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Saint PatrickSaint Patrick (died March 17?, 492 or 493), patron saint of Ireland. He was born somewhere along the west coast of Britain in the little settlement or village of ''Bannavem'' of Taburnia (''vico banavem taburniae'' in his ''Confessio''), which has never been identified with certainty. Sites suggested include Dumbarton and Somerset, or the coastline of Wales or northern France; another possibility put forward for his birthplace is the settlement of Bannaventa in Northamptonshire, for raiders captured him with "many thousands of people" according to Patrick's autobiographical ''Confessio'', and sold them as slavery in Ireland. ==Early life== In the ''Confessio'' Patrick mentions his father Calpornius, a deacon, civil official, and a town councillor, son of Potitus, who was a Romano-British priest. An old tradition makes his mother from the upper-class Gaulish family of Martin of Tours, though Patrick himself makes no such claim. According to his ''Confessio'', at the age of about sixteen Patrick was captured and taken to Ireland as a slavery to a Druidic chieftain named Milchu in Dalriada, County Antrim. Some speculate that Fochill in County Mayo is the more likely setting. Although he came from a Christian family, he was not particularly religious before his capture. However, his enslavement markedly strengthened his faith. He escaped at the age of twenty-two and returned to Britain after the death of his father, and later became one of the first Christianity missionaries in Ireland, being preceded by Palladius (died c.457/461). Britain at this time was undergoing turmoil following the withdrawal of Roman troops in 407 and Roman central authority in 410. Having been under the Roman cloak for over 350 years, the Romano-British were having to look after themselves. Populations were on the move on the European continent, and the recently converted Christian Britain was being colonised by pagan Anglo-Saxons. ==Mission== His first converted patron was Dichu, who made a gift of a large ''sabhall'' (barn) for a church sanctuary. This first sanctuary dedicated by St Patrick became in later years his chosen retreat. A monastery and church were erected there, and there Patrick died; the site, Saul County Down, retains the name ''Sabhall'' (pronounced "Sowel"). Patrick set up his Episcopal see at Armagh and organized the church into territorial sees, as elsewhere in the West and East. While Patrick encouraged the Irish to become monks and nuns, it is not certain that he was a monk himself; it is even less likely that in his time the monastery became the principal unit of the Irish Church, although it was in later periods. The choice of Armagh may have been determined by the presence of a powerful king. There Patrick had a school and presumably a small ''familia'' in residence; from this base he made his missionary journeys. There seems to have been little contact with the Palladian Christianity of the southeast. The story of the annual vernal fire that was to be lit by the High King of Ireland at Tara, Ireland, when all the fires were extinguished, to be renewed from the sacred fire from Tara, and of Patrick's rival, miracle inextinguishable ''Christian'' bonfire on the hill of Slane at the opposite end of the valley, is famous among his many exploits. The season was associated with Easter by chroniclers who followed Patrick's own account in his ''Confessio.'' Patrick was not the first Christian missionary to Ireland, as men such as Secundus and Palladius were active there before him. However, tradition accords him the most impact, and his missions seem to have been concentrated in the provinces of Ulster and Connaught which had never received Christians before. He established the Catholic Church throughout Ireland on lasting foundations: he travelled throughout the country preaching, teaching, building churches, opening schools and monasteries, converting chiefs and bards, and everywhere supporting his preaching with miracles. He threw down the idol of Crom Cruach in Leitrim. Patrick wrote that he daily expected to be violently killed or enslaved again. His ''Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus'' protested British slave trading and the slaughter of a group of Irish Christians by Coroticus's raiding Christian Welshmen, and is the first surely identified literature of the British or Celtic Church (see [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick#Letter_to_the_Soldiers_of_Coroticus_.28c.450.3F.29] Wikiquote). Patrick gathered many followers, including Saint Benignus, who would become his successor. His chief concerns were the raising up of native clergy, and abolishing paganism, idolatry, and sun-worship. He made no distinction of classes in his preaching and was himself ready for imprisonment or death. Pious legend credits Patrick with banishing snakes from the island, though some suggest that for climatic reasons post-glacial Ireland never actually had snakes; one suggestion is that ''snakes'' referred to the serpent symbolism of the Druids of that time and place, as shown for instance on coins minted in Gaul (see Carnutes), or that it could have referred to heretical beliefs such as Pelagianism, symbolized as "serpents". Legend also credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a three-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian dogma of 'three divine persons in the one god' (as opposed to the Arianism heresy that was popular in Patrick's time). In his use of Scripture and eschatological expectations, Patrick was typical of the 5th-century bishop. One of the traits which he retained as an old man was a consciousness of his being an unlearned exile and former slave and fugitive, who learned to trust God completely. Patrick died in 493 AD according to the latest reconstruction of the old Irish annals. It is believed that March 17 was his death date (according to the ''Encyclopedia Britannica'') and it is the date popularly associated with him as his Feast Day, known as St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick is also patron of Nigeria, which was evangelized primarily by Irish clergy, especially priests from Saint Patrick's Missionary Society (also known as the Kiltegan Missionaries). ==The cult of Patrick== Two of Patrick's biographers, Muirchú and Tírechán are believed to have contributed to the cult of Patrick whereby they overemphasize Patrick's dealings with the church of Armagh to make their stronghold as the head church of Ireland more effective. They wrote ''Life of Patrick'' and ''Memoir of Patrick'' in the late seventh century. ==See also== Cathedral of Saint Patrick, Saint Patrick Parish, St. Patrick's Purgatory ==External links== *[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/patrick/confession.all.html The Confession of St Patrick] *[http://catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=89 St Patrick] *[http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintp01.htm Saint Patrick] *[http://www.stpatrickfathers.org/Saint_Patrick/St_Patrick_Life.html Fr. Ciaran Needham SPS, "Saint Patrick's Life"] *[http://www.cs.tcd.ie/Dan.McCarthy/chronology/synchronisms/annals-chron.htm Evidence regarding date of birth] *[http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Patrick/default.asp The Real St. Patrick and Celtic Spirituality] *[http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/stpatricksday/index.jsp?page=patrick Who Was St. Patrick?] 5th century births 490s deaths Saints History of Ireland Ancient Britons Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic archbishops Sub-Roman Britain ga:Naomh Pádraig simple:Saint Patrick Saint Patrick==St. Patrick: Fact and Fiction== What are the sources for the following statments? *1 - ''"born Patricius Magonus Sucatus"'' *2 - ''" seems to have studied at the monastery of Lérins on the Côte d'Azur from 412 to 415 ...He spent the next 15 years at Auxerre were he became a disciple of Saint Germanus of Auxerre and was ordained possibly about 417."'' *3 - ''"Saint Germanus consecrated Patrick bishop about 431, and sent him to Ireland to succeed Saint Palladius, the first bishop, who had died earlier that year. "'' *4 - ''"There was some contact with the pope. Patrick visited Rome in 442 and 444. "'' *5 - ''"Popular devotion to Patrick began in France, long before Sucat received the noble title of Patricius"'' These and other statments seriously mar what is otherwise a fairly good and reasonably well written article. Also the chronology implicit in them is all over the place. The fact of the matter is that no one know for sure what the dates of Patrick's life are; those of 461 (arriving in Ireland) and 491 (death) are estimates arrived at only after decades of discussion. Will whoever rewrote this article please show the basis for including these statments. Thank you. User:Fergananim I've re-revised the article ''again'' in line with what I wrote above, for the simple reason that Pcassidy reverted back to his version ''again'' without citing sources for statments I take issue with. I dislike doing this unilaterally because it is against the spirit of wikipedia, but it seems I have to draw attention to this in some manner other than being polite. User:Fergananim, 18:52 pm, 18th April 2005. * I did? Where? I just checked through my edits and all I can find is reverts of blatant vandalism and one weird edit (documented below). I also reverted "confession" -> "confessio" in the last two weeks or so - is this what you are referring to? - User:PcassidyUser_talk:Pcassidy 18:11, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) *Hello Pete, glad to hear from you. The basic issues I have with the article as you wrote it - forgive me if I have mistaken you for another editor - are outlined above. I have no problem whatsoever with them being included in an article concerning Pat, so long as they are placed under some heading along the lines of "Speculations about St. Patrick". Because we know so very little about Patrick I really feel it is vital to seperate facts, speculation and hagiography. And - I mean no offense - much of what I have outlined above falls under the latter two categorys. Thank you for your time. User:Fergananim, 22:08, 15th April 2005. *: OOokay. You have me confused with someone else, I suspect. I've no comments really re. the points of contention above, as I didn't add them. - User:PcassidyUser_talk:Pcassidy 22:21, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) * Okay, cheers. Sorry for that! User:Fergananim == Not NPOV == This article presents a great deal of speculative and controversial information as plain fact. For example, I don't believe it's remotely possible to say authoritatively that "His father was Calpornius, a deacon, son of Potitus, who was Romano-British". :The ''Confessio'', listed in the External links, begins "I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the settlement [vicus] of Bannavem Taburniae..." I'll check to make a footnote in the entry. --User:Wetman 11:17, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC) Hmmm... the article currently starts with :''Saint Patrick (circa 373 - March 17, 461) is the patron saint of Ireland. He was born around 385 in Caledonia, probably at Kilpatrick.'' (emphasis added) The last two external links give 387 to 390 as the date of birth... which of these three is correct? (I don't think "circa 373" and "around 385" are the same thing.) User:Lupo 14:07, 2 Feb 2004 (UTC) 387 to 390 sounds like circa 385 to me, so lets pick that. -- User:Derek Ross Re: Dalriada According to my sources, the Irish kingdom in Co. Antrim was called Dal Riada. Irish seafarers (called Scotti) carried colonizers from that county to establish the kingdom of Dalriada in Argyll in northern Britain, in what would later become Scotland. -- Larry Gross Big disparity with the birth dates - why is it now "circa 420s"? -- User:Ian Schorr ==Baptist vs. Catholic POV stuff== Whatever did 192.31.106.34 do to the page tonight? Deleted legit links and added a major Baptist spin on a reasonably NPOV article? What's up with *that*?? Discussion of trans-vs-con- substantiation don't really belong in a biog. such as this. It reads like a Baptist sermon (which I'm familiar with). Recommend reversion. I've already rv'd the deleted links - that's just vandalism! User:Pcassidy 22:38, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC) Furthermore, large chunks were C&P'd from; http://www.calvaryroadbaptist.org/Article%20-%20St.%20Patrick%20A%20Baptist.htm and various other sites. User:Pcassidy 22:50, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC) :I reverted it as it was basically a POV rant about how Patrick was a Baptist and all the Catholics are wrong, nyaah nyaah. Biased, preachy, irrelevant. I'm neither Catholic nor Baptist, BTW User:Pcassidy 14:49, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC) I thought Baptists were a Protestant group that originated many centuries later. What's going on? User:Michael Hardy 03:55, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC) They argue that in fact they predate Martin Luther and Protestantism and were an underground church.User:GordyB 10:48, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) == NPOV == Could someone please clean this article up? Specifically: one way or the other, could someone with sources and citations please clear up whether or not St. Patrick killed pagans.(Anon.) :"NPOV", so abused at Wikipedia, actually means "Neutral point-of-view." --User:Wetman 15:47, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC) == categories == * would that qualify for 2 "death year" categories? I don't know wikipedia's position on unreliable death dates. (User:Clemmy 20:54, 1 May 2005 (UTC)) See other meanings of words starting from letter: SSB | SC | SD | SE | SF | SG | SH | SI | SJ | SK | SL | SM | SN | SO | SP | SR | SS | ST | SU | SW | SX | SY | SZ |Words begining with Saint_Patrick: Saint_Patrick Saint_Patrick Saint_Patrick's Saint_Patrick's_Basilica_(Montreal) Saint_Patrick's_Battalion Saint_Patrick's_Cathedral Saint_Patrick's_Cathedral,_Dublin Saint_Patrick's_Catholic_Cathedral,_Armagh Saint_Patrick's_Church_(Benton,_WI) Saint_Patrick's_Church_(Benton,_Wisconsin) Saint_Patrick's_Church_(Dubuque) Saint_Patrick's_Day Saint_Patrick's_Day Saint_Patrick's_Protestant_Cathedral,_Armagh Saint_Patrick's_Purgatory Saint_Patrick_Catholic_Church_in_Honolulu Saint_Patrick_Parish Saint_Patrick_Parish,_Grenada Saint_Patrick_Seminary,_Menlo_Park |
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