St. Patrick & the Power of Forgiveness

"I, Patrick, a sinner..."

Thus begins The Confession of St. Patrick; a story that illustrates the cosmic power of forgiveness.

Patrick wasn't Irish. He was a Welsh-Briton, who, as a "young man, almost a beardless boy ... was taken captive" by Irish raiders and sold into slavery on the harsh, barbaric Irish isle. He was only 16. This took place somewhere in the middle of the 5th century, as the Roman empire suffered its rapid decline and the so-called Dark Ages began.

For 6 years he worked against his will in Ireland before making his escape.

Through many tribulations, he made his way back home, and then did the unthinkable. He returned to Ireland! Why?


He had a vision of the voice of the Irish "crying as if with  one voice: We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us." 

So he returned to the place of his captivity. In his own words:

"I testify in truthfulness and gladness of heart before God and his holy angels that I never had any reason , except the Gospel and his promises, ever to have returned to that nation from which I had previously escaped with difficulty."

Eventually he would express his desire in the following way:

"Therefore may it never befall me to be separated by my God from his people whom he has won in this most remote land. I pray God that he gives me perseverance, and that he will deign that I should be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing."

He did exactly that. The rest of the story is that Ireland became fervent center not only of Christian piety but also of classical learning. As Christendom and Roman civilization deteriorated throughout Europe, it thrived on the rugged slopes of Ireland.

As time went on, Ireland began exporting these thing back into Europe. Historian Thomas Cahill argues, in his fine book How the Irish Saved Civilization that this was essentially the salvation of Western Civilization. He writes:

"...as the Roman Empire fell, as all through Europe matted, unwashed barbarians descended on the Roman cities, looting artifacts and burning books, the Irish, who were just learning to read and write, took up the great labor of copying all of western literature--everything they could lay their hands on. These scribes then served as conduits through which the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian cultures were transmitted to the tribes of Europe, newly settled amid rubble and ruined vineyards of the civilization they had overwhelmed ... Without the Mission of the Irish Monks, who single-handedly re-founded European civilization throughout the continent ... the world that came after them would have been an entirely different one."

Quite a repercussion from the decision by "the obviously unlearned sinner Patrick."

He was, in many ways, a 5th Century Joseph. While one could (and should) draw many valuable lessons from this man's life, I wonder if the most significant one isn't about forgiveness!

One could have expected Patrick, upon his return to Wales, to merely lick his wounds and live out his days regaling his neighbors with the harrowing details of his exploits in Ireland. One might expect him to live his life defined as a victim--expecting to be catered to in pity for the remainder of his life. This was not the case.

"The Lord has the power to grant me that I may soon spend my own self for your souls."

We often look at the issue of forgiveness as the (optional?) duty laid upon the victimized to "get over" their anger and hurt, but it is so much more.

Forgiveness is an explosively redemptive and restorative act, that sets the whole course of the world in a new direction.

Patrick's British countrymen marveled, "Why is this fellow throwing himself into danger among enemies who know not God?"  Though Patrick's redemptive vision for this island was indeed profound, it would be doubtful that he could have understood it's redemptive scope.

Nevertheless, it all began with the simple (but rarely easy) act of forgiveness.

What do we withhold from the world when we withhold forgiveness? What do we withhold from our selves? Do lives hang in the balance? The fates of entire country's? Entire civilizations? Maybe. Maybe not. But probably more than we're willing to admit in the stubbornness of our hurt and anger. Would that the eyes of our heart could be lifted in order to see what is truly at stake.

I see three main things in Patrick's life that enabled him to forgive (whether he would articulate these the same way or not):

1. Come to grips with your own vast sin and the vastness of your redemption. Patrick never makes reference to the battle for forgiveness (though he seemed most wounded by the misunderstandings he experienced in his homeland!). What he does reference is his awe in his own redemption. "The Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God." This is the parable of the unforgiving servant. This is the message of the Gospel.
2. Embrace God's sovereign purpose in your difficulty. Like Joseph, Patrick was enabled to accept God's control of his situation; the "many favours and graces the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity." He never succumbed to bitterness or fatalism. If we understand that nothing can dislodge us from God's good (though not always easy or pleasant!) purpose for our lives, it gives incredible power to genuinely forgive.
3. Recognize the inestimable value of life. Patrick's love for the Irish was obvious; his yearning to see them turn to God: "I am greatly God's debtor, because he granted me so much grace, that through me many people would be reborn in God." If we could grasp how significant every life is, we would strive to unleash the power of forgiveness. This not only goes for the lives of those we forgive, but the lives impacted by them. Not only that, but it applies to our own lives! Why would we consciously choose to curtail the potential of our own lives by allowing bitterness to erode us from within?

God most certainly gave Patrick grace in this. Fortunately we can, however, look back on his example and learn a great deal. 

As he wrote, Patrick admitted, "now I am presuming to try to grasp in my old age what I did not gain in my youth." Though he may have done many things differently, certainly he could look back with gladness on his magnanimity--a word that means both forgiving and exceedingly generous, for the two are synonymous.