The Real St. Patrick of Ireland
Posted in Homeschool View on Thursday, March 3, 2011
For many, St. Patrick's Day is a day for decorating with green shamrocks and a time when people go around pinching others because they aren't wearing green. Yet, little is said about the occasion's namesake, "Saint Patrick," unless it is a legend about him using the shamrock to teach the Trinity or driving snakes out of Ireland.
However, the truth about the real Patrick of Ireland is a story worth telling. For starters, he wasn't Irish or even Roman Catholic, but he was born into a Christian family on the west coast of Britain late in the 4th Century. Despite the influence of his father, who was a deacon, and his grandfather, who was a pastor, Patrick did not genuinely know God.
That changed completely at the age of 16 when Irish raiders captured Patrick and sold him into slavery in Ireland. There, as an abused teenage slave herding sheep on lonely hillsides, he had ample time to reflect on his sinful past and pour out his heart to God in prayer. After six years, God directed him in a dream to escape, and with God's help, he finally made it back to his family in Britain. Then, against the wishes of his family, Patrick obeyed God's call and went back to the Irish as a missionary. Back in Ireland, he experienced hardships, imprisonment, and narrow escapes from martyrdom, but he also rejoiced in the "so many thousands" he won to faith in Christ.
We know all this from two surviving sources, his Latin Confessio, in which Patrick defends his ministry against the critics back in Britain, and a letter he wrote to a British marauder named Coroticus. Patrick humbly acknowledged his lack of proper education and his poor Latin, but both his "Confession" and his letter are saturated with the Word of God. Almost every sentence echoes phrases from the Old or New Testament, indicating that Patrick knew the Bible so well that its words came as naturally as his breath. It's easy to see how the convicting power of God's Spirit accompanied his preaching.
Patrick's testimony translated into English is too lengthy to copy here, but you may want to encourage your homeschool students to read it carefully this St. Patrick's Day. Not only will they find God's answers to St. Patrick's prayers inspiring, but they'll also learn that it only takes one young person totally yielded to God to transform a nation!
Comments(25 comments)
CELA P 03/03/2011 06:00:29
St. Patricks Day has always been special to us as it is my husband's birthday, now with the great history lesson about Patrick, how much more interesting the day has been made! I can't wait to tell my children all about it! Thanks
CELESTE T 03/03/2011 06:12:07
How could St. Patrick not be a Catholic?? He was born in 387 AD. Martin Luther who started the reformation was born in 1483 AD. Catholicism was the first and only Christian Religion at the time.
NICHOLAS D 03/03/2011 10:11:46
Contrary to popular belief, the Catholic church was not the first church, nor was it ever the only church. If you do a study of Christian history, you'll find that there was a church throughout history known by many different names, but the beliefs were always the same. The names included Christians, Paulicians, Ana Baptists, and eventually Baptists. The Catholic church didn't begin until around 313 AD, begun by Constantine.
CELESTE T 03/03/2011 10:52:35
I have studied Christian history and continue to do so. Constantine did not invent Catholicism, he simply recognized it and let people legally be Christian. Christians were having "Catholic" Masses long before this "legalization" of Christianity. Three hundred years before Constantine, Christians believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, honoured Mary, had elaborate ceremonies, prayed for the dead, respected the Church hierarchy, baptized babies, recognized Peter as the Rock, built the Church upon him with successors and followed a rich tradition of Christianity. That was the Christianity of the early days of Christianity and that is the Catholic Church of today. Catholic means "universal."
CELESTE T 03/03/2011 10:54:21
Here is a Christian Time line
http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/timeline_of_catholic_church.htm
MIKE Z 03/03/2011 12:02:02
As a homeschool dad and Anglican / Celtic Christian pastor, I appreciate this story on the "real St. Patrick" . I have done extensive reasearch on patrick and the Early Church in Ireland & Brittan. The Early Celtic Church was very Evangelical and Biblically sound. For more on the early church in Ireland & Brittan visit my site:
www.cilldaraministries.com
Rev. Mike Z
Weston, FL
SUZANNE N 03/03/2011 15:19:52
Celeste,
Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with God through His grace and the death and resurrection of His son Jesus, Christ. Whatever ceremonies were being performed by people would not qualify Christianity. I am sure that there were bible-based religions at the same time that you speak of that did not include the ceremonies/human traditions that you speak of. Please allow for other thought in your defense. It is a bit narrow-minded.
CELESTE T 03/03/2011 17:10:10
Suzanne,
How could there have been JUST Bible based religions! The bible wasn\'t completely written yet? It was the early Church fathers and tradition.
Christianity is a religion weather you think so or not. All churches have some sort of tradition. The Catholic church is Bible based by the way. Everything we do comes from scripture. Who said I was narrow minded!. I am just stating the truth.You don\'t know me just because I posted a fact about Church history.I You are quick to judge!
IDALIZ M 03/03/2011 20:27:21
This is great! I just stopped by the library this afternoon for books on Ireland. Also, we made shamrocks to decorate the school room....they read I am NOT lucky, I AM blessed. Education is all about God!
CATHLEEN B 03/03/2011 23:25:53
St. Patrick most certainly is Roman Catholic. The Catholic Church is the Church begun by Jesus Christ, the first Pope; St. Peter was given the Keys to the Kingdom by Jesus Himself. While journeying along with His Apostles, Jesus asks them: \"Whom do men say that the Son of man is?\" The Apostles answered: \"Some John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets\". Jesus said to them: \"But whom do you say that I am?\" Simon said: \"Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God\". And Jesus answering said to him: \"Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter [Kipha, a rock], and upon this rock [Kipha] I will build my church [ekklesian], and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven\". Then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ (Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21). Thus The Catholic Church began with Jesus Christ with the leadership given to His first Pope, St. Peter, and has continued for 2,000 years with direct succession to our present Pope, Pope Benedict XVI.
The first Christians were Catholic. Catholics are the original Christians, so when St. Patrick brought the Christian Faith to Ireland he was indeed bringing the Catholic Faith to Ireland. St. Patrick was a Catholic priest and Catholic Bishop devoted to The Virgin Mary. It was St. Germain, Bishop of Auxerre, who commended Patrick to Pope St. Celestine I to bring the Catholic Christian faith to Ireland.
CHRISTINA S 03/04/2011 06:58:07
Cathleen is correct. When Germain was commissioned by the Pope to go to Britain and preach against the Pelagian heresy, he chose Patrick to be one of his missionary companions. Later he recommended Patrick to Pope Celestine I as a missionary to Ireland. If that doesn\'t confirm Patricks\'s ROMAN Catholicism, I don\'t know what will.
SUSAN M 03/04/2011 08:21:52
It is interesting to note this discussion. I do appreciate at least that as Catholics, those who are expressing their opinions are not mincing words or softening their stance. I do not agree that Catholicism was the original form of Christianity. The Christianity of Acts and Romans does not look in any way like that of the Roman Catholic Church. Salvation is \"By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone, in Christ Alone.\" So I hope those of you who are Catholics will understand that those of us who are not are basing our faith of the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and not in any type of allegiance to a church or church system. People have died in the past because of their stand on this. We do not need to be so vehement but we do need to state and stand for who we are and what we are truthfully. Those of us who are not part of the Catholic (local or universal) church do consider ourselves a part of the \"church\" as far as that means the body of Christ. (Those who profess faith in Christ alone for salvation.) But I ,for one, at least respect the fact that you are being up front about the differences between Catholicism and Evangelical\'s. These differences are real and to pretend they do not exist is to do disservice to history and to the future. Thank you.
CELESTE T 03/05/2011 15:28:02
Susan,
So you are saying no matter what you do or how you act matters to God? I believe Jesus died for my sins. But scripture says we will be judged does it not? I am sure allot of people believe Jesus died for them but do they follow Christ? do they feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the imprisoned? Jesus said Love the Lord your God above all else and Love your neighbor as yourself.
What about Hebrews 12:14.
Many Catholics were also killed for their faith. I agree there are many,many differences. There are also many people who really do not know what the Catholic Faith is all about. Or what we truly believe. Maybe you could visit a Catholic church one Sunday and see our beautiful Liturgy. Here the scripture passages being read. We have made many visits to different churches in our community. I teach my children tolerance and love for all Christians and all people. Because when it comes down to it we all believe in Jesus we just worship in different ways.
Peace
Celeste
JACOB R 03/05/2011 22:18:29
This is great! I love how my fellow Catholics are taking a stand. It amazes me how everyone of the comments made here against the Church are based on misinterpretations. It\'s so sad. Celeste, Christina & Cathleen bravo! I love you all! And I\'m proud of you!!
To the rest, please consider this... Or better yet, actually read St. Patrick\'s words directly...you most certainly will not find him to be anything other than Catholic.
\"ST. PADDY WASN'T A PROTESTANT
By James Akin
Patrick was born in 385 into a high-ranking Roman Christian family in western Britain; he died in Ireland in 461, though some accounts put his death later. His grandfather was a priest, and his father, a deacon, was a prosperous nobleman and a local Roman official. The family's native language was Latin.
Patrick writes that as youths he and his companions \"turned away from God, did not keep his commandments, and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our salvation\" (Conf. 1). His youth ended abruptly when, at age sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery, being assigned to work as a shepherd. This revolutionized his life. His faith and zeal for God were ignited, and he spent much time praying and fasting.
After six years, he escaped, led by private revelations along a safe route back to Britain. In another revelation he was commissioned to serve as a missionary to Ireland. To prepare, he traveled to France and spent two decades as a monk"studying, praying, and practicing penance.
He was ordained to the priesthood and in 432 was sent to Ireland to serve Palladius, who had been consecrated bishop by Pope Celestine. When Palladius died on a trip to Britain, Patrick was chosen as his successor and was consecrated bishop by Germanus, the papal representative overseeing the Irish mission.
Patrick experienced enormous success in converting the Irish, and three assistant bishops from France were sent to help him, among them Sechnall (a.k.a. Secundinus). Within his generation the Irish had been transformed by God's grace into a Christian (and Catholic) people.
In 441 Patrick went to Rome to seek approval of his ministry in Ireland, and the newly-elected Pope Leo the Great confirmed Patrick's full adherence to the Catholic faith. This is significant since today some assert that Patrick was not even Catholic! The challenge is made mainly by Irish Americans who were brought up Protestant or who have abandoned the Church for Protestantism and wish to co-opt Patrick and represent him as a non-Catholic figure.
This is an impossible task, as Patrick was a Latin-speaking Roman noble, grandson of a Catholic priest; he was a man who had repeated private revelations, practiced penance (a very Catholic thing), spent two decades as a monk, was ordained a priest, was sent to serve on the papal mission to Ireland, was ordained bishop by a papal representative, and had his fidelity to Catholic teaching specially confirmed by Pope Leo the Great (of whom the fathers of the Council of Chalcedon cried \"Peter has spoken through Leo!\"). Patrick described himself as a Catholic, and a list of canons he drew up for the Church in Ireland commanded that any dispute not resolved on a local level was to be forwarded to Rome for decision.
The two writings of his that survive, his Confession and the Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus, both attest to his Catholic faith.
The Letter"which Patrick wrote in a blazing fury after some of his newly baptized converts had been slaughtered during a raid by a British ruler"records his belief in the episcopacy, the ministerial priesthood, confirmation, the value of monks and nuns, purgatory, priestly absolution, and \"doing hard penance\" (the last two, he said, the murdering soldiers needed). His later Confession has a mild tone (not being a response to a massacre) and mentions many of the same Catholic distinctives, as well as fasting, loss of salvation, and Patrick's private revelations.
Another important source for Patrick's Catholicity is a Latin hymn written in praise of him by his assistant bishop, Sechnall, who records many of Patrick's beliefs, among them the sacrifice of the Mass, merits, the fact the Church is built on Peter, and baptismal regeneration.
Any claims from the disgruntled that Patrick was not Catholic are just blarney.\"
ANNETTE F 03/06/2011 21:02:40
if st. patrick had a father who was a deacon and a grandfather who was a pastor he was most likely a protestant. Priests are not meant to marry or have children. He could even have been a wiccan or from druid descendants if he was from particular parts of england. Also many people in England were christian\'s before any \"catholics\" came to England. People who were present on the day of Pentecost went back to their homelands and took the gospel with them. So he could have been a descendant from one of these christians. There were not just Catholics in the early christian church. There were also other groups called Waldensians and other groups who were against the catholic church. There was also a split in the Catholic church. There were rival camps. One being the trinitarians and one being the Arians and another being Seleucians. There were also two rival popes that wanted power and were fighting to gain control. Eventually one became victorious. The Catholic Church only came into power during the time of Constantine, who was not a Christian but wanted peace in Rome and saw that Christianity was growing and so he decided to amalgamate the Paganism of the time with Christianity. He renamed the pagan gods and goddesses with Christian names and bought in Sunday worship to appease the Sun worshippers. For a time both the jewish sabbath and the day of the sun were days of worship, until the Council of Trent where it was voted that Sunday would be the official day of worship. The Catholic church is founded on Peter. Peter meant (petros or pebble or little), but Christ said that he would build the church on THE Rock ((meaning himself) (or ON THIS ROCK - meaning the fact that He - Jesus was the Son of God) the church is built on Christ, the solid rock, who is our firm foundation. The difference between Catholicism and Protestantism is that Catholics faith is in doctrine, the fathers of the church and tradition. But Protestantism is based on the word and the word alone. Which is what each Protestant needs to remember!!! And to remember all that OUR fathers have done and gone through to stay true to their faith!!! We are all part of the body of Christ and need to ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us in all things. To lead us to a unity in TRUTH. We cannot give up God\'s truth for the sake of unity. But may we treat each other with respect and love, no matter the difference of our opinions.
CELESTE T 03/06/2011 21:49:34
Annette!
Please do not spread false facts! Catholics have faith is Jesus!! You do not know what you are talking about!! You must be calling the Bible a false doctrine then because we believe the Bible is truth!! We also believe in tradition as part of our faith!! All of the sacraments come from the Bible!! Catholics were persecuted also in many places by Protestants!! Many died for their faith!
The Great Schism was after St. Patrick\'s time!
In Koine Greek, both petros and petra simply meant \"rock.\" If Jesus had wanted to call Simon a small stone, the Greek lithos would have been used.
CHRISTINA S 03/07/2011 09:00:20
Annette
Here are a few facts to consider:
1. Catholic deacons can be married. That is true even today.
2. In St. Patrick\'s time, marriage was optional for a priest as long as he had only one wife in his lifetime. This seems to have been the case down to about the time of Constantine although celibacy was strongly encouraged. (Catholic Encyclopedia)
3. Patrick could not have been \"Wiccan\" because Wicca is a religion based on the modern reconstruction of pagan beliefs. (wicca.com)
4. When you say \"the word\" I assume you mean the bible. Don\'t forget that the bible as we know it today, the bible that was printed by Gutenberg, was first translated into Latin by St. Jerome, a priest of the Roman Church. The bible is very much a Catholic book. (google.com \"St. Jerome\")
5. Constantine had no power to \"amalgamate\" Christian beliefs with anything. By the time he became emperor the Church was well established, having elected no fewer than 29 popes.
6. Patrick accompanied Germanus to Britain to preach against the Pelagian heresy. Pelagianism is the belief that man can be saved by works, something you and many Protestants accuse Catholics of believing. Obviously, Catholics don\'t believe this, otherwise Pope Celestine wouldn\'t have sent missionaries to preach against it.
7. \"Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. Without faith no one has ever attained justification. Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church 161-162)
JULIE S 03/07/2011 13:27:37
Dear Catholic Friends, I would encourage you to visit the website: biblebelievers.com, there is a link on the left hand colomn under \"what about: Catholicism\" There you will find the testimony of Richard Peter Bennett who was a Roman Catholic Priest for 22 years.
ANNETTE F 03/07/2011 13:34:42
Dear Christina,
Thank you for clearing up the facts about deacons and priests. That was very interesting. Yes both Catholics and Protestants are responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people, which is definitely unchristian, which is why Pope John Paul II apologised (as there is no head of the Protestant church, it is a bit hard for them to apologise!). Unfortunately many terrible crimes are committed in the name of Christianity as well as other religions. No matter whether you are Catholic or Protestant, God has his sheep in each church. May God bless you in your walk with Him.
CELESTE T 03/07/2011 14:26:37
Julie,
That website is full of anti-Catholic bigotry! I would NOT recommend it!! Here is a website for people who want to know the truth about the Catholic faith.
http://www.catholic.com/
As for Richard Bennett who knows his credentials.Do intelligent people really abandon the Catholic Church because they suddenly discover that some Catholics, including some priests and bishops, are venal or ignorant? NO
And why must I ask is this turning into who knows the truth!! The original article by AOP about St. Patrick is not true! He was a Catholic bishop.
JODY S 03/08/2011 19:59:39
Yikes! I was just trying to get the truth about St. Patrick! Who knew that all of these God loving people would fight over religion when we all should know that it is faith that carries us. God bless you all! Catholic and Protestant alike. What am I you ask? Why, I am a Christian!
CHRISTINA S 03/08/2011 23:05:55
This is not a fight about religion. It is about intellectual honesty. I am Catholic, but when my daughter was in high school we used a curriculum for church history which included the Westminster Shorter Catechism on its reading list because I wanted her to understand what other Christians believed and why we believed differently. We went through the Shorter Catechism and compared it with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I wanted to use a historically accurate representation of at least one branch of Protestantism. I stayed away from rabid anti-Protestant websites because I knew they couldn\'t be trusted. How many Protestants are willing to do the same and let their children read the Catholic catechism so they can get a true understanding of what my church teaches?
I homeschool my children because I want them to be honest inquirers and searchers of the truth, don\'t you? Intellectual laziness has no place among people who have the responsibility of educating the next generation. That\'s why we took them out of public school in the first place (at least that\'s my reason). So I really get upset when I see homeschool curricula and websites making unfounded statements like the one about St. Patrick.
For the record, I get just as angry when Catholics do it. I know of one Catholic history text in which the author says that the Amish are just a type of Quaker. It\'s clear that she didn\'t care enough to do the research and had no problem with misrepresenting a Protestant denomination. I tossed out the book and chose something else. Unfortunately, since very few Catholics know any Protestant history they will continue to use the book and never know any better. And frankly folks, there\'s more than one Protestant history text that misrepresents Catholic teaching and all tlhose Protestant families go on using them, absorbing falsehoods and never knowing any better because they don\'t bother to question what they are being told.
So Julie, please don\'t get your information from some angry man who is either lying or has broken his vows and abandoned the Church because he was offended by someone. Go to the source. The Catechism of the Catholic Church was written to provide a complete picture of what the Catholic faith has always taught. And there are good, trustworthy websites like catholicanswers.com where you can ask questions and get answers from knowledgeable people. Read books by authors like Scott Hahn, Stephen Ray, Thomas Howard, Jeff Cavins and others who write about why they joined the Catholic Church. I don\'t expect you to agree with them, but at least you\'ll be hearing the testimonies of men who understand both the Protestant and Catholic viewpoints and are fair to both.
I am not asking anyone to convert to my faith. I\'m just asking you to be responsible and get the facts.
By the way Jacob, kudos for the Jimmy Akin article. Akin is one of those people who knows what he\'s talking about.
TRACY R 11/21/2012 22:00:31
Wow, this is a very disappointing article. Someone did NOT study their church history very well at all.
I agree that Protestants should also teach their children as much as many Catholics teach their children about the Protestant faith.
St. Patrick was very much Catholic. Being that from 33 AD to about 1500s there was One Holy Catholic and Apostolic church. Of course around 1100\'s or so there was a branch of Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox. But other then that Catholicism lasted until the Protestant Reformation in the 1500\'s. Anabaptists also broke off from the Catholic church around 1521. Well after the time of St, Patrick was born in the year 387 AD. I\'m not sure where the idea that the Anabaptists existed before or during the time of Catholicism comes from if the Anabaptists didn\'t exist until 1521?
Anyways, yes , St. Patrick was Catholic, if you look back from a Church Historical perspective and to say he wasn\'t is well, not true.
As for how Catholics worship there are just way to many false ideas out there , and untruths.
Catholics worship statues: Catholics do not worship statues. We worship God ONLY,. The statues in the churches are pictures, art, reminders of why we are there in the first place. Nothing more. Just as we have pictures of loved ones in our home and loved ones that lived before us. They remind us of those we love.
Catholics worship Saints. A: We do not. We pray to them as if we were talking to a friend to please pray for us when we need to do so. Just because they are in Heaven doesn\'t mean that they can\'t hear us and the only way for us to talk with them is to pray. We ask them to intercede just as you ask a friend to please pray for you on your behalf when times are tough.
Catholics don\'t read the Bible: A: I know lots of Protestants who don\'t either. But that is neither hear nor there. A true practicing Catholic ( like a true practicing Protestant) studies the Bible, prays , and takes the word of God to heart. There are many Bible reading Catholics out there today. After all it was the Catholics who translated the Bible and wrote it for the world to read.
If he was a deacon and was married he had to be Protestant. A: False, Catholic deacons can very much marry. But if they do they cannot become priests. They can only marry once and should that spouse die, never marry again.
Catholic priests during the time of St. Patrick were also allowed to marry during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It wasn\'t until around the 11th century or so that celibacy was made mandatory for priests. There are exceptions though even today for those who are in the Protestant clergy and convert to Catholicism , you\'ll most likely see that among those who convert from the Angelican faith.
Catholics believe in God, we worship God, we believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We read the Bible , if you\'ve ever gone to a Catholic Mass the Bible is read more than in any Protestant church I\'ve ever been in ( am a convert and have belonged to most Protestant faiths growing up , name it I was most likely in that Protestant church growing up as a child.) Catholics pray to God. We pray to Saints to interceded and ask them to pray our Catholics follow the teaching of Jesus Christ himself started in 33 AD. We have followed it for 2,000 years. We do not worship Mary but honor her as if we honor our military for keeping us safe from all harm. We honor her because she had the most important job of all, being the mother of God\'s Son. We believe that faith and good works ( both together , not one separate from another) is important,. As James said in the Bible : in chapter 2:14-26 that faith without works is dead. One can have faith but without works , it is dead. ( shorten version,, but refer to your Bible).
As I\'ve gotten off the track. This article has false facts and if this person can show a timeline and show proof that St. Patrick was really NOT catholic other than saying it. Well then they might have something. But since this article was not backed up with any real, tangible proof , its all just false facts until proven otherwise. As for St. Patrick the Catholic church recognizes him as a Catholic bishop and since the Catholic church goes back and studies a persons life and the history with a fine toothed comb. Well, I would think the Catholic church would have known if he was or was not Catholic. If that were the case he would not have been cannonized as a Saint (with a capital S) there are saints here on earth and saints in Heaven, but to be cannonized a Saint one has to go through the long and arduous task of looking into the life of someone to make sure they were who they said they were.
SUSAN L 11/23/2012 08:51:12
I find it disappointing that many of the Protestants commenting want to back down and relegate the discussion of truth to the warm fuzzies of \"being a Christian\" This is the truth about the early church and one of the Lord\'s most famous servants. You must seek truth and then ask yourself why you are being given false information. If the truth is uncomfortable and seems confrontational you might want to ask yourself why you are avoiding it. If you do not want the truth or have a hunger for it, what is it that you want? Comfortable, tolerant ignorance? I have another word for this, lukewarmness. What did the Lord say He would do with the lukewarm? Have a hunger for truth. Are you afraid it will rock your comfortable boat? Well, get out of the boat and seek truth! You will find Him, the author of truth in the process! I am a Catholic who converted through diligent scripture study. Maybe that is not your path and that is fine, but if you hunger to know the truth about the early church, go to the source. Try actually studying and learning the early church writers... those who were the students of the apostles... St. Polycarp (pope and student of St. John, the Apostle), St. Iraneas, student of St. Polycarp. I heard this recently about studying the church fathers from the first century, if you want a clearer stream of water, go closer to the fountain head. The fountain head of the Christian faith, our Lord Jesus Christ.
RONNIE W 11/23/2012 09:31:35
you need to check your info--- he was Catholic. He was a Bishop and a missionary priest. He was not Irish by ethnic heritage or by birthplace, but he fell in love with Ireland and the Irish people loved him. I love your cirriculum, but if you will not check facts and what you publish especially for those that will take it and think this is the truth, then I will have to think twice about purchasing and using your cirriculum.