the Spirit Watch
The Breastplate of Saint Patrick
by H.A. Ironside
"I, Patrick a sinner!" Thus, the patron saint of Ireland begins his own confession. St. Patrick knew he was a sinner and found salvation in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Little is known of Patrick's life except that which he has written. From English translations of his works, it is difficult to discriminate between the original text and later additions by Roman Catholic adherents.
For the most part, however, these documents are so transparent and ingenuous, it is unthinkable that any forger could have written them. They show too intimate a knowledge of God's grace and holiness for a conscienceless imposter to have written.
The various "Lives" of St. Patrick, written by monks of the Middle Ages, contain both truth and legend, the latter predominating. These books abound with superstition, miraculous signs, monkish practices, and papal dogmas, all of which the real Patrick was probably stranger to. They also claim he was sent to Ireland by Pope Celestine, but Patrick never mentions representing him.
It surprises many to learn that Patrick was neither Irish nor Roman Catholic. Probably a Scotsman, his loyalty lay with the ancient church of Britain, which never came under a papal yoke. Patrick was son of a deacon named Calpurnius, and grandson of Potitus, a presbyter. Calpurnius was also a decurio, a magistrate of noble rank. These facts alone damage Roman Catholic claims. A missionary son of a clergyman and the grandson of another scarcely could be called a Romanist.
Some say Patrick was born as early as 372, others as late as 397, His native town, Alcluyd on the River Clyde, was a Roman stronghold, later called Dumbarton, site of his reputed birthplace, Kilpatrick. Others claim he was born in Boulogne, France, which is less probable.
Patrick's desire to be a missionary came early in his life. It's uncertain whether he was called before or after he was enslaved by the Irish. He might have occupied a position of honor in Scotland like his father, because he writes of giving up his nobility "for the good of others."
Patrick tells his own story simply and beautifully in his Confession, translated into modern-day English:
"I, Patrick, a sinner, rude, unfaithful, and despicable. My father, Calpurnius, has a small farm near where I was captured. Although I was almost 16 at the time, I was ignorant of God. They brought me into captivity in Ireland with several thousand men. This we deserved because we had departed from God. We hadn't kept His commandments, and we disobeyed our teachers, who had reproved us for our own good."
"The Lord was angry with us and dispersed us among many nations where strangers saw my depravity. It was there the Lord helped me sense my unbelief, remember my faults, and restore my whole heart to Him. God saw how mean I was and pitied me because I was so young and ignorant. He kept me before I even knew Him or could discern good from evil, and He strengthened me as a father would his son."
"I can't keep quiet about how God blessed me in my captivity. His reward was allowing me to exalt and confess His wonders before every nation under heaven."
"There is no other God, nor was there ever before, nor shall there be after Him, except God the Father His Son, Jesus Christ, existed with the Father. He created visible things, was made Man, vanquished death, and now exists in the heavens. God gave Him power over things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, whom we believe shall come to judge the living and the dead."
"God will render to everyone according to his deeds and pour the Holy Spirit upon us abundantly as a gift and pledge of immortality. l,dread judgment day since no one can withdraw himself, but we must all account for even our smallest sins at the Lord's tribunal."
"Before I was humbled, I was like a stone which lays in the deep mud. Then God the Almighty lifted me up on high and placed me on His side. I should shout thanks to the Lord for His benefits that man can't even estimate. Everyone great and small, consider the Christ who roused me, a fool, from amid those wise and skillful in the law and inspired me to serve this nation faithfully."
"I'll voice without fear the gift of God, the eternal consolation, and spread abroad everywhere the name of God. I will leave this knowledge to my Gaelic brothers and children, whom I have baptized."
"After I came into Ireland, I worked daily feeding sheep, and at night I prayed, and God's love and fear increased in me. One day I prayed as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night almost the same number I remained in the woods and mountains, and got up before dawn for prayer I trudged through snow, ice, and rain and felt no pain; I wasn't slothful either, because of the Spirit's fervor."
Patrick managed at last to escape and boarded a ship bound for Britain. After a stormy voyage, the ship landed on the coast of France, rather than in England or Scotland.
"For 28 days we journeyed through a desert, and the food ran out. Famine and hunger prevailed. One day the shipmaster said, 'What do you have to say, Christian? Your God is great and almighty, why can't you pray for us? You know we are about to starve.' I said to him, 'Change from your faith to the Lord my God, for whom nothing is impossible, and He will send food your way, because everywhere there is abundance with Him.' With God's help a herd of swine appeared, many of which they killed. After two nights there, they were refreshed. They thanked God, and glorified Him.
"After many years, I was captured again. The first night, God assured me I would be held just two months. On the 60th night, the Lord delivered me. He also gave me food, fire, and dry weather until we ended the desert journey. The night we arrived the food ran out."
"My parents in Britain wanted me to promise that after suffering so many afflictions, I would never leave home again. But in the middle of the night I saw a man named Victoricius coming from Ireland with numerous letters. While I read the one he gave me, I heard the voice of those who were near the western sea. They shouted, 'We beg you, holy youth, come and live among us.' I couldn't read much more."
"Another night , a voice spoke from within me, saying: 'He gave His life for you; He it is who speaks in you.' And so I waited, rejoicing. And again He prayed as if within my body. Over the inner man I heard powerful prayers with groans. I was astonished, I wondered who it could be that prayed in me. He ended by asking that I might be a bishop. Then I remembered the apostle Paul wrote: 'The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.'
"Therefore, I thank God, who comforts me in everything. He didn't restrain me from the journey nor from the work I had learned from Christ. I am a great debtor to God, because He gave me grace and allowed multitudes of people to be born unto God through me. He also allowed clergymen to be ordained everywhere for the new Christians whom God had taken from the ends of the earth, as He promised by His prophets.
"It is good that we fish diligently, as the Lord teaches us, saying: 'Follow Me, and I will I make you fishers of men ' 'Therefore, we should spread our nets so a multitude may be taken for God, and there may be clergymen to baptize and exhort the poor and needy, as the Lord enjoins.
"I seek no honor from any of you. God's honor is sufficient for me, In the present world, God has exalted me more than I can measure. I wasn't worthy for Him to perform this for me. Poverty and calamity suit me much better than riches and delicacies. But indeed, if I desire riches, which I don't have, I'm unhappy. I expect daily either massacre, entrapment, reduction to slavery, or something else."
"But I pray for those who believe and fear God. If anyone considers reading this which I, Patrick, an uneducated sinner, have written in Ireland, let them never say-that it's my ignorance. This is my confession, before l die."
Traditionally, it is believed that Patrick began his mission in Ireland in the year 432. And after serving his own generation, by the will of God, for 33 years, he died on March 17, 465. Seldom have native ability and spiritual gifts been more remarkably combined than in this Spirit-led, self-denying missionary of the cross. His difficult experiences as a slave did not embitter him against the Irish, but rather prompted him to bring them to Christ. During his first year in Ireland, Patrick faced intense opposition, but he was crowned by wonderful success. Many came to know the Lord and were baptized.
About a year after Patrick began his work, King Leogaire and his princes, summoned him to celebrate a Druid festival at Tara. The Druid priests filled with rage against him and declared they would destroy him through enchantment' and magical spells if he dared come. But nothing daunted Patrick. He brought a company of young men whom he was training for ministry into the king's presence, singing a hymn known as "The Breastplate of St. Patrick," which was a statement of his faith.
This confession shows how utterly different his beliefs are from Roman Catholic doctrines. You look in vain for references to the merits of saints or salvation by sacraments. Patrick believed in salvation by faith in Christ alone. The church was to him the entire body of believers, not a worldly system with a powerful and haughty hierarchy imposing its rule over the laity. Christ was all in all.
Patrick's testimony resulted in the conversion of the king of Tara and many others. From there Patrick preached the gospel in Tailtan while the heathen celebrated a pagan festival. He was ever engaged in preaching the gospel, baptizing and teaching the converts and gathering them into churches. Patrick's labors resemble Paul's missionary journeys. Often in danger of losing his life, he endured much physical suffering and thus evangelized the greater part of Ireland. This onetime swineherd, the greatest missionary of his day, knew and loved the gospel of Christ, which alone is the power of God unto salvation.
In this faith Patrick lived and died, leaving behind a great host to be his "crown of rejoicing" in that day. HI
Get the Fox Family Channel movie on video/DVD at Amazon.com
Get an excellent biographical work on Patrick by George Otto Simms
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