The Real Story of St. Patrick (and the Prayer Every Family Needs Today)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 

While the holiday is often filled with shamrocks, green food, and celebrations, many people don’t realize—and our children aren’t often taught—that it is named after a man whose life was deeply marked by prayer, faith, and courage in Christ.

As a teenager, Patrick was kidnapped from his homeland in England and taken into slavery, where he spent years tending sheep alone in the hills of Ireland. During that lonely and painful season, he began crying out to God in earnest prayer. What began as desperation slowly grew into a deep and abiding relationship with Christ.

Patrick later wrote that he prayed constantly—sometimes a hundred prayers a day and many more at night. Through suffering, his faith was strengthened and his dependence on God grew.

Eventually, God led Patrick to escape slavery through a series of remarkable circumstances he recognized as miracles. After returning home to England, God placed a deep burden on his heart to, at the risk of his life, return to Ireland as a missionary to share the Gospel with others.

Out of Patrick’s life of prayer came one of the most beloved prayers in Christian history, often called “St. Patrick’s Breastplate.”

Here is a portion of it:

Christ 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 every man 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.

What a beautiful reminder that wherever we go, Christ surrounds us completely.

Maybe you’ll be serving green pancakes or green smoothies today for St. Patrick’s Day. As you do, consider sharing the real story of St. Patrick with your children—and even praying this prayer over them.

May they grow up knowing that the presence of Christ goes before them, behind them, within them, and above them.