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To narrate in detail

either the whole story

of my labors or even parts

of it would take a long time.

So, I shall tell

you briefly how God,

the all-holy one, often

freed me from slavery

and from 12 dangers

which threatened my life,

as well as from many

snares and from things

which I am unable

to express in words.

To find

the real St. Patrick,

you have to peel back

centuries of legend and myth.

There's the image

- of him driving out
- snakes from Ireland.

- The bishop
- with the miter

And the staff and the crozier.

He's also associated

very strongly

with the shamrock.

And then

Shamrock gives us green.

- People
- think he's Irish

When in fact he's British.

Most of the preconception

- that we've got
- about St. Patrick

Actually is completely wrong.

Most of what we

know about the real Patrick

comes from his own

5th century letter,

known as the Confessio

or Confession.

It is one of the earliest

surviving documents

in Irish history.

"I, Patrick, a sinner,

least faithful of many."

Those are the words that

begin the history of Ireland.

I am Patrick.

I am a sinner,

the most unsophisticated

of people;

the least among

all the Christians;

and, to some, the

most contemptible.

Patrick was writing

his message to people

who had allowed him to come

here to Ireland as a missionary.

There's various controversies

that become associated

with Patrick and he's defending

his good name and character.

Even if

I am imperfect in many things

I want my brothers and

relatives to know

the sort of man

I am, so that they

may understand

what it is to which I

have committed my soul.

Again Patrick.

Shouldn't we

wait and see what happens?

I understand the plight,

but we still must collect.

- I am
- the son of deacon Calpornius,

As he was the son of the

priest Potitus who belonged

to the village of

Bannavem Taburniae.

Bannavem Taburniae

was a village located

somewhere along the

western coast of Britain,

which at the time was

part of the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire

was disintegrating.

The legions were called

back to Rome to defend it

against the barbarians.

As the Roman administration

and structures shrank

in Britain it allowed

for local leaders

to come to the fore.

All the gold coins first.

Yes.

We stack them here.

- One of those
- leaders was Patrick's father,

Whom he also describes

as a Decurion.

- You understand?
- Yes.

- The
- Decurions are basically

The local Roman civil service.

In other words,

they keep the tax books.

But if there was a shortfall,

then it had to come out

of their own resources.

So, we find that in

the late Roman Empire,

a lot of these people

began to join the church

because they had an exemption

or at least a tax rebate,

shall we say.

Patrick says,

- "We didn't pay
- too much attention

"to our religion," et cetera.

- It would suggest that his
- people were Christian,

Of course, but you

know, money counts.

The blood of Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Would you like some prunes?

- These
- people were well off.

- They had a villa
- outside the town.

- They had male and
- female slaves.

Slave!

Enjoy the bread.

He would have been

taught to read and write,

not only so that he could

take over the clerical aspect

of his parents,

but the tax aspect,

which would have

required literacy.

Much better.

Patrick

had a bright future.

But living on the edge of the

Roman Empire was dangerous.

11!

All right, here we go!

Patrick was taken

captive by Irish raiders.

- The reason
- they didn't kill him

Was that he was valuable.

- Slaves are a
- valuable commodity.

- He probably
- thought that he would

- Never see his home again,
- never see his parents,

Never see his family.

It was a one-way

ticket to the unknown.

Patrick

endured a dangerous voyage

across the sea to the

eastern coast of Ireland.

The Roman Britain view

was Ireland was a place

of Barbarians at the

end of the world.

Clearly at this point

there is some sort of market

for British slaves in Ireland.

And Patrick himself tells

us that there are many,

many of his countrymen

who are also slaves

in Ireland as well.

Get going, boy!

Celtic people did not work

with slaves the same way

that the Romans did.

- They treated their slaves
- pretty badly, like cattle,

And would've worked

you until you died.

Particularly

as a non-Irish slave,

he would have been at an

even greater disadvantage

because he wouldn't have been

recognized almost as a person.

Presumably it is a sort of

meant-to-be slavery for life.

We had

pulled back from God;

we did not keep

his commandments;

and we did not listen

to our priests who kept

on warning us regarding

our salvation.

And so the Lord poured

upon us the heat

of his anger and dispersed

us among many peoples right

out to the very

ends of the earth,

where now my utter

insignificance

is seen among these

men of an alien land.

He begins to

conclude that this has happened

because I deserved it

basically and this happened

to shake me out of my

complacency and to shake me

out of a way of

life I was living,

- in which God didn't
- matter for me.

- The idea
- that he was now a slave,

It's the world

turned upside down.

- I
- remained in death and unbelief

Until I was truly

punished and, in truth,

brought low by daily

deprivations of

hunger and nakedness.

- There would have
- been raiding parties

Learning military tactics

and they had to go off

and get the head of a

person from another tribe.

So these were dangerous people,

- they were dangerous to
- their own people as well.

And it was under those

conditions that he began

to reflect upon

himself, his life,

and his relationship with

God and the other world.

There the

Lord opened my understanding

to my unbelief,

so that however late,

I might become conscious

of my failings.

Then remembering

my need, I might turn

with all my heart

to the Lord my God.

For it was He who looked

after me before I knew Him.

Indeed, as a father

consoles his son,

so He protected me.

He's learning that God

is a father he can trust,

- and who wants
- what's best for him.

Then something began in him

that was destined to continue.

I tended sheep every day,

and I prayed frequently

during the day.

And more and more,

the love of God

and the fear of Him

grew in me, and my faith

was increased and my

spirit was quickened,

so that in a day

I prayed up to 100 times,

and almost as many

in the night.

Indeed, I even

remained in the wood

and on the mountain to pray.

And come hail, rain or snow,

I was up before dawn to pray;

the Spirit was fervent in me.

- Something
- new is happening,

Something that hadn't

happened before.

That personal

relationship, the dimension

of a personal

relationship with God.

This sears his soul.

So much so that he describes it

almost as a

conversion experience.

Patrick's

zeal for God grew

so much that even though

he was starving, he fasted.

Fasting was the

way you demonstrated you

were really feeling

your prayer.

You were not just saying words.

It was there indeed,

that one night I heard a voice.

Patrick.

Well have you fasted.

Very soon you are to

travel to your homeland.

Behold, your ship is prepared.

I took flight, leaving the man

I had been bound

to for six years.

The ship was not nearby,

but maybe 200 miles away

where I had never been

and where I knew nobody.

When you

left your tribal group,

you were really going

into unknown territory

and you were losing

protection immediately.

The real challenge

was traveling through

Ireland as a foreigner.

- Although he could now
- speak the Irish language,

His accent and appearance

would give him away at once.

The biggest danger is

someone says, you're a slave.

- I'll find out
- where you come from

And I'll take you back

and I'll claim a reward.

I traveled in the power of God,

who directed my path towards

the good, and I feared nothing.

He wasn't afraid

because he had come to know God

whose plans for Patrick's life

were going to be worked out

and realized,

with Patrick's consent

and with Patrick's

cooperation in the Spirit.

In those days,

- Ireland was a patchwork quilt
- of little kingdoms.

There were no roads,

there were no towns.

- This would have
- been mainly bog land.

How would have Patrick

concealed himself?

- You have to
- think of him in terms

- Of the way prisoners
- of war have

To get back over

enemy territory.

You've got to be

fast on your feet,

fast with your tongue,

and keep your eyes wide open.

By being

fairly stealthful,

he could have worked his way

- to a point in
- which he knew there

Were ships leaving for Britain.

The ship was about to depart

on the very day I arrived.

I want to set sail with you.

By no means are

you coming with us!

Go on!

Go on!

I began to pray.

And before I finished

my prayer,

I heard one of

the crew shouting.

Come quickly!

Come on, we're

taking you on faith.

- Patrick was
- then asked to pledge himself

To the crew through

a Celtic tradition

that involved sucking

on their chests.

- These days we
- would shake hands.

In those days that

was a... a way of bonding

with each other to show that

you would be loyal to them.

He didn't want to do that

because he was Christian.

I can't.

Go on.

Move!

Despite this,

I stayed with them

but I hoped that some

of them would come

to faith in Jesus Christ,

for they were all pagans.

Give me that.

Put that on.

Load it.

And without further ado,

we got underway.

Come on, put

your back in it! Yah!

There must be a

tremendous sense of elation.

"Yes!

"This is right!

"I have had a vision,

I've followed God.

It's worked out."

The way

Patrick remembers it,

it's not his efforts

or his good luck,

but it's the grace of God.

We landed after three days

and for the next 28

days we made our way

through the wilderness.

Either the boat

gets blown off course,

they land beyond

the Roman frontiers,

or alternatively

the port they arrive

in may have been subject

to barbarian raiding

that's been laid-waste

in some way.

Maybe they

were going on a raid

and didn't want to be seen.

So, they land in a part of the

country far from habitation.

When their food ran out,

starvation overcame them.

So now Christian,

you explain to us

how we're in this bad state.

- Your God is great
- and all powerful,

So why are you not able

to pray for us?

We who are on the very

brink of starvation.

Turn in trust...

and with your whole heart

to the Lord,

my God to whom

nothing is impossible,

that today He may send

food to satisfy you

on your journey,

for He has abundance everywhere.

They made camp there

for two nights,

and they were well

restored, for many of them

had dropped out and had been

left half dead by the roadside.

And after this they

thanked God mightily,

and I became honorable

in their eyes.

That very night,

while I was sleeping,

Satan strongly tried me.

Something like an enormous

rock fell on top of me

and I lost all

power over my limbs.

In his distress,

- Patrick says
- he called on Elias.

Elias in

Latin means Elijah.

And there are a number

of people who believe

it's a parallel with Christ

on the cross who calls out

"Eli Eli" as he was dying.

Elias!

- Elias!
- Elias!

Behold the sun's

splendor fell on me

and dispelled immediately all

the heaviness from upon me.

And I believe that Christ,

my Lord assisted

me and his Spirit

had already cried

out through me.

As we traveled,

the Lord looked after us

with food, fire and

dry shelter each day.

And on the very night

we reached humanity,

we had no food left.

- We're looking
- for food and lodging.

Can you show us where?

Can you take us?

For Patrick,

finding civilization

only led to more problems.

I was

once again taken captive.

Take him.

On the very first night

I was with them,

I received a divine revelation.

Patrick, you will

remain with them for two

months.

On the 60th night,

this is exactly what happened.

The Lord freed me

from their hands.

Patrick?

Patrick.

My son.

Patrick!

He's alive.

You're alive.

Thank God.

We thought you were dead.

Of all of the many

slaves that were taken

from the Roman Empire,

we know the name of only one

that was taken and

escaped, Patrick.

They gave me a son's welcome,

and in good faith, begged me,

after all those great

tribulations I had been through,

that I should go nowhere,

nor ever leave them.

Get you some bread!

The Patrick who returned

to them was very different

than the Patrick that had left,

and his experiences

had changed him so much

- as an individual that he
- was no longer interested

In going back to the

life as he had it.

You're home Patrick.

You're home.

Soon

after his return,

Patrick had another vision.

A man

named Victoricus arrived

from Ireland with

countless letters.

He gave me one of them and I

began to read what was in it.

In all probability

it was someone

that Patrick knew from Ireland.

The voice of the Irish?

At that very moment,

I thought I heard

the voice of those

around the Wood of Foclut which

is close to the Western Sea.

'O Holy Boy...

- We beg you
- to come again...

And walk among us.

I was brokenhearted

and could not read

anything more.

And at that moment I woke up!

That transforms Patrick.

That is his call

to be a missionary.

I was not quick in accepting

what He had made clear to me

and the Spirit reminded me.

And the Lord

was merciful to me thousands

upon thousands of times

because He saw what was

within me and that I was ready

- but I did not know
- what I should do

About the state of my life.

The blood of Christ Jesus.

We beg you to come

again and walk among us.

Amen.

Can I speak with you?

No one in Christianity

before the 16th century

thinks you

- can just have a ministry because
- you just have a ministry.

You have to think of

ministry through the ministry

of the church.

What brings you here?

I wish to be a cleric.

- Patrick
- had to work his way

Up the ranks to become

a bishop.

Bishops can ordain priests

so you can create a hierarchy

that will survive

after your death.

You have to have a bishop in

order to establish a Church.

Amen.

The style

of formation training

would have been mentoring

in basic responsibilities

of how to celebrate

the liturgy,

pastoral duties towards people,

preaching, sacramental

celebration.

I'm here to learn

about the Lord.

There are many scrolls.

It's believed that Patrick's

- apprenticeship took him
- to Gaul, Northern France,

For a time.

- It would
- have been the equivalent

Of going from

Alaska to New York.

If he wanted to meet

lots of other Christians

whom he could talk

to about theology

and about faith

and about belief,

then Gaul would be

the place to go.

Of course it was

always, you know.

- During
- his training,

Patrick developed

a close friendship

with a young clergyman in

whom he felt he could confide.

Felix.

I am a sinner.

I must confess what I have done.

Once when I was anxious

and worried I hinted

to my dearest friend

about something I

had done one day,

indeed in one hour of my youth,

for I had not then

prevailed over my sinfulness

and I was not a believer

in the true God.

Many have tried to guess

- what Patrick's boyhood
- sin might have been.

Some say it was immorality.

Others, idolatry

or even murder.

But the truth is

that no one knows,

- because Patrick
- doesn't tell us.

Am I ever to be forgiven?

You are forgiven.

Patrick.

Patrick!

You have a visitor.

Felix.

Patrick.

Please, help yourself.

What is it that brings

you all the way out here?

It appears that you are to

be given the rank of bishop.

I am unworthy.

It is the will of the elders.

This is quite a surprise.

I'm not sure I...

- I am expected in
- Cardiff by nightfall.

I must go.

Of course.

Wait!

Amen.

Go in peace, friend.

Many were forbidding

my mission.

Behind my back, they

were telling stories.

To Ireland?

- Well, why would
- this man put himself

In danger among enemies

who do not know God?

For what reason?

- People thought
- that this mission was crazy,

- The Irish people were
- beyond redemption,

That even the Roman Empire

had not gone that far,

and that his efforts

to Christianize Ireland

were doomed to failure.

- They're savages!
- These heathen!

- Patrick really
- believes that if he preaches

To the end of the earth this

will complete God's mission

and will usher in

the Second Coming,

which Patrick presumably

hoped would happen

in his lifetime and maybe even

as a result of his activities.

Against all odds,

Patrick was eventually

permitted

to return to Ireland

as a missionary bishop.

- While the British
- Church most likely

Funded the mission continually,

some scholars

believe that Patrick

paid the initial cost himself.

He sells his nobility,

- which I take to be a
- reference to him selling,

Essentially his inheritance.

- It's almost like a
- form of seed funding,

Which will enable him

to get to Ireland.

I imagine that Patrick's

parents had fully expected him

to take on the role, as maybe

the heir of the family.

He would have been

opting out of any

responsibility

for running estates, et cetera.

This does not

have to be, Patrick.

It is the will of God.

For the journey.

Many gifts were

offered to me with sorrow

and tears and I offended them

and went against the will

of some of my elders.

Father.

It was not my grace,

but God who conquered in me

and who resisted them all

that I might come to the Irish

nations to preach the gospel.

In terms of the

challenge of it,

it was just awesome.

He didn't know what he

faced, possible death

and persecution, more

slavery, imprisonment.

- Patrick
- was not the first bishop

To be sent to Ireland.

He was preceded by a

man named Palladius

who had been sent by

the pope a year earlier.

Palladius is most

likely ministering

to a slave community

and to traders.

So, there were Christians

in Ireland, and in fact,

Patrick never assumes

that he converts people

from nothing to Christianity.

According

to the Annals of Ulster,

Patrick arrived in Ireland

sometime in AD 432.

Exactly where he

went is not known.

But we do know that

according to Irish law,

Patrick was still a fugitive.

Probably he stayed

far away from the places

that he had been enslaved.

You get a constant sense that

Patrick is living on his wits.

He seems to be pervaded

by the spirit of mission

that is taking him beyond

and abroad bringing the gospel

where it had not reached

before out to the very edge,

out to the very

periphery of Ireland.

He seems to have this

collective consciousness

of the Irish as a nation,

so that leaves him free

to go wherever those Irish

people are to be found.

He's responding just

purely on faith that God

- would take him where
- he wanted him to go

And where he would

give witness.

Patrick was equipped for

the job because he would

- have been able to
- communicate to the Irish

And bring Christianity by

talking to them more or less

in their own tongue.

Evangelizing the Irish

- would prove to be
- a challenging task.

Although Christianity was

present in parts of Ireland,

the country was

predominantly pagan.

Though I am not from this

land, I spent many years here.

- And I have returned
- with a message.

What is the message you bring?

If you let me inside,

I will tell you.

It's a big deal

if you become a Christian

because you're changing a

set of gods for one God.

- You're buying into a
- different calendar.

You're changing the

people you associate with.

It's far more like

thinking of someone

who lives in a completely

Buddhist society

becoming a Christian.

And the prophet Hosea says,

"Those who were not my

people I will call my people,

and her who was not beloved

I will call my beloved.

And in the very place

where it was said to them,

you are not my people,

they will be called

sons of the living God."

Who among you heeds the call?

The content of

his message is not doomsday.

It's preaching the love

of God, and how others

can come to know God as

a person-loving father,

just as he did.

Truly it

is our task to cast our nets

and catch a great multitude

and crowd for God;

to make sure that there

are clergy everywhere

to baptize and preach

to a people who are in need.

Baptism for early

Christians was the moment

of commitment when you

became a true Christian.

And it was believed in the

early Church that baptism

was the one point in your life

when your sins were washed away.

For the Irish,

- baptism had a
- deeper significance

Because of their mythology.

Water was

associated with kingship.

These waters all flowed

together, entered the ocean,

and returns as rain and

falls upon the earth

creating the great

cycle of life.

Having baptisms, having

these public rituals

in which people

identify as Christians

is really powerful and is

probably one that transfers

over quite easily

and is something

which the pagans

could also understand

and could see its significance.

And I am greatly

in God's debt.

He has given me a great grace,

that through me many

people might be reborn

and later brought

to perfection.

And also, that from among

them everywhere clerics

should be ordained

to serve this people,

who have but recently

come to belief.

And again,

"Go into all the world

and preach the gospel

to every creature.

He who believes and is

baptized will be saved.

He who does not believe

will be condemned."

Now go.

Patrick's ministry

was extremely effective.

Each time a new

priest was ordained,

then you had the

center of a community.

He was trying to

create small communities

of Christians because

that is how Christianity

spread through the Roman Empire.

As Patrick's ministry grew,

he trained other clerics

to continue his work

and went on to the

next community.

- As that went on
- year after year after year,

His mission was

extremely successful.

And so it shall be in the

last days, says the Lord,

that I will pour out my

Spirit upon all flesh

and your sons and your

daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men

shall see visions,

and your old men

shall dream dreams;

and indeed, in that

time on my manservants

and my maidservants I

will pour out my Spirit;

and they shall prophesy.

The bread of heaven

in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

How has this

happened in Ireland?

Never before did they know

of God except to serve idols

and unclean things.

Yet recently, what a change.

Christianity was

beginning to take hold.

That's the transformation

he marvels at.

And he's saying, "Listen,

don't believe the evidence

of my word only,

look what's happening."

They have become

a prepared people of the Lord,

and they are now

called sons of God.

And the Irish leaders'

sons and daughters

are seen to become the

monks and virgins of Christ.

- But while
- Patrick had great success

Among the pagans in Ireland,

he quickly lost favor

with the Church

back in Britain.

Patrick is preaching the

Gospel in a way very different

to the way other Christians

are preaching

the Gospel in Ireland.

- There were rules
- and stipulations

By the church at the time.

Bishops were not to stray out

beyond their own dioceses or

own areas of responsibility.

In Patrick we see

something different.

- It's also believed
- that Patrick ministered

In the Irish language

instead of Latin

- and established
- many monasteries

For the ordination

of uneducated people.

I mean, who is this

man to do such things?

And who does he think he is?

Patrick's

superiors started digging

for anything they could

find to discredit him.

On one occasion,

a blessed Irish woman

of noble birth whom I had

baptized came back to us.

I must see Patrick.

What brings you here, child?

I received a divine

revelation from a messenger

of God who advised me to

become a virgin of Christ.

Thanks be to God.

If a woman decides to

become a virgin, a female monk,

she can only do that with

the permission of her father.

They have brought this

girl up and this girl

is now no benefit to

the family at all.

- This, of
- course, is not to the liking

Of their fathers and they

have to suffer persecutions

and false accusations

from their parents.

God has called

me to serve Him.

Go home.

Yet despite this,

their number keeps increasing.

- Another
- challenge Patrick faced

Was protecting his Irish

converts from slave traders.

In his second writing,

the Epistola,

Patrick responds to the attacks

of a British warlord

named Coroticus.

He is a slaver who has

taken some of the people

that Patrick has

converted to Christianity.

And his men killed many

people because people

don't go willingly into slavery.

They are blood-stained;

blood-stained with the blood

of innocent Christians,

whose numbers I have

given birth to in God

and confirmed in Christ.

I sent a letter by a holy

priest, with clerics,

to ask that Coroticus

and his men return to us

some of the baptized

prisoners they had captured.

They scoffed at them.

The people who

were responsible for

the slaughter

of his newly baptized Christians

were nominally Christian,

which gives him the authority

to excommunicate them,

- to declare what
- was already true,

Basically the people who

are responsible for murder

- can no longer be
- called Christian.

Patrick, by

writing this letter,

is making a formal

statement, which says,

"Coroticus, unless you

change, you are damned.

And God will back

me on this one!"

The church mourns

and weeps for its

sons and daughters

who were taken away and

exported to far distant lands,

where grave sin openly

flourishes without shame,

where freeborn people

have been sold off,

Christians reduced to slavery.

I do not know what to say,

or how I can say any more,

about the children

of God who are dead,

whom the sword has

touched so cruelly.

All I can do is what is written:

"Weep with those who weep";

and again: "If one

member suffers pain,

let all the members

suffer the pain with it."

The evil of evil people

has prevailed over us.

We have been made as if we

were complete outsiders.

For them, it is a disgrace

that we are from Ireland.

He said, "They hate us

because we are Irish."

That's extraordinary.

That Patrick had come to

feel himself to be just

as Irish as his followers.

Let it be read

before all the people,

especially in the presence

of Coroticus himself.

God may inspire them to come

back to their right senses,

however late it may be.

- Unfortunately,
- we simply don't know

If Coroticus returned

any of the slaves.

And I think it's probably

unlikely that he did.

But simply that is

something that the sources

just don't show us.

I wish

to leave them to go to Britain.

I would willingly do this,

and I am prepared for this,

as if to visit my home

country and my parents.

Not only that, but I

would like to go to Gaul

to visit the brothers

and see the faces

of the saints of my Lord.

God knows what I would

dearly like to do.

But I am bound in the

Spirit, who assures me

that if I were to do this,

I would be held guilty.

And I fear, also, to lose

the work which I began,

not so much I, but Christ

the Lord, who told me

to come here to be

with these people

for the rest of my life.

Tell us this secret

you know about Patrick.

Patrick isn't the

man people think he is.

He's committed

unpardonable sins.

Tell me everything you know.

- As Patrick's
- mission expanded

Throughout Ireland,

he wandered between territories

owned by different tribes.

A lot of those tribes

were at war or at least

at rivalry with each other.

The whole country of Ireland

was certainly not unified.

Crossing

territorial boundaries

was dangerous.

The only people who were able

to travel freely were poets,

tribal leaders and their sons.

- Patrick talks about
- traveling with the sons

Of petty kings, probably

as a kind of bodyguard.

But also, as people he

was educating as he moved

about the countryside.

Every day there is the chance

that I will be killed,

surrounded, or taken

into slavery,

or some other such happening.

What brings you back, Roman?

We come in peace.

Sometimes I gave presents

to kings,

over and above the

wages I gave their sons

who traveled with me.

They're a bit like gangs.

He has to pay protection money.

- And of course,
- that is always going to be seen

As problematic,

because it's no more than

greasing the wheels.

Is this all?

Take him.

On that day

they avidly sought to kill me.

Enough!

But the time had not yet come.

Still they looted us,

took everything of value,

and bound me in iron.

On the 14th day,

the Lord set me free

from their power; all our

possessions were returned

to us for God's sake

and for the sake of the close

friendship we had previously.

This is who we

confess and adore,

One God in

Trinity of sacred name.

Amen.

- He'd make
- a congregation.

- He'd go to the next
- little place where

They didn't

like the look of him,

- and the same thing would
- happen all over again.

So he's imprisoned many times.

- Patrick
- also had to strike deals

With a group of people

he calls judges.

- Patrick,
- very interestingly,

Does not say

who the judges are.

I think he's making

deals with local druids,

that he's asking

them for safe passage

through their territories.

- He's probably asking
- them for permission

To engage in preaching.

- The druids
- were a powerful force

In fifth century Ireland.

These Celtic religious leaders

were part of a pagan priesthood

that supervised sacred rites,

presided over public

and private disputes,

and were said to be prophets.

I suppose they would

have been the people

- that Patrick would
- have been facing.

They would have been the rivals

to Patrick's new ministry.

You do get the impression

- that there must have
- been many clashes.

Legend has it

that such a clash happened

on the Hill of Slane.

Patrick's seventh century

biographer Muirchú

tells how Patrick opposed the

druids, and defied a king.

They held

and celebrated their

pagan feast

on the same night on which

holy Patrick celebrated Easter.

They also had a custom, which

was announced to all publicly,

that whoever lit a fire on

that night before it was lit

in the king's house,

would have forfeited his life.

It shone in the

night and it was seen

by almost all of the people

who lived in the plain,

and as they saw it they all

gazed at it and wondered.

Who is the man who has dared

to do such a wicked thing

in my kingdom?

We do not know

who has done this,

King, may you live forever!

Unless this fire which

we see is extinguished

- on this same night on
- which it has been lit,

Then it will never be

extinguished at all

and it will spread

over the whole country

and it will reign

in all eternity.

It's a prophecy

that the light of

Christianity triumphs

over every evil,

over every secular authority.

And the fire would

never go out.

I think we should

continue to move northwest

and eventually be able

to split up and cross

into higher country.

My dear friends.

Such a surprise to see you.

They came and put my sins

against my hard

work as a bishop.

The charge they

brought against me

was something from

30 years earlier,

which I had admitted

before I was even a deacon.

I am a sinner.

- Patrick isn't the
- man people think he is.

- I must
- confess what I have done.

- He's committed
- unpardonable sins.

- Am I ever
- to be forgiven?

Tell me everything you know.

This friend of his

disclosed the sin of Patrick

and that this has been

used to discredit him.

This hit me very hard,

so much so that it seemed

I was about to fall,

both here and in eternity.

I am very sorry for

my dearest friend,

to whom I trusted even my soul.

That same night I saw in a

vision some writing before

my dishonored face.

We have seen

with anger the face

of our chosen one with his

name laid bare of respect.

God did not say,

you have seen with anger,

but "we have seen

with anger" as if

in this matter He

were joined to me.

Patrick,

the boat is ready,

and it's time to go.

I am not finished.

Damn him!

He powerfully came to my aid

in this battering so

that I did not slip badly

into the wreckage of

sin and into infamy.

I pray God

that it may not be charged

against them as sin.

Amen.

- As
- Patrick got older,

Criticism of his mission

and methods had only grown,

which prompted him to

write the Confessio.

- Maybe when
- I baptized all those thousands,

I hoped to get even half

a penny from one of them?

Tell me and I will

return it to you!

Or when the Lord ordained

clergy everywhere through me

as his mediocre instrument,

and I gave my ministry

to them for free,

did I even charge them

the cost of my shoes?

Tell it against me and I will

all the more return it to you!

He scrupulously

defends himself saying

that his motives and his reasons

for his presence in Ireland,

for his return to Ireland

was nothing except

that the Irish would come

to know Christ and come to

know the Father as he did.

It's

believed that Patrick

was ordered to give up his

mission and return to Britain.

Patrick

faces this question,

"If I'm not accepted by the

hierarchy of the British

Church,

is my mission something

which is acceptable?"

His ultimate line of

defense is to say,

"I'm carrying on

with my mission.

I'm not going to

go back to Britain

because I have been chosen

to be a bishop by God."

Patrick went AWOL.

And we just don't know

how that all panned out.

He said that he wanted

to spend the rest

of his life in Ireland because

that's what God demanded.

Therefore, we've got to guess

that he never did go back.

I pray that

God give me perseverance,

and that he grant me to

bear faithful witness

to Him right up to my

passing from this life,

for the sake of my God.

- Patrick
- died sometime

In the late fifth century.

The exact date, location,

and circumstances

of his death are unknown.

Later traditions claimed

that he died of old age

on March 17th, AD 461

and was buried in

Saul, Northern Ireland.

Nearby at Down Cathedral,

this granite slab marks the

traditional spot of his burial.

Not long after Patrick's death,

the Roman Empire fell,

and Western Europe drifted

into the Dark Ages.

But Patrick's work

was not in vain.

As Christianity

established itself,

as it became more

vibrant, it became known

as the Land of Saints and

Scholars, and that led,

in turn, to a whole

proliferation of

Christian missionaries

leaving Ireland and

flooding continental Europe.

Patrick's story began

a chain of events

that is quite remarkable

in the impact that it had.

He wore out many

more pairs of sandals

in death than he did in life.

And he's still going,

people are still reading

his Confession

and still being

interested in Christianity

because he wrote

his message down.

I pray

for those who believe in

and have reverence for God.

Some of them may come upon

this writing which Patrick,

a sinner, wrote in Ireland.

May none of them ever say

that whatever little I did

or made known to please God

was done through ignorance.

Instead, you can judge

and believe in all truth

that it was a gift of God.

This is my confession

before I die.

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