Tradition

"Saint Patrick"

17 March (460)

Patrick was born towards 390 AD, probably in the west coast of Britain. Irish pirates pillaged the well provided Roman villas. When he was sixteen years old, Patrick was kidnapped during a raid and taken to Ireland as a slave.

He had been raised in a Christian family, his father was a deacon and his grandfather had been a preacher too. In Ireland Patrick was sold as a slave and worked as a shepherd. There he began to repent from his previous spiritual indifference, to think about God and to grow his interior life.

After six years he escaped and went back home in Britain where he spent some time. He first stayed with his family and then prepared to be ordained deacon and later as a priest. He then studied the Bible thoroughly which he shows to know well through his writings. During this period he traveled to the Gaul, though it was a short visit as he received his religious formation in his own country.

Whilst in the Gaul, in Britain a project developed to raise Patrick to the Episcopate. A friend of his proposed his name for Bishop of the Christians in Ireland. Patrick was reluctant to accept and fearing the Irish barbarians and his own lack of illustration, he listened more to those who tried to persuade him otherwise. Finally Patrick felt that God called him for that ministry.

Though he was in charge, as Bishop, of his faithful Christians, his principal apostolate was the conversion of the pagans to Christianity. He went to the farthest places to baptize and preach the Gospel. He did what any bishop on a mission did in those days: preached, baptized, celebrated mass, confirmed, ordained clerics and instituted priests and nuns. This task was not free of insults and fear for hostages and pillages.

An example of this was what happened with the British chief Coroticus. Though baring a Christian name, Coroticus commanded a loot in Ireland, during which many newly converts were slaughtered; others were abducted and sold. This motivated the Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus. This is basically what we know about the Saint, who died on the 17 of March towards the year of 460."

By Dr. Raúl Lavalle – Greek Latin Studies Institute Director at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA)

Translation by Conrad O’Neill

"Saint Ita"

15 January (570)

Coming up soon

"Saint Brigid" (457 - 525)

1st February

Although Brigid is probably the best known Irish saint after Patrick, her life cannot be documented with much certainty. Cogitosus's Life of Brigid was written not much more than a century after her death, but he was mainly concerned with recounting her many miracles. She may have been born in Co. Kildare, c. 457, but local tradition suggests Faughart, Co. Louth. Her parents, Dubtach and Brocseach, may both have belonged to noble families, though one account suggests that Brigid's mother was a slave in Dubtach's household. It is generally accepted that Brocseach was a Christian. Dubtach may also have been one, or perhaps converted from paganism in later life. Brigid was noted for her generosity to the poor, and as a child once gave away her mother's whole store of butter. Fortunately her prayers were answered, and the store of butter was miraculously renewed.

Her father may well have welcomed her decision to take the veil, once she had rejected his choice of a husband for her. With seven other young women robed in white, she took her vows before Saint Mel, the abbot and bishop of Longford, and it is said that he mistakenly consecrated her a bishop. When seeking land for her community, she asked the King of Leinster only for as much as her cloak would cover. The cloak miraculously spread over the whole of the Curragh, an area of grassland famous then and now for horse racing.

In Ireland Christianity did not supplant paganism so much as superimpose itself on Celtic tradition. Sites of pagan worship or superstition quickly became associated with Christian worship and belief. Brigid's feast day, for example, falls on 1 February, the date of Imbolg, the pagan festival of spring. Significantly Brigid was also the name of a pagan goddess, and even seems to have been used as a general name for Irish goddesses, for the name means "exalted one". The attributes of the pagan Brigid, such as healing powers, learning and poetic skill, were readily perceived in the saint who established a convent at Kildare. The name Kildare means "church of the oak", and there was probably a pagan sanctuary there with a sacred fire which burned for centuries into the Christian era. By the time of Brigid's death, c. 5 25, Kildare had become an important centre of learning.

The saint traveled by chariot throughout Ireland, carrying on Patrick's work of conversion, but there is no evidence that they ever met. Many miracles of healing are attributed to Brigid, such as curing Iepers and giving speech to the dumb. There are tales of her turning water into ale or stone into salt, and many concern her rapport with animals. She also negotiated the release of captives. Perhaps the best known story is of her visit to a dying pagan chieftain. While she prayed, she plaited rushes into a cross. The chieftain heard her account of the cross as a Christian symbol, and was converted and baptised before he died. It is still customary on 1 February to plait Saint Brigid's Crosses, in the hope that they will protect a household in the year ahead.

Brigid has been called "Mary of the Gaels" and a common salutation in the Irish language expresses the hope that "Brigid and Mary be with you". Her influence is not confined to Ireland, however, for she has been revered throughout the ages in innumerable countries. One legend is that the medieval Knights of Chivalry chose Saint Brigid as their patroness, and that it was they who first chose to call their wives "brides".

From the Appletree Press title: A Little Book of Celtic Saints.

A Little Book of Celtic Saints
When the Roman Empire collapsed, it was the Celtic Church which kept the flame of Christianity burning. This book tells the story of those missionaries who, throughout the sixth and seventh centuries, traveled throughout Europe in their battle against paganism.

"Saint Brendan"

16 May (577)

Coming up soon