St. Patrick’s Day Lesson

 

 

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world on March 17th

Saint Patrick was a Christian Missionary to Ireland.

Some Information about St Patrick:

• Patrick was considered a "saint" before the Roman church created its (list) of saints - then added him to it.
• St. Patrick was not Irish
• Patrick was a missionary to Ireland from Britain
• He was made a patron saint of Ireland by the Roman Catholic Church
• He used the Shamrock as an analogy to explain the Trinity
• We celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17
• The Irish wear a shamrock or anything green on this day
• Because the Shamrock is green and connected to St Patrick we wear green on St. Patrick’s Day

Saint Patrick, (about 389-461), was chiefly responsible for converting the Irish people to Christianity. He became known as the Apostle to the Irish.

Patrick was born in Britain. His father was a wealthy alderman and a Christian. When Patrick was 16 years old, pirates captured him during a raid and sold him as a slave in Ireland. He served as a shepherd of an Irish chieftain in Ulster. During his captivity, Patrick dedicated himself to religion. He escaped after six years of slavery and returned to his home in Britain.


When Patrick escaped and returned to Britain, he had a vision of the Irish begging him to return to Ireland to spread his faith. Patrick recorded this call to his vocation in the 'Confessio', his spiritual autobiography and one of his two short writings that have survived.

 Patrick became driven by the idea of converting the Irish to Christianity. To prepare himself for that task, he studied in the monastery of Lerins, on an island off the southeast coast of France. Patrick also went to Auxerre, France, for study. Partly because Patrick's earlier education was inadequate, his religious superiors were reluctant to let him return to Ireland as a missionary.

Patrick began his work in northern and western Ireland, where no one had ever preached Christianity. He gained the trust and friendship of several tribal leaders and soon made many converts. Patrick is said to have founded more than 300 churches and baptized more than 120,000 people.

Despite a constant threat to his life, Patrick traveled widely, baptizing, confirming, and preaching and building churches, schools, and monasteries. Patrick succeeded in converting almost the entire population of the island.

Patrick brought clergymen from England and France for his new churches. He succeeded in his mission in Ireland, even though many British clergymen opposed him and the way he organized his churches. Patrick preached in Ireland for the rest of his life.

Many stories about Patrick are based only on legend. One of the best-known tales tells how he charmed the snakes of Ireland into the sea so they were drowned.

Saint Patrick also introduced the Roman alphabet and Latin literature into Ireland.

After his death, about 461, Irish monasteries flourished as centers of learning.  Patrick's writings have come to be appreciated for their simplicity and humility.

St. Patrick's Day the Holiday
 

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th, the feast day of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.  St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland. It also is celebrated outside of Ireland in cities with a large number of people of Irish descent.

In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is primarily a religious holiday. People honor Saint Patrick by attending special religious services, enjoying family and community gatherings, and wearing shamrocks. According to legend, Saint Patrick used a shamrock to explain the idea of the Trinity to the Irish.

In the United States, St. Patrick's Day is primarily a secular (nonreligious) holiday. Many people wear green clothing, and they hold parties and march in parades. The first St. Patrick's Day celebration in the United States was held in Boston in 1737. Today, more than 100 cities hold parades. The St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City is the largest.

 

Some Symbols of St. Patricks Day:

The RAINBOW is God's promise that He will never flood the world again. Genesis 9:12-17 "And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

Rainbow is a circular arc of colors that appears in the sky when raindrops are illuminated by sunlight. A rainbow is not a physical object. Rather, it is a pattern of light to which a great number of raindrops contribute. A rainbow may spread across the entire sky, and its ends may seem to rest on the earth. Not all rainbows form complete arcs, however, because a rainbow cannot appear in a part of the sky where there is no rain.

You are at the center of the rainbow you see. A person standing next to you would be at the center of a different rainbow--that is, a rainbow to which a different set of raindrops contributes. Thus, no two people ever see the same rainbow.

WHAT DOES THE SHAMROCK HAVE TO DO WITH THE TRINITY? SHAMROCK: "You tell us that there are three gods and yet one," the puzzled Irish said when St. Patrick was preaching the gospel to them in the 5th century AD. "How can that be?" The saint bent down and plucked a shamrock. "Do you not see," he said, "how in this wildflower three leaves are united on one stalk, and will you not then believe that there are indeed three persons and yet one God?" ~Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia ~

The SHAMROCK: is a type of small herb with leaves made up of three leaflets. It is the national symbol of Ireland. According to legend, Saint Patrick planted shamrock in Ireland because the three small leaflets represented the Holy Trinity. Many Irish people wear a shamrock on St. Patrick's Day. The name shamrock comes from an Irish word that means trefoil (three-leafed).

In Ireland, the plant most often referred to as shamrock is the white clover. This plant has slender, creeping stems and white or pinkish-white flowers.

 

Saint Patrick was a Christian Missionary to Ireland.

WHAT IS A MISSIONARY?
Webster's Dictionary Says: missionary noun 1: someone who attempts to convert others to a particular doctrine or program 2: someone sent on a mission--especially a religious or charitable mission to a foreign country

"Go into all the world and preach the good news."
~Mark 16:15~

 Think about St Patrick and his zeal and desire to share the love of Jesus Christ with others. He is a real example of a missionary and Christian for us to follow.

"Go and do likewise" ~Luke 10:37~
 

The Bible says that we as Christians and Believers are saints:
"To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." ~Romans 1:7~

"For by GRACE are you saved through faith, it is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast" ~Ephesians 2:8-9~

It's as easy as ABC to give your heart to the Lord.

All you have to do is:
Admit you are a sinner. Romans 3:23
Believe Jesus died on the cross for you. Acts 16:31
Confess your sin to God and turn from it. Romans 10:9

All the "LUCK" in the world won't matter if you spend eternity in hell. Don't put it off......you don't know what tomorrow may bring. Do you know what you would say if you tomorrow you died, you got to heaven and they asked you "Why should we let you in?" Believe me a long laundry list of all the good things you did isn't enough. Because nothing of your own merit will get you to heaven.....the only way is by accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior.