Markess, Would you be willing to elaborate on the Celtic Prince reference please..
I think poetry and story will also guide us through some of this illusion..
Thanks, Jane
Patricius, born about 385-90 at Bannaventa Berniae (thought to be between the Rivers Clyde and Severn, but closer to the former than the latter, eg Dumbarton), the Romano-British son of Calpornius (a decurion, municipal official, and a deacon in the local church). When Patrick was almost 16, he and his sister were abducted by the Irish chieftain Niall Naoi Ghiallach and his men. The girl went to Connacht, Patrick to County Antrim, not far from Ballymena, where he worked as a shepherd and swineherd. In his early twenties, he walked to Wexford, 200 miles south, and sailed to Gaul.
He is recorded as going to Ireland in 432 by which time he had been consecrated as a Celtic priest. This gave him the right to the title of 'saint'. He died in 461; his grave lies beneath Downpatrick Cathedral.
Perhaps the most remembered of his pronouncements is that on the nature of God. I repeat it fully below because I agree with Jane that poetry and song will also guide us:
"Our God is the God of all men; the God of heaven and earth, of the seas and the rivers. The God of the sun, the moon and all stars. The God of the high mountains and of the lowly valleys. The
God who is above heaven and in heaven and under heaven. He hath a habitation in the heaven and in the earth and the sea and all that are therein. He inspireth all things. He quickeneth all things. He is over all things. He sustaineth all things. He giveth light to the sun. He hath made springs in the dry ground; and dry islands in the sea. And hath appointed the stars to serve the greater Light. He hath a Son, co-equal and co-eternal with Himself. The Son is not younger than the Father; nor is the Father older than the Son. And the Holy Ghost breathes in them. The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are not divided."
(Much of this data has been drawn by 'Sun Dancing; A Medieval Vision' copyright 1997 by Geoffrey Moorhouse published by the Orion Publishing Group Ltd ISBN 0 297 81595 4)
roger
