Saint Patrick Myths

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More myth surrounds Saint Patrick than fact. Born in 387, his story has been enlarged and modified and lost throughout the years. For example, it is probably that Saint Patrick was not born Patrick–according to some sources, Patrick was born Maewyn Succat. Likewise, legend has it that Saint Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland, while in fact snakes were not inhabitants of Ireland at the time. He also was not always the stalwart Christian throughout his whole life: as a child and young teenager, he was practically an atheist. Saint Patrick is not even technically a Saint, with a capital "s"–he was never officially canonized by Rome (Olsen).
Saint Patrick was born somewhere in Britain, in a place called Bannaven of Taberniae; however, the exact location of the town has never been located (Mark). He was born to wealthy Christian parents, and grew up going to church; nevertheless, he shunned religion and did not truly know God. It was not until he was captured by pirates at age sixteen that Patrick turned to God. As a slave herding sheep, Patrick had little to do with his time but pray. In the Saint's words, he "said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly …show more content…

The shamrock was common and known to all, so it was a helpful example. Likewise, the Irish worshipped a goddess named Brigid who represented three spirits of life: healing, creativity, and productivity. Three in one, just like God and the Trinity (Mark). Some other Irish concepts were also similar to Christianity. The Irish already believed in a supreme being and life after death, and were thus easy to convince in that respect. They also had a spirit named Hesus who was associated with an oak tree; this concept was switched to Jesus and the cross. Using basic Irish deities and beliefs, Saint Patrick compared them to Christianity, allowing the Irish to more humanely worship a God they felt they had some familiarity

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