We can hear stories.

The story of St. Patrick

St. Patrick´s story

Many, years ago in the day of old,  even older than Teresa, in a land far, far away from Spain the story begins which tells of the boy who becomes St Patrick. 

  He was not born in Ireland, which many people believe, including many Irish people. No, he was born in a country across the sea from Ireland called Wales. Wales is not far from Ireland which turned out to be rather unfortunate for young Maewyn Succat. Who is that? I hear you ask. You see that was his name before he became Patrick, I am glad he changed it as St Maewyn Succat’s day is much harder to pronounce. I am sure that young Maewyn had a normal childhood; perhaps he played football with his friends who also had silly names. Perhaps he used the Internet. Could he have had a Facebook page? Or, how about a mobile phone to text his friends? I wonder which TV programmes he preferred? Well you see, electricity had not been invented in Maewyn’s time so he would not have had any of the things that young people today could not imagine living without. What kind of games do you think young Maewyn and his friends played so long ago? Anyway, back to the story. When Maewyn was sixteen years old a group of mad Irishmen raided his little Welsh village and captured him. Without even asking for permission, they bundled him on a boat back to Ireland to sell as a slave. He always wanted to go on a boat journey but not like this. No more normal childhood for young Maewyn.

He was sold to a Druid chief who had a large herd of pigs. Guess what his new job was to be? Yes, you guessed correctly; a pig farmer. Now life as a pig farmer was no picnic for the young man from wales. It was a very difficult and smelly job to do, perhaps at that time his name was changed to Smelly, we just don’t know.

He ate, slept with and generally lived among the pigs and each night he would tell them the story of “The three little pigs”, how they loved that story.

It was during his time in Ireland that Smelly, sorry, Maewyn became a Christian. One night he heard a voice in his dreams telling him to get an airplane back to his own country, but as airplanes were not yet invented he had to go by ship. He fled the coast of Ireland and found his way back home. After having the world’s longest shower he joined a monastery where he stayed for the next twelve years. It became his goal in life to convert the pagans of Ireland to Christianity. Perhaps he thought that this would put a stop to their pastime of kidnapping and selling young boys into slavery. It was at this time that he took the name Patrick. He became a bishop and went back to Ireland to pursue his destiny.

  He was very good at his job as he helped many people to find God and leave their old pagan ways behind. He even went to visit his old slave master to show that he had no bad feelings towards him. Perhaps he also wanted to visit his old roommates the pigs, but alas, they had all been eaten. This upset Patrick because he was looking forward to a nice piece of ham. The story goes that his old master took all his valuables to his house and burned it down with himself still inside. Apparently, he did not want to face his former slave who had become

famous.

   Many stories have been written about Patrick. He was not yet called St. Patrick, which would come much later. It is said that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland, not in a car mind you because cars had not been invented yet either. This is not exactly true, at that time there were no snakes in Ireland. As the devil is often referred to as a snake, it is said that it was the devil he banished from Ireland.

   It is said also that he used the shamrock as a symbol of the Holy Trinity. That is why the shamrock is very famous in Ireland and people around the world associate it with Ireland. But we do know that he built many churches and schools all over Ireland. He spent almost thirty years in Ireland teaching the pagans of that green land about the wonders of the Catholic religion. The Irish people never forgot about the boy who, in the twelfth century became a saint, taking the name St Patrick.

  St Patrick day was originally a religious holiday but these days it is a secular holiday. It is celebrated each year on March 17th, which is the date on which he died. Ireland is not the only country to celebrate. Over the centuries many Irish people went to distant lands to find fame and fortune. With them they brought their culture and traditions. Today St. Patrick’s day is also enjoyed by both Catholics and non-Catholics. In my own little town, on the south coast of Ireland, we have a beautiful parade through our city streets. Lots of children dress up as leprechauns and mini St Patricks. It is a day to remember all the good things about being Irish, a time to be proud of our history.

 This funny version of the story of St. Patrick was written for us by an Irish man called John Wilmott some years ago.