Description

St Patrick Medal – patron of Engineers

Medals may differ

2.5cm long x 1.5cm wide

Feastday:

March 17


Patron:

of Ireland

Birth: 387

Death: 461

St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world’s most popular saints. He
was born in Roman Britain and when he was fourteen or so, he was
captured by Irish pirates during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as
a slave to herd and tend sheep. At the time, Ireland was a land of
Druids and pagans but Patrick turned to God and wrote his memoir,

The Confession

. In

The Confession

, he wrote:

“The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the
faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as
many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same. I prayed in
the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from
the snow or ice or rain.”

Patrick’s captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after
having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going
to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britain
and was reunited with his family.

A few years after returning home, Patrick saw a vision he described in his memoir:

“I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was
Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I
read the heading: ‘The Voice of the Irish.’ As I began the letter, I
imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who
were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea-and they
cried out, as with one voice: ‘We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to
come and walk among us.'”

The vision prompted his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained
by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for
years, and was later ordained a bishop and sent to take the Gospel to
Ireland.

Patrick arrived in Slane, Ireland on March 25, 433. There are several
legends about what happened next, with the most prominent claiming he
met the chieftan of one of the druid tribes, who tried to kill him.
After an intervention from God, Patrick was able to convert the
chieftain and preach the Gospel throughout Ireland. There, he converted
many people -eventually thousands – and he began building churches
across the country.

St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world’s most popular saints. He
was born in Roman Britain and when he was fourteen or so, he was
captured by Irish pirates during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as
a slave to herd and tend sheep. At the time, Ireland was a land of
Druids and pagans but Patrick turned to God and wrote his memoir,

The Confession

. In

The Confession

, he wrote:

“The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the
faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as
many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same. I prayed in
the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from
the snow or ice or rain.”

Patrick’s captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after
having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going
to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britain
and was reunited with his family.

A few years after returning home, Patrick saw a vision he described in his memoir:

“I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was
Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I
read the heading: ‘The Voice of the Irish.’ As I began the letter, I
imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who
were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea-and they
cried out, as with one voice: ‘We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to
come and walk among us.'”

The vision prompted his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained
by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for
years, and was later ordained a bishop and sent to take the Gospel to
Ireland.

Patrick arrived in Slane, Ireland on March 25, 433. There are several
legends about what happened next, with the most prominent claiming he
met the chieftan of one of the druid tribes, who tried to kill him.
After an intervention from God, Patrick was able to convert the
chieftain and preach the Gospel throughout Ireland. There, he converted
many people -eventually thousands – and he began building churches
across the country.

He often used shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity and entire
kingdoms were eventually converted to Christianity after hearing
Patrick’s message.

Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked
many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years
of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died
March 17, 461.

He died at Saul, where he had built the first Irish church. He is
believed to be buried in Down Cathedral, Downpatrick. His grave was
marked in 1990 with a granite stone.

In His Footsteps:

Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total
devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us.
So complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission,
he feared nothing -not even death.

“The Breastplate,” Patrick’s poem of faith and trust in God:

“Christ be within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ
beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ
beneath me, Christ above me, Christ inquired, Christ in danger, Christ
in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.”