Saul

When Saint Patrick first came to Ireland as a missionary, he landed at Saul where he converted the chieftain Dichu. Dichu then gave him a barn to hold services (in Gaelic, Sabhail, which became Saul). In 1933 the church above was built to commemorate Saint Patrick's first church. It is a Church of Ireland (Episcopal) and service is held there still on Sunday mornings.

Saul is also supposed to be the site of Saint Patrick's death on March 17 in the year 461 AD.

These pictures are from inside the church.

Below I'm signing the guestbook.

The feeling I experienced when I walked inside the church is hard to explain--peaceful, calming. It was almost as though I could sense the centuries of worshippers who came to that place.

Saul is near the ruins of Saint Tassach's church at Raholp. Tassach was a disciple of Saint Patrick, and was supposedly the one who was with Patrick when he died at Saul. This is supposed to be one of Ireland's earliest Christian buildings, although I haven't yet discovered just old it is supposed to be. The earliest churches were probably built of wood and thus did not survive.

The church at Saul, like so many of the holy sites, is built atop a wind swept hill with a magnificent view. The picture below takes in part of that view. In the distance you can see the gigantic statue of Saint Patrick. (It's the stick like thing sticking up on the hill far in the distance.) You can read more about that statue here. We did not visit this time, but it's on our list for next time.

If you get to Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, be sure to visit the church at Saul.

Festival!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of appearing at the Dayton Celtic Festival. I had a wonderful time and talked to so many really interesting people--even met some old friends. I grew up near Dayton. Tom and I moved away 11 years ago.

I spoke about the three patron saints of Ireland. Did you know there were three? Some people knew and some didn't, so I taught them a poem to help them remember. It's a poem that school children in Ireland recite:

In Downpatrick, one grave, three saints do fill
Patrick, Brigid, and Columcille.

There is a gravesite in Downpatrick where it is believed that these three saints are buried. We cannot say for sure that their remains are there, but it's the traditional site, pictured below.


I shared a favorite legend about each patron saint. I'll share the one about Patrick with you today, and then later this week I'll talk about Brigid and Columcille.

Patrick was born in the 4th century in Roman Britain. Where? We don't know for sure. We know that it was somewhere in the Roman areas of Britain--Wales, Scotland, or England. I've come to the conclusion that where you believe he was born has something to do with your own country of origin (or where your ancestral roots are.)

Patrick was captured as a slave off the coast, a common practice in those days--slave raids took place on both sides of the Irish Sea. He was sold to a master who put him to work as a shepherd. He spent many lonely days and nights tending the animals, and, according to his Confession, he grew ever closer to God. One day God directed him to a boat (he had to walk 200 miles to the coast) and he escaped and returned back to his homeland. (It was an arduous journey, but I'm giving you the short version.) He continued his religious training and became a bishop. One night he had a dream. A man bearing letters appeared to him and handed him one. It read, "The Voice of the Irish." Then he heard a multitude of voices speaking as if one, saying, "Come back, we beg you, and walk among us once again." He went back to the land where he had been enslaved, and the rest, as they say, is history. Within 200 years a country that had been entirely pagan, became almost entirely Christian, and without bloodshed (as we would see later in the Crusades, for example.)

That's the brief version, but you can use it now to impress your friends. St. Patrick, the most revered Irish saint, wasn't Irish after all! But more importantly, what a wonderful example he was. He went willingly back to his place of enslavement to minister to the people, many of whom he was sure were out to kill him. And what a difference that decision made. Not convinced? Read Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization and ask yourself what the world might be like if Patrick hadn't listened to "the voice of the Irish."

Still Thinking About St. Patrick

photo via creative commons
by Chris Fifield-Smith

Even though St. Patrick's Day was last week, there is still plenty to contemplate when thinking about the life and ministry of this ancient saint. One of things that impresses me is his prayers. When he was kidnapped from his home as a teenager, he says in his Confession that he was not a Christian. He had been raised in a Christian home in an area of Britain where the Christian church survived, but he says that he did not at that time follow God's precepts. He was taken away to a pagan land where he was made to work as a shepherd, alone and without any counsel. And yet, this is where he found God.

How many times have we heard stories about people in a crisis calling on God? Perhaps we've even experienced it ourselves. Maybe it was a ship wreck, or a serious illness, or some other physical danger. I wonder how many of these people would continue to cry out to God if their prayers were not immediately answered. What if it took six years? That's how long Patrick prayed before God showed him how to escape. And during those long, lonely years, he found himself growing ever closer to God. He says:

"...I used to pasture the flock each day and I used to pray many times a day. More and more did the love of God, and my fear of him and faith increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day [I said] from one up to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number."

The prayer not only got him through that time and delivered him, the process drew him closer to God and strengthened his faith. I wonder...if it were me, would I give up long before the end of six years? Especially if I had no faith at the beginning? God rewards faithfulness, and he rewarded Patrick's in a way that blessed us all even these many hundreds of years later.

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Blog Tour

Several bloggers hosted me during the week of St. Patrick's Day. I thought I'd share the links here in case any of you would like to read them.

Small Leaf Shamrock (scroll down the page.)
Sunnybank Meanderings
Celtic Treasure by Liz Babbs
and again here
Cara Putman's blog
Nicole O'Dell's blog
Favorite PASTimes
Susan Miura's blog
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And finally, here's the photo of shamrocks growing in the wild in Ireland that I promised you last week.

photo via creative commons by IrishFireside