Happy St. Patrick's Day...with some clarification.
Saint Patrick's real name was Maewyn Succat. Patricius was his baptismal name.
He was not born in Ireland, yet somewhere along the northwest coast of the Roman province of Britannia.
His family was a wealthy Romano-Briton family...his father, Calpurnius, was a deacon...while his mother, Concessa, was closely related to Saint Martin of Tours.
The story about the snakes is completely symbolic. For geographic and climatic reasons, there were never snakes in Ireland. It is believed that the snakes referred to the serpent symbol used by the Pagan priests, the Druids...and the story is an allegory of Saint Patrick converting the heathen and eliminating pagan beliefs.
Saint Patrick wasn't the first Catholic evangelist in Ireland either. Two years before Patrick arrived on the island, Pope Celestine I had sent Saint Palladius to preach the Gospel to the heathens. Palladius landed in Wicklow (south of Dublin), built three churches...and had no luck whatsoever in converting the Celts. He left in a huff, and sailed back to Scotland
On the other hand, Saint Patrick was successful because he completely assimilated the Celtic beliefs without condemning them. He was especially adept at winning over the local chieftains to the Faith, which made it easier for their subjects to embrace Christianity.
You could say that Patrick had the 'networking' skills that Palladius lacked.
Thumbs up to your creativity, your way of writing, your narration, your intelligence and lastly your decision to write on this topic! Hats off man…keep it up
Posted by: Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet | August 01, 2011 at 04:39 AM