Patrick was born in Britain and when he was about sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken into slavery. He was a slave-shepherd and worked with the sheep. His life as a slave was not easy. He would of had to learn the customs of the Irish and their language. He also was very much alone and secluded from society. It was then that he came to know God. Several years later, Patrick escaped and made it back to his homeland. He had a dream one night and in it there was an Irishman saying something along the lines of: "We beg you to come and walk among us once more." And that is just what Patrick did. He became a minister and went as a missionary to the people that had held him captive. The British looked down on him and his work and said that the Irish Christians were not true Christians. Patrick said, "It is a crime that we are born Irish?" (Cahill 164). In saying this he was saying that he was fully Irish and not British. This was no small thing.
Patrick ministered in Ireland until he did. And just so you know...he didn't drive the snakes out of Ireland...there never were snakes in Ireland.
Thanks for giving info about St. Patrick. I did not know that. I was surprised to learn that he was not Irish!
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