Among the historical figures of Ireland, one stands out especially. Saint Patrick is a favorite saint of the Irish, who credit him as a major contributor to the rise of Christianity on the Emerald Isle. The traditional celebration of March 17 in his honor has now gone far beyond the borders of Ireland.
Saint Patrick: How a Former Slave Baptized Ireland
The most basic and almost the only source telling about Patrick's life is his autobiographical story "Confession", written in bad Latin. The future preacher and father of Irish Christianity was born in the village of Banna Venta, in Northern Britain, into a Romanized Christian family. The real name of the future saint sounds like Magonus Sukatus Patricius.
Shepherd of her sheep
His father, Calpurnius, was an official in the Roman government and was involved in collecting taxes. His mother was supposedly named Concess. The family of Magonus Sucatus was quite prosperous, as it had slaves and another house in which it was customary to spend holidays. However, Magonus received a mediocre education, as indicated by his level of Latin in the Confessions. In this story, he writes that by his 16 years he was careless, irreligious and frivolous. Until one day, Irish pirates invaded Northern Britain and took him and other Britons into slavery.
While in the position of an Irish slave, Magonus became more religious. During his labors (he had to feed sheep), he prayed every day. In "Confession" he noted that the years of slavery were difficult for him and he wanted to leave the Emerald Isle as soon as possible. And so, after six years in Ireland, he managed to escape. Patrick himself in his autobiography gave this event a sacred meaning. He wrote that he had a vision: to board a ship and sail out of Ireland. When Patrick leaves and gets to the Irish coast, it turns out that the ship that is sailing to mainland Europe does exist. Only the captain refuses to take him with him, as Patrick has nothing to pay. However, the captain soon changes his mind, and thus Patrick sailed to Gaul. After fleeing Ireland, Patrick travels extensively in Gaul,spending some time in various ecclesiastical monasteries, among which is the Lerinsky monastery. Finally, in 432, Patrick decides to return to Ireland to preach Christianity there. In order to return to the Emerald Isle as a preacher, he had to accept the episcopal dignity, and for this it was necessary to obtain the permission of the bishops of Gaul. In the same year, a conclave of Gallic bishops convened in the monastery of St. Martin of Tours to decide whether Patrick is worthy of the episcopal dignity or not. On the advice of Patrick, a large number of ill-wishers are found who consider him unworthy (because of his youthful sins, about which one of the participants in the conclave was aware) of the episcopal rank. However, in the end, the council still decides to allow Patrick to be ordained bishop and go to Ireland to spread Orthodox Christianity (before the division of the churches into eastern and western in 1054, the Roman church was Orthodox). And also to fight the Pelagian heresy, which has already managed to penetrate Ireland. Thus, in the same year 432, Patrick takes the episcopal dignity in the town of Antissiodorus (Gaul), at the same time he finally adopted the new name Patrick for himself. And after a short time he went to Ireland at the behest of the Pope.in the same year 432, Patrick was ordained to the episcopate in the town of Antissiodorus (Gaul), at the same time he finally adopted the new name Patrick for himself. And after a short time he went to Ireland at the behest of the Pope.in the same year 432, Patrick was ordained to the episcopate in the town of Antissiodorus (Gaul), at the same time he finally adopted the new name Patrick for himself. And after a short time he went to Ireland at the behest of the Pope.
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Druids and the king
If we are talking about the spread of Christianity in Ireland, then we cannot fail to notice that this country was different from most of the countries of continental Europe and Britain. If by the 5th century there were already cities there, and some of them were even considered large by the standards of the early Middle Ages, then in Ireland there were almost no such megacities. People lived in farms or small villages. Moreover, society itself was not monolithic. It was divided into tribes, which, in turn, consisted of one or more clans. The social structure of Ireland resembled a primitive communal system. In Irish society at that time, tradition ruled everything. And the Celtic priests, the Druids, had great power. Each clan, or tribe, was headed by a chief, who in turn was nominally subordinate to the riag (ruler of the "province"). There were five riags in total in Ireland and the same number of “kingdoms”: Ulster, Connaught, Munster, and South and North Leinster. And since the II century, the five regions-kingdoms began to be headed by the ardriag - the high king. The power of the ard riag was constantly contested and was rather weak. Besides, before Patrick's arrival in Ireland, Christianity already existed there. The first bishop sent by the Pope was a certain Palladium. He arrived about a year before Patrick arrived. He arrived about a year before Patrick arrived. He arrived about a year before Patrick arrived.
Arriving in Ireland, Patrick moves around the island preaching Orthodox Christianity, moving from clan to clan, from village to village. In the course of his Christian mission, he meets the opposition of local druids, as well as the nobility. It happened that the life of the preacher was in danger. Since traditions were everything for the Irish of that time, any threat to them was regarded as a kind of social apocalypse. Yet Patrick managed to convert a number of people to Christianity. The vast majority of them were slaves. It is not known how this missionary activity would have ended if one day he had not succeeded in converting the Ardriaga Loegire to Christianity. Having become a Christian, Loegire allowed the saint to preach Christianity throughout Ireland. Following the example of the Ardriag, more than half of the clan leaders adopted the new faith. However, this was not the final victory of Christianity on the Emerald Isle, since the positions of the Druids were quite strong. The struggle against paganism continued for the next several centuries. Patrick himself, having gone around the island several times with a sermon, settled in the town of Armagh, which became the spiritual capital of Ireland.
Local flavor
Having become a missionary for the Irish, Patrick did not introduce social institutions traditional for the continent in order to build a church structure like in Gaul. He simply adapted the church to the existing clan structure of the Irish. For example, clergy became the monopoly of certain families. The episcopal diocese coincided with the territory of the clan, and he himself was elected from people pleasing to the leader, and certainly had to be a relative of the clan members. It is important to note that the celibacy common in the Roman church for the clergy in Ireland was not observed. Bishops did not apply to Rome for confirmation in office, and payments due to the Pope for spiritual benefits were collected irregularly. The Irish clergy, unlike their continental brethren, did not have exclusive privileges. They were taxed in the same way as everyone else.
As mentioned above, there were practically no cities in 5th century Ireland. Therefore, church life developed around monasteries, of which there were many. Some monastic communities consisted of hundreds or even thousands of monks. Also in monasteries lived Irish bishops, whose power was in most cases nominal. The real ecclesiastical authority belonged to the monastic abbots. This was also a hallmark of the Irish administration, since on the continent the city was the center of church life and the seat of the bishop, and each bishop had real power.
Patrick also did not begin to spread Latin everywhere, as a result of which Christianity gave a powerful impetus to the development of Irish literature and artistic culture. A prime example is the famous Book of Kells with miniatures unlike anything else. Over the years of his activity in Ireland, Patrick built about 60 churches and 80 monasteries.
According to the most widespread version, Saint Patrick died in 463. There is a beautiful story that he met his death on one of the mountains, which today is a landmark and a place of pilgrimage.
Saint Patrick's contribution to the Irish church and culture cannot be overemphasized. His main merit is that he built Christianity into the traditions, customs and culture of the Irish, which was extremely important for the Irish society of that time.
Magazine: Mysteries of History №18. Author: Julia Khuzieva