Who Was St. Patrick and the History Behind Saint Patrick's Day | Drive Thru History Special

hi this is dave starts from drive through history happy st patrick's day [Music] [Music] the date of saint patrick's death march 17th is celebrated throughout the world as st patrick's day in america it's a day to wear green march in parades visit pubs and eat corned beef and cabbage indeed for irish americans it's a day of ethnic pride but similar to other special days on the calendar march 17th has lost much of its original foundation much of its special meaning so what is the forgotten history related to st patrick in this special episode of drive through history we're going to ancient hibernia the land of winter to find out [Music] [Music] patrick was born in roman controlled britain in about 390 a.d when he was a boy the roman legions guarding much of britain had to be withdrawn to defend rome against invading tribes from central asia after the roman soldiers were gone raiders from across the irish sea attacked british coastal regions and carried away thousands to sell into slavery patrick was probably 16 years old when his village was attacked he was taken captive here to the rugged shores of northern ireland and he was sold as a slave shepherd to a local druid chieftain [Music] at the time ireland was a vicious land known as hibernia the land of winter druids controlled the island it was a barbaric culture that practiced a variety of atrocities including human sacrifice historian thomas cahill wrote romans in their first encounters with these exposed insane warriors were shocked and frightened they were howling and it seemed possessed by demons so outrageous was their strength featuring all the terrors of hell itself thomas cahill how the irish saved civilization to tell the incredible story of patrick i will be traveling nearly 800 miles of ancient irish landscape for this mission i got myself the rugged and reliable range rover defender this is a 2002 land rover defender 110. it's one in a long line of legendary off-road vehicles by the british auto manufacturer this is a rather unique crew cab edition of the defender basically gives you 4x4 style seating up here with a pickup style area back here i can only imagine what this thing is hauled around over the years my first trek from here on the north irish coast is the patrick's first home slemish mountain [Music] [Music] this is slemish mountain in county antrim in northern ireland slumish mountain or sleeve mish has long been regarded as the location where patrick was held captive as a slave shepherd [Music] slemish mountain is the plug of an extinct volcano made from mineral-rich dolorite it has a very distinctive appearance with a steep and rugged top section and smooth sloping fields surrounding the bottom the mountain dominates the landscape for miles around although usually beautiful and full of wildlife this time of year slemish mountain endures months of wet cold and nasty weather [Music] on st patrick's day large crowds hiked to the top of slumish mountain as a pilgrimage of sorts i hear you can even see scotland from the summit i have a feeling that's probably not the case today let's do this [Music] the work of a slave shepherd was bitterly isolated and strictly enforced the druid slave masters were known for their obsession with fear and death human heads were impaled on walls and posts as warnings throughout the whole territory the local druid priests also demanded human sacrifices to their many gods patrick likely observed the ritual of the wicker man where villagers were forced inside a huge human figure woven of sticks at the end of the ceremony the wicker man was lit on fire creating a massive blaze that could be seen for miles this is the awful world that patrick experienced while fighting off packs of wolves and wild boars on the slopes of slumish he later wrote in his autobiography confession i did not believe in the living god nor did i from my childhood but lived in death and unbelief until i was severely chastised by hunger and nakedness as patrick faced his first months of loneliness hunger illness and despair here on slummish mountain he began seeking god but after i came to ireland every day i had to tend sheep and many times a day i prayed the love of god and his fear came to me more and more and my faith was strengthened and my spirit was moved so that in a single day i would say as many as a hundred prayers and almost as many in the night and this even when i was staying in the woods and on the mountains and i used to get up for prayer before daylight through snow through frost through rain there the lord opened the sense of my unbelief that i might at last remember my sins and be converted with all my hearts to the lord my god who comforted me as would a father his son saint patrick confession well i made it to the summit of slemish mountain to think that patrick ended up serving six long years as a slave shepherd up in these harsh secluded hills of northern ireland although beautiful i can't imagine the painful isolation alone with no social contact no community [Music] looking out at this stunning landscape patrick's story reminds me of another historic figure that served as a shepherd in seclusion during his young life david from the old testament scripture tells us that david spent his formative years developing his courage and character alone in the judean wilderness while tending sheep both of these men developed a total dependence on god in psalm 63 when david was alone in the desert of judah he wrote you god are my god earnestly i seek you i thirst for you my whole being longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water on my bed i remember you i think of you through the watches of the night because you are my help i sing in the shadow of your wings i cling to you your right hand upholds me after six tough years in this area of northern ireland totally relying upon god patrick wrote that he had a life-changing dream in confession he recalled one night i heard in my sleep a voice saying to me it is well that you fast soon you will go to your own country and again a voice saying to me see your ship is ready and it was not near but at a distance of perhaps 200 miles then i took to flight i went in the strength of god who directed my way until i came to that ship [Music] almost immediately patrick snubbed his fear of punishment left his flocks and walked many days to a foretold location on the irish coast he was about 22 years old [Music] [Music] [Music] now tradition tells us that patrick caught a ship somewhere between here at hothead near dublin and wicklowhead about 45 miles south of me now geographically this is the easternmost region on the mainland of the republic of ireland [Music] patrick the fugitive traveled back over the irish sea to britain there he joined a monastery and dedicated the next 20 years of his life to pursuing god and the gospel of jesus christ [Music] much of what we know about patrick comes from his own account confession it's rather short about 600 words in the english translation but it's filled with incredible personal insights eight latin manuscripts survive the earliest being from the 9th century another primary source is the life of saint patrick written by murchu in about 680 a.d according to murchu and other traditions patrick spent the next 20 years of his life in britain and france studying at places such as saint martin's monastery in tours and the island refuge of larenz abbey he ultimately became a priest probably ordained in auxerre france after two decades patrick couldn't deny his heart for the irish people and his calling to return to them according to confession he had a series of dreams and visions that finally compelled him to return to ireland it was about 4 32 a.d at this point in history ireland was dominated by full-scale barbarism where murder rape slavery and human sacrifice were commonplace nonetheless patrick wrote i am ready to be murdered betrayed enslaved whatever come my way he had to return for the irish people he loved so let's return to ireland and see what happened next [Music] according to one tradition patrick returned to ireland through the straits of strangford locke in about 432 a.d strangford lock is a large sea inlet on the east coast of northern ireland in fact it's the largest inlet in all the british isles covering nearly 60 square miles strikeford lock is almost totally enclosed by the ards peninsula and is linked to the irish sea by a long narrow channel the main inlets is an incredible sight with at least 70 islands and a number of outcroppings bays and coves tradition tells us that patrick sailed into strangford lock landing at the mouth of a small river known as the slainey today this spot is accessible via a road appropriately marked as st patrick's trail here patrick is said to have met a local chieftain named daiku who became his first convert to christianity daiku gave patrick a barn about two miles up the road that became patrick's first church the word for barn in irish was saval from which we get the anglicized word salt today this village is known as saul in honor of patrick's first barn church here in ireland one of the oldest establishments in saul is paddy's barn a family run restaurant pub and bed and breakfast it's lunch time so history's gonna have to wait [Music] i would say paddy's barn knows how to set a table this is a meal my friends fit for a hungry irishman alright so i ordered the roast of the day turkey ham and stuffing with potatoes and a side of sausage and mash uh and this is just mash [Music] wow french fries i mean uh that'd be chips how many ways can you serve a potato by my account i've got five uh we have roasted we have fried chips baby new boiled mashed and mashed with onion gravy in case my kids are watching my broccoli that was good excuse me sir you've got a little something [Music] so that hill above the village of saul is considered the spot where patrick's barn church first stood many consider this site the cradle of christianity for ireland following patrick's death there was a christian monastery up there for more than 300 years until it was plundered and burned by the vikings a medieval abbey replaced the monastery but that too was later pillaged and burned to the ground the church of ireland built a new church up there in 1932 to commemorate the 1500th anniversary of patrick's return to ireland it is known as saint patrick's memorial church let's go take a look [Music] this is saint patrick's memorial church or simply saul church the church's design matches its early heritage [Music] its interior is barn-like with rough granite walls and a dark wooden roof the graveyard contains this tiny church-shaped building called a mortuary house this was for revered burials and probably dates to the 11th or 12th century the founders of ireland's early churches were often proclaimed as saints and their bones exhumed and placed in these mortuary houses a few archaeologists believe that this mortuary house was originally created for the bones of saint patrick but we just don't know for sure this spire looking structure is a replica of an ancient tower design found throughout ireland the irish round tower as it's come to be known is a stone silo structure unique to ireland they were originally built as bell towers but they were also used as storage facilities and lookouts typically found near a church or a monastery the door of the tower usually faced the west doorway of the church therefore archaeologists have used round towers to locate the underground remains of lost churches all over ireland i think they're expecting me so um i thought we called ahead [Music] surviving towers range in height from about 60 to 130 feet the lower portion had a single door raised six to nine feet off the ground only accessible by a ladder this was more for structural integrity than defense since the towers were generally built with very little foundation many had two to three wooden doors inside with ladders in between slits near the top acted as defensible windows scholars estimate that about 120 round towers were built in ireland between the 9th and 12th centuries many still exist in various states of ruin but 18 to 20 are almost fully intact near saint patrick's memorial church in saul is sleeve patrick or patrick mountain it's a great little hike to the summit where there's an incredible view of strangford lock in the surrounding countryside [Music] at the top of sleeve patrick there is also this massive statue of saint patrick with these bronze panels showing scenes from his life in 1932 on the 1500th anniversary of patrick landing in this area the owner of this property donated it to the catholic church as part of the 1500th anniversary celebration construction began on this awesome memorial statue oh and here's that amazing view of strikeford lock i was talking about earlier almost looks real doesn't it [Music] you know it's no wonder that patrick used the three leaf clover which are covering this entire hillside as a a way to teach the concept of the holy trinity father son and holy spirit he's a truly gifted teacher [Music] [Music] this is the hill of slain in county mead this site has been connected to patrick for centuries now the tradition of this place goes back to 433 a.d when patrick lit a paschal fire here in defiance of the local pagan king pascal comes from the hebrew word pasic meaning passover now the paschal fire celebrates the passover mystery of salvation through jesus christ and it is lit in many churches just before easter according to encyclopedia britannica patrick challenged royal authority by lighting the paschal fire on the hill slain on the night of easter eve it chanced to be the occasion of a pagan festival at terra during which no fire may be kindled until the royal fire had been lit the hill of terra is over there about 10 miles away it was a significant pagan worship site going back millennia it contains a number of ancient monuments and according to tradition was the seat of the high king of ireland throughout ireland we see evidence of ancient pagan cultures usually the evidence is in the form of a human-made stack of stones called a cairn cairns have been used all over the ancient world for all sorts of purposes from burial monuments defensive structures religious ceremonies or to mark hunting grounds or even to map the planets in stars on the hill of terra you can see remains of different types of pagan cairns from this monolithic marker on top to this more elaborate and mysterious mound of the hostages which contains a series of burial and storage chambers a large fire here at the hill of slain or over on the hill of terra which you can see on the horizon behind me would be visible to the other especially in the dark of night here's how muirchu a writer from the late 600s described patrick's challenge to the druids at terra that evening the custom was that whoever lit a fire before the king on that one night of the year easter's eve would be put to death patrick lit the paschal fire before the king on the hill of slain the people saw patrick's fire throughout the plane and the king ordered a number of chariots to go and seize patrick the king exclaimed if we do not extinguish this flame it will sweep over all ireland seeing that the heathen were about to attack him patrick rose and said clearly and loudly may god come up to scatter his enemies and may those who hate him flee from his face by patrick's curse in the king's presence seven times seven men fell and the king driven by fear came and bent his knees before the holy man many have called this patrick's elijah type encounter with the pagan leaders here in this region patrick who had stoked his fire in honor of christ's resurrection so impressed the local population that the high king ordered the protection of patrick and his new religion in this area the hill of slain has been marked as a christian site ever since over the centuries it has even been considered a center of christian learning these are the ruins of a friary church in college that were last restored in 1512. the friary was ultimately abandoned in 1723 and has since fallen into disrepair the ruins include this 62-foot gothic-style tower what an incredible archaeological site [Music] so patrick had an early victory for the gospel here at the hill of slain with the support of the local king this event gave patrick momentum in this region of ireland however as patrick expanded his preaching there are accounts of druid kings in other regions trying to ambush and kill patrick nearly a dozen [Music] times in confession patrick wrote daily i expect murder fraud or captivity but i fear none of these things because of the promises of heaven the merciful god often freed me from slavery and from 12 dangers in which my life was at stake not to mention numerous plots god is my witness who knows all things even before they come to pass as he used to forewarn even me of many things by a divine message i came to the people of ireland to preach the gospel and to suffer insults from the unbelievers 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 [Music] tradition tells us that it was at the hill of slain where patrick first used a shamrock a three-leafed clover to explain the holy trinity to the druid culture in pagan ireland three was a mystical number the druids also had a number of triple deities where three different gods were worshiped together in a triad it is said that patrick capitalized on widespread cultural myths to teach the triune nature of the christian god father son and holy spirit ultimately the pagan culture started referring to the god of the bible as the god of the three faces in church arts patrick is often depicted holding a shamrock in one hand the shamrock has also been considered a symbol for saint patrick's day in the church for centuries however in american culture the shamrock has lost its connection with patrick's teaching of the triune nature of god in fact the shamrock is now more of a good luck charm associated with the luck of the irish especially the rare four-leaf version while patrick maintains his position as the patron saint of ireland the shamrock also maintains its status as the national emblem of ireland even to this day so let's return to ireland for the next stop in our journey through the life of st patrick [Music] [Music] this is westport in the county of mayo on the extreme western side of ireland i'm in a stunning u-shaped valley created by an ancient glacier flowing into clue bay now in 441 a.d tradition holds that patrick spent 40 days on the summit of that mountain up there praying fasting and seeking god let's drive a few miles for a closer look [Music] this is crow patrick meaning patrick's stack known locally as the reek the mountain is one of the highest peaks in western ireland at two thousand five hundred seven feet overlooking clue bay and the countryside of county mayo many consider this the holiest mountain in all of ireland with a tradition of pilgrimage going back some 5 000 years before patrick it was a place for pagan rituals including a major celebration at the beginning of the harvest season since patrick it's been a place for pilgrims to honor his 40-day fast and his sold-out dedication to jesus christ [Music] this is maris gabby at the base of the mountain it was founded in 1457 as a friary to help instruct the local catholics in their faith it is built on a site traditionally connected to a simple church that st patrick built due to suppression during the reformation period the friars were driven out in 1577. [Music] all that's left of marisk abbey today are ruins of a church with one central isle in the east wing of the friary buildings behind the main altar space that east window is the finest feature of the ruins to this day it still has an incredible view of the reek each year the reek attracts about 1 million visitors on the last sunday in july known as reek sunday over 25 000 pilgrims climb the mountain on that single day alone prayer meetings are held on the way up and masses are held in the small chapel at the summit some even climb the mountain barefoot as an act of penance this is the official starting point for the pilgrimage hike saint patrick himself a local priest erected this awesome statue in 1928 with money he raised in america now at this summit is saint patrick's chapel there's archaeological evidence of a chapel being on that summit since the late 5th century the current version was built in 1905 i knew i wouldn't have time to make it to the top but i couldn't help going about halfway just to get a taste of the experience that drives so many pilgrims up this mountain i also couldn't help thinking about patrick's legacy an ordinary man with a life of hardship patrick's renown has lived on here for a millennia and a half inspiring the faith and devotion of millions all because he was willing to suffer for god so many followers of christ myself included can be tempted to spend our lives pursuing our own dreams and yet patrick's life is a call to something greater what god can do with a simple person with extraordinary faith is immeasurable so many places in ireland would simply be just another hill or mountain but have enormous historical significance because of patrick's legacy of faithfulness the next such place was about a half an hour drive away at an 800 year old abbey [Music] [Applause] as i drove away from crow patrick i visited bowling tubber abbey an incredible monastery with a long history in county mayo now among the ruins is this ancient well which is the traditional location for patrick's baptisms in this region of ireland now it's said this stone alongside the baptismal pool bears the imprint of saint patrick's knee because he performed so many baptisms here [Music] this is the historic city of arma in northern ireland since the time of patrick arma has been considered an education center known as the city of saints and scholars after centuries of christian monasteries the educational tradition continued with the founding of the royal school in 1608 the arma observatory in 1790 and st patrick's college in 1834 in about 455 patrick built a stone church here and declared our ma the central church of ireland saint patrick is considered the first bishop of arma and the church of ireland has been on this site ever since since patrick the church itself has been destroyed and rebuilt over a dozen times the last significant restoration on the current structure was between 1834 and 1840 in addition to the cathedral these steep streets going to the city below are rich with history this is the arma robinson library founded in 1771 and this is the city's former infirmary dating to 1774. even many of these houses near the cathedral still survive from the 1700s and on the neighboring hill way over there you can see another awesome cathedral let's go check it out [Music] patrick established arma as his central church in ireland now this incredible roman catholic cathedral over on the next hill has been built in various phases between 1840 and 1904 it serves as the seat of the catholic archbishop of armagh primate of all ireland [Music] although there is a tumultuous history between catholics and protestants here in northern ireland the two cathedrals dedicated to saint patrick here in armagh are currently very cordial to one another many consider these two churches on neighboring hillsides as a powerful symbol of christian reconciliation and unity [Music] there are dozens of churches here in ireland that bear saint patrick's name and probably have some sort of connection to an event in his life we just can't visit them all however we would be derelict in our drive through history duties if we didn't take you to the most famous one here in iowa the next stop the capital city of dublin [Music] so [Music] this is the famous saint patrick's cathedral of dublin since 1869 this has been considered the national cathedral of the church of ireland while history tells us that some sort of church has been on this site since 890 a.d construction on the current building began in 1220 with its 141-foot spire st patrick's cathedral is the tallest and largest church in ireland and the massive interior of saint patrick's cathedral is simply stunning [Music] according to tradition patrick performed many of his baptisms at a well near here in the early 1900s archaeologists discovered a number of stone grave markers from the 10th century at a park next door one of the stone slabs covered the entrance to an ancient well and some scholars believe that this was saint patrick's well where he performed baptisms the stone marker is now here at st patrick's cathedral patrick's cathedral in dublin is a fitting tribute to the huge impact and incredible legacy of st patrick here in ireland patrick died on march 17 461 a.d now we don't know the circumstances surrounding his death but it appears that it was just old age before his death st patrick wrote this patrick the sinner an unlearned man to be sure none should ever say that it was my ignorance that accomplished any small thing it was the gift of god we have one more stop in the life of st patrick the place where he's laid to rest [Music] [Music] despite some claims that st patrick is buried at saul long tradition puts his grave here beside down cathedral just a few miles away in the period following st patrick's death the hill of down came to be regarded as his burial place there are references to early monasteries on this site from the 6th century onward in 1183 benedictine monks established a monastery here parts of which are built into the present structure they left in 1538 in the monastery gradually fell into ruins toward the end of the 18th century a number of notable families in county down raised funds to restore the building that you see here [Music] today down cathedral is known as the cathedral church of the holy trinity it's an anglican church that opens its doors to all visitors honoring the legacy of patrick [Applause] regarding his legacy the historian thomas cahill wrote only this former slave had the right instincts to impart to the irish a new story one that made sense of all their old stories and brought them a piece they had never known before because of patrick a barbarian land lay down the swords of battle flung away the knives of sacrifice and cast away the chains of slavery [Music] in 1900 this granite boulder was placed here inscribed with a cross in the name patrick many scholars agree this simple slab is the probable location for patrick's burial site returning to our comparison of saint patrick to king david psalm 78 says he chose david his servant and took him from the sheep pens from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people jacob of israel his inheritance and david shepherded them with integrity of heart with skillful hands he led them psalms 78 70-72 what a powerful picture of saint patrick's similar legacy here in ireland in his 30 years of ministry st patrick is credited with baptizing 120 000 people and founding 300 churches in ireland in the following century irish missionaries such as columba sailed back to britain and europe where they evangelized the heathen hordes which had overrun the roman empire irish missionaries also circulated the so-called code of patrick in britain where it laid the foundation for english common law and maybe most importantly monks like columba established a network of monasteries dedicated to christian learning and the preservation of the hand-written biblical manuscripts there's one ancient monastery that's been on my bucket list for quite some time and since i was in ireland i decided to go for it here's the story of skellig michael [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] skellig michael or great skellig is the larger of the two scaling islands about eight miles from the irish coast of county cary the name skellig comes from a gaelic word meaning rock in the sea within 100 years of the death of saint patrick a christian monastery was established here as a place of christian isolation learning and protection the monastery remained in continual use until it was abandoned in the late 12th century most of the island and the ruins of the monastery became a unesco world heritage site back in 1996. the skelet islands are also considered important nesting grounds for rare species of birds in spoiler alert since 2015 skellig michael has doubled as a hideout for a certain jedi hermit you know it's not easy getting to skellig michael only a few boat operators have permits and there's only a few month window during the summer when the weather cooperates even then trips to the islands are cancelled the seas are too rough the monastery is only accessible by three sets of steps which come right out of the sea the monks created three routes known as the east south and north steps so that they could have access during different weather conditions as you can imagine this place gets very nasty even inaccessible during the dark winter months today only these south steps are open to visitors the south and north steps meet here at christ's saddle and continue as one to the monastery [Music] skellig michael has two distinct peaks connected by a flat center part behind me known as christ's saddle each peak is associated with an awesome archaeological site both of which are a testament to the amazing engineering skills of the monks [Music] the first site is this main monastery built right into the steep slope on the east side of the island the monastery complex includes a main church smaller chapels graveyard garden water cisterns and these famous beehive huts for living quarters it was an incredible journey to a truly epic location on our planet not only are the natural features stunning but the historical importance of the place is momentous skellig michael represents an awesome era when monks in secluded places helped preserve christianity and its biblical manuscripts historian kenneth clark writes it is hard to believe that for quite a long time almost a hundred years western christianity survived by clinging to places like skellig michael a pinnacle of rock miles from the irish coast rising 700 feet out of the sea now the hundred years of which he speaks stretched from the late 5th century after patrick's death to the late 6th century by which time irish monks had reconnected barbarized europe to the texts and traditions of christianity skellig michael represents an awesome era when monks in secluded places helped preserve christianity and its biblical manuscripts after the roman empire collapsed and the european continent fell into chaos the pagan island once known as hibernia stepped up in almost single-handedly preserved the foundations of western civilization and speaking of biblical texts from this era let's return to dublin one last time and explore one of ireland's great national treasures [Music] i'm back in dublin at historic trinity college to check out one of the most famous biblical texts in the world the book of kells trinity college was founded in 1592 by queen elizabeth the first it was modeled after the universities of oxford and cambridge in britain but unlike those other ancient universities only one college was ever established here so the designations trinity college and university of dublin are interchangeable trinity college is widely considered to be the most prestigious university in ireland and among the most highly regarded in all of europe [Music] [Applause] the book of kells takes its name from the abbey of kells which was its home for centuries but today it's here at the old library of trinity college [Music] [Applause] [Music] the old library was constructed in the 18th century to house trinity's massive collection upstairs is the famous long room which displays 200 000 of the library's oldest books in these incredible oak book cases [Music] downstairs is the book of kell's exhibition turning darkness into light the highlight is the room known as the treasury where the actual book of kells and related manuscripts are on display to preserve the book of kells the library usually shows two of the four volumes at a time the curators also rotate through one page of illustration and one page of text so no page is exposed to the environment for very long as a sensitive national treasure of ireland we can't film it but i'm going down to take a look without the cameras the book of kells is an illuminated manuscript containing the four gospels matthew mark luke and john an illuminated manuscript is a handwritten copy of the text decorated with colorful initials borders and illustrations the book of kells was created in ireland or england in about 800 a.d by monks belonging to the columba movement which was directly influenced by patrick it was written in latin drawing from the vulgate and other earlier texts and is considered a masterpiece of western calligraphy and biblical illumination the book of kells is widely regarded as ireland's finest national treasure in the 12th century the historian gerald of wales called it quote the work of an angel not of a man one of the most revered pages of illustration illuminates the gospel of matthew chapter 1 verse 18. in latin the verse begins this is how christ came to be born the illustration page is crafted almost entirely around the name of christ or more specifically the traditional abbreviation using the chi rho symbol chi and row are two letters of the greek alphabet the first two letters of christ chi is written as an x rho is roughly a p remember this was hand drawn in about 800 a.d the greek letters almost appear to float on the page the book of kells is one of the most famous examples of a biblical manuscript produced from the late 6th through the early 9th centuries in monasteries planted as a direct result of patrick it also turns out these monasteries were the key to preserving christian texts after the fall of the roman empire and during the darker periods of european history that followed in fact when we look back on history it was the outlying island of ireland that was central to preserving western civilization it was the monasteries that protected christian traditions hand-copied the biblical manuscripts maintained other key texts of western thought and generally re-evangelized europe after the fall of rome and it all started with the faith courage and endurance of a man named patrick [Music] let's end this special episode with a powerful prayer attributed to patrick the patron saint of ireland happy saint patrick's day indeed may the strength of god guide us may the power of god preserve us may the wisdom of god instruct us may the hand of god protect us may the way of god direct us may the shield of god defend us may the angels of god guard us against the snares of the evil one against the temptations of the world may christ be with us may christ be before us may christ be in us christ be over all may thy grace lord always be ours this day o lord and forevermore amen [Music]

Channel: Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts

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Id: l2hXAkIWWac

Length: 54min 51sec (3291 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 13 2022