1) I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the
faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius,
son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the settlement [vicus] of Bannavem
Taburniae; he had a small villa nearby where I was taken captive. I was at
that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God;
and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people,
according to our desserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his
precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our
salvation. And the Lord brought down on us the fury of his being and scattered
us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my
smallness, am now to be found among foreigners.
2) And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order
that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my
heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my
youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I
learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected
me, and consoled me as a father would his son.
3) Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many
favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my
captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to
repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under
heaven.
4) For there is no other God, nor ever was before, nor shall be hereafter, but
God the Father, unbegotten and without beginning, in whom all things began,
whose are all things, as we have been taught;and his son Jesus Christ, who
manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the
spirit with the Father,indescribably begotten before all things, and all
things visible and invisible were made by him. He was made man, conquered
death and was received into Heaven, to the Father who gave him all power over
every name in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell, so that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe. And we look to
his imminent coming again, the judge of the living and the dead, who will
render to each according to his deeds. And he poured out his Holy Spirit on us
in abundance, the gift and pledge of immortality, which makes the believers
and the obedient into sons of God and co-heirs of Christ who is revealed, and
we worship one God in the Trinity of holy name.
5) He himself said through the prophet: 'Call upon me in the day of trouble; I
will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.' And again: 'It is right to reveal
and publish abroad the works of God.'
6)
I am imperfect in many things, nevertheless I want my brethren and kinsfolk to
know my nature so that they may be able to perceive my soul's desire.
7)
I am not ignorant of what is said of my Lord in the Psalm: 'You destroy those
who speak a lie.' And again: 'A lying mouth deals death to the soul.' And
likewise the Lord says in the Gospel: 'On the day of judgment men shall render
account for every idle word they utter.'
8) So it is that I should mightily fear, with terror and trembling,this
judgment on the day when no one shall be able to steal away or hide, but each
and all shall render account for even our smallest sins before the judgment
seat of Christ the Lord.
9) And therefore for some time I have thought of writing, but I have hesitated
until now, for truly, I feared to expose myself to the criticism of men,
because I have not studied like others, who have assimilated both Law and the
Holy Scriptures equally and have never changed their idiom since their
infancy, but instead were always learning it increasingly, to perfection,
while my idiom and language have been translated into a foreign tongue. So it
is easy to prove from a sample of my writing, my ability in rhetoric and the
extent of my preparation and knowledge, for as it is said, 'wisdom shall be
recognized in speech, and in understanding, and in knowledge and in the
learning of truth.'
10) But why make excuses close to the truth, especially when now I am presuming
to try to grasp in my old age what I did not gain in my youth because my sins
prevented me from making what I had read my own? But who will believe me, even
though I should say it again? A young man, almost a beardless boy, I was taken
captive before I knew what I should desire and what I should shun. So,
consequently, today I feel ashamed and I am mightily afraid to expose my
ignorance, because,[not] eloquent, with a small vocabulary, I am unable to
explain as the spirit is eager to do and as the soul and the mind indicate.
11) But had it been given to me as to others, in gratitude I should not have
kept silent, and if it should appear that I put myself before others, with my
ignorance and my slower speech, in truth, it is written: 'The tongue of the
stammerers shall speak rapidly and distinctly.' How much harder must we try to
attain it, we of whom it is said: 'You are an epistle of Christ in greeting to
the ends of the earth ... written on your hearts, not with ink but with the
Spirit of the living God.' And again, the Spirit witnessed that the rustic
life was created by the Most High.
12)
I am, then, first of all, countryfied, an exile, evidently unlearned, one who
is not able to see into the future, but I know for certain, that before I was
humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mire, and he that is mighty came and
in his mercy raised me up and,indeed, lifted me high up and placed me on top
of the wall. And from there I ought to shout out in gratitude to the Lord for
his great favours in this world and for ever, that the mind of man cannot
measure.
13) Therefore be amazed, you great and small who fear God, and you men of God,
eloquent speakers, listen and contemplate. Who was it summoned me, a fool,
from the midst of those who appear wise and learned in the law and powerful in
rhetoric and in all things? Me,truly wretched in this world, he inspired
before others that I could be-- if I would-- such a one who, with fear and
reverence, and faithfully, without complaint, would come to the people to whom
the love of Christ brought me and gave me in my lifetime, if I should be
worthy, to serve them truly and with humility.
14) According, therefore, to the measure of one's faith in the Trinity, one
should proceed without holding back from danger to make known the gift of God
and everlasting consolation, to spread God's name everywhere with confidence
and without fear, in order to leave behind, after my death, foundations for my
brethren and sons whom I baptized in the Lord in so many thousands.
15) And I was not worthy, nor was I such that the Lord should grant his humble
servant this, that after hardships and such great trials, after captivity,
after many years, he should give me so much favour in these people, a thing
which in the time of my youth I neither hoped for nor imagined.
16) But after I reached Ireland I used to pasture the flock each day and I
used to pray many times a day. More and more did the love of God, and my fear
of him and faith increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day [I said]
from one up to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number; besides I
used to stay out in the forests and on the mountain and I would wake up before
daylight to pray in the snow,in icy coldness, in rain, and I used to feel
neither ill nor any slothfulness, because, as I now see, the Spirit was
burning in me at that time.
17) And it was there of course that one night in my sleep I heard a voice
saying to me: 'You do well to fast: soon you will depart for your home
country.' And again, a very short time later, there was a voice prophesying:
'Behold, your ship is ready.' And it was not close by, but, as it happened,
two hundred miles away, where I had never been nor knew any person. And
shortly thereafter I turned about and fled from the man with whom I had been
for six years, and I came, by the power of God who directed my route to
advantage (and I was afraid of nothing), until I reached that ship.
18) And on the same day that I arrived, the ship was setting out from the
place, and I said that I had the wherewithal to sail with them; and the
steersman was displeased and replied in anger, sharply: 'By no means attempt
to go with us.' Hearing this I left them to go to the hut where I was staying,
and on the way I began to pray, and before the prayer was finished I heard one
of them shouting loudly after me: 'Come quickly because the men are calling
you.' And immediately I went back to them and they started to say to me:
'Come,because we are admitting you out of good faith; make friendship with us
in any way you wish.' (And so, on that day, I refused to suck the breasts of
these men from fear of God, but nevertheless I had hopes that they would come
to faith in Jesus Christ, because they were barbarians.) And for this I
continued with them, and forthwith we put to sea.
19) And after three days we reached land, and for twenty-eight days journeyed
through uninhabited country, and the food ran out and hunger overtook them;
and one day the steersman began saying: 'Why is it, Christian? You say your
God is great and all-powerful; then why can you not pray for us? For we may
perish of hunger; it is unlikely indeed that we shall ever see another human
being.' In fact, I said to them, confidently: 'Be converted by faith with all
your heart to my Lord God, because nothing is impossible for him, so that
today he will send food for you on your road, until you be sated, because
everywhere he abounds.' And with God's help this came to pass; and behold, a
herd of swine appeared on the road before our eyes, and they slew many of
them, and remained there for two nights, and the were full of their meat and
well restored, for many of them had fainted and would otherwise have been left
half-dead by the wayside. And after this they gave the utmost thanks to God,
and I was esteemed in their eyes, and from that day they had food abundantly.
They discovered wild honey,besides, and they offered a share to me, and one of
them said: 'It is a sacrifice.' Thanks be to God, I tasted none of it.
20) The very same night while I was sleeping Satan attacked me violently, as I
will remember as long as I shall be in this body; and there fell on top of me
as it were, a huge rock, and not one of my members had any force. But from
whence did it come to me, ignorant in the spirit, to call upon 'Helias'? And
meanwhile I saw the sun rising in the sky, and while I was crying out 'Helias,
Helias' with all my might, lo, the brilliance of that sun fell upon me and
immediately shook me free of all the weight; and I believe that I was aided by
Christ my Lord, and that his Spirit then was crying out for me, and I hope
that it will be so in the day of my affliction, just as it says in the Gospel:
'In that hour', the Lord declares, 'it is not you who speaks but the Spirit of
your Father speaking in you.'
21) And a second time, after many years, I was taken captive. On the first
night I accordingly remained with my captors, but I heard a divine prophecy,
saying to me: 'You shall be with them for two months. So it happened. On the
sixtieth night the Lord delivered me from their hands.
22) On the journey he provided us with food and fire and dry weather every
day, until on the tenth day we came upon people. As I mentioned above, we had
journeyed through an unpopulated country for twenty-eight days, and in fact
the night that we came upon people we had no food.
23) And after a few years I was again in Britain with my parents [kinsfolk],
and they welcomed me as a son, and asked me, in faith, that after the great
tribulations I had endured I should not go an where else away from them. And,
of course, there, in a vision of the night,I saw a man whose name was
Victoricus coming as it from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me
one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: 'The Voice of the Irish',
and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to
hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the
western sea, and they were crying as if with one voice: 'We beg you, holy
youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.' And I was stung
intensely in my heart so that I could read no more, and thus I awoke. Thanks
be to God, because after so many ears the Lord bestowed on them according to
their cry.
24) And another night-- God knows, I do not, whether within me or beside me--
... most words + ... + which I heard and could not understand, except at the
end of the speech it was represented thus: 'He who gave his life for you, he
it is who speaks within you.' And thus I awoke, joyful.
25) And on a second occasion I saw Him praying within me, and I was as it
were, inside my own body , and I heard Him above me-- that is,above my inner
self. He was praying powerfully with sighs. And in the course of this I was
astonished and wondering, and I pondered who it could be who was praying
within me. But at the end of the prayer it was revealed to me that it was the
Spirit. And so I awoke and remembered the Apostle's words: 'Likewise the
Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we know not how to pray as we ought. But
the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for utterance.' And
again: 'The Lord our advocate intercedes for us.'
26) And then I was attacked by a goodly number of my elders, who [brought up]
my sins against my arduous episcopate. That day in particular I was mightily
upset, and might have fallen here and for ever; but the Lord generously spared
me, a convert, and an alien, for his name's sake, and he came powerfully to my
assistance in that state of being trampled down. I pray God that it shall not
be held against them as a sin that I fell truly into disgrace and scandal.
27) They brought up against me after thirty years an occurrence I had confessed
before becoming a deacon. On account of the anxiety in my sorrowful mind, I
laid before my close friend what I had perpetrated on a day-- nay, rather in
one hour-- in my boyhood because I was not yet proof against sin. God knows--
I do not-- whether I was fifteen years old at the time, and I did not then
believe in the living God, nor had I believed, since my infancy; but I
remained in death and unbelief until I was severely rebuked, and in truth I
was humbled every day by hunger and nakedness.
28) On the other hand, I did not proceed to Ireland of my own accord until I
was almost giving up, but through this I was corrected by the Lord, and he
prepared me so that today I should be what was once far from me, in order that
I should have the care of-- or rather, I should be concerned for-- the
salvation of others, when at that time, still, I was only concerned for
myself.
29) Therefore, on that day when I was rebuked, as I have just mentioned, I saw
in a vision of the night a document before my face,without honour, and
meanwhile I heard a divine prophecy, saying to me: 'We have seen with
displeasure the face of the chosen one divested of [his good] name.' And he
did not say 'You have seen with displeasure',but 'We have seen with
displeasure' (as if He included Himself) . He said then: 'He who touches you,
touches the apple of my eye.'
30) For that reason, I give thanks to him who strengthened me in all things,
so that I should not be hindered in my setting out and also in my work which I
was taught by Christ my Lord; but more, from that state of affairs I felt,
within me, no little courage, and vindicated my faith before God and man.
31) Hence, therefore, I say boldly that my conscience is clear now and
hereafter. God is my witness that I have not lied in these words to you.
32) But rather, I am grieved for my very close friend, that because of him we
deserved to hear such a prophecy. The one to whom I entrusted my soul! And I
found out from a goodly number of brethren, before the case was made in my
defence (in which I did not take part, nor was I in Britain, nor was it
pleaded by me), that in my absence he would fight in my behalf. Besides, he
told me himself: 'See, the rank of bishop goes to you'-- of which I was not
worthy. But how did it come to him, shortly afterwards, to disgrace me
publicly, in the presence of all, good and bad, because previously, gladly and
of his own free will, he pardoned me, as did the Lord, who is greater than
all?
33)
I have said enough. But all the same, I ought not to conceal God's gift which
he lavished on us in the land of my captivity, for then I sought him
resolutely, and I found him there, and he preserved me from all evils (as I
believe) through the in-dwelling of his Spirit, which works in me to this day.
Again, boldly, but God knows, if this had been made known to me by man, I
might, perhaps, have kept silent for the love of Christ.
34) Thus I give untiring thanks to God who kept me faithful in the day of my
temptation, so that today I may confidently over my soul as a living sacrifice
for Christ my Lord; who am I, Lord? or, rather, what is my calling? that you
appeared to me in so great a divine quality,so that today among the barbarians
I might constantly exalt and magnify your name in whatever place I should be,
and not only in good fortune, but even in affliction? So that whatever befalls
me, be it good or bad, I should accept it equally, and give thanks always to
God who revealed to me that I might trust in him, implicitly and forever,and
who will encourage me so that, ignorant, and in the last days, I may dare to
undertake so devout and so wonderful a work; so that I might imitate one of
those whom, once, long ago, the Lord already pre-ordained to be heralds of his
Gospel to witness to all peoples to the ends of the earth. So are we seeing,
and so it is fulfilled;behold, we are witnesses because the Gospel has been
preached as far as the places beyond which no man lives.
35) But it is tedious to describe in detail all my labours one by one. I will
tell briefly how most holy God frequently delivered me, from slavery, and from
the twelve trials with which my soul was threatened,from man traps as well,
and from things I am not able to put into words. I would not cause offence to
readers, but I have God as witness who knew all things even before they
happened, that, though I was a poor ignorant waif, still he gave me abundant
warnings through divine prophecy.
36) Whence came to me this wisdom which was not my own, I who neither knew the
number of days nor had knowledge of God? Whence came the so great and so
healthful gift of knowing or rather loving God, though I should lose homeland
and family.
37) And many gifts were offered to me with weeping and tears, and I offended
them [the donors], and also went against the wishes of a good number of my
elders; but guided by God, I neither agreed with them nor deferred to them,
not by my own grace but by God who is victorious in me and withstands them
all, so that I might come to the Irish people to preach the Gospel and endure
insults from unbelievers; that I might hear scandal of my travels, and endure
many persecutions to the extent of prison; and so that I might give up my free
birthright for the advantage of others, and if I should be worthy, I am ready
[to give] even my life without hesitation; and most willingly for His name.
And I choose to devote it to him even unto death, if God grant it to me.
38)
I am greatly God's debtor, because he granted me so much grace,that through me
many people would be reborn in God, and soon a after confirmed, and that
clergy would be ordained everywhere for them, the masses lately come to
belief, whom the Lord drew from the ends of the earth, just as he once
promised through his prophets: 'To you shall the nations come from the ends of
the earth, and shall say, Our fathers have inherited naught but lies,
worthless things in which there is no profit.' And again: 'I have set you to
be a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the uttermost ends
of the earth.'
39) And I wish to wait then for his promise which is never unfulfilled, just
as it is promised in the Gospel: 'Many shall come from east and west and shall
sit at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Just as we believe that
believers will come from all the world.
40) So for that reason one should, in fact, fish well and diligently,just as
the Lord foretells and teaches, saying, 'Follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men,' and again through the prophets: 'Behold, I am sending forth
many fishers and hunters, says the Lord,' et cetera. So it behoves us to
spread our nets, that a vast multitude and throng might be caught for God, and
so there might be clergy everywhere who baptized and exhorted a needy and
desirous people. Just as the Lord says in the Gospel, admonishing and
instructing: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them
to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always to the
end of time.' And again he says: 'Go forth into the world and preach the
Gospel to all creation. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he
who does not believe shall be condemned.' And again: 'This Gospel of the
Kingdom shall be preached throughout the whole world as a witness to all
nations; and then the end of the world shall come.' And likewise the Lord
foretells through the prophet: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days
(sayeth the Lord) that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons
and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your
old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in
those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy.' And in Hosea
he says: 'Those who are not my people I will call my people, and those not
beloved I will call my beloved, and in the very place where it was said to
them, You are not my people, they will be called 'Sons of the living God'.
41) So, how is it that in Ireland, where they never had any knowledge of God
but, always, until now, cherished idols and unclean things,they are lately
become a people of the Lord, and are called children of God; the sons of the
Irish [Scotti] and the daughters of the chieftains are to be seen as monks and
virgins of Christ.
42) And there was, besides, a most beautiful, blessed, native-born noble Irish
[Scotta] woman of adult age whom I baptized; and a few days later she had
reason to come to us to intimate that she had received a prophecy from a
divine messenger [who] advised her that she should become a virgin of Christ
and she would draw nearer to God. Thanks be to God, six days from then,
opportunely and most eagerly,she took the course that all virgins of God take,
not with their fathers' consent but enduring the persecutions and deceitful
hindrances of their parents. Notwithstanding that, their number increases, (we
do not know the number of them that are so reborn) besides the widows, and
those who practise self-denial. Those who are kept in slavery suffer the most.
They endure terrors and constant threats, but the Lord has given grace to many
of his handmaidens, for even though they are forbidden to do so, still they
resolutely follow his example.
43) So it is that even if I should wish to separate from them in order to go
to Britain, and most willingly was I prepared to go to my homeland and
kinsfolk-- and not only there, but as far as Gaul to visit the brethren there,
so that I might see the faces of the holy ones of my Lord, God knows how
strongly I desired this-- I am bound by the Spirit, who witnessed to me that
if I did so he would mark me out as guilty, and I fear to waste the labour
that I began, and not I,but Christ the Lord, who commanded me to come to be
with them for the rest of my life, if the Lord shall will it and shield me
from every evil, so that I may not sin before him.
44) So I hope that I did as I ought, but I do not trust myself as long as I am
in this mortal body, for he is strong who strives daily to turn me away from
the faith and true holiness to which I aspire until the end of my life for
Christ my Lord, but the hostile flesh is always dragging one down to death,
that is, to unlawful attractions. And I know in part why I did not lead a
perfect life like other believers,but I confess to my Lord and do not blush in
his sight, because I am not lying; from the time when I came to know him in my
youth, the love of God and fear of him increased in me, and right up until
now, by God's favour, I have kept the faith.
45) What is more, let anyone laugh and taunt if he so wishes. I am not keeping
silent, nor am I hiding the signs and wonders that were shown to me by the
Lord many years before they happened, [he] who knew everything, even before
the beginning of time.
46) Thus, I should give thanks unceasingly to God, who frequently forgave my
folly and my negligence, in more than one instance so as not to be violently
angry with me, who am placed as his helper, and I did not easily assent to
what had been revealed to me, as the Spirit was urging; and the Lord took pity
on me thousands upon thousands of times, because he saw within me that I was
prepared, but that I was ignorant of what to do in view of my situation;
because many were trying to prevent this mission. They were talking among
themselves behind my back, and saying: 'Why is this fellow throwing himself
into danger among enemies who know not God?' Not from malice, but having no
liking for it; likewise, as I myself can testify, they perceived my rusticity.
And I was not quick to recognize the grace that was then in me; I now know
that I should have done so earlier.
47) Now I have put it frankly to my brethren and co-workers, who have believed
me because of what I have foretold and still foretell to strengthen and
reinforce your faith. I wish only that you, too, would make greater and better
efforts. This will be my pride, for 'a wise son makes a proud father'.
48) You know, as God does, how I went about among you from my youth in the
faith of truth and in sincerity of heart. As well as to the heathen among whom
I live, I have shown them trust and always show them trust. God knows I did
not cheat any one of them, nor consider it, for the sake of God and his
Church, lest I arouse them and [bring about] persecution for them and for all
of us, and lest the Lord's name be blasphemed because of me, for it is
written: 'Woe to the men through whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed.'
49) For even though I am ignorant in all things, nevertheless I attempted to
safeguard some and myself also. And I gave back again to my Christian brethren
and the virgins of Christ and the holy women the small unasked for gifts that
they used to give me or some of their ornaments which they used to throw on
the altar. And they would be offended with me because I did this. But in the
hope of eternity, I safeguarded myself carefully in all things, so that they
might not cheat me of my office of service on any pretext of dishonesty, and
so that I should not in the smallest way provide any occasion for defamation
or disparagement on the part of unbelievers.
50) What is more, when I baptized so many thousands of people, did I hope for
even half a jot from any of them? [If so] Tell me, and I will give it back to
you. And when the Lord ordained clergy everywhere by my humble means, and I
freely conferred office on them, if I asked any of them anywhere even for the
price of one shoe, say so to my face and I will give it back.
51) More, I spent for you so that they would receive me. And I went about
among you, and everywhere for your sake, in danger, and as far as the
outermost regions beyond which no one lived, and where no one had ever
penetrated before, to baptize or to ordain clergy or to confirm people.
Conscientiously and gladly I did all this work by God's gift for your
salvation.
52) From time to time I gave rewards to the kings, as well as making payments
to their sons who travel with me; notwithstanding which, they seized me with
my companions, and that day most avidly desired to kill me. But my time had
not yet come. They plundered everything they found on us anyway, and fettered
me in irons; and on the fourteenth day the Lord freed me from their power, and
whatever they had of ours was given back to us for the sake of God on account
of the indispensable friends whom we had made before.
53) Also you know from experience how much I was paying to those who were
administering justice in all the regions, which I visited often. I estimate
truly that I distributed to them not less than the price of fifteen men, in
order that you should enjoy my company and I enjoy yours, always, in God. I do
not regret this nor do I regard it as enough. I am paying out still and I
shall pay out more. The Lord has the power to grant me that I may soon spend
my own self, for your souls.
54) Behold, I call on God as my witness upon my soul that I am not lying; nor
would I write to y
ou for it to be an occasion for flattery or selfishness, nor hoping for honour
from any one of you. Sufficient is the honour which is not yet seen, but in
which the heart has confidence. He who made the promise is faithful; he never
lies.
55) But I see that even here and now, I have been exalted beyond measure by
the Lord, and I was not worthy that he should grant me this, while I know most
certainly that poverty and failure suit me better than wealth and delight (but
Christ the Lord was poor for our sakes; I certainly am wretched and
unfortunate; even if I wanted wealth I have no resources, nor is it my own
estimation of myself, for daily I expect to be murdered or betrayed or reduced
to slavery if the occasion arises. But I fear nothing, because of the promises
of Heaven; for I have cast myself into the hands of Almighty God, who reigns
everywhere. As the prophet says: 'Cast your burden on the Lord and he will
sustain you.'
56) Behold now I commend my soul to God who is most faithful and for whom I
perform my mission in obscurity, but he is no respecter of persons and he
chose me for this service that I might be one of the least of his ministers.
57) For which reason I should make return for all that he returns me. But what
should I say, or what should I promise to my Lord, for I,alone, can do nothing
unless he himself vouchsafe it to me. But let him search my heart and [my]
nature, for I crave enough for it, even too much, and I am ready for him to
grant me that I drink of his chalice, as he has granted to others who love
him.
58) Therefore may it never befall me to be separated by my God from his people
whom he has won in this most remote land. I pray God that he gives me
perseverance, and that he will deign that I should be a faithful witness for
his sake right up to the time of my passing.
59) And if at any time I managed anything of good for the sake of my God whom
I love, I beg of him that he grant it to me to shed my blood for his name with
proselytes and captives, even should I be left unburied, or even were my
wretched body to be torn limb from limb by dogs or savage beasts, or were it
to be devoured by the birds of the air, I think, most surely, were this to
have happened to me, I had saved both my soul and my body. For beyond any
doubt on that day we shall rise again in the brightness of the sun, that is,
in the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as children of the living God and
co-heirs of Christ, made in his image; for we shall reign through him and for
him and in him.
60) For the sun we see rises each day for us at [his] command, but it will
never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come
wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in
and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who
has done Christ's will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for
ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before
the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever. Amen.
61) Behold over and over again I would briefly set out the words of my
confession. I testify in truthfulness and gladness of heart before God and his
holy angels that I never had any reason, except the Gospel and his promises,
ever to have returned to that nation from which I had previously escaped with
difficulty.
62) But I entreat those who believe in and fear God, whoever deigns to examine
or receive this document composed by the obviously unlearned sinner Patrick in
Ireland, that nobody shall ever ascribe to my ignorance any trivial thing that
I achieved or may have expounded that was pleasing to God, but accept and
truly believe that it would have been the gift of God. And this is my
confession before I die.