Saint Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland,
beloved Catholic saint, made the Sign of the Cross 100 times twice a day
and wrote a soulful autobiography entitled Confession. Saint
Patrick was poisoned, enslaved, betrayed, mobbed, and attacked.
Please feel free to download.
I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned,
the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many. My father was
Calpornius, a deacon, son of Potitus, a priest, of the village Bannavem
Taburniae; he had a government seat nearby, and there I was taken captive.
I was then about sixteen years of age. I
did not know the true God. I was taken into captivity to Ireland with many
thousands of people; and deservedly so, because we turned away from God,
and did not keep His commandments, and did not obey our priests who used
to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought over us the wrath of
his anger and scattered us among many nations even unto the utmost part of
the earth where now my littleness is placed among strangers.
And there the Lord opened the sense of
my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and be converted with
all my heart to the Lord my god, who had regard for my abjection, and
mercy on my youth and ignorance, and watched over me before I knew Him,
and before I was able to distinguish between good and evil, and guarded
me, and comforted me as would a father his son.
Hence I cannot be silent or, indeed,
is it expedient about the great benefits and the great grace which the
Lord has deigned to bestow upon me in the land of my captivity; for this
we can give to God in return after having been chastened by Him to exalt
and praise His wonders before every nation that is anywhere under the
heaven.
Because there is no other God, nor ever
was, nor will be, than God the Father unbegotten, without beginning, from
whom is all beginning, the Lord of the universe, as we have been taught;
and His Son Jesus Christ, whom we declare to have always been with the
Father, spiritually and ineffably begotten by the Father before the
beginning of the world, before all beginning; and by Him are made all
things visible and invisible.
He was made man, and, having defeated
death, was received into heaven by the Father; and He hath given Him all
power over all names in heaven, on earth, under the earth. Every tongue
shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe, and
whose advent we expect soon to be. He is judge of the living and of the
dead, who will render every man according to his deeds; and He has poured
forth upon us abundantly the Holy Spirit, the gift and pledge of
immortality. Who makes those who believe and obey, sons of God and joint
heirs with Christ; and Him do we confess and adore, one God in the Trinity
of the Holy Name.
For He Himself has said through the
Prophet: Call upon me in the day of thy trouble, and I will deliver thee,
and thou shalt glorify Me. And again He says: It is honorable to reveal
and confess the works of God.
Although I am imperfect in many things,
I nevertheless wish that my brethren and kinsmen should know what sort of
person I am, so that they may understand my hearts desire.
I know well the testimony of my Lord,
who in the Psalm declares: Though wilt destroy them that speak a lie. And
again He says: The mouth that belieth killeth the soul. And the same Lord
says in the Gospel: Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
render an account for it on the day of judgment.
And so I should read exceedingly, with
fear and trembling, this sentence on that day when no one will be able to
escape or hide, but we all, without exception, shall have to give an
account even of our smallest sins before the judgment of the Lord Christ.
For this reason I had in mind to write,
but hesitated until now; I was afraid of exposing myself to the talk of
men, because I have not studies like the others, who thoroughly imbibed
law and Sacred Scripture, and never had to change from the language of
their childhood days but were able to make it still more perfect.
In our case, what I had to say had to be
translated into a tongue foreign to me, as can be easily proved from the
flavor of my writing which betrays how little instruction and training I
have had in the art of words; or, so says Scripture, by the tongue will be
discovered the wise man, and understanding, and knowledge, and the
teaching of truth.
But of what help is an excuse, however
true, especially if combined with presumption, since how, in my old age, I
strive for something that I did not acquire in youth?
It was my sins that prevented me from
fixing in my mind what before I had barely read through. But who believes
me, though I should repeat what I started out with?
As a youth, nay, almost as a boy not
able to speak, I was taken captive, before I knew what to pursue and what
to avoid. Hence today I blush and fear exceedingly to reveal my lack of
education; for I am unable to tell my story to those versed in the art of
concise writing in such a way, I mean, as my spirit and mind long to
do, and so that the sense of my words expresses what I feel.
But if indeed it had been given to me as
it was given to others, then I would not be silent because of my desire of
thanksgiving; and if perhaps some people think me arrogant for doing so in
spite of my lack of knowledge and my slow tongue, it is, after all,
written: The stammering tongues shall quickly learn to speak peace.
How much more should we earnestly strive
to do this; we, who are, so Scripture says, a letter of Christ for
salvation unto the utmost part of the earth, and, though not an eloquent
one, yet written in your hearts not with ink but with the spirit of the
living God! And again the Spirit witnesses that even rusticity was created
by the Highest.
Whence I, once rustic, exiled,
unlearned, who does not know how to provide for the future, this at least
I know most certainly that before I was humiliated I was like a stone
lying in the deep mire; and He that is mighty came and in His mercy lifted
me up, and raised me aloft, and placed me on the top of the wall.
And therefore I ought to cry out aloud,
and so also render something to the Lord for His great benefits here and
in eternity benefits which the mind of man is unable to appraise.
Wherefore, then, be astonished, ye great
and little that fear God, and you men of letters on your estates, listen
and pore over this. Who was it that roused up me, the fool that I am, from
the midst of those who in the eyes of men were wise, and expect in law,
and powerful in word and in everything? And He inspired me the outcast
of this world before others, to be the man (if only I could!) who,
with fear and reverence and without blame, should faithfully serve the
people to whom the love of Christ conveyed and gave me for the duration of
my life, if I should be worthy; yes indeed, to serve them humbly and
sincerely.
In the light, therefore, of our faith in
the Trinity I must make this choice, regardless of danger I must make
known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, without fear; and
frankly, I must spread everywhere the name of God so that after my decease
I may leave a bequest to my brethren and sons whom I have baptized in the
Lord so many thousands of people.
And I was not worthy, nor was I such
that the Lord should grant this to His servant; that after my misfortunes
and so great difficulties, after my captivity, after the lapse of so many
years, He should give me so great a grace in behalf of that nation a
thing which once, in my youth, I never expected nor thought of.
But after I came to Ireland every
day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed the love of God
and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And
my spirit was moved so that in a single day I would say as many as a
hundred prayers, and almost as many in the night, and this even when I was
staying in the woods and on the mountains; and I used to get up for prayer
before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no
harm, and there was no sloth in me as I now see, because the spirit
within me was then fervent.
And there one night I heard in my sleep
a voice saying to me: "It is well that you fast, soon you will go to
your own country." And again, after a short while, I heard a voice
saying to me: "See, your ship is ready." And it was not near,
but at a distance of perhaps two hundred miles, and I had never been
there, nor did I know a living soul there; and then I took to flight, and
I left the man with whom I had stayed for six years. And I went in the
strength of God who directed my way to my good, and I feared nothing until
I came to that ship.
And the day that I arrived the ship was
set afloat, and I said that I was able to pay for my passage with them.
But the captain was not pleased, and with indignation he answered harshly:
"It is of no use for you to ask to come along with us." And when
I heard this, I left them in order to return to the hut where I was
staying. And as I went, I began to pray; and before I had ended my prayer,
I heard one of them shouting behind me, "Come, hurry, we shall take
you on in good faith; make friends with us in whatever way you like."
And so on that day I
hoped they would come to the faith of Jesus
Christ, because they were pagans. And thus I had my way with them, and we
set sail at once.
And after three days we reached land,
and for twenty-eight days we traveled through deserted country. And they
lacked food, and hunger overcame them; and the next day the captain said
to me: "Tell me, Christian, you say that your God is great and all
powerful; why, then, do you not pray for us? As you can see, we are
suffering from hunger; it is unlikely indeed that we shall ever see a
human being again."
I said to them full of confidence:
"Be truly converted with all of your heart to the Lord my God,
because nothing is impossible for Him, that this day He may send you good
on your way until you be satisfied; for He has abundance everywhere."
And, with the help of God, so it came to pass: Suddenly a herd of pigs
appeared on the road before our eyes, and they killed many of them; and
there they stopped for two nights and full recovered their strength, and
their hounds received their fill for many of them had grown weak and were
half dead along the way. And from that day they had plenty of food. They
also found wild honey, and offered some of it to me, and one of them said:
"This we offer in sacrifice." Thanks be to God, I tasted none of
it.
That same night, when I was asleep,
Satan assailed me violently, a thing I shall remember as long as I shall
be in this body. And he fell upon me like a huge rock, and I could not
stir a limb. But whence came it into my mind, ignorant as I am, to call
upon Helias? And meanwhile I saw the sun rise in the sky, and while I was
shouting "Helias! Helias!" with all my might, suddenly the
spendor of that sun fell on me and immediately freed me of all misery. And
I believe that I was sustained by Christ my Lord, and that His Spirit was
even then crying out on my behalf, and I hope it will be so on the day of
my tribulation, as is written in the Gospel: On that day, the Lord
declares: It is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that
speaketh in you.
And once again, after many years, I fell
into captivity. On that first night I stayed with them, I heard a divine
message saying to me: "Two months will you be with them." And so
it came to pass: On the sixtieth night thereafter the Lord delivered me
out of their hands.
Also on our way God gave us food and
fire and dry weather every day, until, on the tenth day, we met people. As
I said above, we traveled twenty-eight days through deserted country, and
the night that we met people we had no food left.
And again after a few years I was in
Britain with my people, who received me as their son, and sincerely
besought me that now at last, having suffered so many hardships, I should
not leave them and go elsewhere.
And there I saw in the night the vision
of a man, whose name was Victoricus, coming as it were from Ireland, with
countless letters. And he gave me one of them, and I read the opening
words of the letter, which were, "The voice of the Irish"; and
as I read the beginning of the letter I thought that at the same moment I
heard their voice they were those beside the Wood of Voclut, which is
near the Western Sea and thus did they cry out as with one mouth:
"We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more."
And I was quite broken in heart, and
could read no further, and so I woke up. Thanks be to God, after many
years, the Lord gave to them according to their cry. And another night,
whether within me, or beside me, I know not, God knoweth they called
me most unmistakably with words which I heard but could not understand,
except that at the end of the prayer He spoke thus: "He that has laid
down His life for thee, it is He that speaketh in thee;" and so I
awoke full of joy.
And again I saw Him praying in me, and I
was as it were within my body, and I heard Him above me, that is, over the
inward man, and there He prayed mightily with groanings. And all the time
I was astonished, and wondered, and thought with myself who it could be
that prayed in me. But at the end of the prayer He spoke, saying that He
was the Spirit; and so I woke up, and remembered the Apostle saying: The
Spirit helpeth the infirmities of our prayer. For we know not what we
should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself asketh for us with
unspeakable groanings, which cannot be expressed in words; and again: The
Lord our advocate asketh for us.
And when I was attacked by a number of
my seniors who came forth and brought up my sins against my laborious
episcopate, on that day indeed was I struck so that I might have fallen
now and for eternity; but the Lord graciously spared the stranger and
sojourner for His name and came mightily to my help in this affliction.
Verily, not slight was the shame and blame that fell upon me! I ask God
that it may not be reckoned to them as sin.
As cause for proceeding against me they
found after thirty years! a confession I had made before I was a
deacon. In the anxiety of my troubled mind I confided to my dearest friend
what I had done in my boyhood one day, nay, in one hour, because I was not
yet strong. I know not, God knoweth whether I was then fifteen years
old, and I did not believe in the living God, nor did I so from my
childhood, but lived in death and unbelief until I was severely chastised
and really humiliated by daily hunger and nakedness.
On the other hand, I did not go to
Ireland of my own accord, not until I had nearly perished; but this was
rather for my good, for thus was I purged by the Lord. He made me fit so
that I might be now what was once far from me that I should care and labor
for the salvation of others, whereas before I did not even care about
myself.
On that day, then when I was rejected by
those referred to and mentioned above, in that night I saw a vision. There
was a writing against my face, and at the same time I heard Gods voice
saying to me: "We have seen with displeasure the face of
Deisignatus" (thus revealing his name). He did not say, "Thou
hast seen," but "We have seen," as if He included Himself,
as He sayeth: He who toucheth you toucheth as it were the apple of my eye.
Therefore I give Him thanks who hath
strengthened me in everything, as He did not frustrate the journey upon
which I had decided, and the work which I had learned from Christ my Lord;
but I rather felt after this no little strength, and my trust was proved
right before God and men.
And so I say boldly, my conscience does
not blame me now or in the future: God is my witness that I have not lied
in the account which I have given you.
But the more am I sorry for my dearest
friend that we had to hear what he said. To him I had confided my very
soul! And I was told by some of the brethren before that defense at
which I was not present, nor was I in Britain, nor was it suggested by me
that he would stand up for me in my absence. He had even said to me in
person: "Look you should be raised to the rank of bishop!"
of which I was not worthy. But whence did it come to him afterwards that
he let me down before all, good and evil, and publicly, in a matter in
which he had favored me before spontaneously and gladly and not be
alone, but the Lord, who is greater than all?
Enough of this. I must not, however,
hide Gods gift which He bestowed upon me in the land of my captivity;
because then I earnestly sought Him, and there I found Him, and He saved
me from all evil because so I believe of His spirit that swelleth
in me. Again, boldly said. But God knows it, had this been said to me by a
man, I had perhaps remained silent for the love of Christ.
Hence, then, I give unwearied thanks to
God, who kept me faithful in the day of my temptation, so that today I can
confidently offer Him my soul as a living sacrifice to Christ my Lord, who
saved me out of all my troubles. Thus I can say: "Who am I, Oh Lord,
and to what hast Thou called me, Thou who didst assist me with such divine
power that today I constantly exalt and magnify Thy name among the
heathens wherever I may be, and not only in good days but also in
tribulations?"
So indeed I must accept with equanimity
whatever befalls me, be it good or evil, and always give thanks to God,
who taught me to trust in Him always without hesitation, and who must have
heard my prayer so that I, however ignorant I was, in the last days dared
to undertake such a holy and wonderful work thus imitating somehow those
who, as the Lord once foretold, would preach His Gospel for a testimony to
all nations before the end of the world. So we have seen it, and so it has
been fulfilled: Indeed, we are witnesses that the Gospel has been preached
unto those parts beyond which there lives nobody.
Now, it would be tedious to give a
detailed account of all my labors or even a part of them. Let me tell you
briefly how the merciful God often freed me from slavery and from twelve
dangers in which my life was at stake not to mention numerous plots,
which I cannot express in words; for I do not want to bore my readers. But
God is my witness, who knows all things even before they come to pass, as
He used to forewarn even me, poor wretch that I am, of many things by a
divine message.
How come I by this wisdom, which was not
in me, who neither knew the number of my days nor knew who God was? Whence
was given to me afterwards the gift so great, so salutary to know God and
to love Him although at the price of leaving my country and my parents?
And many gifts were offered to me in
sorrow and tears, and I offended the donors, much against the wishes of
some of my seniors; but, guided by God, in no way did I agree with them or
acquiesce. It was not grace of my own, but God, who is strong in me and
resists them all. As He had done when I came to the people of Ireland to
preach the Gospel, and to suffer insult from the unbelievers.
Hearing the reproach of my going abroad,
and many persecutions even unto bonds, and to give my free birth for the
benefit of others. Should I be worthy, I am prepared to give even my life
without hesitation and most gladly for His name, and it is there that I
wish to spend it until I did, if the Lord would grant it to me.
For I am very much Gods debtor, who
gave me such grace that many people were reborn in God through me and
afterwards confirmed, and that clerics were ordained for them everywhere.
For a people just coming to the faith,
whom the Lord took from the utmost parts of the earth, as He once had
promised through His prophets: To Thee the gentiles shall come from the
ends of the earth and shall say: "How false are the idols that our
fathers got for themselves, and there is no profit in them." And
again: "I have set Thee as a light among the gentiles, that Thou
mayest be for salvation unto the utmost part of the earth."
And there I wish to wait for His promise
who surely never deceives, as He promises in the Gospel: They shall come
from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob as we believe the faithful will come from all over the world.
For that reason, therefore, we ought to
fish well and diligently, as the Lord exhorts in advance and teaches,
saying: Come ye after me, and I will make you to be fishers of men. And
again He says through the prophets: Behold, I send many fishers and
hunters, saith God, and so on.
Hence it was most necessary to spread
our nets so that a great multitude and throng might be caught for God, and
that there be clerics everywhere to baptize and exhort a people in need
and want as the Lord in the Gospel states, exhorts and teaches, saying:
Going therefore now, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: And behold I am with you all days
even to the consummation of the world.
And again He says: Go ye therefore into
the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall
be condemned. And again: This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in
the whole world for a testimony to all nations, and then shall come the
end.
And so too the Lord announces through
the prophet, and says: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, saith
the Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and
your old men shall dream dreams. And upon my servants indeed, and upon my
handmaids will I pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall
prophesy. And in Osee, He saith: "I will call that which was
not my people, my people; and her that had not obtained mercy, one that
hath obtained mercy. And it shall be in the place where it was said: You
are not my people, there they shall be called the sons of the living
God."
Hence, how did it come to pass in
Ireland that those who never had a knowledge of God, but until now always
worshipped idols and things impure, have now been made a people of the
Lord, and are called sons of God, that the sons and daughters of the kings
of the Irish are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ?
Among others, a blessed Irishwoman of
noble birth, beautiful, full-grown, whom I had baptized, came to us after
some days for a particular reason: She told us that she had received a
message from a messenger of God, and he admonished her to be a virgin of
Christ and draw near to God. Thanks be to God, on the sixth day after this
she most laudably and eagerly chose what all virgins of Christ do.
Not that their fathers agree with them:
No, they often ever suffer persecution and undeserved reproaches from
their parents; and yet their number is ever increasing. How many have been
reborn there so as to be of our kind, I do not know, not to mention widows
and those who practice continence.
But greatest is the suffering of those
women who live in slavery. They have to endue terror and threats all the
time. But the Lord gave His grace to many of His maidens; for, though they
are forbidden to do so, they follow Him bravely.
Wherefore, then, even if I wished to
leave them and go to Britain; and how I would have loved to go to my
country and my parents, and also to Gaul in order to visit the brethren
and to see the face of the saints of my Lord! God knows it! That I much
desire it; but I am bound by the Spirit, who gives evidence against me if
I do this, telling me that I shall be guilty; and I am afraid of losing
the labor which I have begun nay, not I, but Christ the Lord who bade
me come here and stay with them for the rest of my life, if the Lord will,
and will guard me from every evil way that I may not sin before Him.
This, I presume, I ought to do, but I do
not trust myself as long as I am in this body of death, for strong is he
who daily strives to turn me away from the faith and the purity of true
religion to which I have devoted myself to the end of my life to Christ my
Lord.
The hostile flesh is ever dragging us
unto death; that is, towards the forbidden satisfaction of ones
desires; and I know that in part I did not lead a perfect life as did the
other faithful. I acknowledge it to my Lord, and do not blush before Him,
because I lie not. From the time I came to know Him in my youth, the love
of God and the fear of Him have grown in me; and up to now, thanks to the
grace of God, I have kept the faith.
And let those who will, laugh and scorn
I shall not be silent; nor shall I hide the signs and wonders which
the Lord has shown me many years before they came to pass, as He knows
everything even before the times of the world.
Hence I ought unceasingly to give thanks
to God who often pardoned my folly and my carelessness, and on more than
one occasion spared His great wrath on me, who was chosen to be His helper
and who was slow to do as was shown me and as the Spirit suggested.
The Lord had mercy on me thousands and
thousands of times because He saw that I was ready, but that I did not
know what to do in the circumstances.
For many tried to prevent this my
mission; they would even talk to each other behind my back and say:
"Why does this fellow throw himself into danger among enemies who
have no knowledge of God?" It was not malice, but it did not appeal
to them because and to this I own myself of my rusticity. And I
did not realize at once the grace that was then in me. Now I understand
that I should have done so before.
Now I have given a simple account to my
brethren and fellow servants who have believed me because of what I said
and still say in order to strengthen and confirm your faith. Would that
you, too, would strive for greater things and do better! This will be my
glory, for a wise son is the glory of his father.
You know, and so does God, how I have
lived among you from my youth in the true faith and in sincerity of heart.
Likewise, as regards the heathen among whom I live, I have been faithful
to them, and so I shall be. God knows it, I have overreached none of them,
nor would I think of doing so, for the sake of God and His Church, for
fear of raising persecution against them and all of us, and for fear that
through me the name of the Lord be blasphemed; for it is written: Woe to
the man through whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed.
For although I be rude in all things;
nevertheless, I have tried somehow to keep myself safe; and that, too, for
my Christian brethren, and the virgins of Christ, and the pious women who
of their own accord made me gifts and laid on the altar some of their
ornaments; and I gave them back to them, and they were offended that I did
so. But I did it for the hope of lasting success; in order to preserve
myself cautiously in everything so that they might not seize upon me or
the ministry of my service, under the pretext of dishonesty, and that I
would not even in the smallest matter give the infidels an opportunity to
defame or defile.
When I baptized so many thousands of
people, did I perhaps expect from any of them as much as half a scruple?
Tell me, and I will restore it to you. Or when the Lord ordained clerics
everywhere through my unworthy person, and I conferred the ministry upon
them free, if I asked any of them as much as the price of my shoes speak
against me, and I will return it to you.
On the contrary, I spent money for you
that they might receive me; and I went to you and everywhere for your sake
in many dangers even to the farthest districts beyond which there lived
nobody and where nobody had ever come to baptize, or to ordain clergy, or
to confirm the people. With the grace of the Lord, I did everything
lovingly and gladly for your salvation.
All the while I used to give presents to
the kings besides the fees I paid to their sons who traveled with me. Even
so, they laid hands on me and my companions, and on that day they eagerly
wished to kill me; but my time had not yet come. And everything they found
with us they took away; and me, they put in irons; and on the fourteenth
day the Lord delivered me from their power, and our belongings were
returned to us because of God and our dear friends whom we had seen
before.
You know how much I paid to those who
administered justice in all those districts to which I came frequently. I
think I distributed among them not fewer than the price of fifteen men so
that you might enjoy me, and I might always enjoy you in God. I am not
sorry for it indeed it is not enough for me; I still spend and shall
spend more. God has power to grant me afterwards that I myself may be
spent for your souls.
Indeed, I call God to witness that I lie
not; neither, I hope, am I writing to you in order to make this an
occasion of flattery or covetousness, nor because I look for honor from
any of you. Sufficient is the honor that is not yet seen but is
anticipated in the heart. Faithful is He that promised; He never lieth.
But I see myself exalted even in the
present world beyond measure by the Lord, and I was not worthy nor such
that He should grant me this. I know perfectly well, though not by my own
judgment, that poverty and misfortune becomes me better than riches and
pleasures. For Christ the Lord, too, was poor for our sakes; and I,
unhappy wretch that I am, have no wealth even if I wished for it.
Daily I expect murder, fraud, or
captivity, or whatever it may be; but I fear none of these things because
of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of God
Almighty who rules everywhere as the prophet says: "Cast thy thought
upon God, and He shall sustain thee."
So, now I commend my soul to my faithful
God, for whom I am ambassador in all my wretchedness; but God accepteth no
person, and chose me for this office to be, although among His least, one
of His ministers.
Hence let me render unto Him for all He
has done to me. But what can I say or what can I promise to my Lord? I can
do nothing that He has not given me. May He search the hearts and deepest
feelings; for greatly and exceedingly do I wish, and ready I was, that He
should give me His chalice to drink as He gave it also to the others who
loved Him.
Wherefore may God never permit it to
happen to me that I should lose His people which He purchased in the
utmost parts of the world. I pray to God to give me perseverance and to
deign that I be a faithful witness to Him to the end of my life for my
God.
If ever I have done any good for my God
whom I love, I beg Him to grant me that I may shed my blood with those
exiles and captives for His name even though I should be denied a grave,
or my body be woefully torn to pieces limb by limb by hounds or wild
beasts, or the fowls of the air devour it.
I am firmly convinced that if this
should happen to me, I would have gained my soul together with my body,
because on that day without doubt we shall rise in the brightness of the
sun; that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as sons of the
living God and joint heirs with Christ, to be made conformable to His
image; for of Him, and by Him, and in Him we shall reign.
For this sun which we see rises daily
for us because He commands so, but it will never reign, nor will its
spender last; what is more, those wretches who adore it will be miserably
punished. Not so we, who believe in, and worship, the true sun - Christ -
who will never perish nor will he who doeth His will; but he will abide
forever as Christ abideth forever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty
and the Holy Spirit before time, and now, and in all eternity. Amen.
Behold, again and again would I set
forth the words of my confession. I testify in truth and in joy of heart
before God and His holy angels that I never had any reason except the
Gospel and its promises why I should ever return to the people from whom
once before I barely escaped.
I pray those who believe and fear God,
whosoever deigns to look at or receive this writing which Patrick, a
sinner, unlearned, has composed in Ireland, that no one should ever say
that it was ignorance if I did or showed forth anything however small
according to Gods good pleasure; but let this be your conclusion and
let it so be thought, that as is the perfect truth it was the gift
of God. This is my confession before I die.
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