The date and place of St. Patrick’s birth are uncertain. He was
born about the year 389. When he was sixteen, he was carried as
a captive into Ireland and obliged to serve a heathen master as a
herdsman. Despite the harshness of the life there, he not only
held on to his Faith but also learned the science of prayer and
contemplation.
After six years he effected a miraculous escape and returned
home. In a dream, he was told to go back and Christianize
Ireland. St. Patrick prepared for his task by studying in the
monastery of Lerins from about 412-415 and was ordained about
417.
In 431, after a period during which his vocation to Ireland was
tested by the hesitancy of his superiors in entrusting such a
mission to him, St. Patrick was sent to assist Bishop Paladius in
Ireland. On the death of the latter, St. Patrick was consecrated
Bishop by St. Germanus (432) after receiving the approbation of
Pope Celestine I. He traveled the length and breadth of Ireland,
planting the Faith everywhere despite the hostility of the Druids,
and succeeded in converting several members of the royal family.
On a visit to Rome in 442, he was commissioned by Pope Leo
the Great to organize the Church of Ireland and on his return
made Armagh the primatial See and established Bishops in
various places.
In winning a pagan nation for Christ, St. Patrick established
many monasteries for men and women and made it famous for its
seats of piety and learning. In the ensuing centuries Irish monks
carried the Faith to England, France, and Switzerland.
After living a completely apostolic life of labor and prayer, St.
Patrick died on March 17, 461, in the monastery of Saul, in
Down in Ulster, leaving behind his Confessions which give a
vivid picture of a great man of God. Lives of the Saints, Page 108-110