Saint Patrick

“ I seek for forgiveness of my sins, O my God, Jesus Christ. Thou art He who desirest no one to perish, 'but have all men saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.' [8] Thou, O God, with Thy holy and chaste mouth hast said: In whatever day the sinner may be converted 'living he shall live and shall not die.' [9] I will return to Thee, O God, and with all my heart [10] will cry to Thee, my God, and to Thee now I desire to confess my sins. My transgressions are multiplied above me, [11] because my sins have no number before Thine eyes. ”

“ Whosoever shall sing it every day, with pious meditation on God, devils will not stay before him. It will be a safeguard to him against all poison and envy. It will be a defence to him against sudden death. It will be a corslet to his soul after dying. Patrick chanted this when the ambushes were set against him by Loegaire, that he might not go to Tara to sow the faith, so that there they seemed before the liers-in-wait to be wild deer, with a fawn behind them, to wit, Benén. ”

“ Men, women, children!
A blessing on the land
Which gives them fruit!
A blessing on every wealth
Which is brought forth on their marches!
No one to be in want of help:
God's blessing upon Munster! ”

“ Thou art the glory of God the Father in the height. Thou art Saviour of the world. Thou art the plenitude of the Holy Spirit. Thou sittest at the right hand of God the Father on the throne, reigning for ever. ”

“ Since in these last times Ireland has been most excellently and auspiciously planted and instructed by the favour of God. I do not usurp [other men's labours but] [9] I have part with those whom He hath called and predestined to preach the Gospel amidst no small persecutions, even to the end of the earth; although the Enemy envies us by the tyranny of Coroticus, who fears not God, nor His priests, whom He hath chosen, and committed to them that greatest, Divine, sublime power: 'Whom they bind upon earth, they are bound also in heaven.' [10]
4. ”

“ Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul. ”

“ This new discovery is then of sufficient importance to justify our exhibiting here a complete translation of its text.
[Here] begins the Confession of Saint Patrick, Bishop.
God, my God, omnipotent King, I humbly adore Thee. Thou art King of kings, Lord of lords. [1] Thou art the Judge of every age. [2] Thou art the Redeemer of souls. Thou art the Liberator of those who believe. Thou art the Hope of those who toil. Thou art the Comforter of those in sorrow. Thou art the Way to those who wander. Thou art Master to the nations. [3] Thou art the Creator of all creatures. ”

“ He considers the Confession of Angers to be probably a genuine Irish work, although it is more than doubtful that St. Patrick was its author. But when we reflect on the close connection into which the monastery of Tours, where it was probably written, was brought with Ireland, it is possible that the scribe may have had evidence in favour of the Patrician authorship, which has not come down to us. In its present form the language of this Confessio, if a work of St. Patrick, must have undergone considerable revision, a revision which, under the circumstances, was natural and justifiable. ”

“ The last ten lines of the special confession of sins do appear to have a sort of Patrician ring about them.
The doctrine of the Angers Confession is in harmony with the primitive faith set forth in St. Patrick's writings. There is not one word in it which contains the slightest allusion to the invocation of saints or angels, although angels are alluded to as witnesses of the sins of men. Christ is described as being alone without sin, a doctrine inconsistent with the late mediæval notion of the sinlessness of the Virgin Mary. ”

“ It must not be forgotten that in the Epistle to Coroticus Patrick speaks of himself as a Roman and a freeman (see Coroticus, p. 76) . He also there alludes to 'the Roman and Gallic Christians' as superior to other Christians in civilisation. It is most natural, therefore, to interpret the meaning of this saying to be: Imitate the customs of those Christians whose higher civilisation is a matter of general acknowledgment, and follow their example by making use of the versicle in question. ”

“ I have sinned by the instability of faith of mind, and by the impiety of doubt. [20]
I have sinned by unmercifulness and by despising of men.
I have sinned by corrupt and wicked works [&] judgments.
I have sinned by negligence and by forgetfulness of the works of God. ”

“ The saying is well illustrated by the following story, given by Muirchu in his Notes on St. Patrick's Life (which are of the seventh century) . Dáire, the Irish chieftain, who afterwards gave the site for a church at Armagh, sent to the saint as a present a caldron of brass which had been imported from across the sea. Patrick, on receiving the gift, said simply, Grazacham (gratias agamus, 'Let us give thanks,' i.e., to God) . ”

“ The thoughts of the saint, on his way to Tara, must necessarily have dwelt much on the judgment and doom of idolaters in 'the day of vengeance of our God' (Isa. lxi. 2) . The Irish for the 'judgment of doom' in the last line of the second stanza of the Hymn is brethemnas bratha. Hence we have used a different English word in these places to express the difference in the original Irish
The original is dail, genitive sing. ”

“ The rendering of the latter clause in the Douay Version is a paraphrase of the Latin and Greek. 5. 'Judges of the Church ought not to respect a person in judgment, "for there is no respect of persons with God" (Rom. ii. 11) .'
6. 'Judges of the Church ought not to have worldly wisdom (cautelam sæcularem) but Divine examples (before them) , for it does not become the servant of God to be crafty or cunning (cautum aut astutum) .'
Villanueva explains cautela sæcularis as equivalent to the sapientia carnis, 'the wisdom of the flesh,' or 'carnal wisdom,' of Rom. ”

“ Turning next to internal evidence, if the piece be regarded as a personal confession of sins, and not one drawn up for the use of converts, there are several points which are inconsistent with St. Patrick's genuine writings. Though he was fully aware from our Lord's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that sins of uncleanness may be committed by evil thoughts as well as by evil actions, it is difficult to suppose that St. Patrick could have been guilty of such transgressions as this Confession would lead us to conclude. ”

“ Dáire went back to his home, muttering, 'The man is a fool who said nothing but grazacham for a brazen caldron of such a size!' He then ordered his servants to go and bring him back the caldron. They went forthwith to the saint, and said, 'We are going to take away the caldron.' Patrick said again, 'Grazachm, take it away.' They accordingly took it back. When they returned, Dáire asked them, 'What did the Christian say when you took it away?' They answered that he said, 'Grazacham.' Dáire exclaimed, 'Grazacham, when it was given! ”

“ I, therefore, earnestly beseech (you) , who are holy and humble in heart, not to flatter such persons, nor to take food or drink with them, nor to deem it right to take their alms—until they rigorously do repentance with tears poured forth, and make satisfaction to God, and liberate the servants of God, and the baptized handmaidens of Christ, for whom He was put to death and crucified.
'The Most High reprobates the gifts of the wicked. ”

“ The utter impossibility of publishing in Ireland any work of the kind which would be regarded with equal favour by Roman Catholics and Protestants was abundantly proved in this case. An eminent Irish scholar, a Roman Catholic priest, who died some time after the publication of the earlier editions, was asked to join with me as co-editor of the work, in order to secure its impartiality. ”

“ I dare not ask what I do not deserve to obtain. For Thou knowest, Lord, all things which are done in us, and we blush to confess what by ourselves [12] we do not fear to commit. In words alone [tantum] we obey Thee, in heart we lie. ”

“ The original is grad hiruphin, which is thus rendered by Dr. Whitley Stokes. The former translation was 'the love of seraphim.'
Dr. Whitley Stokes has throughout 'virtue' in place of 'power.'
(compare Isaiah xxx. 18, Malachi ii. 17, Deus judicii) . Compare his saying: 'I cannot judge, but God will judge.' (Rolls Tripartite, p. 288.) Another expression, 'My God's doom!' or 'judgment' (mo debrod, mo debroth) , was constantly in his mouth. ”

“ Although it is true that this confession of sins is drawn up without any order,' and that, short as it is, it contains various repetitions, the doctrine set forth is highly Evangelical. And as it is probably of an Irish type, it seems to prove that the doctrines of the Irish missionaries of that date were in the main pure and Scriptural. The Divinity of Christ—for the composition is a confession addressed to Christ, and to Him alone—is unmistakably affirmed. ”

“ The genuine writings are three in number, namely, Patrick's Hymn, his Confession, and his Epistle to Coroticus. The doubtful remains are (1) the Dicta Patricii, contained in folio 9, a 1, of the Book of Armagh. Their rustic Latinity is some evidence in their favour, though not absolutely conclusive. (2) The Proverbs of Patrick are also of doubtful authorship. There are some strong points in their favour, but it is impossible now to test the statement of the monk Jocelin that they were translated from Irish into Latin. ”

“ Nor is the Patrician authorship conclusively disproved by the fact that the Bible quotations, where not loosely quoted from memory, are in this confession all derived from the Vulgate.
M. Berger observes that these books of penitence appear to have come originally from Ireland. Books of that kind seem to have been designed to teach those who used them how to make their humble confessions before God in prayer. M. Berger remarks that the names of authors are in several cases apparently assigned to them at random. ”

“ The translation is given, with the original Irish, on p. 381 of the Rolls Triparite Life of St. Patrick. We quote it as a curiosity, and nothing more, not, of course, endorsing the truth of the legend referred to.
'Patrick made this hymn. In the time of Loegaire, son of Niall, it was made. Now, the cause of making it was to protect himself with his monks against the deadly enemies who were in ambush against the clerics. And this is a corslet of faith for the protection of body and soul against devils and human beings and vices. ”

“ Patrick's own writings. It would also be natural to make St. Patrick's quotations from Scripture conform to the Vulgate version which was in common use for ages prior to the ninth century. Although there are cases of doubtful Latinity in the Latin original edited by M. Berger, it is clear that St. Patrick could not have written Latin as pure as that found in this MS. The Latinity of the piece may not, for the reason stated, be quite conclusive against its Patrician authorship. ”

“ HE present edition of the writings of St. Patrick is an attempt to bring out in English the works of that great man, with the necessary addition of historical and critical notes, but with the omission, as far as possible, of all matter which has been made the subject of religious controversy. ”

“ E. Ernault, Professor of the Faculty of Letters at Poitiers, and G. Dottin, Master of Conferences of the Faculty of Letters at Rennes, Editorial Secretary. The article is written by M. Samuel Berger, Professor in the Protestant Theological Faculty, Paris, and is entitled, Confession des Péchés attribuée a saint Patrice.
This Confession is given by M. Berger in the original Latin, of which we subjoin a translation in English, in order to render our edition of The Writings of St. Patrick as complete as possible. ”

“ Their authenticity is, however, somewhat questionable, although the Biblical quotations are curiously similar to those found in the genuine writings.
1. 'Patrick says: "It is better for us to admonish the negligent, that crimes may not abound, than to blame the things that have been done." ”

“ The Latin is: 'Aeclessia Scotorum, immo Romanorum, ut Christiani, ita ut Romani sitis, ut decantetur uobiscum oportet omni hora orationis uox illa laudabilis "Curie lessión, Christe lession."' It is evidently corrupt with its three "ut"s. ”

“ Compare the references to spells and other divinations of that kind in the Hymn of St. Patrick.
Lat. 'per scrutationem Majestatis Dei.'
Lat. 'per dominici diei operationes et per inlecebr [os] as cogitationes.' So M. Berger corrects the MS. reading. ”

“ This is the Douay rendering of Ezek. xviii. 21, as the Latin of the original of the words under quotation marks is identical with the Vulgate of that passage, 'vita vivet et non morietur.'
Lat. 'multiplicata sunt delicta mea super me.' Such passages as Isa. lix, 12 and Psa. xl. 12 may have been in the writer's mind, but there is no actual quotation of Scripture.
Lat. 'peccavi per fornicationem et per gulam.'
Lat. 'per nos.'
The Latin here is 'et quod velle nos dicimus, nostris actibus adprobamus.' M. Berger suggests that nos is a mistake for non. ”

“ Patricii qui Hibernos ad fidem Christi convertit adscripta Opuscula. Opera et studio J. Waræi, Eq. Aur. Lond. 1656. ↑ Sancti Patricii, Ibernorum Apostoli. Synodi, Canones, Opuscula et Scriptorum qui supersunt Fragmenta: scholiis illustr. ”

“ It is not fitting that 'one destroys, another builds.' [20] I do not seek those things which are my own. [* 17] [21]
6. Not my grace, but God, indeed, hath put this desire into my heart, that I should be one of the Page:Writings of Saint Patrick, Apostle of Ireland.djvu/83 Page:Writings of Saint Patrick, Apostle of Ireland.djvu/84 Page:Writings of Saint Patrick, Apostle of Ireland.djvu/85 Page:Writings of Saint Patrick, Apostle of Ireland.djvu/86
↑ The figures refer to the notes at the end of the book. ”