St. Patrick’s Perpetual Pilgrimage

“My name is Patrick.

I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many.

My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon. His father was Potitus, a priest, who lived in Bannavem Taburniae.

His home was near there, and that is where I was taken prisoner.

I was about sixteen at the time.”

These lines would make an ideal voiceover for the opening of a contemporary movie. They set an audience up for drama and action, characterizing a humble believer, the son of an esteemed religious figure.

In truth, however, they are the very words of the 5th-century bishop of Ireland, Saint Patrick. In his autobiographical writing entitled Confessio, Patrick records his kidnapping, his conversion, and his return to Ireland as a missionary. More importantly, Patrick’s Confessio reveals a deep devotion to God and a love for the people he is called to serve.

Patrick’s History

Patrick was born in England in 385 A.D. to parents of Roman descent, Calpornius and Conchessa. Despite his father and grandfather being clergy members and of solid financial status, Patrick describes both his faith and his education during his childhood as weak. With the Roman Empire in decline, Rome could not protect Britain as well as in the past 350 years of occupation. Therefore, it was probably not too difficult for warlords to kidnap Patrick, along with thousands of others, to sell into slavery in other places (Kelly Ch. 2).

For six years, Patrick lived in captivity, working as a shepherd in Ireland. Ireland had never been part of the Roman Empire, so was never converted to Christianity. There is some evidence of Christians living in Ireland in the early Middle Ages before Patrick arrived, but by and large, the country was pagan. It was in this environment that Patrick’s conversion began.

A Conversion Story

Regarding his developing faith during his late teen years in captivity, Patrick relates, “More and more the love of God increased, and my sense of awe before God. Faith grew, and my spirit was moved, so that in one day I would pray up to one hundred times, and at night perhaps the same” (Confessio 16).

One night, Patrick heard a voice giving him instructions to escape. With no idea where he was headed, Patrick left his captor and found his way to a boat that rescued him (Confessio 17).

No Shamrocks or Snakes

While Patrick’s writing tells no tales of the shamrocks and serpents that legend attaches to his name, he does record one miracle that happened during his escape. The sailors who helped him leave Ireland found themselves without food for a lengthy period of time. The captain mockingly told Patrick to ask his God to send them food. Patrick reports that after he told the sailors to pray, a herd of pigs appeared. The men ate their fill and gave thanks to the God they had suddenly come to know (Confessio 19).

The Call to Mission

Upon his return after six years of captivity, Patrick’s family welcomed their son home and begged him not to leave them again (Kelly Ch. 2). The call to mission work was strong, however, and Patrick spent years preparing to become a monk (Healey 96).

Patrick studied under St. Germanus, a bishop in northern Gaul, now France. In 429, Germanus began planning an apostolate to Ireland. When St. Palladius, who originally planned to lead the mission, passed away, Patrick was chosen to replace him. After his ordination, Patrick and several clerics, monks, and nuns traveled to Ireland in 432, for what would be an epic evangelization. They converted families and the clans of tribal kings and built monasteries, churches, and schools (Healey 97).

Love for God, Love for God’s People

Reflecting on their success, Patrick writes, “How has this happened in Ireland? Never before did they know of God except to serve idols and unclean things. But now, they have become the people of the Lord, and are called children of God (Confessio 41). The answer to Patrick’s question, “How did this happen?” lies first in the Holy Spirit, of course. And through the action of the Holy Spirit, the answer lies also in Patrick’s dedication to the Irish people, which springs from his devotion to God.

On love for God, Patrick says, “What can I say or what can I promise to my Lord? There is nothing I have that is not his gift to me. But he knows the depths of my heart…He knows that it is enough that I desire very much, and am ready for this, that he would grant me to drink of his chalice, just as he was pleased to do for others who loved him” (Confessio 57).

Despite his love for the Irish people, it was not without sacrifice that Patrick served them. He wrote of intense homesickness for his family. Yet he felt that his mission was permanent, and desired to live the rest of his life among the people he had baptized (Confessio 13). To the Irish converts, Patrick writes, “I spend myself for you … I have traveled everywhere among you for your own sake … to baptize or to ordain clerics or to bring people to fulfillment” (Confessio 51).

Monastic Life

Patrick inspired and prepared other religious to spread the Gospel beyond his lifetime. In the century following Patrick’s death, Celtic monks built monasteries and founded orders throughout Europe. Many women chose to live as consecrated religious, in particular St. Brigid of Kildare, who was instrumental in organizing religious communities for women until her death in 523 (Healey 97-99).

Monastic life in Patrick’s time and throughout the early Middle Ages was surprisingly popular, despite being considered a form of penance. Prayer, study, and physical work comprised the focus of daily life for the religious. Mass, frequent Holy Communion, private prayer, devotion to Christ and Mary, and a life of penance characterized Celtic spirituality. The greatest mission in monastic life was self-exile and perpetual pilgrimage for the sake of Christ (Healey 98-99).

Celtic Spirituality

The origins of Celtic Christian spirituality are gratifying to study. The examples of holiness and devotion that Patrick and his missionaries gave inspired the conversion of thousands. Without bloodshed, with neither martyrdom nor military force, an entire country adopted the faith and received the sacraments of the Church. In turn, Irish monks and nuns built monasteries in Europe which brought about healing and renewal after barbaric invasions, as the monasteries became centers of learning and holiness (Healey 99).

The common perception of life as a Medieval monk or nun is one of solitude. The desire for God can, in fact, call people to solitude, but it does not always keep them there permanently. Medieval Christian religious left the world, as it were, to seek holiness and union with God in solitude. Yet they wound up returning to the world to bring God to others. Spirituality has an outward as well as an inward pull. St. Patrick exemplified this in his perpetual pilgrimage in Ireland, where he had once been a prisoner.

Works Cited and Consulted

Ego Patricius/Saint Patrick’s Confessio. Royal Irish Academy, 2011. www.confessio.ie/etexts/confessio_english#01. Accessed 5 March 2024.

Healey, Charles J. Christian Spirituality: An Introduction to the Heritage. St. Paul’s, 2012. Print.

Kelly, David. “St. Patrick’s Writings: Confessio and Epistola.” Saint Patrick’s Confessio. Royal Irish Academy, 2011. www.confessio.ie/more/article_kelly#. Accessed 5 March 2024.