The Confession of Saint Patrick: Part One
"I Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and the least of all the faithful, and an object of contempt to many, am the son of Calpornius, a deacon, the son of…
From: 385 C.E. To: 431 C.E.
Location: Armagh, Ireland
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
“Of St. Patrick’s Birth and Captivity, and of This Confession,” from The Confession of St. Patrick, translated by Thomas Olden, 1853.
I Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and the least of all the faithful, and an object of contempt to many, am the son of Calpornius, a deacon, the son of Potitus, heretofore a presbyter, who lived in Bannavan, a village of Tabernia, in the neighborhood of which he had a small farm, and here I was taken captive.
I was then nearly sixteen years old. I was ignorant of the true God, and was brought to Ireland in captivity, with so many thousand persons, as we deserved, because we had turned away from God, and had not kept his commandments, and were disobedient to our priests, who admonished us of our salvation. And the Lord brought on us “the anger of his fury,” and scattered us among many nations, even to the uttermost parts of the earth, where now obscurity seems to be my lot, amongst a foreign people.
And there the Lord brought me to a sense of my unbelief, that I might, even at a late season, call my sins to remembrance, and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who regarded my low estate, and, taking pity on my youth and ignorance, guarded me, before I understood anything, or had learned to distinguish between good and evil, and strengthened and comforted me as a father does his son.
Sec. 2
Wherefore I cannot, and indeed I ought not, to be silent respecting the many blessings, and the large measures of grace which the Lord vouchsafed to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For this is the only recompense which is in our power, that after being chastened we should be raised up to the acknowledging of the Lord, and should confess his wonders before every nation under heaven; that—
There is no other God nor ever was nor ever will be after him except God the Father, without beginning. From whom is all beginning. Who upholds all things as we have said. And his Son Jesus Christ whom together with the Father we testify to have always existed. Who before the beginning of the world was spiritually present with the Father.
Begotten in an unspeakable manner before all beginning. By whom were made all things visible and invisible. Who was made man, and having overcome death was received into heaven to the Father. And he hath given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God.
In whom we believe, and we await his coming who ere long shall judge the quick and the dead. Who will render to every one according to his deeds, and has poured out abundantly on us the gift of the Holy Spirit, even the earnest of immortality, who makes those that believe and obey, to be the sons of God the Father, and joint-heirs with Christ. Whom we confess and adore—one God in the Trinity of the sacred name.
For he himself has said by the Prophet, “Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. And again he says, “It is honourable to reveal the works of God.”
Sec. 3
Although I am imperfect in many things, I wish my brethren and relatives to know my disposition, that they may be able to perceive the desire of my soul. I am not ignorant of the testimony of my Lord, who declares in the Psalm, “Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing” [falsehood]. And again, “The mouth that believeth slayeth the soul.” And the same Lord says in the Gospel, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”
Therefore, I ought in great fear and trembling, to dread this sentence on that day when no one shall be able to withdraw or hide himself, but all must give an account even of the least sins before the judgment-seat of Christ the Lord. And for this reason, although I have for some time meditated writing, I have hesitated until now. For I feared that I should fall under the censure of men, because I have not studied like others who have enjoyed the great advantages of becoming acquainted with the Holy Scriptures in both ways equally, and have never changed their language from infancy, but have rather always approached to perfection, for I have to translate my thoughts and speech into a foreign language.
Sec. 4
And it can be easily proved from the style of my writing, how I am instructed and learned in discourses, “for (says the Wise Man) by speech wisdom shall be known, and learning by the word of tongue.” But what does it avail to offer an excuse, however true, especially when accompanied with presumption? Since I now in my old age attempt what I did not attain in my youth, for my sins prevented me from confirming what I had not before [my conversion] thoroughly examined.
But, who believes me? And yet to repeat what I stated before, I was taken captive when a youth, nay, rather, when almost a beardless boy, before I knew what I ought to seek or to avoid. Wherefore, at this day I am greatly ashamed and afraid to expose my unskilfulness because I am unable to explain myself with clearness and brevity of speech, as the Spirit greatly desires, and all the feelings of my mind suggest.
But if I had been gifted like others, I would not have been silent, inasmuch as a recompense was due from me. Perhaps, there are some who think that in this I put myself forward, although I am ignorant and slow of speech, but [they should remember that] it is written, “The tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak peace,” and how much more ought we to attempt [this work] “who (says he) are the epistle of Christ (who was set for salvation unto the ends of the earth) written in your hearts, if not eloquently, yet powerfully and enduringly, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.”
Sec. 5
And, again, the Spirit testifies, “Rusticity was ordained by the Most High.” Wherefore, at the first, I [undertook this work] though a rustic, a fugitive, and moreover, unlearned and incapable of providing against the future, but this I know most certainly, that—especially before I was humbled—I was like a stone that lay in the deep mire, and He, who alone is powerful, came, and in his own mercy, raised me and lifted me up, and placed me on top of the wall, from which it is my duty to cry aloud, in order to make recompense to the Lord for all the benefits temporal and eternal, beyond man’s conception, which he has bestowed upon me.
But, wherefore, do you wonder, O great and small, who fear God? And you, rhetoricians of the Gauls, who are ignorant of the Lord? Hear, then, and inquire who has stirred me up, who am a fool, out of the midst of those who are esteemed wise and skilled in law, and powerful in eloquence, and in everything, and inspired beyond others (if haply it be so) me, the object of this world’s hatred? [It was God] provided that if I were worthy, I should during my life faithfully labour with fear and reverence and without murmuring, for the good of the nation to which the love of Christ transferred and gave me, in fine, that I should serve them with humility and truth.
Patrick. The Confession of St. Patrick. Translated by Thomas Olden, James McGlashan, 1853.
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