St. Patrick

From Missiopedia

Patrick was a Celt who played a key role in the evangelization and Christianization of Ireland as well as the formation of the Irish missionaries (the peregrini).

[edit] History

Patrick was born in 390. He was the son of a deacon and the grandson of a priest. He was captured and taken as a slave to Ireland at the age of 16, where for six years he tended sheep. At age 22 he escaped and returned home. The historical record of his life at home is somewhat uncertain, but some 18 years later, at age 40, he had a dream of an Irish man begging him to return to Ireland. Despite a low self-esteem and criticism from his peers, Patrick returned to Ireland in 431 and lived there until his death 30 years later. He never returned to England.

During his ministry in England he faced an entrenched pagan religion that at times involved both temple prostitution and infant sacrifice. He was frequently involved in power encounters. He formed monasteries in which young men who had become believers would come to be discipled by him and work with him. The monastic communities, once trained, would evangelize surrounding villages. His model was to place a monastic community in a specific location, train the young men, send them out, and eventually go on with a few to another place, establish a new monastery, and repeat the cycle. The monasteries were very evangelistic and resulted in churches being planted. Patrick started monasteries all over Ireland, and his successors eventually did the same in Scotland, England, and on the European continent (particularly Germany).