Just saw this post from Fr. Steve. Did not know about the Irish wolf hounds and their 28 day trip. also, happy to read about a little bit of sanity in Ireland. Perhaps a spark? The Young Saint Patrick By Fr. Steve Ryan, SDB Patrick was born in 389 AD in Britain, in a Catholic home. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest (before the days of mandatory celibacy). They had land and raised animals on their family farm. They were Roman citizens living on the border of the empire. It was a holy home, with one book, the Bible. Patrick was raised on the stories of the Gospels. From his autobiography The Confessions, we learn that Patrick, although he was raised in a home of great faith, was also very restless. As a typical teenager he got into a fair share of trouble. He admits that he was not taking his relationship with God all that seriously. That all changed one day when Patrick was 16 years old. Instead of tending to the flocks and doing chores, he wandered down by the waterside and was suddenly kidnapped. The raiders were “pirates” from Ireland who would sneak onto the English coast to loot and confiscate. A healthy young teen would bring in some money when they got back to Ireland. Tying him down they threw him on their boat. The lad Patrick ended up a slave of a chieftain. At that time Ireland was divided up into territories held by family clans. Chieftains were the rulers. The biggest chieftain in an area was the known as “king” of the entire province. Patrick’s captivity was spent tending sheep. It was a lonely job for a young man in captivity with little hope for escape. This terrible experience gave Patrick lots of time to lament his misfortune. It also gave him time to reflect on the meaning of his life. What did he do for hours while monitoring the sheep? He began to pray! Patrick developed the strong habit of praying. In his own words: “I’d even stay up at night and pray in the woods. Before daybreak I used to be roused to prayer in snow, frost, rain and I felt no sluggishness in me, because the spirit was fervent within me.” One night in prayer he heard the voice of God saying to him, “Lo, thy ship is ready. You will soon go back to your fatherland.” He made the move to run away and at Wicklow he saw a ship about to slip its moorings. He approached the captain who said, “On no account will you be going with us.” But the ship was filled with Irish wolfhounds (big dogs). They were to be delivered to France. The sailors were at a loss as to how to take care of the dogs – they’d be a handful on a 2 to 6-week journey. Seeing Patrick some of the crew said to the captain, “Take the lad with us and he’ll manage the dogs for us.” And so they did. The ship hit heavy weather and the trip did not go as easily as expected. The slave Patrick (he was still a slave – now to these traders) got the whole crew praying to Jesus and the storm ceased. The ship finally landed off the western coast of France far off from the original port of destination. A journey overland ensued, through dangerous country. It lasted for 28 days with the dogs in tow. Legend says the whole lot of them were near starved and frustrated. The captain said to Patrick, “How is it Christian, thou sayest God is great and almighty, and why can’t you pray that we may be saved from starvation?” Patrick went off and prayed and sure enough a herd of wild pigs passed by, were caught, and the sailors were saved from starvation. The captain and the crew let Patrick go free and the young man made his way back to see his family. Patrick, now 22 years old now (the year was 411), told his family he intended to give his life in service to the Church as a priest. In time he arrived at the monastery of Lerins, in France. He sought entrance into the monastery to begin formation for the priesthood. The monastery in Lerins was a famous place of Christian learning in France. There Patrick studied theology for several years. He grew in his love for the Church and her doctrines. Like many seminarians, Patrick had his doubts about his vocation: “Should I stay here?... Am I really meant to be a priest?... Am I supposed to get married?... Does God really have any special plans for his life?” Going back to his family in Britain he hoped to find answers. One night he had another vision and heard yet another message from God. He saw in the vision a group of Irish people tell him, “We beseech thee, holy youth, to come and walk with us once more.” For Patrick it was as a divine command to become an evangelist to the Irish people. Patrick returned to the seminary. He grew to have a remarkable command of the Bible. He wanted to go to Ireland as a missionary. Yet he was not “connected” with the bishop or the pope in Rome so there was little hope he’d be given the chance to serve in Ireland. The pope appointed another scholarly man named Palladius as the first bishop of Ireland. In the year 432 a clear indication that Patrick was destined to go to Ireland came: Bishop Palladius died suddenly. Palladius died a broken man. There were few converts and he had had little effect in Ireland in his time there. The Church was desperate! The bishops of France looked around – was there not anyone who had a history or connection with Ireland? Was anyone crazy enough to want to go there? Patrick’s name came up. Ready or not, no one was more qualified than the former Irish slave, Patrick. Bishop Germanus ordained him and off he set for Ireland that same year. (Story to be continued…) Some Semblance of Sanity – Stopping the Redefinition of Marriage and Woman in Ireland By Fr. Steve Ryan, SDB Here is some good news from Ireland. Timely with Saint Patrick’s Day on March 17th. Caught up in the tide of secularism, the political leaders of the Emerald Isle, seeking to please the globalists and the anti-God, anti-family lobbyists of the European Union, proposed in a referendum that the Irish people formally crush traditional marriage and the definition of a woman. Thank God it didn’t happen. Can you believe that the Irish government called for this move in an attempt to redefine “marriage” and “women”. The double referendum failed resoundingly. The vast majority of voters said enough is enough regarding the new moral definitions and language being touted by liberal elites. While France last week went deeper into the culture of death by changing their constitution to encode the right to abortion, Ireland seems to have woken up to some semblance of sanity about love, life, womanhood and marriage. The Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called for the referendum to pass the two proposals: the Family Amendment and the Care Amendment. Both aimed to change the text of Article 41 in the Irish constitution, written in 1937. The Family Amendment would have changed the section of the constitution that reads: “The State recognizes the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit of Society… .” The Irish Constitution also affirms that the family is founded on marriage. Varadkar proposed adding “and other durable relationships” and striking the clause affirming that marriage is the foundation of the family. The Care Amendment would have struck all references to motherhood from the constitution in order to “balance gender roles.” As I said, both amendments were roundly defeated. The proposal to expand the definition of family from a relationship founded on marriage to include other durable relationships was rejected by 67.7% to 32.3%.” The second referendum seeking to replace language surrounding the woman’s primary role in the family was rejected by 73.9% to 26.1%. Varadkar admitted Irish voters had given his government ‘two wallops’ on family issues. Carol Nolan, an Independent pro-life parliamentarian, described the result as a ‘political earthquake’ that showed “how far the Irish government is out of touch with ordinary people.” She expressed that people are sick of non-elected lobbyists and NGO’s (such as the National Women’s Council of Ireland) forcing their ideological ‘poison’ into politics and onto the people.
I also had no idea about St. Patrick's perilous journey with Irish Wolfhounds, so interesting. A couple of years back I had a dream about this wonderful saint. It was one of those vivid dreams that comes out of nowhere, but always stays with you. In the dream I entered a large, ancient church in Ireland where I found my way into a secret underground room. The room itself had rough stone walls like a cave, the floor was dirt. The walls were lined with hundreds of small glowing candles, and St.Patrick was sitting in this room, the keeper of the flames, his staff by his side. I always thought it was a sign that St. Patrick would never allow the light of God's Holy Church to be extinguished in Ireland.
What a beautiful vision you were given. I believe spiritual dreams are like visions. He is keeping the flame for Ireland and Irish people. When the time is right God will call him forth and with his shepherd's crook he will cast out the new set of dragons.(snake in the biblical sense is synonymous with dragon)
Is there something about the little flames of the faithful rekindling on the island after the prophesied flood? Your vision/dream gave me goosebumps ~ St. Patrick, Keeper of the Flames ~
The Irish Wolfhounds we see now were only really bred in Modern Times. The real Irish Wolfhounds died out centuries ago. They were real monsters and could easily kill wolves, men, giant deer and anything that moved. I would like a couple for Christmas before the Fentanyl Epidemic reaches the Emerald Shores as they say it will shortly. A Nation that cannot even handle drink will be wiped out by Fentanyl. We shall all have to go and live in caves in the mountains as St Padraig did.
My husband, many years ago, was walking home very late on a winter's night from a friend's house. Guitar in tow and rosy cheeks, having had a wonderful evening of fun & music. He heard footsteps behind him in the snow, crunching along with his own but for the life of him, didn't see anyone. He picked up the pace a bit but was on high alert, when suddenly he just knew something was right behind him. As he was about to turn around and confront the stalker, something, with a great slurp, licked his hand ~ He went one way, the guitar went another, and his friend's wolfhound stood there confused wondering why all the fuss after he so kindly accompanied him down the road ~ true story
To think that the young St.Patrick had to tend to these powerful and aggressive dogs...yikes! I've seen a few Irish Wolfhounds here on Cape Cod, and their size is intimidating. I'm sure no one would dare mess with you if you had these dogs.
Ahh. The only trouble with big dogs is they don't live long. I think about 8 years for an Irish Wolfhound. Also they tend to have their own health problems. That puts me off a little. Also in Ireland the breeders are very ,very protective of who they let but a puppy. Another thing is when out walking them crowds of admirers tend to gather. It is rather like suddenly becoming a movie star. I am not sure I would like this. But I 've wanted and Irish Wolf Hound my whole life..so...
I think St Patrick tended pigs, rather than sheep. I don't think there were sheep back then in Ireland. I suspect they might not have let a slave have a wolfhound, it might be a bit like buying your Butler a Ferrari sports car. I think at the moment a Wolf Hound puppy would cost around $3000 , maybe a lot more. But they're so gorgeous. I was up the mountains yesterday and could could see Slemish , were St Padraig was a slave in the distance. It is a very unusual shape and really stands out. As far as I know the Irish were the only people in the history of the world to convert to Catholicism en mass and without coercion to the Faith. In other places it tended to come from the top down. So a King or Emperor or noble would convert and then others follow. But in Ireland everyone from top to bottom embraced the Faith spontaneously and so quickly too, within a generation. Also the Irish did not kill the missionaries they had high status almost at once which is quite something. It is as if the Irish were, somehow, waiting for Jesus.
There is an ancient myth that King Connor MacNeasa who lived about 2000 years ago that he declared that the God of Light had died. The skies were darkened and there was a fierce storm. It was very severe and the druids and Conor MacNeasa were trying to understand what was wrong when this revelation was given to them. So they were made aware of Jesus from the beginning. I can't remember the rest of the story.
I also remembered one of St Patrick's visions that I posted before... "The Angel answered and told him to look to the north of the land, and that there he should see the Hand of the Most High. The Saint lifted up his eyes, and, behold, a little light arose in Uladh (Ulster), which had struggled long in the darkness, until at length the whole island was filled with the brightness of its glory, and Ireland returned to its first state of all-pervading fire." I wanted to share something I dreamt from back in January. It's why your post gave me goosebumps, along with having never seen that quote from Quis ut Deus about the "little light" ~ "While praying the Rosary this evening I saw a golden stairway going up a small hillside with a sort of landing. Standing on the landing, in full Bishop's attire and of great stature was St. Patrick. Beautiful vestments of light green and gold, a crozier with emerald shamrocks in the hook, surrounded by sunlight. He was standing there and his right arm was sort of sweeping to the left, as if he was helping someone along the way. I wanted very much to climb the stairs towards him; then I found myself beyond where he was standing looking towards an indescribably beautiful land.....there was like a town, but spread out amongst hills and streams and trees with a sort of golden hue all around....Then I saw a great tall gate, like an archway......I heard it was "The Irish Gate".....then the sight ended" It seems to go with Jo M's dream; I don't know what to make of it ~
Amazing LMF, thank you so much for sharing this. In my dream St. Patrick was also wearing the splendid green and gold vestments, and he was silent. The stairway, and the "Irish Gate" sounds like St. Patrick was leading the way to heaven. I don't think it's by coincidence when we dream about a saint, God allows it for a reason.
This is second part of Fr. Steve’s thoughts about St. Patrick. Really wonderful to read and contemplate this wonderful man and Saint! The Older Saint Patrick St. Patrick: Part II By Fr. Steve Ryan, SDB In the last article I spoke about St. Patrick’s youth. We recalled the story of his kidnapping and slavery in Ireland. After his escape at 22 years of age he entered the seminary and prepared himself for the mission God had in store for him. Since the mission in Ireland was very tenuous, and Christianity had not yet penetrated its shores, most people thought there was little hope that he would succeed. He certainly proved his critics wrong… When St. Patrick arrived in Ireland he was a brand-spanking new bishop. He was also coming on the heels of Bishop Palladius who had arrived there the year before and was unsuccessful in gaining converts. How is it that St. Patrick – in the course of 25 years – was able to bring the whole country to Christianity? It was because of Patrick’s sheer faith and boldness! There is no other explanation. Celts were pagans with mystical connections to the earth. Patrick so badly wanted them to know Jesus Christ and his power and love. Ireland was ruled by chieftains, who were rulers of the clans in their villages. Groups of chieftains in a given area were ruled by a king of the region. All of these sovereigns ruled with an iron fist and promoted worship of “the gods” of the elements. Patrick knew that if he could win over the chiefs, he might not be murdered before he even got a chance to get started. But, how could he get the attention of the Irish leaders? As his first Easter in Ireland approached, Patrick headed for Meath to the property of the king of many chieftains – the high king of Ireland, Laoghaire. He ruled at the castle of Royal Tara. On Holy Saturday (Easter Eve), King Laoghaire was gathered with his court (princes, magicians and druids) to celebrate the equinox by lighting the spring fire at Tara. No other fires were allowed in the land. And no other hand but that of the king of Tara would light the fire that marked the power of the Sun-God and the death of winter. In the darkness of that March night, horror and amazement came upon the king and his court when they saw an insult from a far hill. Patrick lit the paschal fire (the Easter Fire) singing, “Christ be our light, shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness.” The king and his court clamored down the valley and up the next hill to confront and execute the idiot who had the audacity to affront the king of Tara. Patrick stood before them and quoted the psalms, “Some trust in horses and some trust in chariots, but we… trust in the Name of the Lord.” The boldness and faith Patrick displayed in Jesus Christ was mesmerizing. Even the druids knew Patrick was a powerful man for they said, “Unless this holy fire be put out tonight… it will never be put out for it will overcome all the fires of our religion.” King Laoghaire could not bring himself to execute Patrick. The king was simply too impressed by Patrick’s courage and the druids were powerless. The high king consented, “This Jesus Christ must be left alone to see if he really is God.” He immediately began to allow Patrick to preach about Jesus. This is not a fairy tale. The pages of history indicate a complete conversion to Christianity without any force or coercion. The evangelization of Ireland involved no European army from the Vatican. It was not the Roman Empire after Constantine’s conversion that pushed a religious agenda. It simply must be credited to the boldness, courage and hard work of one man – Patrick – and the Holy Spirit. In twenty-five years, Patrick ordained 350 bishops and more than 5,000 priests. He built 700 churches. By his death on March 17, 457, he had established Christianity in every corner of Ireland. Last week we celebrated the feast of Saint Patrick. I marched in three parades named after him. I went to a St. Patrick’s Day dinner. I celebrated three masses in his honor. The festivities were a blast. However, it’s easy to get caught up in simply wearing green and drinking beer without referencing the man, Patrick. He was a real man. He was a holy man who lived a real life as an instrument of God’s for the mission of saving souls. Generations of souls! Patrick took on his life’s mission with zeal. His motivation was always for the greater glory of God and the salvation of man. The key to his success and fame was his ATTACHMENT to Christ! The depth of his prayer life is documented. With ice cold water up to his knees he stood each evening in rivers and oceans reciting the 150 psalms. The man had great faith. Couldn’t we do the same today in our ever-growing agnostic society? If we only had the complete trust in the power of our Savior Jesus Christ that Patrick had, we too could change the culture. He won Ireland for God and the Church. He converted and formed the Irish, and by doing so he changed the history of the world – one man. Your one life can make a big difference too – when you hand it over to Jesus. From St. Patrick’s Lorica I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead. His eye to watch, His might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need. The wisdom of God to teach me. The hand of God to guide me. The shield of God to protect me. The word of God as my speech. The heavenly host of God to guard me. Christ be within me. Christ behind me. Christ before me. Christ beside me. Christ to win me. Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me. Christ above me. Christ in quiet. Christ in danger. Christ in the hearts of all that love me. Christ in the hearts of all friends and foes.
Oh man, if this doesn't stir the heart, I don't know what would! You know, I often ask, "Where are the great saints of today? Where are they? Do we even have any?" Maybe...we on this forum could volunteer? Be brave and tell Jesus we're ready to go through whatever He wants us to, to do everything He can use us for? Of course it has to start with prayer....real, dedicated, regular prayer and lots of it.
