Here is something I came across on one of the
sites , has anyone seen this before..
'...What's the real story behind ST. PATRICK DAY?
Patrick (Circa AD 370-465)
Founder/Organizer of the first Christian Churches in Scotia/Hibernia
(Ireland and Scotland)
Most of us have heard about "St. Patrick". Every March there is a day "named in his honor" where people wear green and you see lots of "shamrocks". Patrick is known as "the father of Irish Christianity".
In a way there are two "Patricks" - the one that belonged to the Church in the Wilderness, and then the fictional "Saint" Patrick.
His given name was Succat Maewyn. After he became a priest, he took the name of Patrick, or Patricius, meaning "well-born or noble" in Latin.
Patrick belonged to the Celtic (pronounced: "Keltic") race that lived in the area known as "Hibernia", and later "Scotia". Today, this area is known as Ireland, Scotland, and Cumbria (Northumberland, England). History tells us that the Celts were descendants of Gomer, son of Ja'-pheth, son of Noah.
About seven or eight centuries BC, there were two Celtic migrations across Europe. The first wave was Gaelic and they occupied the northern parts of [today's] Scotland and Ireland. Celtic Christianity came from churches primarily in Italy and Asia Minor - which sent missionaries to France, and also to Roman Britain. These Christians were known as the British Celtic Christians.
You may find it interesting that this well-known Irishman was not born in Ireland. Although many places have been claimed as the birthplace of Patrick, according to his own writing, Confession, as well as, the careful research of Dr. Benjamin Wilkinson (Truth Triumphant), James A. Wylie (History of the Protestantism, History of the Scottish Nation, etc... ), and several others. Evidence shows that he was born in the kingdom of Strathclyde, along the banks of the River Clyde, (under the very shadow of the rock that so grandly guards the entrance of that river) at [the capital city] Nemthur, in "Roman Britain", near the modern city of Dumbarton in Scotland, then referred to as "Hibernia" or the Roman name "Caledonia".
Rome controlled this area and Patrick was most likely born a Roman citizen, (like the apostle Paul), because his grandfather "Potitus" was a "presbyter" (a high ranking church leader equal to that of "bishop" in the papal meaning of the term) of the settlement of "Bannaven Taburniae"; and his father "Calpurnius" took an active role as a deacon and also held the rank of "decurio"; that is, he was a member of the council of magistracy in a Roman provincial town. Thus, young Succat (his first name, among his own tribes), before he became the man who has taken his permanent place in history as Patrick, was "well-born" of a "noble" family.
Although surrounded by Christian influences, when Patrick was about fifteen years old he turned his back on God, (He commits a sin - which is to come back and haunt him almost 50 years later!). When he was sixteen years old he was taken captive by pirates and sold into slavery in "Hibernia-Scotia" (aka - Ireland). During his captivity, He is converted to Christ. When he is 22, he manages to escape and finds a ship that takes him to "Gaul" or "Britain" (Southern England). Here he is taken captive again, and again he manages to escape. When he is 24, He finally reaches his parents' home in "Hibernia-Caledonia" (Scotland).
Later, in writing of his time in captivity in Hibernia-Scotia (Ireland), Patrick says:
I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our presbyters who used to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought down on us the fury of his being and scattered us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my smallness, am now to be found among foreigners.
And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son.
Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under heaven:
(Taken from his writing, Confession.)
During his six years of captivity he learned to know, love, and obey God through the school of affliction. Like the prodigal son, he worked for his captor taking care of animals. He experienced hunger and nakedness, which turned his thoughts and heart back to his family and what he had been taught about God as a child. When he escaped and returned to his former home he was a truly a converted Christian.
Said Patrick:
... I used to pasture the flock each day and I used to pray many times a day. More and more did the love of God, and my fear of him and faith increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day [I said] from one up to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number; besides I used to stay out in the forests and on the mountain and I would wake up before daylight to pray in the snow, in icy coldness, in rain, and I used to feel neither ill nor any slothfulness, because, as I now see, the Spirit was burning in me at that time.
(Taken from his writing, Confession.)
Part 2
Soon after returning home, according to his writing, Confession:
"The Lord speaks to him by dreams and tells him to return to those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea. His parents and friends offer him gifts and beg him not to leave
"Also during this time, he confesses his boyhood sin to a close friend in the Congregation. (This confession to his "friend" is a mistake. For it will come back and haunt him in another 30 years - when he is about 60).
About the time he turned 30, he is ordained as a deacon in the Congregation. About two years later, in 405 A.D., he returns to "Hibernia-Scotia" (aka: Ireland) with one book: the The Itala Bible, (which was the first translation from Greek to Latin three hundred years before the Latin Vulgate was translated), and begins to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
During his earlier experience as a captive, Patrick became fluent in the "Irish" dialect of the Gaelic language; this would prove to be very important in his preaching and teaching. He believed that God was calling him to spread the gospel to the people of Hibernia-Scotia (Ireland) who were living under the superstitions and practices of the Druids. These people believed in reincarnation, practiced sun-worship, moon-worship, divination, human-sacrifices, and would use magick to cast spells.
Patrick began having great success in Hibernia-Scotia (Ireland). By faith alone thousands were converted to Christ. The Druid's human sacrifices came to an end; as did Slavery. Patrick knew the strong influence of the Druids; and he knew that for Christianity to grow in the future, education was very important. He established training centers in: Benchor, Lismore, Clonard, Armagh, and Muinghard. These were Bible schools where the gospel was taught so its students could go and continue to spread the gospel. Part of the students' studies included: the copying of scripture - so that others could have God's Word to study and memorize.
Patrick stood opposite many of the teachings of the Roman Church. For example, he appealed to the Bible and the Bible alone as the sole authority for his work. He gave credit to no other worldly authority; he recited no Church Creed. Interestingly, several official creeds of the church at Rome had by that time been ratified and even commanded by the popes, but Patrick mentions none. In his Confession he does make a brief statement of his beliefs, but he does not refer to any church council or creed as authority. Furthermore, nowhere in any of Patrick's writings does he say anything of Rome, or of having been commissioned by Pope Celestine, or hints that he was in any way connected with the ecclesiastical capital of Italy. He recognized no other authority but that of the word of God. He attributed his apostleship altogether to an inward call, which he regarded as a divine command.
Also, no pope [before the twentieth century] ever mentions the good news of the great transformation of the Hibernians from heathenism to Christianity - as a result of Patrick's efforts. This, they certainly would have done, as was done in MANY documented other cases, had he been an agent of the Roman pontiff.
One of the reasons, no doubt, why the Papacy for many centuries did not mention Patrick's name or his success was due to his position in response of the decrees of Rome's "Trinity Doctrine". Simply put, Patrick did not accept that false teaching. The Trinity Doctrine was a very "hot topic" in Patrick's day, so he was certainly aware of the teaching. For an excellent study on this very topic, please see: Truth Triumphant by Dr. Benjamin G. Wilkinson (Chapter 7, section: The Beliefs And Teachings Of Patrick, pp. 84-89).
He obeyed the Ten Commandments, (including the 2nd and 4th), and he kept the Seventh-day (saturday) Sabbath - at a time when Rome was already deeply established in a most wicked violation of God's Commandments. Again, for an excellent study on this very topic, please see: Truth Triumphant by Dr. Benjamin G. Wilkinson (Chapter 7, section: The Beliefs And Teachings Of Patrick, p. 88, and Chapter 8, section: The Education Of Columba, p. 95).
We also know that Patrick permitted his pastors to marry, which went against the practice of celibacy which the Roman Church was practicing. Patrick also rejected the union of church and state. It had been more than one hundred years passed since the first "world council" at Nicaea had united the Roman church with the Roman empire. Patrick rejected this model. He followed the lesson taught in the Bible when Christ refused to be made an earthly king. Jesus said,
"My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36).
In fact, One of the strongest proofs that Patrick did not belong to papal "Christianity" is found in the historical fact that for many centuries after his death Rome made every effort to destroy the church Patrick had founded.
Interestingly, the Scottish folk [still] have an old Gaelic saying which was popular long before Christopher Columbus "found" America, and literally translated it says:
"The Scots (Hibernians in general) were the last to accept the (7th day) Sabbath, and the last to give it up".
Simply put, in all of Europe they were the last ones to hear "about" the Sabbath, and they were the last of those in the British Isles to be persecuted (as a race) by Rome for True Sabbath-keeping, thus "giving it up", or to be more accurate: having it taken away from them - by the agents of Satan.
The news of the great success Patrick was having with the Gospel soon reached Rome. Celestine, Bishop of Rome, sent a man named Palladius to demand that those "new Hibernian Christians" accept him as their bishop. Palladius arrived in "Ireland" in 431 A.D., and was immediately repulsed; and thus fled for his life. He never returned to Rome, and he died later near Aberdeen "Scotland" on March 17.
(Yes, Patrick really did drive the snakes out of Ireland!), And in order to confuse the world, and hide Rome's failure in infiltrating their "Religion" into the Christianity being taught (for over 25 years by this time), by Patrick, Rome made a few revisings/manipulations in her "Official" historical records.
Roman Catholic records today claim that: Patrick, being the first missionary to Ireland, "began" his ministry in Ireland (Hibernia-Scotia) in 432 AD; yet those same Roman Catholic records today still declare that "Bishop" Palladius arrived in Ireland in 431 AD, thus preceding Patrick by one year.
One particular problem with Rome's claim (other than the obvious blatant contradiction) that Patrick "began" his ministry in Ireland in 432 AD, is that at this time Patrick would be about 60 yrs old. For according to his writing, Confession, Patrick simply says that he ministered among the "Scots" (as the people of Ireland were then called) from the time that he was a "iuventus" - literally, a young man. Therefore, according to Rome, he would be A youth at 60 years old !!
As mentioned, Palladius later died at "Fordun", fifteen miles from Aberdeen, in "Caledonia"/Scotland on March 17, about the year 450. In the middle of the twelfth century, when almost all of the entire "British Isles" was put under papal rule, in honour of their servant Palladius, Rome made March 17th an annual "Auto De La Fe, Celebrato", and bestowed upon Palladius the title "Apostle of Ireland".
Part 3
Later, in the 1600s, when the Roman Church began to try to find "peace" with the protestant Scot/Celts, whose love for Patrick was very deep and loyal, and win them to Rome's beliefs, rather than attempting to defame Patrick's name as she did so many years before, Rome decided to create her own "Patrick" - one who performed marvelous miracles. She made-up stories of Patrick making a stone "float" so a poor leper could have a "boat-ride" to Ireland, and of Patrick bringing many relics from Rome - including a sheet with Christ's blood on it and some of the hair of Jesus' mother.
Little by little, the "real" stories of Patrick were replaced by the imaginary ones - like the one of him chasing all the snakes out of Ireland. During this period, Rome began referring to March 17th as "Saint Patrick's Day". In fact, in 1737, it was Irish Catholic immigrants to the United States who began observing this "Celebrato" publicly in the "New World" (in Boston), and held the [so-called] first "St. Patrick's Day Parade" in New York City in 1766.
Many of the pagan holidays which the Druid's (and others) had observed were not destroyed by "Christianity", but rather were changed into the Roman Church's holy days. For example, the Druid's four-day Winter Solstice Celebrations became associated with Christmas; the festival Ostara, (named after the goddess Isthar), became Easter; Samhaim - when they performed human sacrifices and also honored the dead, became Halloween and All Saint's Day; and Imbolc or Oimelc which was held on February 1st, was replaced by the Catholic Church with Candlemas Day on February 2, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions.
As mentioned earlier, Patrick's confession of his boyhood sin to a close "friend" comes back and haunts him in 431 AD, when he is about 60. Immediately after the Christians drove the Roman "snakes" (Palladius and company) out of Hibernia/Ireland -- as revenge, Palladius, who was unable to stop Patrick's ministry tried to find some scandal in his past that would ruin him. When Palladius discovered the very thing he was looking for, he was most instrumental behind the "elders" scandalizing Patrick (See: Patrick's Confession) and almost destroying him through the divulging of his boyhood sin. The time frame and the "date fixing" is so monumental that the finger points directly to Rome as the author of the scandal that almost ended Patrick's ministry in Hibernia!
With hope that the Gospel should flourish in Hibernia/Ireland during his own lifetime did not content Patrick; he took every means to give it permanent occupancy of the land. The provision he made for bringing the whole nation under religious instruction, and drawing the people to the observance of Divine ordinances, was wonderfully complete - considering the age in which it was made, and the difficulties to be overcome in a country newly rescued from paganism. The grand idea of a God who is a Spirit - a Father, who has given his Son to be the Saviour of men - had been made known to them; and who can estimate what a power there is in this idea to humanise and to elevate - to awaken love and hope in the human heart, and to teach justice and righteousness to nations.
The change which God wrought [through His servant Patrick] on Hibernia (in general) was great. Compared with the reformation of Luther, it may be readily admitted, that the work of Patrick was feeble and imperfect. The fifth century was poor, in comparison with the mighty instrumentalities in which the sixteenth century was so rich. It lacked the scholarship, the intellectual vigour, the social energy, and the brilliant examples of personal piety which shed so great a splendour on the first age of the Protestant Reformation. The fifth century had no printing press. It had no "Frederic the wise"; it had no theological treatise like the "Institutes", and no compend of the Christian revelation like the "Augsburg Confession". Moreover, the "light" did not reach Hibernia till the "daylight" was rapidly "darkening" in other lands. It was "the beams of a rising sun" that burst on the world in the sixteenth century - it was "the rays of a setting sun" that fell on Hibernia in the fifth.
As Christian "Ireland" went forward, displacing slowly and laboriously it's pagan roots, it had to leave in its rear many a superstitious belief, and many a pagan custom. In numerous instances, (no doubt), the oak groves of the Druid were given to the axe, and the dolmen and stone pillar lay overturned and broken by the hammer of the iconoclast. But not in all cases. In some localities these objects of idolatrous reverence were spared, and became snares and causes of stumbling to the converts. But with all these drawbacks, the change accomplished in Hibernia was immense.
By the seventh century, the majority of Europe had fallen into what we call the Dark Ages. This was a period of time when most of the people lived in poverty, illiteracy, and superstition. In contrast, Hibernia (Ireland, Scotland, and Northern England) was referred to at that time as "the land of saints and scholars". Much of the credit for this goes to the efforts of Patrick, a true servant of God. It is believed that as many as 365 churches were established, and well over 100,000 people were converted to Christianity, as a direct result of his efforts. The churches and the schools rose together, and religion and learning kept equal pace in their journey through the land. Although most of Europe was into the Dark Ages, Hibernia continued to be "a beacon of light" as its people were taught the scriptures.
In the centuries that followed the death of Patrick these schools (or as the chroniclers of the middle ages, who wrote in Latin, term them "monasteries" - which is misleading, to say the least) continued to multiply, and the number of their pupils greatly increased. No fee was exacted at their threshold; thus contributing to their popularity. The schools which Patrick had started, had become colleges, their doors stood open to the son of the serf as well as to the son of the prince. No nation was unwelcome. From across the sea came youth in hundreds to be taught in them and carry back their learning to foreign lands. Kings and noble families took a pride in fostering what they saw was a source of strength at home and glory abroad. In some instances the number of students in attendance almost exceeds belief - the cases are well authenticated. All of whom, the Scotia-Hibernians:
"received most warmly, and supplied them, not only with daily food, free of charge, but even with books to read, and masters to teach gratuitously."
(See: Bede, Eccl. History., lib. 3 p. 27).
These schools of Divine knowledge continued in vigour for about three centuries after their founder had gone to his grave, and they furnished an able but inexhaustible supply of evangelists and missionaries. Many of these men, finding their labours not "needed" in a land so plentiful supplied with evangelists as Scotia-Hibernia (Ireland-Scotland) now was, turned their steps to foreign countries.
From "Ireland" and later Iona there went forth one missionary band after another to scatter the pagan darkness where it still lingered, or to stem the incoming tide of papal arrogance and usurpation. Rome was compelled to pause in her advance before their intrepid ranks. In Gaul, in Germany and other countries, these devoted preachers revived many a dying light, refreshed many a fainting spirit, and strengthened hands that had begun to hang down, and they long delayed, though they could not ultimately prevent, the approach of an evil destined to embrace all Christendom in its folds, and darken its sky for ages.
As one author put it,
"In the centuries to follow, [Patrick's] legacy as a faithful Sabbath-keeper would quickly be shrouded with half-truths and mysticism due to the eventual overthrow of the Celtic Church. (The victor always writes history.)…Sadly, the truth behind his powerful work is twisted and dimly lit, but that doesn't mean the real truth can't be told….It is a lesson we should not forget. Ireland prospered in peace for centuries as it obeyed God's commands by [Patrick's] lead. After it incorporated unholy doctrines and practices, it fell into despair and was subjugated by oppression and cruelty."...
