The other congregation this St Patrick’s Day

St Benin Church Window St Patrick

Tomorrow morning, there’ll be plenty of Christian saints meeting in churches across New Zealand to celebrate that Jesus died and rose.

Yet there’ll probably be more people meeting in pubs across New Zealand to celebrate “St. Patrick’s Day” with much drunken revelry.

If you get the opportunity to start a conversation, here are two four helpful primers on the real Patrick of Ireland.

http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/03/st-patrick-the-irish-evangelical/

http://www.rabbitroom.com/2013/03/on-the-greatness-of-saint-patrick/

http://www.powerofchange.org/blog/2010/3/13/patrick-of-ireland.html

http://theresurgence.com/2010/03/17/st-patrick-one-of-the-greatest-missionaries-who-ever-lived

 

You’ll be surprised to learn that:

  • He wasn’t Irish
  • He was never canonised as a “Saint”
  • He didn’t drive snakes out of Ireland
  • He grew up in a Christian home but was an atheist in his youth
  • He was an evangelist who God used to win whole villages for Christ

 

As Patrick himself once said:

“Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

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.”