Sorrow And Joy

Nescio quid dicam vel quid loquar amplius de defunctis filiorum Dei, quos gladius supra modum dure tetigit. Scriptum est enim: Flete cum flentibus, et iterum: Si dolet unum membrum condoleant omnia membra. Quapropter ecclesia plorat et plangit filios et filias suas quas adhuc gladius nondum interfecit, sed prolongati et exportati in longa terrarum, ubi peccatum manifeste graviter impudenter abundat, ibi venundati ingenui homines, Christiani in servitute redacti sunt, praesertim indignissimorum pessimorum apostatarumque Pictorum. Idcirco cum tristitia et maerore vociferabo: O speciosissimi atque amantissimi fratres et filii quos in Christo genui enumerare nequeo, quid faciam vobis? Non sum dignus Deo neque hominibus subvenire. Praevaluit iniquitas iniquorum super nos. Quasi extranei facti sumus. Forte non credunt unum baptismum percepimus vel unum Deum patrem habemus. Indignum est illis Hiberionaci sumus. Sicut ait: Nonne unum Deum habetis? Quid dereliquistis unusquisque proximum suum? Idcirco doleo pro vobis, doleo, carissimi mihi; sed iterum gaudeo intra meipsum: non gratis laboravi vel peregrinatio mea in vacuum non fuit. Et contigit scelus tam horrendum ineffabile, Deo gratias, creduli baptizati, de saeculo recessistis ad paradisum. Cerno vos: migrare coepistis ubi nox non erit neque luctus neque mors amplius, sed exultabitis sicut vituli ex vinculis resoluti et conculcabitis iniquos et erunt cinis sub pedibus vestris. Vos ergo regnabitis cum apostolis et prophetis atque martyribus. Aeterna regna capietis, sicut ipse testatur inquit: Venient ab oriente et occidente et recumbent cum Abraham et Isaac et Iacob in regno caelorum. Foris canes et venefici et homicidae, et: Mendacibus periuris pars eorum in stagnum ignis aeterni. Non inmerito ait Apostolus: Ubi iustus uix salvus erit, peccator et impius transgressor legis ubi se recognoscet? Unde enim Coroticus cum suis sceleratissimis, rebellatores Christi, ubi se videbunt, qui mulierculas baptizatas praemia distribuunt ob miserum regnum temporale, quod utique in momento transeat? Sicut nubes vel fumus, qui utique vento dispergitur, ita peccatores fraudulenti a facie Domini peribunt. Sanctus Patricius, Hibernorum Apostolus, Epistola Ad Coroticum Source: Migne PL 53.817a-518b

I do not know what to say, or how to say more about the deaths of the children God, whom the sword has touched so cruelly. As it is written, 'Weep with those who weep,' and again, 'If one member suffers pain, let all the members suffer.' 1 For which reason the Church mourns and weeps for its sons and daughters whom the sword has not yet slain, but who have been taken away and exported far across the earth, where direst sin openly abounds without shame, and where freeborn men have been sold and Christians reduced to slavery, and certainly among the lowest and worst of the apostate Picts. Therefore I cry out in sorrow and grief, 'O my fairest and most beloved brothers and sisters whom I begot without number in Christ, what am I to do for you? I am not worthy to help God or men. The wickedness of the wicked has prevailed over us. We have been made as if we were complete outsiders. Perhaps they not believe we have received one and the same Baptism, or that we have one God as a father. For them it is a disgrace that we are from Ireland. As it says, 'Do you not have one God? Why have you each abandoned your neighbour?' 2 Therefore I grieve for you, I grieve for my dearest ones, but again I rejoice within myself, that I have not worked without thanks, 3 and my wanderings were not in vain. An unspeakably horrifying crime has occurred, but, thanks to God, you who are baptised believers have withdrawn from this world to paradise. I see you, you have begun to travel to where there is no night any longer, nor sorrow, nor death, rather you leap for joy, like calves set free from chains, and you tread down the wicked, and they will be like ashes beneath your feet. 4 Therefore you will reign with Apostles and Prophets and Martyrs. You will take possession of an eternal kingdom, as He testifies in these words, 'They will come from the east and from the west, and they will recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heaven.' 'Left outside are dogs and sorcerers and murderers,' and 'With the lying perjurers their lot is in a lake of eternal fire.' It is not without reason that the Apostle says: 'When the righteous man shall hardly be saved, how will it be with the sinner and the impious transgressor of the law?' 5 So where will Coroticus and his lawless rebels against Christ find themselves, those who divide up baptised women as rewards, for a miserable temporal kingdom which will pass away in a moment. Just as clouds or smoke are blown away by the wind, that is how deceitful sinners will perish from the face of the Lord. Saint Patrick, Apostle of the Irish, from The Letter to Coroticus 1 Rom 12.15, 1 Cor 12.26 2 Malachi 2.20 3 Ps Phil 2.16 4 Apoc 21.4, Malachi 4.2-3 5 Mt 8.11, Apoc 22.15, 1 Pet 4.18

Foreign To Me

Manu mea scripsi atque condidi verba ista danda et tradenda, militibus mittenda Corotici, non dico civibus meis neque civibus sanctorum Romanorum sed civibus daemoniorum, ob mala opera ipsorum. Ritu hostili in morte vivunt, socii Scottorum atque Pictorum apostatarumque. Sanguilentos sanguinare de sanguine innocentium Christianorum, quos ego in numero Deo genui atque in Christo confirmavi! Postera die qua crismati neophyti in veste candida, flagrabat in fronte ipsorum dum crudeliter trucidati atque mactati gladio supradictis, misi epistolam cum sancto presbytero quem ego ex infantia docui, cum clericis, ut nobis aliquid indulgerent de praeda vel de captivis baptizatis quos ceperunt: cachinnos fecerunt de illis. Idcirco nescio quid magis lugeam: an qui interfecti vel quos ceperunt vel quos graviter zabulus inlaqueavit. Perenni poena gehennam pariter cum ipso mancipabunt, quia utique qui facit peccatum servus est et filius zabuli nuncupatur. Quapropter resciat omnis homo timens Deum quod a me alieni sunt et a Christo Deo meo, pro quo legationem fungor, patricida, fratricida, lupi rapaces devorantes plebem Domini ut cibum panis, sicut ait: Iniqui dissipaverunt legem tuam, Domine, quam in supremis temporibus Hiberione optime benigne plantaverat atque instructa erat favente Deo. Non usurpo. Partem habeo cum his quos advocavit et praedestinavit evangelium praedicare in persecutionibus non parvis usque ad extremum terrae, etsi invidet inimicus per tyrannidem Corotici, qui Deum non veretur nec sacerdotes ipsius, quos elegit et indulsit illis summam divinam sublimam potestatem, quos ligarent super terram ligatos esse et in caelis. Unde ergo quaeso plurimum, sancti et humiles corde, adulari talibus non licet nec cibum nec potum sumere cum ipsis nec elemosinas ipsorum recipi debeat donec crudeliter per paenitentiam effusis lacrimis satis Deo faciant et liberent servos Dei et ancillas Christi baptizatas, pro quibus mortuus est et crucifixus. Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Epistola Ad Coroticum Source: Migne PL 53.815a-c

With my own hand I have written and put together these words to be given and handed on and sent to the warriors of Coroticus. I cannot say that they are my fellow citizens, nor fellow citizens of the saints of Rome, but rather, because of their evil deeds, they are fellow citizens of demons. By their hostile ways they live in death, friends of the godless Scots and Picts. They are covered in blood, blood stained with the blood of innocent Christians, whose number I had given birth to in God and confirmed in Christ. The newly baptised and anointed were dressed in white robes, the anointing was still to be seen clearly on their foreheads, and they were cruelly slain and sacrificed by the sword of the ones I have referred to. On the day after that, I sent a letter by a holy priest whom I had taught from infancy, with clerics, to ask that they return to us some of the booty of the baptised prisoners they had captured. They laughed at them. So I don't know what I should lament the more, those who were slain, or those who were made captives, or those whom the devil has so gravely ensnared, who will be delivered up to the eternal pains of Gehenna equally along with the devil, because whoever commits sin is rightly called a slave and a son of the devil. 1 For this reason, let every man who fears God know that these people are foreign to me and to Christ my God, for whom I am an ambassador, they who are patricides and fratricides, savage wolves devouring the people of God, just as they would bread for food. 2 It is just as it is said: 'The wicked have routed your law, O Lord,' 3 the very law which in recent times He so graciously planted in Ireland and that has taken root with God's help. I am not overreaching in my office, I have a part with those whom God called and destined to preach the Gospel, even in persecutions that are no small matter, even to the ends of the earth, even amid the malice of the enemy through the tyranny of Coroticus, who respects neither God nor his priests, those whom God has chosen, granting to them the Divine and sublime power that whatever they should bind on earth will also be bound in heaven. 4 Therefore, before everything else, I ask all who are holy and humble of heart not to speak well of such men, nor even to share food or drink with them, nor accept alms from them, 5 until such time as they make satisfaction to God in severe penance and shedding of tears, and until they release the servants of God and the baptised handmaids of Christ, for whom He died and was crucified. Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, from The Letter to Coroticus 1 Jn 8.34-44 2 Ps 13.4 3 Ps 118.126 4 Mt 16.19 5 cf 2 Jn 10-11

Knowing What To Do

Spero autem hoc debueram, sed memet ipsum non credo, quandiu fuero in hoc corpore mortis, quia fortis est qui cotidie nititur subvertere me a fide et praeposita castitate religionis non fictae usque in finem vite meae Christo Domino meo. Sed caro inimica semper trahit ad mortem. Id est ad inlecebras in inlicitate perficiendas. Et scio ex parte quare vitam perfectam ego non egi sicut et ceteri credentes, sed confiteor Domino meo. Et non erubesco in conspectu ipsius quia non mentior ex quo cognovi eum a iuventute mea crevit in me amor Dei et timor ipsius et usque nunc favente Domino, fidem servavi. Rideat autem et insultet qui voluerit, ego non silebo neque abscondo signa et mirabilia quae mihi a Domino ministrata sunt ante multos annos quam fierent, quasi qui 'novit omnia etiam ante tempora saecularia. Unde autem debueram sine cessatione Deo gratias agere, qui saepe indulsit insipientiae meae neglegentiae meae et de loco non in unoquoque ut non mihi vehementer irasceretur, qui adiutor datus sum et non cito adquievi secundum quod mihi ostensum fuerat et sicut Spiritus suggerebat et misertus est mihi Dominus in milia milium, quia vidit in me quod paratus eram, sed quod mihi pro his nesciebam de statu meo quid facerem, quia multi hanc legationem prohibebant, etiam inter seipsos post tergum meum narrabant et dicebant: Iste quare se mittit in periculo inter hostes qui Deum non noverunt? Non ut causa malicie, sed non sapiebat illis, sicut et ego ipse testor, intellege propter rusticitatem meam, et non cito agnovi gratiam quae tunc erat in me; nunc mihi sapit quod ante debueram. Nunc ergo simpliciter insinuavi fratribus et conservis meis, qui mihi crediderunt propter quod praedixi et praedico ad roborandum et confirmandam fidem vestram. Utinam ut et vos imitemini maiora et potiora faciatis. Hoc erit gloria mea, quia filius sapiens gloria patris est. Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Confessio, Cap XIX-XXI Source: Migne PL 53.810c-811b

I hope to do what I should, but I know I cannot trust myself while I am in this body of death, 1 because he is strong who every day tries every day to cast me from my faith and the purity of true religion chosen to the end of my life for Christ my Lord. The flesh is an enemy always dragging one towards death. That is, to doing those enticing things which are forbidden. I know in some part that I have not led a perfect life like other believers, but I confess it to my Lord. And I do not blush in His sight, because I do not lie. From the time in my youth when I came to know Him, the love of God grew in me and the reverence of Him, and until now, with the Lord's favour, I have kept faith. They may laugh and abuse who wish to do so, but I will not be silent, nor will I hide the signs and wonders which the Lord has given to me, even many years before they came to be, He who knows all things even before the beginning of time. Whence I want to give thanks to God without ceasing, He who often overlooked my ignorance and my negligence, and did not become very angry with me in any place, He who was given to me as a helper, and I was not quick to allow what he showed me, and so the Spirit prompted me, and The Lord was merciful to me a thousand thousand times, because He saw in me that I was ready, but that I did not know what I should do about the state of my life, because there were many who forbade this mission, and they even told stories among themselves behind my back, and said: 'Why does he send himself into danger among hostile people who do not know God?' Malice was not the cause, but it made no sense to them, as I myself can bear witness, who understand my rusticity, and indeed, I was not quick to know the grace that was in me then, but I know now  what I should have done. Now, therefore, I have counselled my brothers and fellow-servants who believed me, because I warned them, and I do warn them, to strengthen and confirm your faith. Then indeed you will imitate greater things, and do more powerful things. 2 This shall be my glory, since a wise son is the glory of his father. 3 Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, The Confession, Chap 19-21 1 Rom 7.24 2 Jn 14.12 3 Prov 10.1

A Rustic's Return

Et iterum Spiritus testatur: Et rusticatio ab Altissimo creata est. Unde ego primus rusticus perfuga, indoctus scilicet qui nescio in posterum providere: sed scio illud certissime, quia utique priusquam humiliarer, ego eram velut lapis qui jacet in luto profundo: et venit qui potens est, et in sua misericordia sustulit me; et quidem scilicet sursum allevavit et collocavit me in summo pariete. Et inde fortiter debueram exclamare, ad retribuendum quoque aliquid Domino ei pro tantis beneficiis ejus, hic et in aeternum, quae mens hominum aestimare non potest. Unde autem admiramini magni et pusilli qui timetis Deum, et vos ignari Domini rhetorici: audite ergo et scrutamini quis me stultum excitavit de medio eorum qui videntur sapinetes esse et legis periti, et potentes in sermone et in omni re. Et me quidem detestabilem hujus mundi prae caeteris inspiravit, etsi talis essem: dummodo autem ut cum metu et reverantia et sine querela fideliter prodessem genti ad quam caritas Christi transtulit, et donavit me in vita mea, si dignus fuero: denique, ut cum humilitate et veraciter deservirem illis. In mensura itaque fidei Trinitatis oportet distinguere et sine reprehensione periculi notum facere donum Dei et consolationem aeternam, ac sine timore fiducialiter Dei nomen ubique relinquerem fratribus et filiis meis quos ego in Domino baptizavi, tot millia hominum. Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Confessio, Cap V-VI Source: Migne PL 53.803c-804a

Again the Spirit gives witness: 'What is of the countryside was also created by the Most High.' 1 So I am first of all a rustic, a refugee, indeed unlearned, one who does not know how to provide for the future. But this I know for certain, that before I was humiliated, I was like a stone lying in deep mud, and He who is powerful came and in His mercy lifted me out, and raising me up, placed me on the height of the wall. That is why I must shout loudly in returning something to the Lord for such great benefactions of His, here and forever, which man's mind cannot measure. Whence be amazed, all you great and small who revere God, 2 and you ignorant speech makers, listen, then, and investigate who it was who called one as foolish as me from the midst of those who seem to be wise and experienced in law and powerful in words, and in everything. Even I who was detestable before all others of this world He inspired, even so I was, so that in awe and reverence and without complaint I would faithfully profit the peoples to which the love of Christ brought me. He gave to me in my life, if I were worthy of it, to their service in truth and in humility. Thus by the measure of faith in the Trinity, and without worry of danger, it is right to make known the gift of God and eternal consolation, and faithfully, without fear, to leave the name of God everywhere among my brothers and children whom I have baptised in the Lord, so many thousands of men. Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, The Confession, Chap 5-6 1 Sirach 7.16 2 Apoc 19.5

Commending The Soul

Ecce nunc commendo animam meam fidelissimo Deo meo, pro quo legatione fungor in ignobilitate mea. Sed quia personam non accipt, et elegit me ad hoc officium, ut unus essem de suis minimus minister: Unde autem retribuam illi pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi. Seu quid dicam, vel quid promittam Domino meo? Quia nihil valeo, nisi ipse mihi dederit; sed scrutatur corda et renes, quia satis et nimis cupio, et paratus eram ut donaret mihi bibere calicem ejus, sicut indulsit caeteris amantibus se. Quapropter non contingat mihi a Deo meo, ut unquam amittam plebem suam quam acquisivi in ultimis terrae. Oro Deum ut det mihi perserverantiam, et dignetur ut reddam illi testem fidelem usque ad transitum meum propter Deum meum. Et si aliquid boni unquam imitatus sum propter Deum meum quem diligo, peto illum det mihi ut cum illis proselytis et captivis pro nomine suo effundam sanguinem meum, etsi ipse etiam caream sepultura aut miserrime cadaver per singula membra dividatur canibus aut bestiis asperis, aut volucres coeli comederint illud. Certissime reor, si mihi hoc incurrisset, lucratus sum animam cum corpore meo: quia sine ulla dubitatione in die lilla resurgemus in claritate solis, hoc est, in gloria Christi Jesu redemptoris nostri, Filii Dei vivi, et cohaeredes Christi, et conformes futurae imaginis ipsius: quoniam ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso, regnaturi sumus. Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Confessio, Cap XXIV Source: Migne PL 53.813b-814a

Behold, now I commend my soul to my most faithful God, for whom I act as a representative in my ignobility. But because He does not stand in awe of persons, 1 He even chose me for this office, that I might be the least of his servants: 'What shall I return for all the things He has given to me?' 2 Or what shall I say, or what promise to my Lord? Because I can do nothing, unless He shall give it to me, 3 but as He searches the heart and the soul 4 so I desired enough and indeed excessively, being prepared that He give to me to drink from His cup, as He granted to others who loved Him. Whence it does not grieve me that by my God I may lose any of His people whom I have gathered at the ends of the earth. I pray to God that He gives me perserverance and that I may give the return of being a faithful witness to Him, even at my passing, because of my God. And if I have imitated some good because of the God whom I love, I entreat that He give to me that I pour out my blood for those converts and captives, in His name, even if I should lack a tomb, or be a wretched corpse with each limb torn asunder by the dogs and wild beasts, or that the birds of the air devour it. Most certainly I think, if this should happen to me, that I will have enriched my soul, because without any doubt on that day we shall rise in the light of the sun, that is, in the glory of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, Son of the Living God, even coheirs of Christ and conformed to His future image, 5 because from Him, and through Him, and in Him, we shall reign. Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, The Confession, Chap 24 1 Rom 2.11 2 Ps 115.12 3 Jn 15.5 4 Ps 7.10 5 Rom 8.17, 8.29

Dreams And Prayers

Et iterum post paucos annos in Britanniis eram cum parentibus meis, qui me ut filium susceperunt: et ex fide rogaverunt me, ut vel modo ego, post tantas tribulationes quas pertuli, nunquam ab illis discederem. Et ibi scilict vidi in visu nocte virum venientem quasi de Hiberione cui nomen Victoricius, cum epistolis innumerabilibus: et dedit mihi unam ex illis, et legi principium epistolae continentem: Vox Hiberioneacum. Et dum recitabam principium epistolae, putabam ipso momento, audire vocem ipsorum qui erant juxta silvam Focluti, quae et prope mare Occidentale. Et sic exclamaverunt quasi ex uno ore: Rogamus te, sancte puer, ut venias et adhuc ambules inter nos. Et valde compunctus sum corde, et amplius non potui legere, et sic expergefactus sum. Deo gratias, quia post annos plurimos praestitit illis Dominus secundum clamorem eorum. Et alia nocte, nescio, Deus scit, utrum in me, an juxta me, verbis peritissimis quae ego audivi et non potui intelligere, nisi ad postremum orationis sic affatus est: qui pro te animam suam posuit. Et sic expergefactus sum gaudibundus. Et iterum vidi in me ipsum orantem, et eram quasi intra corpus meum: et audivi super me, hoc est, super interiorem hominem; et ibi foriter orabat gemitibus. Et inter haec stupebam, et admirabar, et cogitabam quis esset qui in me orabat. Sed ad postremum orationis sic effatus est, ut sit spiritus. Et sic experrectus sum, et recordatus sum, Apostolo dicente: Spiritus adjuvat infirmitatem nostrae orationis. Nam quid oremus sicut oportet, nescimus; sed ipse Spiritus postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus, quae verbis exprimi non possunt. Et iterum: Dominus advocatus noster postulat pro nobis. Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Confessio Source: Migne PL 53.53.806a-807a

A few years later I was again among the Britons with my parents. They welcomed me as a son, and begged me to vow that, after all the tribulations I had endured, I should never leave them again. It was while I was there that I saw, in a vision in the night, a man whose name was Victoricus, coming as from Ireland, with innumerable letters. He gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: 'The voice of the Irish people.' And while I was reciting the beginning of the letter, I thought I heard at that moment the voice of those who were beside the wood of Voclut, which is near the western sea. And they called out as it were with one voice: 'We beseech you, holy boy, that you come and walk among us again.' I was touched deeply in my heart, and I could read no further, and so I woke. Thanks be to God, after many years the Lord gave them according to their cry. Another night, I do not know, God knows, whether it was within me or beside me, I heard most eloquent words which I did not understand, until at the end of the speech it was said: 'The one who gave His life for you, He it is who speaks in you.' And having awakened, I was joyful. Another time, I saw in myself one who was praying. Indeed it was as if I were inside my body, and I heard it above me, that is, above my inner man, and he prayed strongly, with sighs. I was astonished and amazed, and thought who it could be who prayed in me. But at the end of the prayer was spoken, it was the Spirit. So I awoke, and I remembered the Apostle saying: 'The Spirit helps the weaknesses of our prayer. For we do know what it is we should pray, but the very Spirit pleads for us with unspeakable sighs, which cannot be expressed in words.' 1 And again: 'The Lord is our advocate, and pleads for us.' 2 Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, The Confession 1 Rom 8.26 2 cf 1 Jn 2.1

A New People

Et in Osee dicit: Vocabo non plebem meam plebem meam et non misericordiam consecutam misericordiam consecutam et erit in loco ubi dictum est: Non plebs mea vos, ibi vocabuntur filii Dei vivi. Unde autem Hiberione qui numquam notitiam Dei habuerunt nisi idola et inmunda usque nunc semper coluerunt quomodo nuper facta est plebs Domini et filii Dei nuncupantur, filii Scottorum et filiae regulorum monachi et virgines Christi esse videntur? Et etiam una benedicta Scotta genetiva nobilis pulcherrima adulta erat, quam ego baptizavi; et post paucos dies una causa venit ad nos, insinuavit nobis responsum accepisse a nuntio Dei et monuit eam ut esset virgo Christi et ipsa Deo proximaret: Deo gratias, sexta ab hac die optime et avidissime arripuit illud quod etiam omnes virgines Dei ita hoc faciunt, non sponte patrum earum, sed et persecutiones patiuntur et improperia falsa a parentibus suis et nihilominus plus augetur numerus, et de genere nostro qui ibi nati sunt nescimus numerum eorum, praeter viduas et continentes. Sed ex illis maxime laborant quae servitio detinentur: usque ad terrores et minas assidue perferunt; sed Dominus gratiam dedit multis ex ancillis suis, nam etsi vetantur tamen fortiter imitantur. Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Confessio Source: Migne PL 53.810a-b

Hosea says: 'I will call a people not mine my people; and she who has not obtained mercy, will obtain mercy, and in the place where it was said: You are not my people, there they will be called children of the living God.' 1 Whence how in Ireland which never had knowledge of God but to serve idols and unclean things always up to now, have they recently become the people of the Lord, and are called children of God, and the sons and daughters of the leaders of the Irish are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ? There was a blessed Irish lady of noble birth, a most beautiful woman, whom I baptised, and after a few days she came to me for one reason: she told me that she had received word from a messenger of God, who admonished her that she should become a virgin of Christ and that she should come near to God. Thanks be to God, six days later, enthusiastically and well, she took up that way which all the virgins of God do. And not by their fathers' will do they do this, for they suffer persecution from them and false accusations from their parents, and nevertheless the number of them grows, and we do not know the number of our people who were born there. Besides which, there are the widows and the celibates. But of all these, those held in slavery toil most, constantly enduring terror and threats, but the Lord gives grace to so many of His handmaids who serve him, for even if they are forbidden, they bravely follow. Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, from The Confessio 1 Hosea 2.23-24; 1.10

Avarice And Murder

Dona iniquorum reprobat Altissimus. Qui offert sacrificium ex substantiam pauperum, quasi qui victimat filium in conspectu patris sui. Divitiae, inquit, quas congregabit injustus, evometur de ventre ejus; trahit illum angelus mortis: ira draconum multabitur: interficiet illum lingua colubri. Comedet autem eum ignis inexstinguibilis. Ideoque vae qui replent se quae non sunt sua. Vel, quid prodest homini, ut totum mundum lucretur, et animae suae detrimentum patiatur? Longum est per singula discutere vel insinuare, per totam legem carpere testimonia de tali cupiditate. Avaritia mortale crimen. Non concupisces rem proximi tui. Non occides. Homicidia non potest esse cum Christo. Qui odit fratrem suum, homicida ascribitur; vel, qui non diligit fratrem suum in morte manet. Quanto magis reus est qui manus suas coinqiunavit in sanguine filiorum Dei, quos nuper acquisivit in ultimis terrae, per exhortationem parvitatis nostrae? Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Epistola Ad Coroticum Source: Migne PL 53.815c-816a

'The Most High rejects the gifts of the iniquitous. He who offers a sacrifice taken from the belongings of the poor is like one who sacrifices a son in the sight of his father.' 1 'Riches,' it says, 'which the unrighteous man gathers, will be vomited out of his stomach. The angel of death will drag him away, the rage of dragons will be his punishment; the tongue of the serpent will kill him.' 2 Indeed the unquenchable fire will consume him. And so woe to those who fill themselves with what is not theirs. And likewise: 'What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his soul?' 3 Long it would be to discuss or refer to the testimonies throughout the whole law that speak out against such greed. Avarice is a deadly crime. 'Do not covet your neighbour's goods. Do not kill.' 4 The murderer can not be with Christ. 'Whoever hates his brother is a murderer,' and likewise, 'Whoever does not love his brother remains in death.' 5 How much more guilty is he who has stained his hands with the blood of the children of God, those who He only recently acquired at the ends of the earth through the encouragement of our insignificance? Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, from The Letter to Coroticus 1 Sirach 34.23-24 2 Job 20. 15-16 3 Mt 16.26 4 Exod 20.17,13 5 1 Jn 3.14-15

Lost Sheep

Invidetur mihi. Quid faciam, Domine? Valde despicior. Ecce oves tuae circa me laniantur atque depraedantur, et supradictis latrunculis, iubente Corotico hostili mente. Longe est a caritate Dei traditor Christianorum in manus Scottorum atque Pictorum. Lupi rapaces deglutierunt gregem Domini, qui utique Hiberione cum summa diligentia optime crescebat, et filii Scottorum et filiae regulorum monachi et virgines Christi enumerare nequeo. Quam ob rem iniuria iustorum non te placeat; etiam usque ad inferos non placebit. Quis sanctorum non horreat iocundare vel conviuium fruere cum talibus? De spoliis defunctorum Christianorum repleuerunt domos suas, de rapinis vivunt. Nesciunt miseri venenum letale cibum porrigunt ad amicos et filios suos, sicut Eva non intellexit quod utique mortem tradidit viro suo. Sic sunt omnes qui male agunt: mortem perennem poenam operantur. Consuetudo Romanorum Gallorum Christianorum: mittunt viros sanctos idoneos ad Francos et ceteras gentes cum tot milia solidorum ad redimendos captivos baptizatos. Tu potius interficis et vendis illos genti exterae ignoranti Deum; quasi in lupanar tradis membra Christi. Qualem spem habes in Deum, vel qui te consentit aut qui te communicat verbis adulationis? Deus iudicabit. Scriptum est enim: Non solum facientes mala sed etiam consentientes damnandi sunt. Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Epistola Ad Coroticum  Migne PL 53. 816-817

They watch me with malice. What am I to do, O Lord? I am greatly despised. Behold, your sheep around me are torn and preyed upon, and by the thieves that I have spoken of, at the command of the hostile minded Coroticus. Far he is from the love of God who gives Christians into the hands of Scots and Picts. Rapacious wolves have devoured the flock of the Lord, 1 which under the greatest care was growing greatly in Ireland; I cannot count the number of sons of Scots and daughters of kings who are now monks and virgins of Christ. Thus the injuries of the righteous will not please you, even in the very depths it will not please. 2 Who among the holy would not be horrified to take pleasure or to enjoy a feast with such folk? With the spoil of dead Christians they have filled their houses, they live on plunder. These wretches do not know that they offer deadly poison as food to their friends and children, like Eve who did not understand that it was death that she gave to her man. 3 So it is with those who do evil, they work death as eternal punishment. It is the custom of the Christians of Roman Gaul to send holy and capable men to the Franks and to other pagans with so many thousands of coins to redeem the baptised who have been taken captive. You, however, kill and sell them to foreign people who are ignorant of God; as if into a brothel you hand over the members of Christ. 4 What hope have you in God, or who approves of you, or who sends you words of praise? God will judge. For it is written: 'Not only those who do evil, but also those who consent to it, will be damned.' 5 Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, Letter to Coroticus 1 Acts 20.29 2 Sirach 9.17 3 Gen 3.6 41 Cor 6.15 5 Rom 1.32

Pondering Disagreement

Numquid sine Deo vel secundum carnem Hiberione veni? Quis me compulit? alligatus sum spiritu, ut non videam aliquem de cognatione mea. Nunquid piam misericordiam ago erga gentem illam quae me aliquando ceperunt, et devastaverunt servos et ancillas domus partis mei? Ingenuus fui secundam carnem: decorione patre nascor. Vendidi enim nobilitatem meam, non erubesco, neque me poenitet, pro utilitate aliorum. Denique servus sum in Christo Jesu Domino nostro, etsi mei me non cognoscunt. Propheta in patria sua honorem non habet. Forte non sumus ex uno ovili, neque unum Deum patrem habemus, sicut ait: Qui non est mecum contra me est, et qui non congregat mecum spargit. Non convenit, Unus destruit, alter aedificat. Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus, Epistola Ad Coroticum

Was it without God, or according to the flesh that I came to Ireland? Who compelled me? I have been bound by the Spirit, that I may not see any of my family. Do I not perform acts of holy mercy among a people who once captured me and destroyed the servants and handmaids of my father's house? According to the flesh I am a freeman, born of a decurion father, but I have sold my nobility, and I am not ashamed, nor do I regret that it might have been to the profit of others. In short, I am a servant in Jesus Christ Our Lord, even if my own people do not acknowledge me. 'A prophet has no honor in his own country.'1 Perhaps we are not from the same sheepfold, nor do we do have one and the same Father for our God. As He says, 'He who is not with me, is against me'2 and 'He who does not gather with me, scatters.'2 We are not in harmony: 'One destroys; another builds.' Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish, Letter to Coroticus 1 Mk 6.4  2 Mt 12.30

With God Guiding

Longum est autem totum per singula enarrare laborem meum uel per partes. Breuiter dicam qualiter piissimus Deus de seruitute saepe liberauit et de periculis duodecim qua periclitata est anima mea, praeter insidias multas et quae uerbis exprimere non ualeo. Nec iniuriam legentibus faciam; sed Deum auctorem habeo, qui nouit omnia etiam antequam fiant, ut me pauperculum pupillum ideo tamen responsum diuinum creber admonere. Unde mihi haec sapientia, quae in me non erat, qui nec numerum dierum noueram neque Deum sapiebam? Unde mihi postmodum donum tam magnum tam salubre Deum agnoscere uel diligere, sed ut patriam et parentes amitterem? Et munera multa mihi offerebantur cum fletu et lacrimis et offendi illos, nec non contra uotum aliquantis de senioribus meis, sed gubernante Deo nullo modo consensi neque adquieui illis. Non mea gratia, sed Deus qui uincit in me et resistit illis omnibus, ut ego ueneram ad Hibernas gentes euangelium praedicare et ab incredulis contumelias perferre, ut audirem obprobrium peregrinationis meae, et persecutiones multas usque ad uincula et ut darem ingenuitatem meam pro utilitate aliorum et, si dignus fuero, promptus sum ut etiam animam meam incunctanter et libentissime pro nomine eius et ibi opto impendere eam usque ad mortem, si Dominus mihi indulgeret.  Confessio, Sanctus Patricius Hibernorum Apostolus

Long it would be indeed to narrate all my labour, or even parts of it. Briefly I will tell how often the most pious God liberated me from servitude, and from twelve dangers which threatened my soul, as well as from many ambushes and from things I do not have the strength to describe (I would do no injury to those who read this.) But I have God as authority, He who knows all things even before they are, that to me, a poor little orphan, He frequently gave warnings in heavenly answers. From where did this wisdom come to me, a wisdom which was not in me, to one who didn’t even know the number of days, much less God? Where, then, did such a great gift come from, to know and love God, even that I would leave fatherland and parents? And many gifts were offered to me with sorrow and tears and I offended them, even against the wish of some of my elders, but with God guiding, I did not consent nor acquiesce to them. It was not by my own grace, but God who conquered in me and resisted them all so that I could come to the peoples of Ireland to preach the gospel, and I bore insults from unbelievers so that I might hear hatred for my journey, and I bore many persecutions even to chains so that I might give up my free-born state for the benefit of others, and, if I should be worthy, I am prepared even to give up my life most willingly for His name. It is there that I wish to remain until death, if the Lord should be so kind to me. Confession, Saint Patrick Apostle of the Irish