When people hear "St Patrick's Day" the things they think of are shamrocks and leprechauns. Some people have a vague idea that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland and for this reason he is their patron saint. However, very, very few people know the true history of St. Patrick or why he truly is the patron saint of Ireland. In looking at it I had to admit that I was one of those people. On doing the research what I learned was enlightening. I am so glad that I bothered to take the time to find this information and for this reason I really would like to share the story of St. Patrick with you.

Patrick was born in Rome Britain during the 5th Century to an affluent family. As a young boy he was not religious and rebelliously renounced the faith of his family. Sometime during his teens he was kidnapped in a raid and taken to Ireland where a local Warlord enslaved him. In those days Ireland was a scary and barbaric place where war was waged as the norm, slaves were owned and human sacrifice was daily fare. He worked as a Shepherd for six long years until in a dream he heard a voice that told him, "Your hungers are rewarded: You are going home. Look, your ship is ready." He managed to sneak out of the camp and in fact some 200 miles away, there the ship stood. He took this opportunity to escape and returned to his family.

Sometime after his return Patrick had another vision where Victoricus, a man Patrick knew in Ireland, appeared to him in this dream, holding countless letters, one of which he handed to Patrick. The letter was entitled "The Voice of the Irish." Upon reading the title, he heard a multitude of voices crying out to him: "Holy boy, we beg you to come and walk among us once more." He was so moved by this that he was unable to read further and woke up. It was after this reoccurring vision that he fashioned his resolve to return to Ireland with the mission to evangelize this vicious land. He soon after began his preparations for the priesthood. Due to his imprisonment on the isles he was way behind in his studies and it was noted that he barely spoke Latin. However, what St Patrick had that no other priest had was the strength, bravery and humility to treat the barbarians with respect and patience that no other could. In truth, it was the church that St. Patrick established in Ireland that saved western civilization. Even though Jesus Christ asked the apostles to spread the word of Christianity to the ends of the earth even by the 5th century this did not happen. Nor did the disciples of the church truly follow the tenets of Christianity by showing kindness to all thereby spreading the teachings of Christ and offering the gates of heaven to all. St. Patrick on the other hand walked into the teeth of the dragon to teach this very thing, he showed kindness and respect to all. At the fall of the Roman Empire and through the years of the dark medieval ages when the scriptures and learned writings of the Catholic Church were lost or altered, it was the work of St. Patrick and the church of the isles that saved these works to bring the world back to civilization.

While the papacy of the 5th century did not find it necessary to decry slavery as immoral, and factually did not do so until the 19th century, it was St. Patrick who taught that we should treat one another, as we would want to be treated, thereby ending slavery and human sacrifice in Ireland. His lesson was one of profound understanding for the suffering and the downtrodden. To this day he is known as the patron saint of the Excluded.

Women have found a true advocate in St. Patrick. While other hierarchy of the church condemned women as the temptresses of mankind it was St. Patrick that spoke of women as individuals and of their virtues. It is St. Patrick's church that teaches us about the splendor and the divine goodness of the natural world around us. In this he was almost defiant and insubordinate to the higher Church. In the end St Patrick came to see his "capture" as a blessing. It was the defining factor that gave his life purpose and taught him that there is no goal too great, that one man can have purpose and make a very big difference to many and in his example so too can we know it.

So I say to you Port Harbor and to all who come to visit, Happy St. Patrick's Day! May his example live in all of us.