Today everyone is just a little
Irish as the Church remembers the life and ministry of St. Patrick, Bishop and
Missionary. James Kiefer writes:
Patrick
was born about 390, in southwest Britain, somewhere between the Severn and the
Clyde rivers, son of a deacon and grandson of a priest. When about sixteen
years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland.
Until this time, he had, by his own account, cared nothing for God, but now he
turned to God for help. After six years, he either escaped or was freed, made
his way to a port 200 miles away, and there persuaded some sailors to take him
onto their ship. He returned to his family much changed, and began to prepare
for the priesthood, and to study the Bible.
Around
435, Patrick was commissioned, perhaps by bishops in Gaul and perhaps by the
Bishop of Rome, to go to Ireland as a bishop and missionary. Four years earlier
another bishop, Palladius, had gone to Ireland to preach, but he was no longer
there (my sources disagree on whether he had died, or had become discouraged
and left Ireland to preach in Scotland). Patrick made his headquarters at
Armagh in the North, where he built a school, and had the protection of the
local monarch. From this base he made extensive missionary journeys, with
considerable success. To say that he single-handedly turned Ireland from a
pagan to a Christian country is an exaggeration, but is not far from the
truth.
Almost
everything we know about him comes from his own writings, available in English
in the Ancient Christian Writers series. He has left us an autobiography
(called the Confessio), a Letter to
Coroticus in which he denounces the slave trade and rebukes the British
chieftain Coroticus for taking part in it, and the Lorica (or “Breastplate” a
poem of disputed authorship traditionally attributed to Patrick), a work that
has been called “part prayer, part anthem, and part incantation.” The Lorica is
a truly magnificent hymn, found today in many hymnals.
Legend has it that Patrick used the 3 leafed shamrock to teach about the Trinity, one leaf with 3 pedals, the 3 in 1 and the 1 in 3.
Let us pray: Almighty God, who in your providence chose
your servant Patrick to be the apostle of the Irish people, to bring those who
were wandering in darkness and error to the true light and knowledge of you:
Grant us so to walk in that light, that we may come at last to the light of
everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.
Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
Wednesday, 19 March at 6 PM, the Lenten Series, Nick @ Night,
continues at Grace. The speaker will be the Rev. Wendy Wilkinson.
She came to the priesthood after decades as a professional orchestral trumpeter
from Shaker Heights, Ohio. She received a graduate degree in Religious Studies
at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio before attending Virginia
Theological Seminary. Both she and her husband graduated from VTS in 2004.
After graduation, the Rev. Wendy was the Director of the Spirituality Center at
Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Orleans, Cape Cod. When her husband, Mark, was
called to be Rector at St Aidan’s in Virginia Beach, she found her ministry as
the Episcopal Chaplain to Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA.
In January of 2013, she began her ministry as the Priest-in-Charge at Good
Samaritan Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach. She continues to use her musical
gifts and visit the Virginia Beach General Hospital with her therapy dog, Kuma.
The Rev. Wendy and her husband, Mark, have two grown sons, Jeffrey who resides
in Columbus, Ohio and James, who lives in Nagoya, Japan.
Thursday, 20 March at 11 AM, the Seaside Seniors meet in Sutton
Hall at St. Augustine’s for lunch and fellowship. The theme is St.
Patrick’s Day.
Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially, Pat,
Karen, Patricia, Evelyn and Lee.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
