Spiritual Wellness

St Patrick of Ireland was a slave.  He was a slave who lived his life by hearing God. Yet, he wasn’t born a slave.  He was born of Roman nobility in Britain.   His future was seemingly paved with comfort, status and provision.  But, his promising future was quickly and tragically swept away before his sixteenth birthday when his freedom was replaced with chains.

When he was fifteen years old, Patrick was kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in Ireland. He was stripped from his family and even from his own dignity.  He was instantly put to work tending sheep in the fields.  The frozen Irish winds would race across the hills, leaving Patrick chilled to the bone.  This was his life for six years until . . . Patrick heard God:

After I came to Ireland I watched over the sheep.  Day by day I began to pray more frequently – and more and more my love of God and my faith in him and reverence for him began to increase . . . One night while I was sleeping, I heard a voice saying to me: “You have fasted well – soon you will be going home.” A short time after that I heard the voice again: “Behold your ship is ready.”  The port wasn’t nearby at all.

Patrick ran away; and by God’s miraculous provision, he returned to his family in Britain.  Only a short time passed before God spoke to him again.  God instructed Patrick to return to Ireland, the land of his slavery, and bring the people God’s message:

But one night while I was at home I saw a vision while sleeping – it was a man named Victorious, coming to me as if he were arriving from Ireland.  With him he brought a huge number of letters.  He gave me one of them, and I saw that the first words were “The Voice of the Irish.”  . . . all of a sudden I heard the voices of those Irish . . . they called out to me with a single voice: “We beg you, holy boy, come here and walk among us!”

When he returned to Ireland, Patrick’s ministry grew.  He preached the gospel to what was considered the furthest ends of the earth, and he converted many pagans to Christianity.  He loved the Irish – a people despised for their uncivilized manners and brut existence.  Among his followers were outcasts, women and slaves.  He was their pastor and their protector.  He was now God’s slave, serving God’s people.

On one Easter morning, after baptizing thousands of new converts, he was forced to revisit the trauma of his childhood.  British warriors who claimed to be Christian raided Patrick’s people, killing some and enslaving others.  They left the village in ruins and stole Patrick’s beloved people.

In response, Patrick writes his ferocious “Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus,” warning them of their God-forsaken ways:

God, I know these horrible actions break your heart – even those dwelling in Hell would blush in shame.

In writing his letter, he infuriates the church.  As Bishop in Ireland, he had no authority to chastise “Christians” in Britain who lived outside his jurisdiction.  But, Patrick didn’t care about religious rules.  He cared about people. And, in his “Confession,” he declares that hearing God is the rule that he has lived by:

Laugh and make fun of me if you want to – I will not keep quiet, nor will I hide the signs and wonderful things that God revealed to me many years before they actually happened.  For God knew everything that would occur even before the beginning of time . . . You must understand – because it is the truth – that it was all the gift of God.

As we celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day, may we choose to become God’s slaves who hear His voice.  It is God’s gift to us.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

(Original illustration by artist Brittany Scott.  For information on my brother’s ministry, The St. Patrick Project, click here.  Above translations of St. Patrick’s writings in St. Patrick of Ireland a Biography by Philip Freeman.)

hearing God, ireland, patrick, slave, Spiritual Wellness