Saint of the day- St Patrick

St Patrick of Ireland, Archbishop of Armagh, Apostle of Ireland       Died AD 461

          He was born in Roman Britain, the Son of Calpurnius, a deacon and town official. During his early life, like many young people, he was worldly and not interested in spiritual things. In about 403, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken back to Ireland, to serve as a slave and shepherd, to the pagan people of the country. During this time, he grew in his faith by leaps and bounds, and spent much of his time in prayer. Before long he developed a close union with God, and so was converted from his previous, worldly lifestyle. After 6 years of slavery, he had a dream. In this dream, he was instructed to prepare to make his bid for freedom. Soon after, he made a break for it and escaped from his master. He traveled 200 miles to the coast, and there he met a group of sailors, who refused at first. It was only after a fervent, silent prayer to the Lord that they agreed to grant him passage on their ship. Soon they arrived in France, where Patrick is said to have been captured and enslaved again, but only for a short time. he was soon released, and was again on his way home. A year or so later, he was finally reunited with his family.
         According to legend, about 3 years passed, and then he had a dream. In this dream, he saw a man, called Victoricus, who gave him a letter. The heading read "The voice of the Irish". and then he heard, within his mind, the voices of those that lived near the forest of Foclut. They were saying "We beseech thee, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more".  He took this to be a call from God, and began tom study for the Priesthood. After 15 years of study, he was ordained Priest by St Germanus , Bishop of Auxerre.  he was sent to Ireland by Pope St Celestine I. He was later consecrated Archbishop in place of Palladius, who had been killed by the Picts, in northern Britain. He spent the rest of his days building churches and converting the pagan Irish. At last, after many years of prayer and penance, and of traveling, he was worn out. He died in  461, and was buried at Saul, near a church he had built. His feast is March 17.