Celebrating St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick’s day often gets reduced to leprechauns and rainbows, but it is the perfect opportunity to delve into the rich history of the 5th century bishop, and to worship the triune God whom he brought to the people of Ireland! Below, I’ve included a lesson, a craft, and a liturgy that will help you celebrate the Patron Saint of Ireland at church or at home this St. Patrick’s Day.
The Story of St. Patrick
Patrick was born off the coast of northwest Britain around 390, into a family of Christians—his grandfather was a priest, and his father was a deacon. When Patrick was sixteen, he was captured by a band of Irish pirates, and carried off to Ireland where he was forced to work as a shepherd. After six years in captivity, Patrick escaped and caught a ship back to Britain, where he entered into holy orders and eventually became a Bishop.
At some point after his return, Patrick had a vision of an Irishman named Victoricus, who beckoned him to "come back and walk among us.” Patrick took this as a sign from God that he was to return to Ireland—this time not as a slave, but as a missionary, preaching the Gospel to the very people who had enslaved him.
Ireland was entirely pagan at that time, and Patrick ran into significant hostility and life-threatening encounters. Nonetheless, he is said to have baptized thousands, ordained priests to establish new churches, and converted the sons of kings.
Our favorite St. Patrick story to read is Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie DePaola, which has beautiful illustrations and thorough, but accessible stories about Patrick’s life.
Trinity Shamrocks Craft
One popular story claims that St. Patrick used the three leaves of the shamrock to explain the Trinity to the Irish people: one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On St. Patrick’s day, we make Trinity Shamrocks by cutting out three green hearts, and drawing a heart on one for the Father, a cross on the second for the Son, and a dove on the third for the Holy Spirit. Glue the points together, add a stem, and you’ve got yourself a Trinity Shamrock and a simple (and admittedly imperfect) explanation of the Trinity.*
You can download a PDF printout of this craft here.
St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer
Perhaps my favorite part of St. Patrick’s day is the beautiful prayer that is attributed to him. I love it so much that I even made this print to hang in our house year-round. I have it available in the shop as an instant download that you can print right from your own home.
The full prayer is quite lengthy (and admittedly even a little bizarre, as it reflects the trials Patrick faced in Ireland’s pagan culture), but the shortened popularized version is well-worth praying and memorizing. I am including it at the end of the liturgy below!
St. Patrick’s Day Liturgy
Light Candle
Since the church first began, Christians have lit candles to symbolize the light of Christ. St. Patrick did this, too. He wanted to tell the Irish people about the light, so he lit a fire so big that the king could see it from miles away. The king became very angry and sent his soldiers to put out the fire. They tried and tried, but no matter what they did, the fire would not go out. They knew this light must be something mysterious, something holy, and so they believed in the God who Patrick preached about. Today, on the feast of St. Patrick, we celebrate the light of Christ that Patrick brought to Ireland, and that is with us now.
Blessing
Dear God, we thank you for your servant, Patrick, who taught the people of Ireland to turn from sin and follow your son, Jesus. This Lenten season, help us also to turn from our sins, and bring us closer into relationship with you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lesson
Read Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland, or share a summary of the stories I outlined above!
Hymn
Be Thou My Vision, is my favorite Irish hymn, translated by Irish linguist and author, Mary Elizabeth Byrne in 1905 from an even older Irish hymn. Our favorite kid-friendly version is from the Getty Family Hymn Sing Album.
Be Thou My Vision, Verse 1
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art
thou my best thought by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Closing Prayer
Christ be with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. Amen.
Notes
*It’s worth noting that Patrick’s Shamrock-Trinity is an unpopular analogy among theologians, because it comes pretty darn close to a 3rd century heresy called Modalism. The heresy claimed that the three persons of the Trinity were simply three modes, or types, of God’s revelation rather than three distinct yet coexisting persons of the same God. An example of modalism: I am a mother, wife and daughter, yet one person. Mother, wife and daughter are not three separate persons, they are simply different roles that I inhabit. But this is NOT the way the Trinity works. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not simply “roles” that God plays—they are three distinct persons, which coexist as one God.
That said, that’s going REALLY deep into the weeds. All analogies break down somewhere—I’ve never come across one for the Trinity that doesn’t fall into some type of heresy. So, I still think the shamrock is a helpful simple example to demonstrate the Trinity to children who have absolutely no way of conceptualizing how it might work otherwise. I wouldn’t use a shamrock to teach a theology class to future priests and pastors, but that’s not what we’re doing here :)
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This 37 page guide includes six full lessons about St. Patrick and the God whom he served: enough for one five-day school week, plus a bonus lesson. If you are only looking for a single lesson for St. Patrick's Day, you have your plans set for the next six years!
Each day includes:
Prayer
Hymn study of Be Thou My Vision
Scripture reading
Lesson
Activity (with options to adapt for older and younger children)
Recipe suggestion
Book suggestion
This guide was written for ages 4-10, but is highly adaptable for both older and younger. I hope you will enjoy this fun deep dive into the life, history, and theology of St. Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland.
This guide is for personal use only. If you would like to purchase a group license, please select the unlimited print option here.