Who Was Patrick?

People around the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with little thought of the man for which the day is named. In fact, much of what is associated with Patrick is based on falsehoods…

Patrick was not Irish – he was Scottish. He was not a canonized “Saint” of the church, but he was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. His mission was not to rid Ireland of snakes, but rather to preach the gospel of Christ. And the thing he would want you to remember has nothing to do with the color green; he would want you to know that Jesus Christ can change your life.

The first time Patrick was in Ireland was as a teenager. Living as a slave he came to the end of himself and entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As a forty year old man he returned to Ireland with the goal of turning the people to Christianity. God used that one man to make a difference in an entire nation.

Patrick was never officially recognized as a “Saint” of the church, but he is, like every believer, called a saint because of his standing in Jesus Christ. If you want to celebrate his life then do what he did – tell someone else about Jesus Christ. That is something we can do every day.