Given the era in which he lived there are many historical facts about the life of St Patrick that are not known accurately. However, it is generally believed that he was born on the western side of England/Wales and lived between the years 385 and 461. It is further believed that his parents were Christian and that his father was connected to the Roman military. As a youth, he was captured by pirates and taken to the North of Ireland where he was sold into slavery. Here he spent the next six years in drudgery and oppression tending pigs and sheep. Despite the conditions he asserts in his Confessions that he spent hours each night in prayer. Ireland was a pagan country at the time so this practice would have been counter-cultural.
Eventually he escaped and managed to board a ship which took him back to where he re-united with his parents. As a young man he decided to become a priest and went to study and train in France. In his early years as a priest he felt a constant urge to return to Ireland and to embark on spreading the Christian message in a land that was still mainly pagan.
He returned to Ireland in 432 and committed himself with great zeal to the evangelisation of the Irish. His approach included two strategies which were helpful. In the first instance, he acknowledged a spirituality already among the people, in particular their affinity with nature. Next, where possible, he set up an encounter with high profile leaders throughout the land, winning over some in a conversion to the Christian faith. In turn, this facilitated his efforts at more widespread conversions.
Doubtless, he encountered hostility and rejection. These themes are strong in the prayer known as the Breastplate of St Patrick which is strong in its invocation of God’s protection and the omnipresence of Christ. It is very likely that this prayer was not composed by St Patrick but was developed years later by those who had seriously embraced Celtic Christianity and were mindful of the legacy they had inherited from St Patrick.
By the time St Patrick died Christianity was well established throughout Ireland. The centuries following his death saw the establishment of several monastic settings that became places of piety and of learning. Missionaries went forth from these places carrying the Christian message to many centres in Europe. St Patrick was never officially canonised by the church in the sense in which canonisation is now commonly understood. In years after his death, he was widely acclaimed by the local Christian community as a holy man filled with the spirit of God. A powerful tribute to his effectiveness as an evangeliser is the band of similarly acclaimed Irish ‘saints’, mainly of the sixth and seventh centuries. Among them are Saints Brigid, Kevin, Brendan, Fintan, Aengus, Ita, Aidan, Mel, Kieran, Canice, Laserian, Conleth, Colman, Columba, Kilian, Declan, Attracta, Felim, Finbar, Finian, Fergal, Cormac. All of these appear in the church calendar of Irish saints.
Despite efforts at suppression by the English rule of Ireland from the middle ages to the early 20th century, seeds of the faith planted by St Patrick and his followers flourished . The great Irish diaspora expanded though the English-speaking western world especially carrying the faith with them. Similarly, in the 19th and 20th centuries, thousands of Irish missionaries - priests, sisters and brothers went forth to a great variety of developing nations bringing with them a strong Catholic faith as they served communities in spiritual, education, health care, welfare and pastoral ministries.
It was mainly the Irish who brought the Catholic faith to Australia. The first Irish to come here were Catholic convicts. In time, Irish clergy came to minister to the convicts and the pattern of Irish clergy and religious coming to Australia continued up to the 1960s. The faith planted by St Patrick in the Ireland of the 5th century continues to bear fruit in 21st century Australia
In a time when our church is inviting a renewed commitment to evangelisation, we salute St Patrick as the great apostle of evangelisation of the Irish and we celebrate the contribution the Irish have made to church and society, influenced by the faith legacy of St Patrick. Honouring his legacy of faith, churches, schools, and many other institutions, abound in every continent under the patronage of St Patrick.