Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Jim McDermottMarch 17, 2009

1. St. Patrick was not Irish. Patrick was actually a Welshman who was abducted as a child by Irish brigands. He was a slave for six years before he escaped. After his conversion experience and years of study, he returned to Ireland to convert the Irish.

2.  It’s very unlikely that St. Patrick ever banished any snakes from Ireland.  Scientific evidence suggests whatever snakes there had been in Ireland were gone after the last Ice Age.   Probably this story refers back to the Genesis, suggesting through the power of God Patrick was able to cast out the temptations of the Devil.

3. Most intriguing:  St. Patrick has never been formally canonized as a saint. No Pope has ever declared him a saint, no committee ever met to consider his miracles.  But it’s not an oversight, either.   In the first 1000 years of Christianity, these matters were not decided from Rome, but locally.  A saint was so declared by the people who had known him or her up close.  It was their lifelong example that made them a saint.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Jim McDermott, S.J.

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
16 years 4 months ago
Gab, the piece is titled, "Three things you may not know about St. Patrick" not "Everthing there is to know about St. Patrick".
16 years 4 months ago
''In the first 1000 years of Christianity, these matters were not decided from Rome, but locally. A saint was so declared by the people who had known him or her up close. It was their lifelong example that made them a saint.'' All the more reason to accept in sanctity. No ecclesiastical politics, etc. I just read Justin Catanoso's wonderful book ''My Cousin the Saint,'' and I gained a new insight into JPII's saint-making, he wanted regional saints, he wanted holiness to be recognized from the bottom-up.
16 years 4 months ago
Is that all you can find to say about St. Patrick?
16 years 4 months ago
From the Czech community - Happy St. Joseph's Day.

The latest from america

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a rally at Zocalo Square in Mexico City on March 9. (OSV News photo/Toya Sarno Jordan, Reuters)
Fears of state espionage are surfacing again for Centro Prodh and other human rights groups in Mexico after legislators overhauled a suite of laws in security, military, telecommunications and intelligence matters.
David AgrenJuly 28, 2025
We need to pray for the person whose real identity and full story we do not know. Because that is everyone.
Simcha FisherJuly 28, 2025
Drama can teach us active listening and public speaking, yes; but on a deeper level, it can shape our spiritual disposition.
“Unless there is a change to current practice, our community is slowly being strangled,” said the Rev. Aaron Wessman, vicar general and director of formation for the Glenmary Home Missioners, a small Catholic order ministering in rural America.