On Sunday, March 17th, we will commemorate St. Patrick during the Divine Service, missionary to Hibernia (today, Ireland).
Patrick was born into a Christian family in Britain around the year 389. As a teenager, raiders captured him, took him to Hibernia, and sold him as a slave. After six years, he escaped and found his way to a monastery community in France. Ordained a bishop in 432, he made his way back to Ireland, where he spent the rest of his long life spreading the Gospel and organizing Christian communities. He strongly defended the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in a time when it was not popular to do so. His literary legacy includes his autobiography, Confessio, and several prayers and hymns still used in the church today. Patrick died around the year 466.
