St. Patrick

A Romano-British boy kidnapped at sixteen by Irish pirates and sold into slavery, Patrick herded sheep on a hillside for six years, learned Irish, prayed unceasingly, and escaped on a ship that took him home. He returned years later, ordained, to evangelize the people who had enslaved him. By the time of his death the kings of Ireland were Christian. His Confession is one of the most moving documents of late antiquity.

Patrick's mission to Ireland was not without opposition: he faced hostility from druids, suspicion from fellow bishops, and the constant danger of a land without Roman law. Yet he baptized thousands, ordained clergy, established monasteries, and laid the foundation for the great age of Irish Christianity that would send missionaries back across Europe. He used the shamrock, tradition says, to explain the Trinity — a small gesture that became an enduring symbol of a nation's faith.

He died around 461, probably at Saul in County Down, and was buried at Downpatrick. His two surviving writings — the Confession and the Letter to Coroticus — reveal a man of deep humility, haunted by his youthful sins, astonished that God had chosen so unlettered a servant for so great a work. Ireland has never forgotten him, and his feast on March 17 is celebrated wherever the Irish diaspora has carried his name.