Most people today would not associate St. Patrick with education but the truth is that the original St. Patrick built more than 300 schools in Ireland before his death.
The Story of St. Patrick
Tall tales and legends surround St. Patrick but the real St. Patrick was a kind a gentle man who loved the people of Ireland and devoted his life to helping them.
Patrick was born around 385 A.D. in what is now known as Great Britain. When Patrick was sixteen, his village was attacked by a band of Irish warriors. “I was taken captive as a mere child,” Patrick wrote in his autobiography, Confession. He was sold into slavery and for six years Patrick worked in the fields of Ireland. “I was reduced by hunger and poor clothing,” he wrote. “Every day I was in Ireland I had to travel against my will.”
When Patrick was twenty-two, he managed to escape his bondage and return to his family. The whole ordeal of his enslavement caused him to grow firm in his Christian faith and after his studies and preparation for the Christian ministry, he was determined to return to Ireland to make a difference. “I cannot hide the gift of God which He gave me in the land of my captivity,” Patrick wrote. “There I sought Him and there I found Him.”
Patrick eventually returned to Ireland and traveled the Irish countryside for thirty years, building more than three hundred churches and schools throughout the land. He died in Ireland on March 17th, around 461 A.D.
This St. Patrick’s Day you have an opportunity to make an educational impact on another island country, Haiti. Like Patrick, your School Child Sponsorship will bring a life of learning to needy children desiring to grow in knowledge. Sponsor a School Child today!
