Who can turn Table Mountain green and paint the Niagara Falls a similar colour? Who can scatter the Irish Cabinet Ministers to the four corners of the world? And who can stop the traffic in many of the world’s capital cities annually on the 17th March?
The one and only Saint Patrick!
But where is this Patrick who came to Ireland to convert the Druids from their Celtic mystical ways and pagan practices? In places where the occult flourished he brought the light of the Gospel. Sadly the light has all but gone out replaced by the glitz of the big time entertainment with its god mammon milking the occasion for all its worth.
Can Patrick be found in the parades? Only in caricature form, usually in his legendary garb, chasing snakes out of the country. Most times he’s replaced by the “Mardi Gras” type festival – a big blow-out in the middle of Lent! Not that Patrick would have known about the latter. He was free from ritual and, if his writings are anything to go by, guided by scripture.
Indeed Hanson quotes 193 times he uses the Bible in his Confession.
Perhaps the most interesting is his graphic account of his conversion. It was in his teenage years, as a captive from his native land. He was sold into slavery in Ireland where he recalls his own sinfulness and turned wholeheartedly to “the Lord my God”. This was a time in Ireland when conversion was still ongoing before the church introduced the baptism of infants with the attendant creation of Christendom.
Let’s leave the last word to the man himself.
I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
Of whom all nature hath creation;
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.