Patrick used the shamrock to explain the trinity.
As I write this, my son is in New York City with his high school marching band, getting ready to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Needless to say, he was super excited to get to be a part of it.
St. Patrick’s Day is one of those holidays that retailers have come to love. It’s about parades, wearing green and drinking beer.
But, St. Patrick has an interesting story.
Patrick was probably born to wealthy British parents somewhere from 400-460 AD. He was captured by Irish raiders as a teenager and taken to Ireland. He was then sent off alone as a slave to tend sheep. During that time, he was very lonely and prayed constantly.
After six years, God told him in a dream that it was time to leave Ireland. He started walking around 200 miles to the coast where he was rescued by friendly sailors and returned home.
While he was in Ireland, he learned their language and customs. Legend says that an angel told him in a dream to return to Ireland to teach the Gospel. After studying for 15 years, he went back to Ireland.
The Irish were mostly pagan and Druid, but there were some Christians there. Since Patrick knew the Irish customs, he knew that the shamrock plant was sacred to them , so he used the three leaf clover to explain the trinity. He knew fire was also sacred to them and so he used bonfires to celebrate Easter. He also used the sun, a powerful Irish symbol, and superimposed a cross over it to create the Celtic cross.
He took what he had learned during a dark time in his life, in a place where he didn’t want to be, and used it to glorify God. God was preparing him for a plan all along, that Patrick couldn’t have possibly understood, but God knew. At the end of Patrick’s life, he is credited with starting three hundred churches and baptizing over a hundred twenty thousand Irish people. He preached for forty years and died on March 17th.
He is also credited with performing at least thirty-three miracles, none of which were driving out snakes. There never were snakes in Ireland. Perhaps he drove out a different kind of snake.
Patrick’s story reminds me that no matter how lost or abandoned we may feel, we never walk alone. God is always with us and always working. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you needed reminding too. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Wendy 🙂