17/03/2026
03/17: REMEMBERING ST. PATRICK - Missionary to Ireland!
St. Patrick was born toward the close of the fourth century, about AD 389, in a village called Bonaven Taberniae, which seems to be the town of Kilpatrick, at the mouth of the River Clyde in Scotland, between Dumbarton and Glasgow. He calls himself both a Briton and a Roman, or of mixed extraction, and says his father was of a good family named Calphurnius, a denizen of a neighboring Roman city, which was abandoned not long after in 409. Some writers call his mother Conchessa and say she was a niece of St. Martin of Tours.
In his sixteenth year, he was carried into captivity by certain barbarians as a slave into Ireland, where he was obliged to keep cattle on the mountains and in the forests, in hunger and nakedness, amidst snow, rain, and ice. Some modern scholarship tends to differ from this specific job description, arguing that he was sent to herd pigs, where he served for six years and pondered his fate and his faith. Led by a dream, he escaped his captivity and headed toward the sea. Since he had no money to pay for a voyage and would not submit to the sailors’ lewd suggestions, he almost despaired. The sailors relented and let the young man cross back with them.
He finally made his way to France, where he became a monk and a priest. Elevated to be a bishop, he returned to the land of his captivity about 433 to set his captors free from their slavery to idolatry. In this labor he spent the rest of his days. He preached the Gospel throughout the land, where the worship of idols still generally reigned. He devoted himself entirely to the salvation of these barbarians. He traveled over the whole island, penetrating into the remotest corners, and such was the fruit of his preaching and sufferings that he baptized an infinite number of people. He took nothing from the many thousands whom he baptized and gave back the little presents which some laid on the altar, choosing rather to mortify the fervent than to scandalize the weak or the unbelievers. He gave freely of his own, however, both to pagans and Christians, distributed large alms to the poor in the provinces where he passed, made presents to kings, judging that necessary for the progress of the Gospel, and maintained and educated many children whom he trained up to serve at the altar. In his great CONFESSION, he wrote, “This is how we can repay such blessings: when our lives change and we come to know God, to praise and bear witness to His great wonders before every nation under heaven.” The happy success of his labors cost him many persecutions.
A true confessor of the orthodox faith, particularly of the Holy Trinity, “Three in One and One in Three,” throughout his missionary years. His favorite hymn which he wrote was on the Holy Trinity. Some might ask, did he die singing his hymn? A hymn which we confessional Lutherans cherish so much:
1 “I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
2 I bind this day to me forever,
By pow'r of faith, Christ's incarnation,
His Baptism in the Jordan River,
His cross of death for my salvation,
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom,
I bind unto myself today.
3 I bind unto myself today
The pow'r of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to harken to my need,
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The Word of God to give me speech,
His heav'nly host to be my guard.
4 Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile foes that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In ev'ry place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me those holy pow'rs.
5 I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three,
Of whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word.
Praise to the Lord of my salvation;
Salvation is of Christ the Lord!”
(LSB 604).
His episcopal seat was said to be at Armagh.
March 17, is generally regarded as the day of his death, hence we remember him on this day.
POINTS TO PONDER
• Are missionaries truly proclaiming the Crucifixion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, or merely contextualizing the idolatrous state in the communities we serve?
• Are missionaries and ministers actually interested in the lost souls of Africa or in our enlightened self-interest?
• By the instrumentality of St. Patrick, is the Faith as fresh and unadulterated in Ireland, even in the cold twenty-first century, as when it was first planted? What about in your own neck of the woods, is it still fresh and unadulterated as when it was first planted?
• Aha! Lent, a period of fasting, prayer and “Almsgiving:” what a fitting period to commemorate St. Patrick, who, rather than taking from the poor, gave to the poor. “Jesus gives us what will enable us to give; the devil gives us what will enable us to take.”
• Pray that the Lord grant us the strength and courage to prefer the loss of every earthly good to the least compromise in matters of faith.
COLLECT OF THE DAY
Faithful God, You never cease to give to Your Church those who delight in carrying the Gospel to foreign lands. Receive our thanks this day for Your servant Patrick, who carried the saving name of Jesus to Ireland and summoned its people to abandon idolatry and worship You, the only true God, the blessed Trinity. Strengthen today all missionaries, that they may fearlessly bear Your name and summon all sinners into the joy of forgiveness and the promise of resurrection; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
