We close the octave of posts on Saint Patrick's Confession by leaving the last word to Father Francis Shaw SJ. In the stirring quote below, taken from his 1931 work The Real Saint Patrick, Father Shaw brings together many of the themes we have looked at in this series:
By becoming familiar with the Confession, we shall secure certainly that Patrick will "come again and walk once more amongst us". For here in his own writings, shall we find the real Patrick an intensely loveable character, a man human like ourselves, grieved by the treachery of a friend, longing for the companionship of home and brethren, hurt by the sneers of critics, yet a man truly Christlike in spirit, meek and humble, simple and straightforward, practicing Evangelical poverty, a man filled with ardent personal love for Christ and burning with zeal for the salvation of souls, trusting in God for all things, desiring with great desire to die for Christ, in natural character a man energetic, resolute, indomitable, and possessed of an exceptional talent for organization and for government. Such a one was Patrick, the missioner whom God elected in those days out of all the world to bring "tidings of great joy" to those "men of good will" "who dwelt by the western sea".
Rev Francis Shaw, SJ, The Real St Patrick, (Irish Messenger, Dublin, 1931).
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