Feb 23, 2018
By Sarina Villalpando
Maranatha Community Church in Colton, CA
I’m going to start this by saying, I’m not a professional historian or researcher and I might not have all my facts straight but thought I would spread the knowledge I have gathered. Understanding where things came from, why they are important, how they came from point A to point B and all the background of all the different things in the world is both important to me and interesting to me. Well, as many of you know there’s this holiday that comes along in March covered in a whole lot of green.
St. Patrick’s Day is about a man named Patrick, but why it’s about him I will explain later. First lets discuss the man himself. Patrick was born in Britain circa 385 A.D. Patrick’s dad was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest but he never felt religious until his life changed at age 16. At 16 years old he was attacked and kidnaped by Irish pirates from his family’s villa. Patrick had been sold into slavery and was put to work as a shepherd for pigs. In his confession he says the experience was what really renewed his faith. I personally love that part.
Now you may be asking, why is this man so important that he has a day of recognition? Patrick holds a story of a man who had nothing and learned to love God and was devoted to God by spreading the Gospel throughout Ireland. About six years later he had a vision that God wanted him to return to his homeland. When escaping, he boarded a ship heading for Gaul, where people thought he was trained for ministry. But when he returned home, he was reading a letter aloud called, “The voice of the Irish,” where he heard Irish voices pleading him to return to Ireland. Around 432 A.D., Patrick returned to Ireland as a bishop to share the Gospel. He journeyed across Ireland, spreading the Gospel, as well as baptizing and confirming countless believers. Along with this he founded many churches and monasteries. His strategy was to convert the King, who would influence the conversion of his subjects, which ended up being
very successful.
As many of us know, spreading the Gospel can sometimes have bumps in the road — no, I’m not saying its impossible — but I’m saying in some situations it seems like it. Spreading the Gospel in Ireland was far from easy for Patrick. He was in constant danger of being killed for his faith but he strived on. What I admire is, God took every weakness of Patrick’s and turned it into possibilities for others. God took Patrick’s pain and turned it into possibilities.
We are continually falling and sometimes it’s hard to see the falling as any hope. At the beginning of my research, I just wanted to answer the question of why St. Patrick’s Day was important. I personally never cared for the holiday and would just wear green to avoid the pinching (for which I still don’t have the answer). But now I know that behind the green is a man who’s whole life fell apart — and instead of losing all hope he took the pain and, with help from God, turned it into strength.
Resources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-st-patricks-day-2017-3
https://www.confessio.ie/etexts/confessio_english#
https://www.jellytelly.com/blog/should-christians-celebrate-st-patricks-day