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by static on March 17th, 2007

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Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. what does patron saint mean. who was sain patrik?

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  • by Anonymous on May 7th, 2007

    Anonymous

    Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland and taught the Irish the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) by explaining it with a three-leaved clover. He is their Patron Saint - in that it is/was his spiritual duty to look after Ireland. That is what a Patron Saint does, whether they are the Patron Saint of Ireland or the Patron of Travellers (Saint Christopher), they look after whatever they are a Patron of and people can pray to them for guidance if what they need falls under the Patron's influence. In this way, Catholicism can be viewed as somewhat polytheistic.

    It should be noted that the snakes are a metaphor as Ireland never had snakes, though there is a debate over what the metaphor stood for. Some say the snakes represent the Druidic religion/people who were prevalent in Ireland before the Christians came, others say the snakes represent a belief known as Pelaginism - a belief that everything a person does they are personally responsible for, so Jesus' death was only an example of a person taking responsibility for their actions rather than a person saving us all from our sins. There are many theories about what the snakes 'meant'.

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  • by Toro77 on March 17th, 2007

    Toro77

    A patron saint is a saint who is supposed to guard or look after something in particular. Saint Patrick looks after Ireland.

    As for who is Saint Patrick, here is a Wikipedia link which will lead you to that info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick

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  • by singwell-is off researching a lot on May 7th, 2007

    singwell-is off researching a lot

    In Roman Catholic and Orthodox belief, patron saints are holy men and women who are especially charged with looking after certain aspects of the life of followers on earth. Some are in charge of places, others in charge of causes. This is not a Biblical doctrine, just a denominational belief.
    Many of the patron saints were great men and women of faith. One of these was Saint Patrick. Wikipedia has a fairly good summary of his life:
    "Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius, Irish: Naomh Pádraig) was a Christian missionary and is the patron saint of Ireland along with Brigid of Kildare and Columba. Patrick was born in Roman Britain. When he was about sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. He entered the church, as his father and grandfather had before him, becoming a deacon and a bishop. He later returned to Ireland as a missionary, working in the north and west of the island, but little is known about the places where he actually worked and no link can be made with Patrick and any church. By the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland. The Irish monastery system evolved after the time of Patrick and the Irish church did not develop the diocesan model that Patrick and the other early missionaries had tried to establish.
    The available evidence does not allow the dates of Patrick's life to be fixed with certainty, but it appears that he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the fifth century. Two letters from him survive."
    Apart from that, little is known besides a couple of very interesting legends which throw some light on his work amongst the Irish:
    "Pious legend credits Patrick with banishing snakes from the island, though post-glacial Ireland never actually had snakes;[36] one suggestion is that snakes referred to the serpent symbolism of the Druids of that time and place, as shown for instance on coins minted in Gaul (see Carnutes), or that it could have referred to beliefs such as Pelagianism, symbolized as “serpents”. Legend also credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of 'three divine persons in the one God' (as opposed to the Arian belief that was popular in Patrick's time). "
    ========
    The letters of Patrick which have survived show a man with an unshakeable faith in Jesus Christ and in the mission given to him. This is how he described the vision which took him back to Ireland:
    I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: "The Voice of the Irish". As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: "We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us."
    The most wonderful, though, is the prayer known as "St Patrick's Breastplate", still used today by Christians in many denominations.
    Christ ever with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me
    Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me
    Christ to my right side, Christ to my left side
    Christ in his breadth, Christ in his length, Christ in depth
    Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me
    Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me
    Christ in every eye that sees me
    Christ in every ear that hears me.

    ============

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