Who Was “Saint Patrick”? ucg.org

Will the real Saint Patrick please stand up. Most believe St. Patrick, a Catholic monk, brought the doctrine of the Trinity to Ireland. In addition, he is also believed to have driven out all the snakes from the Emerald Isle. Maewyn Succat, aka Patrick most likely took on his name sake due to his Scottish origins. At the age of sixteen he and thousands of others were captured and taken to Ireland. He remained there for six years as a slave until managing to escape. He did return in the late fourth century believing he was called to bring God’s word to the people of Ireland. However, not as Catholic, which would not have a significant influence in Ireland until the 12th century but as a member of the Celtic Church. There is very little written about Patrick other than the mythology written down about 500 years after his death by Jocelyn, a Catholic priest. We do know that as late as the sixth century the Celtic Church refused to acknowledge Pope Gregory’s authority, rejecting the teachings of the Roman Church and the infallibility of the Pope. Many of the Celtic Church’s beliefs varied from that of the Catholic Church. Their priests were permitted to marry, they practiced full immersion water baptisms, believed God’s Kingdom was not of this world and also kept the seventh day Sabbath along with the other Levitical Sabbaths. The Celtic Church also rejected the confessional, Mass, image and relic worship, and other Catholic doctrines not supported by scripture. This just scratches the surface of the differences between the man and the myth. The Celtic Church traced their origins back to that of John, Paul and Philip and other apostles of Jesus.  St. Patrick’s Day actually has nothing to do with the historical man – Patrick.