What resonated within me even more was St. Patrick’s discussion of his experience with prayer. While he had been a slave in Ireland, he had experienced mystical dreams. Once he had returned to his family, his mystical dreams took on increased fervor as he continued on his journey of following his vocation to the priesthood. He recounts of one of his dream visions: “And once I saw Him—praying, as it were within me, and I saw myself as though within myself, and over me, that is over the inner man, I heard Him pray strongly with urgent groans.”
A good and very prayerful friend recently asked me about my prayer life; I was embarrassed to say that nearly every time I pray, I don’t use words. I’m overwhelmed by the omniscience and abounding mercy of God, and I’m filled with trust that He, and my intercessors—the saints—know and will respond appropriately to my needs and those for whom I pray. Now I feel better, realizing that St. Patrick shared the validity of non-verbal prayer. One of my preferred modes of communication is music; I enjoy listening to music of various time periods and genres—80s, classic rock, jazz, etc.—and I am a member of a pipe and drum band. To me, listening to or playing music, with or without words, can be a mode of prayer.
After decades of suffering, exile, and hardship, all in service of God, St. Patrick maintained the attitude that these trials were God-given gifts that strengthened him to carry out his mission of spreading to those living on the rugged fringes of the known world the light of Christian hope that is rooted in Gospel message. In an alternate translation of the Confessio, St. Patrick ties together his gratitude and his intimate familiarity with God: “So I shall make a return to Him for all that He has given to me. But what can I say, or what can I promise to my Lord? There is nothing I have that is not His gift to me. But He knows the depths of my heart, my very gut feelings! He knows that it is enough that I desire very much, and am ready for this, that He would grant me to drink of His chalice, just as He was pleased to do for others who loved Him.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus exhorts his disciples: “Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” St. Patrick was attuned to this rich generosity of the Lord. Have we, too, taken time to ponder the awesomeness of God’s gifts, and to receive them humbly and with gratitude?
With the spring equinox just a trinity of days away, we emerge from the darkness of winter and continue through the next three-quarters of this holy season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. One month from today, on Holy Thursday, we will remember the institution of the Eucharist, a gift of which we are invited to partake daily. Even when we feel hesitant or inadequate, let us be “instruments” of blessing to others. Through the example of St. Patrick, let us illuminate the path for our fellow pilgrims of hope on the remainder of our Lenten journey together, so that we may discover the treasures that overflow from our generous Lord’s cup for us, those apparent and those with the appearance of crosses. As St. Patrick has shown us, in deed and in word, the only cup from which we can drink that will truly quench our thirst is the cup of Christ’s unfailing love.
