HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY=don't forget your green=MAY YOU FEEL the luck of the IRISH TODAY

AN IRISH SAYING May those who love us, love us And those who don’t love us, May God turn their hearts And if he doesn’t turn their hearts May he turn their ankles Se we’ll know them by their limp Lol THE LIFE STORY OF SAINT PATRICK There has been much controversy Surrounding the life of Saint Patrick Both as to what he did And what he didn’t do Patrick was British by birth He lived during the fifth century His father was on the town council And was a deacon His grandfather was a priest When he was young He was captured by Irish pirates And was made a slave for 6 years During these years Patrick began to pray And draw close to God Which was in contrast to his earlier years When he “knew NOT the true God” After the 6 years He escaped or was freed And did some traveling But almost starved to death Patrick returned home to his family A changed man And trained to become a priest After some contact with the Papacy Patrick succeeded Palladius To be the first bishop of the Irish To believe in Christ Patrick worked principally in Northern Ireland Organizing the church And had many missionary journeys From there Patrick was not especially learned But lived with a sincere simplicity And deep pastoral care He worked to abolish paganism and idolatry And made no distinction Among classes of people HE LOVED ALL He himself was ready and willing To accept imprisonment and death For his FAITH IN CHRIST Because of being a slave and fugitive He learned to completely trust God The historical Patrick is much different Than the legendary Patrick And much more interesting He DID NOT convert Ireland single-handedly In fact---it took MANY evangelists And many generations to accomplish But make no mistake He was the PRIMARY INSTRUMENT of God In getting it all started He remains the most popular Saint From Ireland And he is Ireland’s patron To this day His cult spread form Ireland to Europe In the middle ages And in modern times To the United States and Australia Where it still flourishes on his feast day Which is March 17th Happy Saint Patrick’s day! With love---Robert P. wallman March 15th, 2012 Ps my middle name is Patrick---after my grandfather Patrick Murphy Who was named after Saint Patrick