ST. PADDY WASN’T A PROTESTANT

(Since today is my birthday, I just couldn't resist swiping this from Jimmy Akin)

By James Akin


Patrick was born in 385 into a high-ranking Roman Christian family in western Britain; he died in Ireland in 461, though some accounts put his death later. His grandfather was a priest, and his father, a deacon, was a prosperous nobleman and a local Roman official. The family’s native language was Latin.

Patrick writes that as youths he and his companions "turned away from God, did not keep his commandments, and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our salvation" (Conf. 1). His youth ended abruptly when, at age sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery, being assigned to work as a shepherd. This revolutionized his life. His faith and zeal for God were ignited, and he spent much time praying and fasting.

After six years, he escaped, led by private revelations along a safe route back to Britain. In another revelation he was commissioned to serve as a missionary to Ireland. To prepare, he traveled to France and spent two decades as a monk—studying, praying, and practicing penance.

He was ordained to the priesthood and in 432 was sent to Ireland to serve Palladius, who had been consecrated bishop by Pope Celestine. When Palladius died on a trip to Britain, Patrick was chosen as his successor and was consecrated bishop by Germanus, the papal representative overseeing the Irish mission.

Patrick experienced enormous success in converting the Irish, and three assistant bishops from France were sent to help him, among them Sechnall (a.k.a. Secundinus). Within his generation the Irish had been transformed by God’s grace into a Christian (and Catholic) people.

In 441 Patrick went to Rome to seek approval of his ministry in Ireland, and the newly-elected Pope Leo the Great confirmed Patrick’s full adherence to the Catholic faith. This is significant since today some assert that Patrick was not even Catholic! The challenge is made mainly by Irish Americans who were brought up Protestant or who have abandoned the Church for Protestantism and wish to co-opt Patrick and represent him as a non-Catholic figure.

This is an impossible task, as Patrick was a Latin-speaking Roman noble, grandson of a Catholic priest; he was a man who had repeated private revelations, practiced penance (a very Catholic thing), spent two decades as a monk, was ordained a priest, was sent to serve on the papal mission to Ireland, was ordained bishop by a papal representative, and had his fidelity to Catholic teaching specially confirmed by Pope Leo the Great (of whom the fathers of the Council of Chalcedon cried "Peter has spoken through Leo!"). Patrick described himself as a Catholic, and a list of canons he drew up for the Church in Ireland commanded that any dispute not resolved on a local level was to be forwarded to Rome for decision.

The two writings of his that survive, his Confession and the Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus, both attest to his Catholic faith.

The Letter—which Patrick wrote in a blazing fury after some of his newly baptized converts had been slaughtered during a raid by a British ruler—records his belief in the episcopacy, the ministerial priesthood, confirmation, the value of monks and nuns, purgatory, priestly absolution, and "doing hard penance" (the last two, he said, the murdering soldiers needed). His later Confession has a mild tone (not being a response to a massacre) and mentions many of the same Catholic distinctives, as well as fasting, loss of salvation, and Patrick’s private revelations.

Another important source for Patrick’s Catholicity is a Latin hymn written in praise of him by his assistant bishop, Sechnall, who records many of Patrick’s beliefs, among them the sacrifice of the Mass, merits, the fact the Church is built on Peter, and baptismal regeneration.

Any claims from the disgruntled that Patrick was not Catholic are just blarney.

Of narrowbacks and posers...

Got an email yesterday from Fr. Thomas Euteneur of Human Life International on Hannity and Repentance. Fr. Euteneur recalls that three years ago Sean Hannity, professional "conservative" and "Catholic" talk radio host wondered whether or not he had sinned by eating meat on a Friday during Lent.

Fr. Euteneur wrote Hannity that he should be more concerned with his support of Artificial Birth Control that breaking a Lenten abstinence. This lead to a grilling of Fr. Euteneur by Hannity on Hannity and Colmes. It's shameful that he ends up bringing up the priest sex scandal in a pathetic attempt to deflect Fr. Euteneur's points. He even claims to have studied at a seminary and learning Latin. This means nothing if you are promoting heresies. He still hasn't learned his lesson as I have heard him take a cheap shot at former Senator Rick Santorum about his wife having another child.

Father is right,Sean lacks understanding and is grandstanding and sitting on the fence. Artificial birth control is abortion, no if ands or buts about it.

For someone who was constantly on Barak Obama's case about sitting through 20 years of Reverend Wright's vitriolic sermons & claiming not to have heard all of the anti white rhetoric, Hannity seems to be just as clueless as Obama.

He has NO respect for God's anointed, which is what Fr. Euteneur is. No matter how bad a priest is, one has no right to attack them in public. Look what happened to the man who killed Saul.

The most disappointing part of that Hannity interview was the way in which Fr. Jonathan Morris, Fox News priest advisor, defended Mr. Hannity in his dissent against a Catholic priest who was actually defending the orthodox teaching of the Church. The priestly sell-out on contraception and church discipline is a painful corollary to Hannity's lay dissent. The shameful silence of the clergy on the issue of Catholic morality in the era when it has been most needed is an insufferable failure of those responsible for being its guardians. We will be for generations digging ourselves out of this clerical mess.

Hannity is a Roman Protestant narrowback poser. I use the term narrowback as it was used against the children of Irish immigrants by their elders. It means someone unable to shoulder the traditions of his people. I really question whether he believes the conservatism that he espouses. Fr. Euteneur offered to meet with Hannity to discuss this further. As of yet, that hasn't happened.

God help us all!

 

Just want to acknowledge my lovely and gracious wife on her birthday today. Always told her that living well is the best revenge. She makes 50 the new 30! Love ya Peggy!

Pray for the folks in Hawaii

 
 

 

My brother John (top) and my son Jim (in uniform) are there. Please keep them & all the folks in the path of the tsunami in your prayers!

UPDATE! It Looks like the Navy is lifting the tsunami warnings! Thank God!

What a day...

A group of harpies were trashing the Church within earshot of me. Ya got to love smug arrogance. THEN you got that moron who had a beef with the IRS & included the Catholic Church in his suicide note. Of course, it was a side swipe in my humble opinion. GOD how I LOVE morons.

Ashes to Ashes...

another Ash Wednesday comes and is leaving. This is always a hard time of year. Getting out of the comfort zone is always tough. This year we've had eighteen inches of snow to deal with. Maybe I should give up being snarky to all those Global Warming Luddites...NAH!

This takes me back to 1979...

When I was getting into New Wave & some old school Rock n' Roll:



Hat tip to RL on The American Catholic .

This is awesome-

I just couldn't help but swipe it from Big Hollywood.com.

There are some things that should...

be damned by God.

Abortion is one of them.

We've allowed this abomination to go on for way to long! We haven't done enough to stop it and allowed others to cow-tow us into being too quiet about it.

Please pray for...

The folks in Haiti with all they dealing with and have lost in the earthquake, and our pastor, Fr. Lee, who we just found out has cancer in his leg.