I have a friend, who on this day, every year tries to “get my Irish up.” He sends me an email with a meme proclaiming that St. Patrick was really Italian. My friend explains that St. Patrick was a Roman citizen, so I should put away the corn-beef and cabbage and instead have a nice plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

SAINT PATRICK WAS NOT ITALIAN!!! But it is also true that he was not Irish. We do not have the exact date, but Patrick was born in the first half of the 5^thcentury in Britain. His father was a Roman citizen and a deacon, but being a Roman citizen did not make him Italian. We must remember that the Roman Empire covered a lot of ethnic groups and regions. St. Paul was also a Roman citizen, but as a Jew was most certainly not Italian.

Much of what we know about St. Patrick is from two of his writings that we still have; his Confessions, which like the work of the same name by St. Augustine of Hippo, is St. Patrick’s spiritual autobiography. We also have a letter that he wrote to a British/Roman soldier name Coroticus, condemning him for allowing his troops to massacre a village of Irish Christians. Of course we also have a lot of legends about St. Patrick.

When Patrick was 16 years-old, he was kidnapped by a group of Irish raiders and taken as a slave back to Ireland. For six years Patrick was forced to work as a herdsman, and in the hardship of his life he turned to his Christian faith even more fervently. In a dream, he was told that the ship that would take him to freedom was waiting for him, so when he awoke he fled his master, and eventually made it to the waiting ship. He faced some hardships when he first got back to Britain, but he finally reunited with his family.

He made some short visits to the European continent, mostly to fill in some of the education he missed while a slave. Back home with his family, he had another dream, famously recorded in his Confessions. He saw a man named Victoricus who handed him a letter entitled, “The Voice of the Irish,” in which the Irish people called Patrick to walk among them again. While the dream brought Patrick to tears, he was at first reluctant to return to Ireland. It was not because of ill feelings from his captivity, rather it was he did not think that he had the education worthy of such a mission. But as we all know, Patrick did return to Ireland, making converts of nearly the entire island, which was seen at the time as “the ends of the world.”

Contrary to what many people might think, St. Patrick was not the first missionary or bishop of Ireland. That honor falls to Palladius, whom Pope Celestine I sent in 431. Palladius’ mission was not very successful.

St. Patrick picked up where Palladius left off, but was much more successful. Perhaps it was his experience as a slave among the Irish, or his less “refined” education, or his great humility, or his absolute reliance on the grace of God, but St. Patrick steadily won the hearts of the Irish people. It was not easy. His life was often in danger, and he was imprisoned at least once. However, his love for Christ, the Irish people, and his simple goodness won out, and it is noted that he personally baptized thousands of Irish.

So corned-beef and cabbage might not be the right meal for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, but spaghetti and meatballs is DEFINITELY wrong. Maybe a nice leg of lamb (and a wee glass of Irish whiskey). Happy St. Patrick’s Day!