Patrick, called the Apostle of Ireland, was born in Great Britain. His father was was Calphurnius. Conchessa, his mother, is said to have been a relation of Saint Martin, Bishop of Tours. He was several times taken captive by the barbarians when he was a boy, and was put to tend their flocks. Even in that tender age, he gave signs of the great sanctity he was afterwards to attain. Full of the spirit of faith, and of the fear and love of God, he used to rise at dawn of day, and spite of snow, frost, or rain, go to offer up his prayers to God. It was his custom to pray a hundred times during the day, and a hundred during the night. After his third deliverance from slavery, he entered the ecclesiastical state and applied himself, for a considerable time, to the study of the Sacred Scriptures. Having made several most fatiguing journeys through Gaul, Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean, he was called by God to labour for the salvation of the people of Ireland. Pope Saint Celestine gave him power to preach the Gospel and consecrated him Bishop.
Patrick had to suffer much in the mission entrusted to him. He had to bear with extraordinary trials, fatigues and adversaries. But by the mercy of God, that land which until then had worshipped idols, so well repaid the labour with which Patrick had preached the Gospel, that it was afterwards called the Island of Saints. He administered holy Baptism to many thousands. He ordained several bishops and frequently conferred Holy Orders in their several degrees. He drew up rules for virgins and widows who wished to lead a life of continence. By the authority of the Roman Pontiff, he appointed Armagh the Metropolitan See of the whole island and enriched that church with the relics of the saints which he had brought from Rome. God honoured him with heavenly visions, the gift of prophecy and miracles, all which caused the name of the saint to be held in veneration in almost every part of the world.
Besides his daily solicitude for the churches, his vigorous spirit kept up an uninterrupted prayer. For it is said that he was wont to recite every day the whole Psaltery, together with the Canticles and the Hymns and two hundred prayers: that he every day knelt down three hundred times to adore God, and that at each Canonical hour of the day, he signed himself a hundred times with the sign of the Cross. He divided the night into three parts: the first was spent in the recitation of a hundred Psalms, during which he genuflected two hundred times: the second was spent in reciting the remaining fifty Psalms, which he did standing in cold water, and his heart and hands lifted up to Heaven. The third he gave to a little sleep, which he took laid upon a bare stone. Being a man of extraordinary humility, he imitated the Apostles and practised manual labour.
At length, being worn out by his incessant fatigues in the cause of the Church, powerful in word and work, having reached an extreme old age, Patrick slept in the Lord after being refreshed with the holy Mysteries. He was buried at Down, in Ulster, in the fifth century of the Christian era.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
At Jerusalem, St. Cyril, bishop and doctor, who suffered many injuries from the Arians for the faith. Often exiled from his church, he at length rested in peace with a great reputation for sanctity. A magnificent testimony of the purity of his faith is given by a general Council in a letter to Pope St. Damasus.
At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of the blessed bishop Alexander, who from his own city, in Cappadocia, where he was bishop, coming to Jerusalem to visit the holy places, took upon himself, by divine revelation, the government of that Church in the place of the aged Narcissus, its bishop. Some time afterwards, when he had become venerable by his age and grey hairs, he was led to Caesarea and shut up in prison, where he ended his martyrdom for the confession of Christ during the persecution of Decius.
At Augsburg, St. Narcissus, bishop, who was the first to preach the Gospel in the Tyrol. Afterwards, setting out for Spain, he converted many to the faith of Christ at Gerona, where, with the deacon Felix, he received the palm of martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian.
At Nicomedia, ten thousand holy martyrs, who were put to the sword for the confession of Christ.
Also the holy martyrs Trophimus and Eucarpius.
In England, the holy king Edward, who was assassinated by order of his treacherous stepmother, and became celebrated for many miracles.
At Lucca in Tuscany, the birthday of the holy bishop Frigdian who was illustrious by the power of working miracles. His feast is more especially celebrated on the eighteenth of November when his body was translated.
At Mantua, St. Anselm, bishop and confessor.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
Patrick had to suffer much in the mission entrusted to him. He had to bear with extraordinary trials, fatigues and adversaries. But by the mercy of God, that land which until then had worshipped idols, so well repaid the labour with which Patrick had preached the Gospel, that it was afterwards called the Island of Saints. He administered holy Baptism to many thousands. He ordained several bishops and frequently conferred Holy Orders in their several degrees. He drew up rules for virgins and widows who wished to lead a life of continence. By the authority of the Roman Pontiff, he appointed Armagh the Metropolitan See of the whole island and enriched that church with the relics of the saints which he had brought from Rome. God honoured him with heavenly visions, the gift of prophecy and miracles, all which caused the name of the saint to be held in veneration in almost every part of the world.
Besides his daily solicitude for the churches, his vigorous spirit kept up an uninterrupted prayer. For it is said that he was wont to recite every day the whole Psaltery, together with the Canticles and the Hymns and two hundred prayers: that he every day knelt down three hundred times to adore God, and that at each Canonical hour of the day, he signed himself a hundred times with the sign of the Cross. He divided the night into three parts: the first was spent in the recitation of a hundred Psalms, during which he genuflected two hundred times: the second was spent in reciting the remaining fifty Psalms, which he did standing in cold water, and his heart and hands lifted up to Heaven. The third he gave to a little sleep, which he took laid upon a bare stone. Being a man of extraordinary humility, he imitated the Apostles and practised manual labour.
At length, being worn out by his incessant fatigues in the cause of the Church, powerful in word and work, having reached an extreme old age, Patrick slept in the Lord after being refreshed with the holy Mysteries. He was buried at Down, in Ulster, in the fifth century of the Christian era.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
The Saint we have to honour today is the Apostle of that faithful people whose martyrdom has lasted [four] hundred years. It is the great Saint Patrick, he that gave Erin the Faith. There shone most brightly in this Saint that gift of the Apostolate which Christ has left to His Church, and which is to remain with her to the end of time. The Ambassadors or Missionaries sent by our Lord to preach His Gospel are of two classes. There are some who have been entrusted with a small tract of the Gentile world. They had to sow the divine seed there, and it yielded fruit, more or less according to the dispositions of the people that received it. There are others, again, whose mission is like a rapid conquest that subdues a whole nation and brings it into subjection to the Gospel. Saint Patrick belongs to this second class, and in him we recognise one of the most successful instruments of God’s mercy to mankind.
And then, what solidity there is in this great Saint’s work! When is it that Ireland receives the Faith? In the fifth century, when Britain was almost wholly buried in paganism, when the race of the Franks had not as yet heard the name of the true God, when Germany had no knowledge of Christ’s having come upon the Earth, when the countries of northern Europe deeply slumbered in infidelity. Yes, it was before these several nations had awakened to the Gospel, that Ireland was converted. The Faith, brought to her by her glorious Apostle, took deep root and flourished and fructified in this isle, more lovely even by grace than she is by nature. Her Saints are scarcely to be numbered, and went about doing good in almost every country of Europe. Her children gave, and are still giving, to other countries, the Faith that she herself received from her beloved Patron. And when the sixteenth century came with its Protestantism, when the apostasy of Germany was imitated by England, Scotland and the whole north of Europe, Ireland stood firm and staunch: no persecution, however cleverly or however cruelly carried on against her, has been able to detach her from the Faith taught her by Saint Patrick.
*****
Your life, great Saint, was spent in the arduous toils of an Apostle, but how rich was the harvest you reaped! Every fatigue seemed to you light if only you could give to men the precious gift of Faith, and the people to whom you left it have kept it with a constancy which is one of your greatest glories. Pray for us that this Faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrew xi. 6) may take possession of our hearts and minds. “It is by Faith that the just man lives” (Habucuc ii. 4) says the Prophet, and it is Faith that during this holy Season of Lent is showing us the justice and mercy of God in order that we may be converted and offer to our offended Lord the tribute of our penance. We are afraid of what the Church imposes on us simply because our Faith is weak. If our principles were those of Faith, we should soon be mortified men. Your life, though so innocent and so rich in good works, was one of extraordinary penance: get us your spirit, and help us to follow you, at least at an humble distance. Pray for Erin, that dear country of yours which loves and honours you so fervently. She is threatened with danger even now, and many of her children have left the Faith you taught. An odious system of proselytism has disturbed your flock. Protect it, and suffer not the children of Martyrs to be Apostates. Let your fatherly care follow them that have been driven by suffering to emigrate from their native land. May they keep true to the Faith, be witnesses of the True Religion in the countries to which they have fled, and ever show themselves to be the obedient children of the Church. May their misfortunes thus serve to advance the Kingdom of God. Holy Pontiff, intercede for England. Pardon her the injustice she has shown to your children, and by your powerful prayers, hasten the happy day of her return to Catholic unity. Pray, too, for the whole Church. Your prayer, being that of an Apostle, easily finds access to Him that sent you.On this day (18 March) according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:
At Jerusalem, St. Cyril, bishop and doctor, who suffered many injuries from the Arians for the faith. Often exiled from his church, he at length rested in peace with a great reputation for sanctity. A magnificent testimony of the purity of his faith is given by a general Council in a letter to Pope St. Damasus.
At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of the blessed bishop Alexander, who from his own city, in Cappadocia, where he was bishop, coming to Jerusalem to visit the holy places, took upon himself, by divine revelation, the government of that Church in the place of the aged Narcissus, its bishop. Some time afterwards, when he had become venerable by his age and grey hairs, he was led to Caesarea and shut up in prison, where he ended his martyrdom for the confession of Christ during the persecution of Decius.
At Augsburg, St. Narcissus, bishop, who was the first to preach the Gospel in the Tyrol. Afterwards, setting out for Spain, he converted many to the faith of Christ at Gerona, where, with the deacon Felix, he received the palm of martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian.
At Nicomedia, ten thousand holy martyrs, who were put to the sword for the confession of Christ.
Also the holy martyrs Trophimus and Eucarpius.
In England, the holy king Edward, who was assassinated by order of his treacherous stepmother, and became celebrated for many miracles.
At Lucca in Tuscany, the birthday of the holy bishop Frigdian who was illustrious by the power of working miracles. His feast is more especially celebrated on the eighteenth of November when his body was translated.
At Mantua, St. Anselm, bishop and confessor.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
