the whole world in centuries to come. Born in 385, Patrick himself was of Roman lineage. As a young man he was taken captive by Irish raiders and served in that country for several years as a slave. He escaped, but such was his love for the Irish that he was determined to return as a missionary. This he did, 20 years later. His missionary encounters are the stuff of legend. It is believed he instructed the pagan kings on the mystery of the Trinity by using the three-leafed shamrock flower as a symbol. He confuted the native Druids and their magical powers through the personal austerity of his life and the power of his prayer. His little invocation , ‘St Patrick’s Breastplate’ is still famous today: "God’s hand to cover me God’s path to lead me on God’s shield to guard me God’s army to protect me." But the conversion of Ireland was not achieved without effort. Patrick and his companions were thrown into prison numerous times and threatened with death. In the end faith triumphed, as Patrick himself recorded in his autobiographical Confessions. It is a book which reveals God’s wonderful workings in and through this great soul.

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