The REAL St. Patrick...what a guy!

So...St. Patrick's Day is TODAY.

I. AM. SO. EXCITED!

This is a recent love for a Holiday that I have acquired in the last 3 years or so. My friend Sharon (Sharonius) always used to go out and celebrate St. Patty's like crazy which got me to thinking...what the heck is St. Patty's all about? So, I began to research St. Patrick and found out he was totally an awesome dude. On fire for God like crazy. Here's some interesting "St. Patrick facts":


1. St. Patrick was actually not Irish. He was born in Britain, and he died in Ireland March 17, 461AD.

2. At the age of 14 he was kidnapped by Pirates, sold into slavery, & imprisoned for six years. During this time, he had a dream, given to him by God that he was to be in the ministry.

3. He escaped to France, and joined a monastery.

4. There were 33 documented people raised from the dead by St. Patrick (through the Lord of course), and this is an excerpt from records about the miracles of St. Patrick: "For the blind and the lame, the deaf and the dumb, the palsied, the lunatic, the leprous, the epileptic, all who labored under any disease, did he in the Name of the Holy Trinity restore unto the power of their limbs and unto entire health; and in these good deeds was he daily practiced. Thirty and three dead men, some of whom had been many years buried, did this great reviver raise from the dead, as above we have more fully recorded."

5. Not only was he totally on fire for the Lord, St. Patrick was a great missionary bishop who converted a whole land from paganism, overturning the religion of the druids. He consecrated 350 bishops, erected 700 churches, and ordained 5,000 priests. In less than 30 years the greater part of Ireland was Catholic; St. Patrick so consolidated it in the Christian faith that during the Protestant Revolt Ireland was almost unique in its preservation of the Faith.

See what I mean? It's such an exciting Holiday for me! I love hearing about the great men of God throughout time. Even though its been commercialized and alot of people use the Holiday as an excuse to go out and get sloshed, I like to look at it as an awesome time to see what God did through a man who as completely in love with Him and willing to do whatever it took to tell people about God!

Kiss me I'm Irish!
Jess