Maewyn Succat’s spiritual legacy is both ironic and inspirational. Born
to a faithful Christian family around A.D. 385 in Scotland, as a young
man he was kidnapped, smuggled to Ireland, and sold as a slave to a
cattle and swine herder.
At the time of his capture, around the
age of 15, Succat wasn't a follower of Jesus—he was filled with lust,
hate, and deceit, and he ignored the loving influence of his father, a
respected church leader. Succat came to believe his selfishness doomed
him, later writing about his capture, “It was according to our deserts,
because we drew back from God and kept not His precepts.”
But
during his six years of harsh captivity, wearing rags for clothing and
with little shelter from pounding rains and frigid nights, Succat gave
his life to God. During those long evenings of hunger and suffering, he
would remember the gentle voices of his mother and father urging him to
follow Jesus. And at last, he realized there was something more to life
than just himself.
Gazing into the starry heavens, Succat prayed
to God on the evening of his conversion, “I will arise, and go to my
Father." Soon after, he escaped captivity and returned to his homeland,
ready to follow heaven’s call. Invigorated by his new devotion, Succat
found and joined a church whose voice in history has largely been lost.
Against
the grain of the day’s religious teachings, the Celtic Church not only
kept the Sabbath as holy, they followed God’s health laws and practiced
baptism by immersion. They believed God’s law was paramount, and they
gave their allegiance to Christ alone. They believed there was no
difference between obeying the law and ultimate morality; faithfully
obeying God’s Word was the sign of a Christian's love and
devotion.
Succat quickly rose in the ranks of this church,
fighting against the onset of paganism from the outlying Briton isles
and Europe. Sometime in his late twenties, he began to dream of the
green island he once called home. He dreamed of how the heathens there
suffered under economic and spiritual poverty—and eventually he believed
God was calling him to return to Erin, which once held him prisoner, to
set it free with His Word. The faithful convert followed without
hesitation.
Succat Returns to the Emerald IslandThe
conversion of the island is both baffling and miraculous. Succat led a
band of likeminded believers to the isle, establishing churches that
would glorify the kingdom of God by expressing their faith through
obedience. Queen Margaret wrote about this and other “peculiar”
practices of the growing Celtic Church, complaining '”They are
accustomed … to neglect reverence for [Sundays].”
Though the
major religious leaders of the day threatened and cajoled allegiance to
their doctrines, Succat’s church continually turned these temptations
away. As a result, Succat is believed to be directly responsible for the establishment of
more than 350 churches and the conversion of 120,000 souls.
In
the centuries to follow, Succat’s legacy as a faithful Sabbath-keeper
would be shrouded with half-truths and mysticism due to the eventual
overthrow of the Celtic Church. Indeed, the ire of all of Europe
eventually besieged the tiny, peculiar island until it capitulated and
adopted more culturally acceptable norms under force.
Succat is
still revered and celebrated as few others—he is as much a cultural icon
today as he was when he conquered a nation for Christ. Sadly, the
deeper truths behind his powerful work is twisted, but that doesn’t mean
the truth can’t be told. It’s a lesson we ought to remember: Led by
Succat’s faithfulness, Ireland prospered in peace for centuries as it
followed God’s guiding hand. After it incorporated false doctrines and
practices, it fell into despair and was subjugated by oppression and
cruelty.
If you haven’t guessed it yet, Succat is better known by the name St. Patrick of Ireland.
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