On this St. Patrick’s Day many will be enjoying corn beef and cabbage [A distinctly un-Irish meal / and perhaps heading to the bars for further celebration or taking part in a parade.

While Patrick, a man who knew the Prish well, would not have opposed a bit of refreshment or a celebration he would have been troubled by all the worldly ways.

The images show the gravestone of Patrick at Down Cathedral in Belfast Ireland.  If we would take the time what would this saint say tous?  here are some thoughts from the Confessions of St. Patrick.  The offer  profound insight into the tru heart of the man:

1.) “So I turned with all my heart to the Lord my God, and he looked down on my lowliness and had mercy on my youthful ignorance. He guarded me before I knew him, and before I came to wisdom and could distinguish between good and evil. He protected me and consoled me as a father does for his son.” (Confessio, 2)

2.) “This is how we can repay such blessings, when our lives change and we come to know God, to praise and bear witness to his great wonders before every nation under heaven.” (Confessio, 3)

3.) “Let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ, in whom we believe and whom we await to come back to us in the near future, is Lord and God.” (Confessio, 4)

4.) “This is the one we acknowledge and adore – one God in a Trinity of the sacred name.” (Confessio, 4)

5.) “That is why I must shout aloud in return to the Lord for such great good deeds of his, here and now and forever, which the human mind cannot measure.” (Confessio, 12)

6.) “In the knowledge of this faith in the Trinity, and without letting the dangers prevent it, it is right to make known the gift of God and his eternal consolation. It is right to spread abroad the name of God faithfully and without fear, so that even after my death I may leave something of value to the many thousands of my brothers and sisters – the children whom I baptized in the Lord.” (Confessio, 14)

7.) “I didn’t deserve at all that the Lord would grant such great grace, after hardships and troubles, after captivity, and after so many years among that people. It was something which, when I was young, I never hoped for or even thought of.” (Confessio, 15)

8.) “More and more the love of God increased, and my sense of awe before God.” (Confessio, 16)

9.) “It was in the strength of God that I went – God who turned the direction of my life to good.” (Confessio, 17)

10.) “For that reason, I give thanks to the one who strengthened me in all things, so that he would not impede me in the course I had undertaken and from the works also which I had learned from Christ my Lord.” (Confessio, 30)