Celebrations for the Solemnity of St Patrick at St Patrick’s Church, Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa, Renmore, Galway and St Brendan’s Cathedral, Loughrea
“This St Patricks day, my wish and my prayer is that in the telling and retelling of the story of Patrick new generations of Irish men and women will recognise and respectfully revalue the unique richness of Christianity to profoundly enlighten and greatly enhance not only our troubled world but our dear country and our lives for the better.” – Bishop Michael
Recently, I stumbled across, “Give up yer aul sins” the animation of a 1960’s tape recording of Dublin Children retelling biblical stories and stories about the saints. I was taken by the episode on St Patrick.
The teacher turns to the class and asks: “Who would like to tell the men from the television all about St Patrick.” “Mary let’s hear it from you.” Straight away Mary with loads of imagination, childhood innocence and a captivating Dublin accent began to tell her tale.
“And so they were going to this place called France this day and they saw this little boy play-ing near the sea and somebody said: Oh! that fellow would be a good worker. So they grabbed a hold of him, and they put him on the ship and they sold him to this man named Michael and this man named Michael took him and I don’t know how much he gave him. But then he said go up to that mountain and mind all them lambs and sheeps and cows and all for me. And so poor Patrick went up and he minded them. And every night and every day and every morning he said over a hundred prayers to God. And when he’d be afraid in bed at night he’d pray to God that he wouldn’t be afraid and all them prayers turned him into a saint.
So he thought he heard a voice saying: “come down Patrick, get up Patrick, here is a ship waiting for ya to go back to France” and he went down and he said to the man on the ship- the captain – “will you let me on?” and the captain said, “where’s your money”. He said; “I have no money”. “Well then your not getting on”.
The Lord said: “your not getting away with this on poor Patrick” and so the Lord let a big, big storm off -the boat was rocking and rolling and all. The sailor came up and said “that’s all over not letting that little boy on”.
He said go up after him quick before we drown and tell him that I changed me mind and I let him on. So poor Patrick went back on the thing … the boat and he went home. His Mother didn’t know who he was – he told them his name and they were delighted. They thought he was lost because there was no guards, no papers or anything.
No speakers to tell ya because if you were lost over here there would be a wireless to tell you something. So did’nt they make the best meal for them. He was at the meal when he said, “I’d love to be a priest will you send me away to a college”. His mother siad “ya” we’ll let you go away to college.”
Even though your smart it takes you seven years to be a priest. And so he went away to the college and this night … he was a priest, and then he was picked for a bishop.
Wasn’t he going to sleep this night when he thought he heard a kid saying “come back Patrick, come back Patrick and tell us about God.”
And so another young fella would say … well yis left me there for six years, yis let me starve and yis took me away from me mother I wouldn’t go back there for anything. So poor Patrick didn’t say that.
He said, “I won’t keep it in for them”, “I’ll go back to them and I’ll save their souls”. And this day he asked the Pope could he go and the pope said, “yes” and “bring a few friends with him” and so he brought his best friends with him and when he got there they didn’t know where to start.
Patrick said, “I’ll start at my old boss Michael” and so he went up to his old boss and said, “Michael my name is Patrick” and so Michael was delighted to see him back again.”
“That was very good Mary, we’ll leave it there for now. I think the man from the television might want to get a cup of tea”, said Mrs Cunningham.
Year after year, St Patrick’s day offers each new generation of Irish men and women an opportunity to hear and to retell that ancient story of Patrick.
A practice, I think important. For the person of Patrick could easily get lost amid the donning of the green, the drowning of the shamrock, the exercising of soft political power on the global stage and the ceol agus craic of our parading.
Once we come into contact with Patrick and his story it is becomes obvious that it was a vibrant faith in God that powered his own life.
It was his belief in the presence of God in his life than held him together in every calamity that befell him.
It was his deep-down relationship with God that inspired him to think, not of himself, but of those he had encountered in his captivity and to return to this Island of ours to share with them what he himself held most important in life – his Christian Faith.
For it was his profoundly held belief that that faith, that particular vision of life was capable of transforming their lives, like it did his, for the better.
At times, Ireland might be tempted to forget its deeply Christian roots. It is important, on a day like today to remember that in the cut and trust of our own lives with their ups and their downs, our search to make sense of it all – and our own faith journey we have something to learn from Patrick himself and the Christian faith that was at the core of the person he was.
This St Patricks day, my wish and my prayer is that in the telling and retelling of the story of Patrick new generations of Irish men and women will recognise and respectfully revalue the unique richness of Christianity to profoundly enlighten and greatly enhance not only our troubled world but our dear country and our lives for the better.
“A Naomh Pádraig, guigh orainn. Iarraimid ort, a Phádraig, guí orainn na Gaela, Dia linn lá 'gus oíche, 's Pádraig Aspal Éireann.” Amen.