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St Patrick: His Writings and Life

Patrick of Ireland · translated by Newport J. D. White · 5th century; translation 1920

Patrick's own Confession and Letter to Coroticus, with the Lorica (Breastplate), the Sayings attributed to him, and Muirchú's early Life.

Edition: Internet Archive · archive.org

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From the opening: Introduction to the Confession

[Those who desire notes, exegetical and critical, on the Latin text are referred to the edition of the Libri Sancti Patricii, published by the Royal Irish Academy in 1905 (Proceedings, xxv. C. 7), and to the revised critical text, published in 1918 by the S. P.C.K.]

THE title Confession as applied to the first of St. Patrick's writings, in the cognate MSS. C, F3, F4, must have been suggested by his own words in cc. 61, 62, " I shall briefly set forth the words of my confession." ..." This is my confession before I die." But confession has not here any penitential association; it is an open and thankful acknowledgment of the goodness of God. The verb confiteor is thus used in cc. 3, 4, 5, as frequently in the Vulgate Psalter: " I thank him who hath enabled me in all things, because he did not hinder me from the journey on which I had resolved, and from my labour which I had learnt from Christ my Lord (c. 30)." As addressed to men, the Confession is an Apologia pro vita sua. But in Patrick's mind his life was summed up in one fact, viz., his mission work in Ireland, and that not in its details, but in its net spiritual result. He wrote with two classes of readers in his mind: his " kinsfolk ' in Britain, who for the most part opposed and depreciated him, and his " sons " in Ireland. For these latter the Confession was intended as "a legacy," "to strengthen and confirm their faith " (cc. 14, 47). Patrick probably never felt himself at home in Ireland; he was " bound in the Spirit ' to remain there till his death, and he was faithful unto death to the charge laid upon him by God; but his mind was often in Britain as he was writing (see, e.g., Conf. 42: 1 Those of our race who are born there " ).

The earliest title of the two tracts — Confession and Letter— is that found in the Book of Armagh, Libri Sancti Patricii. Liber is also found in the colophon of C F3 F4. B has, Incipit vita beati Patricii. This is perhaps suggested by Vita IV, 16, in which Conf. 16 is cited as in libro quern de uita et conversatione ejus ipse conscripsit. Another title is Libri Epistolarum, found in Vita III, IV, Trip.

Confession

[As far as possible, in the quotations from the Bible, which are printed in italics, the rendering of the English Version of 1611 has been followed, except in O.T. Apocrypha, in which the Douay Version of 1609 has been used.]

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Contents (84 sections)

  1. Opening
  2. Title page
  3. Notes on Muirchu's Life of St. Patrick
  4. Notes on Muirchu's Life of St. Patrick (continued)
  5. Introduction to the Confession
  6. Introduction to the Letter
  7. Introduction to the Letter 53
  8. Introduction to the Lorica of
  9. Introduction to the Lorica 63
  10. Preface (continued)
  11. St. Patrick's Lorica
  12. St. Patrick's Lorica 65
  13. Sayings of Patrick 67
  14. Sayings of Patrick
  15. Introduction to Muirchu's Life of
  16. Introduction to Muirchu's Life 69
  17. Introduction to Muirchu's Life 71
  18. Preface
  19. Chapters I–II
  20. Of His Voyage with the Heathen, and His Sufferings in the Desert. of the Food…
  21. Of the Second Captivity Which He Endured for Sixty Days at the Hands of His Enemies
  22. Of His Reception by His Relatives, When They
  23. Of His Age When, Going to Visit the Apostolic See, He Desired to Learn Wisdom
  24. Of How He Found St. Germanus in Gaul, and Therefore Went No Further
  25. Of His Age When the Angel Visited Him, to the End That He Might Come Hither
  26. Of His Return from Gaul, and of the Consecration of Palladius and His Death Soon…
  27. Of His Consecration by Bishop Amathorex After Palladius Was Dead
  28. Of the Heathen King Who Dwelt in Temoria, When St. Patrick Came Bringing Baptism
  29. Of His First Journey in This Island, to the End That He Might Ransom Himself from Miliucc…
  30. On the Death of Miliucc, and Patrick's Words concerning His Posterity
  31. Of the Advice of St. Patrick When Deliberating About the Celebration of the First Passover
  32. Of the First Paschal Sacrifice That Was Made
  33. Of the Heathen Feast at Temoria the Same Night on Which St. Patrick Was Engaged in His…
  34. Of King Loiguire's March from Temoria to Patrick on the Paschal Night
  35. How Patrick Was Called to the King; of the Faith of Ercc Son of Daig; of the Death of the…
  36. And of the Transformation of Patrick in the Presence of the Heathen
  37. How Patrick Came to Temoria on Easter Day, and of the Faith of Dubthach-Maccu-Lugir
  38. Of the Contest of Patrick with the Magician on That Day, and of His Wonderful Miracles
  39. Of the Conversion of King Loiguire, and of the Words of Patrick concerning His Kingdom…
  40. Of the Teaching, and Baptism and Miracles of St. Patrick, After the Example of Christ
  41. Of Maccuil and His Conversion at the Word Preached by Patrick
  42. Of the Story of Daire, and of the Horse, and of the Presentation of Ardd-Mach e to Patrick
  43. Of the Heathen Folk Working on the Lord's Day in Defiance of Patrick's Instructions
  44. Of the Fruitful Land Turned into a Salt Marsh at Patrick's Word
  45. Of the Death of Moneisen, the Saxon Lady
  46. How St. Patrick Saw the Heavens Opened, and the Son of God and His Angels
  47. Chapters I–II
  48. Of the Dead Man Who Spoke to Him
  49. Of the Sunday Night That Was Lighted Up, So That the Horses Were Found
  50. Of How the Angel Forbad Him to Die in Michi Machl
  51. Of the Burning Bush in Which the Angel Was
  52. THE first petition: that thy jurisdiction be in Ardd-Machae
  53. THE first petition: that thy jurisdiction be in Ardd-Machae (continued)
  54. Of the Boundary Set to the Night, and of the Darkness of Twelve Nights Taken Away
  55. Of the Sacrifice Received at the Hands of
  56. Of the Watch Kept by the Angels by the Body of Patrick on the First Night
  57. Of the Advice Given by the Angel concerning His Burial
  58. Of the Fire That Burst Forth from His Tomb
  59. Of the Lough Which Rose, That There Might Not Be War concerning His Body
  60. Of the Fortunate Delusion of the Peoples
  61. Of the Weekly Meetings Of the Angel with Patrick
  62. Notes on the Confession
  63. Notes on the Letter
  64. Preface
  65. Chapters X–XIV
  66. Chapters XV–XXI
  67. Chapters XXII–XXVII
  68. Chapter XXIX
  69. Book II
  70. Chapters XIII–XV
  71. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
  72. Books for Students
  73. Extracts from Press Notices
  74. Extracts from Press Notices (continued)
  75. Series I.— Greek Texts
  76. The Epistle of St. Clement, Bishop of Rome. By the
  77. The Epistle to Diognetus. By the Rt. Rev. L. B. RADFORD, D.D. is. 6d. net
  78. Edited by C. L. Feltoe, D.d
  79. Series Iv.— Oriental Texts
  80. Edited by Eleanor Hull
  81. Series Vi.— Select Passages
  82. Series Vi.— Select Passages (continued)
  83. Cunningham, D.d., F.b.a
  84. Cunningham, D.d., F.b.a (continued)

How to cite it

Chicago
Patrick of Ireland. St Patrick: His Writings and Life. Translated by Newport J. D. White. Internet Archive, 5th century; translation 1920. https://archive.org/details/stpatrickhiswrit00whituoft
MLA
Patrick of Ireland. St Patrick: His Writings and Life. Translated by Newport J. D. White, Internet Archive, 5th century; translation 1920. https://archive.org/details/stpatrickhiswrit00whituoft
APA
Patrick of Ireland (5th century; translation 1920). St Patrick: His Writings and Life (Newport J. D. White, Trans.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/stpatrickhiswrit00whituoft

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