Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick's Day celebrates the life of Saint Patrick; the Patron Saint of Ireland. It occurs on the 17th March as it is said to be the anniversary of his death.
At 16, Patrick was captured from Britain and enslaved by Irish raiders who brought to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. Patrick entered the church in Britain and later returned to Ireland as an ordained bishop in the north and west of the island, Saint Patrick is celebrated for bringing Christianity to Ireland.
He described himself as a "most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped idols and unclean things had become the people of God."
Saint Patrick's Day is a day for spiritual renewal and offering prayer for missionaries worldwide. The shamrock which is the symbol of Ireland is synonymous with Saint Patrick as he used it to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagans. He told the people that the shamrock was like the idea of the Trinity - that in the one God there are three divine beings: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The above image photo of St Patrick was painted by Sister Aloysius McVeigh, (1923-2008). She described the meaning of the painting as follows:
Patrick the missionary: "I wanted to depict him as a man in his prime, a man of zeal and courage faced with the conflicting forces of the paganism of his time. These (represented by three converging arcs in the painting) are not annihilated by the saint: instead as far as they can serve, even enhance his design for Christianity; he weaves them into a fabric of the Celtic Church. Patrick's faith in Christ lights the way for a never-ending line of missionaries who up to the present have not ceased to preach Christ."
St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer:
I arise today in power and might.
I call upon the Trinity,
With Faith in the threeness,
And trust in the oneness of the great world's Maker.
I arise today in the power and might of Christ's birth and baptism,
His crucifixion and burial,
His resurrection, His ascension,
And his coming anew to judge mankind.
Christ save me today,
From poison and from burning,
From drowning and from wounding,
That grace abounding may be my reward.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ beneath and Christ above,
Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left,
Christ with me waking, walking and sleeping,
Christ in every heart thinking of me,
Christ on every tongue speaking to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.