Comments on: The Adventures of St. Patrick

By: Zach

Zach — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:00:00 +0000

In a way Peter and Patrick are canonized– except instead of being canonized by the pope they are canonized through the piety of the Christian people and their enduring importance in Christian life.

By: kate

kate — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Thanks for the info. So, the Church has no problem calling him a saint, he just didn’t have to go through the formal process. Very interesting–thanks! I’m also surprised that Peter wasn’t canonized (even if it was much later), although the way that Zach explained it, that certainly makes sense.

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:58:00 +0000

kate, from what I read, it was customary at the time for local areas to designate their own saints.

By: Zach

Zach — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:58:00 +0000

The earliest saints became venerated through popular acclaim rather than the formal canonization process the Church of Rome has today. When the formal canonization process was put in place, most of the old saints kept their titles through the grandfather clause. Thus, biggies like Saint Peter, Saint George and Saint Patrick were never canonized.

By: kate

kate — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Cool article. It seems he had quite a life–and there’s no way to know about most of it! Any information on why the Catholic Church never canonized him?

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:34:00 +0000

I wondered about that myself, but really didn’t know where to look further then my linked source on Patrick. I will have to add Cyrus the Great to my files to write about in the future!

By: JdoubleE5000

JdoubleE5000 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Asserting that St. Patrick was “the first person in the history of the world to publicly denounce the institution of slavery” is a ridiculous statement based on religious jingoism or gross ignorance.
What about the Persian leader Cyrus the Great?
He conquered much of the known world, creating and maintaining what is considered one of the largest territories controlled by the Persians, and did it without the taking of a single slave.
Cyrus denounced the enslavement of his fellow man, freed all the slaves of his kingdom upon taking over, and furthermore, gave wages to the freed slaves to continue their vital work.
He did all this by 530 BC, nearly a millennium before St. Patrick was born.

By: JdoubleE5000

JdoubleE5000 — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:08:00 +0000

I somehow doubt very much that St. Patrick was “the first person in the history of the world to publicly denounce the institution of slavery.”
What about the Persian leader Cyrus the Great?
Cyrus denounced the enslavement of his fellow man, freed all the slaves in his kingdom once he came into power, and never took anymore despite creating and maintaining one of the largest territories the Persians had ever known. Furthermore, he actually gave the freed slaves wages for their continued work.
He did all this by 530 BC. That is nearly a millenia before St. Patrick.

By: Zach

Zach — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:28:00 +0000

In the words of a great man, “I live to give.”

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:24:00 +0000

Thanks, Zach! I’ve got that fixed now.