Os cuelgo la historia de St Patrick, contada por el propio autor, John Wilmott.
As usual, I hope you enjoy yourself!
The story of St. Patrick
An original version from our Irish friend John Wilmott
Many, years ago in the day of old, even older than Teresa, in a land far, far
away from Spain the story begins which tells of the boy who becomes St Patrick.
He was not
born in Ireland, which many people believe, including many Irish people. No, he
was born in a country across the sea from Ireland called Wales. Wales is not
far from Ireland which turned out to be rather unfortunate for young Maewyn
Succat. Who is that? I hear you ask. You see that was his name before he became
Patrick, I am glad he changed it as St Maewyn Succat’s day is much harder to
pronounce. I am sure that young Maewyn had a normal childhood; perhaps he
played football with his friends who also had silly names. Perhaps he used the
Internet. Could he have had a Facebook page? Or, how about a mobile phone to
text his friends? I wonder which TV programmes he preferred? Well you see,
electricity had not been invented in Maewyn’s time so he would not have had any
of the things that young people today could not imagine living without. What
kind of games do you think young Maewyn and his friends played so long ago?
Anyway, back to the story. When Maewyn was sixteen years old a group of mad
Irishmen raided his little Welsh village and captured him. Without even asking
for permission, they bundled him on a boat back to Ireland to sell as a slave.
He always wanted to go on a boat journey but not like this. No more normal
childhood for young Maewyn. He was sold to a Druid chief who had a large herd
of pigs. Guess what his new job was to be? Yes, you guessed correctly; a pig
farmer. Now life as a pig farmer was no picnic for the young man from wales. It
was a very difficult and smelly job to do, perhaps at that time his name was
changed to Smelly, we just don’t know.
He ate, slept with and generally lived among the pigs
and each night he would tell them the story of “The three little pigs”, how
they loved that story. It was during his time in Ireland that Smelly, sorry,
Maewyn became a Christian. One night he heard a voice in his dreams telling him
to get an airplane back to his own country, but as airplanes were not yet
invented he had to go by ship. He fled the coast of Ireland and found his way
back home. After having the world’s longest shower he joined a monastery where
he stayed for the next twelve years. It became his goal in life to convert the
pagans of Ireland to Christianity. Perhaps he thought that this would put a
stop to their pastime of kidnapping and selling young boys into slavery. It was
at this time that he took the name Patrick. He became a bishop and went back to
Ireland to pursue his destiny. He was very good at his job as he helped many
people to find God and leave their old pagan ways behind. He even went to visit
his old slave master to show that he had no bad feelings towards him. Perhaps
he also wanted to visit his old roommates the pigs, but alas, they had all been
eaten. This upset Patrick because he was looking forward to a nice piece of
ham. The story goes that his old master took all his valuables to his house and
burned it down with himself still inside. Apparently, he did not want to face
his former slave who had become famous.
Many stories have been written about Patrick. He was
not yet called St. Patrick, which would come much later. It is said that he
drove all the snakes out of Ireland, not in a car mind you because cars had not
been invented yet either. This is not exactly true, at that time there were no
snakes in Ireland. As the devil is often referred to as a snake, it is said
that it was the devil he banished from Ireland. It is said also that he used
the shamrock as a symbol of the Holy Trinity. That is why the shamrock is very
famous in Ireland and people around the world associate it with Ireland. But we
do know that he built many churches and schools all over Ireland. He spent
almost thirty years in Ireland teaching the pagans of that green land about the
wonders of the Catholic religion. The Irish people never forgot about the boy
who, in the twelfth century became a saint, taking the name St Patrick. St
Patrick day was originally a religious holiday but these days it is a secular
holiday. It is celebrated each year on March 17th, which is the date on which
he died. Ireland is not the only country to celebrate. Over the centuries many
Irish people went to distant lands to find fame and fortune. With them they
brought their culture and traditions. Today St. Patrick’s day is also enjoyed
by both Catholics and non-Catholics. In my own little town, on the south coast
of Ireland, we have a beautiful parade through our city streets. Lots of
children dress up as leprechauns and mini St Patricks. It is a day to remember
all the good things about being Irish, a time to be proud of our history.
