Chapter 3-His Conversion

Slemish Mountain, Co. Antrim where St Patrick was said to look after his sheep. However,it is more likely to be Co.Mayo in the west of Ireland where Patrick was taken as a slave.

Chapter 3

"The experience of those captured for the slave market would be anything but humane:Patrick recalls that he experienced "hunger", "nakedness", and "being near the point of collapse."He was sold and eventually found himself working for a sheep farmer where conditions, initially at least, may not have been much better.Whatever religion he had was of the nominal sort, but now his hopeless and desparate plight moved him to earnestly seek God. Alone in Ireland, with no help but the Holy Spirit and his memory of the gospel, he was wonderfully converted.


Up to that time he confessed "...I did not know the true God...," but "...lay in death and unbelief,"and "...took no thought for my salvation..." Then he said "The Lord opened the understanding of my unbelieving heart that I might recall my sins and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God."

After his "faith began to grow" one immediate result for this new born believer was an urge to pray. He records that he lifted his heart to God while at his work "out in woods" or "on the mountainside" as many as "one hundred times a day." He would rise before dawn for prayer "...in snow and frost and rain, and felt no ill effect." Looking back, he attributes his health and energy at the time to "...the Spirit glowing in him."

The reality of that experience was woven into the remainder of his life. Near the end of his career, casting an eye back, he could say that from that time on "...the love of God and the fear of Him have grown in me and up to this day by the favour of God I have kept the faith." He never lost a sense of thankfulness to the Lord for what he often referred to as the "gift of God."

The Real St. Patrick-(cont'd)

Chapter 2

"Patrick was a Briton. In fact, he is the only ancient Briton of the Roman occupation that we really know anything about. To give a date for his birth is impossible but it was probably near the end of the fourth century - 390AD has been suggested.

He was of an aristocratic, well-to-do, religious family.His father Calpurnius, in addition to being a 'deacon' in the church held an official position associated with the Roman administration and owned a villa and estate near to the village called Bannavem Taberniae (there is some doubt about the exact name).Thought to lie somewhere near the west coast of Britain. Patrick's native tongue was an old Celtic language of which the present Welsh is a modified form, he was also familiar with Latin.

One fateful day a party of fierce Irish raiders descended on the estate; some of the servants were murdered and sixteen year old Patrick, along with many others, was overpowered, dragged to the boats and shipped across the sea to a life of slavery in Ireland. It was a frightening , traumatic experience, the memory of which remained with him the rest of his life.

As they headed home the pagan raiders could not have had the faintest notion that their brutal activities tht day would change the history of their island nor that, sixteen centuries later, the name of one of the captives huddled in the bottom of the vessel would be a household word, better known than that of St. Augustine or even Constantine the Great."

Tomorrow - His Conversion

Will the real St Patrick please stand up?...

I own a little book called 'The Real St. Patrick' by John Holmes of Northern Ireland. I have decided that as we draw nearer to celebrating the holiday set aside to the life of this man, I will write some excerpts from it to give you some myths, legends and throw in some truth also, about this character.

He says...

" It has been said that Patrick received much of his education and his religious training on the continent, (Europe) was sent to Ireland by the Bishop of Rome, landed initially at Wicklow, built his first Church near Saul, established his headquarters at Armagh, illustrated the doctrine of the Trinity by using a shamrock, was enormously successful, confounded his enemies through miraculous powers, overcame the opposition of the High King at Tara, climbed to the top of Croagh Patrick to commune with God, died on the 17th march and was buried at Downpatrick in Co.Down, N.I.

The truth is that not a single word of these 'facts' has any historical credibility at all.

...during those dark years after his decease, in the providence of God, somehow, somewhere in Ireland, two works of Patrick himself were reverently preserved and copied. These two writings, a 'letter' to the soldiers of a ruler called Coroticus and the 'Confession' (or testimony) are judged to be absolutely authentic-they are historical documents of incredible value. Scholars almost weep that Patrick has not told us more about his work and of the life and times in which he lived.

These two works are Ireland's oldest literature and are about the only known Latin writings of that age to have come out of a country of the Barbarians, that is outside of the Roman Empire.

We cannot emphasis too strongly that any real assessment of Patrick's character and work must depend only on his own words.
So who was St Patrick?....."

In chapter 2 tomorrow I will focus on his 'Early Days'....

PS. Happy Birthday to my Beloved....

Two nations divided by one common language....

I always knew there would be different everyday words I use, that when we moved to America I would have to change to be understood. Here are a few of them, have a laugh and if there are any more you know let me know and I'll post them ( subject to screening.) I do still use some of them.

Is that you? - If you're asked this, please don't answer with "Of course it's me". They only want to know if you've finished whatever you're doing.

Are you away? - Again, no stupid sarcastic answers. They're asking if you are going out / leaving.

What about ye? What's up - How are you?

tee, te & till -Different ways of saying 'To', depending on which area of N.I. you come from.

Catch yourself on! Wise up.

Dead on! Great. Perfect, Really nice. (Often used to describe people.)

Wet the tea - Make some tea.

sound - Also a word of praise generally used for describing people.

Wait till I tell ye -This is difficult to translate. It's a way of starting a conversation or introducing something important or interesting into the conversation.

Do you think I came up the Bann in a bubble?- Do you think I was born yesterday? (The Bann is the river that runs through N.I.) This phrase varies depending on which river you were brought up by.)

class, cracker, grand, stickin' out, magic, smashing, brilliant - Just a few more ways to say something's great.

ta, ta-ta, cheers, thankin' you - And a few ways to say thanks.

steady/steady on -Similar to saying 'behave' or 'that's enough'

eejit - Local pronunciation of the word idiot.

boggin', mingin', mankin' -Messy and horrible.

crack-craic - Fun.

dummy -Pacifier.

pram. -Stroller.

nappy -Diaper.

biscuit. -Cookie.

lolly/Ice lolly -Popsicle.

scone - A sweet biscuit...of sorts.

bun/ wee bun - Sweet roll, danish.

gravy ring - Sugar Ring doughnut.

bap-A bun or roll. Used mainly for sandwiches.

Ulster Fry -A fried meal with eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, soda bread, potato bread, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. ALL FRIED. Soda. Soda bread.

sweets -Candy.

cheerio - Good-bye. All the best! Good-bye, wishing you all the best.

boot- trunk

bonnet - hood

crisps - chips

chips - french fries

trousers - pants

plaster - band aid

trolley - shopping cart

nurse - when a child sits on your lap

pictures - cinema/theatre

So if you hear someone use these words/phrases this will help you interpret what they say!

Have a great day!

'Be Thou My Vision'

In the Fifth century A.D. Saint Patrick came to the Hill of Slane in County Meath in an early on attempt to convert pagan Ireland to Christianity. On the eve of the Christian feast of Easter, 433 A.D. which coincides with the Druid feast of Bealtine (Beal's fire) and the Spring Equinox, St. Patrick lit a bonfire upon the Hill of Slane. There was a law that no fire should be lit in the vicinity when the great festival fire of Bealtine blazed at the Royal seat of power on the visibly nearby Hill of Tara. ....

The lighting of a fire seems trivial to us but at the time it was equivalent to declaring war on the Druids and their pagan beliefs and war against the King of Ireland. That small act of starting a fire was a turning point in St. Patrick's life and in the history of Ireland. The Hill of Slane is where Saint Patrick confronted Laoghaire (pronounced Leary) , the High King of Tara and all Ireland. Patrick lit the Easter fire contrary to the Druidic law, and changed the spiritual landscape of Ireland forever.

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me save that thou art

Thou my best thought by day or by night

Waking or sleeping thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, thou my true word

I ever with thee, thou with me,

LordThou my great Father,I thy true Son

Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my battleshield, sword for the fight

Be thou my dignity, thou my delight

Thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower

Raise thou me heavenward, O power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise

Thou mine inheritance, now and always

Thou and thou only, first in my heart

High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, after victory won

May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall

Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

You can listen to this hymn by clicking it on my playlist at the bottom of my blog.

Want to drop over for a visit?....

The Emerald Isle...

I grew up in the province of Ulster, in the northern part of the island. Here are some famous land marks ...

The Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim

The Historic Walls of Londonderry , Co Londonderry

The Mountains of Mourn, Co.Down

Armagh Cathedral, Co.Armagh

Devinish Round Tower, Co.Fermanagh

Beaghmore Stone Circles, Co Tyrone

Here is where you'll find information for planning a trip to the Ireland. This is a Scottish site but it has Irish packages too.

It truly is a beautiful country...but then I'm biased !!

If you have any pictures of past trips I would love to see them or if you have any connections to family in Ireland I would be interested to hear

your stories. I'll post any interesting ones!!

How well do you know Ireland?

Follow this link and you will find a 'wee'quiz to test your knowledge of Ireland.

How did you do? I got 7/10 !! Not bad.

Have a good Thursday, God Bless.

As a little side note....my hubby comes home from the Shepherd's Conference today YEAH!!( John MacArthur's church, L.A.) So we are looking forward to that and see all the books he got!!

March Is For The Irish !!

I'm not really Irish you know!!

I'm actually Ulster Scots and if you have any knowledge of British or Irish history you will know this is a very BIG difference!!

However, growing up I took part in Irish dancing, I played the penny whistle and fiddle (not at the same time!) in a Ceili band, sang traditional Irish songs and enjoyed a lot of things that would be culturally Irish! When I travelled away from home ( to another country ) and people asked me where I was from, it seemed a lot easier to say Ireland than try to explain I live in Ireland but it is actually the United Kingdom..."Now how is that?" they would ask ...and so it would go on....

Since coming to the United States I have started to become even more 'Irish'.

We go and see the St Patrick's Day parade, the kids wear silly Irish hats and we sing 'The Fields of Athenry' !!!

I can hear some of you gasp who know us :o :)

And then to top it all off President Obama has gone and declared March as Irish Heritage Month.

This is his proclamation....

So in light of this I thought I would have a 'bit of blarney with ye all' and I am going to try and post something connected with Ireland every day during the month of March. If you have anything you would like to contribute just email it to me and I will post it. (Subject to screening by me!!) There is a recipe for Potato Soup just below or here if you miss the post..

I look forward to having some 'craic' (pronounced crack) with you...