St. Patrick's Day means more than wearing green and eating corned
beef cabbage. This year, focus your celebration on freedom. St. Patrick
knew that true freedom came not from escaping his captors, an outward
state, but from having a relationship with the Lord, an inward reality.
"It was not grace of my own, but God,
who is strong in me and resists them all - as He had done when
I came to the people of Ireland
to preach the Gospel, and to suffer insult from the unbelievers,
hearing the reproach of my going abroad, and many persecutions even
unto bonds, and to give my free birth for the benefits of others;
and, should I be worthy, I am prepared to give even my life without
hesitation and most gladly for his name, and it is there that I wish
to spend it until I die, if the Lord would grant it to me."
The Confession of St. Patrick, a 12 page booklet is availabe from
CEAI. Send $2 for your copy (this includes postage and handling).
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE FOR THE WEEK:
" 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 preordained to be heralds
of his Gospel to witness to all peoples to the ends of the earth."
--St. Patrick of Ireland
The Confession of St. Patrick, written about 450 AD, is the first
known document written in Ireland. Patrick did not write it as an
autobiography but rather as an expression of his gratitude for God's
faithfulness to him as a frontier missionary in the heart of Ireland.
Patrick quotes Scripture over 200 times in his Confession, drawing
form the Old Latin version of the Bible.
CEAI has the booklet available, "The Confession of St. Patrick" for
a donation of $2.00.
TO ORDER
Email: info@ceai.org or
send $3.00 to
CEAI, P.O. Box 41300, Pasadena, CA 91114
Hundreds of years ago there is a legend of
a man who traveled throughout Ireland from village to village preaching
to the people.
At
each stop along the way this man would pick up a three-leaf clover
and
one by one would pull a leaf off. His demonstration would arouse
a
crowd. "A man is in the town square and he is pulling apart
a
three-leaf clover one leaf at a time," People would say. "And
as he
does he has a story to tell."
Soon the square was full of people and our
traveler would begin his
oratory by introducing the three-sided flower. As he pulled off the
first leaf he would announce, "THIS IS THE FATHER." Then
he would pull
the second leaf off and announce, "THIS IS THE SON" and
then he would
pull on the last leaf and announce "THIS IS THE HOLY SPIRIT."
He would say, "This demonstrates the trinity of the Lord God." Then
he
would tell them how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all exist as
separate elements of the same entity. The people had never heard
this
before and it was so simple and easy to under stand.
Then our traveler would ask the crowd to receive The Lord Jesus
Christ
and converts were made all throughout the land. As recognition of
those who committed as our traveler asked the people pinned a
three-leaf clover on their coat; and it became a sign of their
commitment. All over Ireland people were wearing the three-sided
clover as their personal commitment to God.
Our traveler is Saint Patrick and the three-leaf clover is of course
the shamrock, the national emblem of Ireland.