Saint Patrick’s day is celebrated worldwide. However, very few people understand his background let alone the myths which are associated with the holiday. It is an amazing story!
Clarifying Myths About Saint Patrick
Patrick is the most famous person of his age, the real man has been buried in a cloud of myths.
1. Two things that most people think they ‘know’ about Patrick are that he was Irish and Roman Catholic. In truth, he was neither.
2. “He used the shamrock to explain the Trinity.
3. “He was sent to Ireland by the Pope.
4. “He was a wonder-worker who staged miraculous duels with the Druids.”
None of these are true! He was British, and he belonged to the autonomous Celtic church.
Cutting Through All The Myths
The book by David W. Bercot, “Let Me Die In Ireland cuts through all of the myths about Patrick and presents the authentic, stirring account of one of the greatest missionaries who ever lived. His life is a compelling testimony to the incredible power of the gospel when preached and lived by a man of integrity. He gave up a comfortable life as an upper-class citizen of Roman Britain to live in poverty, suffering, and constant danger in Ireland. Forsaking all, he brought Christ’s love to the hated enemies of his own people to the very nation who had once kidnapped and enslaved him. Although ridiculed and rejected by his own people in Britain, Patrick changed the course of an entire nation.”
Having read Bercot’s book, I learned the fascinating story of this amazing Christian missionary. In summary, he was captured in west Britain by the Irish when he was sixteen years old. Served as a slave for the Irish for six years. His master was good to him and Patrick learned their culture and language. A fellow slave taught him of Christ and the power of prayer. He started praying every day that he could be free. After six years, he was shown a ship in a vision that would give him his freedom.
His friend helped him prepare with supplies to make it to the coast. He traveled at night so he wouldn’t be caught. It took him several nights to get to the coast, and he saw the ship, just as he had seen in vision!
It was a merchant ship and they made him a slave again. But then they began to run out of food, and Patrick basically saved them by praying and finding food for them, so they let him go free, and he made it back to his home in Britain. Of course, his family greatly rejoiced having thought they would never see him again.
Let Me Die in Ireland
Because he knew of the goodness of the Irish people, the Spirit pushed on him to go back to Ireland and share the gospel. His mother was horrified at the idea. He trained in the ministry and got some others to go with him. His missionary service in Ireland was a daily miracle—reminiscent of The Apostle Paul’s missionary experiences. Over the course of time, using love and prayer, he basically converted Ireland—giving God the glory. On the 17th of March, Ireland, and the world follows, commemorating Patrick’s death 1,561 years ago. After his thirty years of sharing the gospel amongst those he loved so dearly, his last words were, “Let me die in Ireland.”
Patrick’s religious training came from the “autonomous Celtic church” mentioned above. Most people don’t know that the first Christian missionary work in England was brought about by the close family, relatives, and friends of Jesus. The Christian movement there was more significant than that which we read about in the New Testament. The link at the bottom of this blog article explains this movement and its relevance to Patrick’s great success.
The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways
Joseph of Arimathea was Jesus’ Uncle and a wealthy man in the tin trade–shipping tin form England to different parts of the world. He was a member of the Jewish council and stood up for Jesus–worshipping him secretly.
Because of the extreme persecution of the Christians by the Jews and the Romans after Christ’s resurrection, the persecutors put Joseph of Arimathea along with the family and close friends of Jesus in a boat without oars or sail to send them to a watery grave. Besides Joseph, this included Jesus’ mother, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, and his sisters, Mary and Martha, the blind man, whose name was Maximum, whose healing story is recorded in Chapter 9 of the gospel of John, and others totaling twelve.
The Lord worked a miracle–turning this evil into good–and they ended up in Marseilles, Gaul, which then included France and much of Germany. They then traveled up to Britain, where they settled. The Druids, who were Hebrews, were prophetically expecting them. “Britain” means a covenant man or woman and a covenant people of God. And “England” means a people who worship God and not idols!
The Apostles Served in Britain
The Apostle Phillip ordained Joseph of Arimathea as the Apostle to the Britain’s. All eleven of the Apostles visited there including Paul. They quickly gained many converts and established the strongest Christian presence in the then known world. Lazarus and Mary Magdalene were incredible missionaries – bringing large numbers into the fold of Christ. Mary Magdalene’s beautiful voice and spirit touched people’s souls to the core as she sang and shared her testimony of the premiere appearance of the resurrected Lord to her at the garden tomb. Because of the great missionary success in Britain, they sent out large numbers of missionaries throughout the then known world.
Patrick’s Missionary Spirit
“Magonus Sucatus Patricius (Patrick) lived from 385 to 461 AD, and his ancestry knew of these remarkable Christian doings in Britain. Clearly, this same missionary spirit fired the life of this remarkable missionary as he brought the gospel to Ireland. Quoting from the book, “…his life reveals how God can do exceptional things with ordinary people. It also teaches us to persevere in prayer and to wait on God.”
The Catholic movement came in later, and through a series of wars, political and historical events Catholicism was adopted by many of the Irish. The Catholics also claimed Patrick. He had nothing to do with Catholicism–baptizing people by immersion. The power of prayer was so evident in Patrick’s life after he came to know the Lord.
My Personal Experience With Prayer
I share a personal experience with prayer. I was pondering on the miracles associated with the coming forth and the printing of the Book of Mormon. Early in the morning hours of the Vernal Equinox (20 March 2017, 4:28 AM MST), just five years ago, I had the impression that the dimensions of the first printing of the five thousand copies of the Book of Mormon were in the Divine ratio or Golden Mean = 1.618… Having a replica of that printing, I got up and measured it. It was exact. Another fingerprint of the Lord. I have found no other book in our library with these exact dimensions and we have well over two thousand books.
The Lord’s Fingerprint
What is the probability of the Divine ratio being a coincidence? Indeed, we see the Lord’s fingerprint as these first five thousand copies measured the Golden Mean (7 ½ by 4 5/8 inches = 1.62), which ratio is also found in the Giza Pyramid and in the 4 ½ square-mile earthworks near Newark, Ohio mapping out the plan of salvation, as constructed by the Jaredites and refined by the Nephites.
Sunday morning (20 March 2022 at 9:33 a.m. MDT (1533 UTC)) will be exactly five years ago from when the Lord revealed to my mind and my heart that the dimensions of this first printing were showing His fingerprint.
WELCOME TO SPRING, as the spin axis of the earth, lines up perfectly at that moment to be at right-angles with the vector going from the earth to the sun—making the moment of the vernal equinox (equal day, equal night).
Let us be valiant like Patrick and live and share this glorious gospel message.
The following links share the research material and further insights beyond what is in the blog article:
Who was Joseph of Arimathea? | Bibleinfo.com
Drama of Lost Disciples | It’s About Time (itsabouttimebook.com),
https://itsabouttimebook.com/newark-ohio-earthworks/,
Scientists Discover Divine Ratio: The Great Octagon of the Hopewell Civilization (allanstime.com),
https://itsabouttimebook.com/book-of-mormon-printing-miracle/, and
https://itsabouttimebook.com/new-book-of-mormon-miracles/ .
David W. Allan (20 March 2022)