While history has been mixed with folklore and legend, Patrick did write a short autobiography called the Confessio, which left some information. Here is some text from his autobiography:

"My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many. My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon; his father was Potitus, a priest, who lived at Bannavem Taburniae. His home was near there, and that is where I was taken prisoner. I was about sixteen at the time. At that time, I did not know the true God. I was taken into captivity in Ireland, along with thousands of others. We deserved this, because we had gone away from God, and did not keep his commandments. We would not listen to our priests, who advised us about how we could be saved. The Lord brought his strong anger upon us, and scattered us among many nations even to the ends of the earth. It was among foreigners that it was seen how little I was. It was there that the Lord opened up my awareness of my lack of faith. Even though it came about late, I recognised my failings. So I turned with all my heart to the Lord my God, and he looked down on my lowliness and had mercy on my youthful ignorance. He guarded me before I knew him, and before I came to wisdom and could distinguish between good and evil. He protected me and consoled me as a father does for his son." Patrick wrote in his autobiography that six years into his captivity, an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him how to escape and he made it back home. He later returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to the people of Ireland. His knowledge of Irish traditions helped him convert many people in Ireland. It is said that he used the clover to teach people about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He died on March 17, and that is why St. Patricks Day is celebrated on March 17 every year.

In Ireland, people wear small bunches of shamrocks pinned to their clothing above the right breast on St. Patrick’s Day. This signifies their Irish heritage and celebrates the way St. Patrick taught the ancient Irish about the Holy Trinity using the shamrock. St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday in Ireland and Catholics in Ireland attend church on St. Patrick’s Day. It is considered a Holy Day of Obligation by the church. Families dress up in their holiday best, just like they would for Easter, they pin their shamrocks to their clothing, and go to church together. After church, families return home and have a special St. Patrick’s Day dinner. It usually consists of some kind of roasted meat and boiled vegetables, along with mashed potatoes. After dinner, families usually watch St. Patrick’s Day parades from around the world on TV together.

It could be fun to study out the Holy Trinity this week in our Bibles, or maybe to read Patrick's autobiography and do a Bible study on that. In fact, there are so many great topics in his autobiography that there are more than enough to take one sentence daily and study it out more fully Biblically. So many fun ways to explore our Bibles.

To those of us celebrating St. Patrick's Day, we hope you had a wonderful time celebrating this annual holiday celebration! 

Join us this Wednessday for our Midweek Zoom Service.

Tom Hughes will be continuing our series on “Bible Origins: Why We Have the Bible We Have and Where it Came From”. This week we will be looking at the *“Messianic Current”* – understanding the nature of the Messianic prophecies in the OT, and what exactly God’s people were waiting and looking for in the Messiah. This is a great topic to build your own faith, as well as make it easier to answer questions from your friends.  

At the end of the Midweek we will have optional breakout rooms for Questions, Prayer, Fellowship, etc.  

If you need the Zoom link please reach out to your Fellowship Group Leader or email Brock at Brock@sfbayfellowship.com.

We wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who have generously donated or tithed to our fellowship to help us advance the gospel throughout the Bay Area.

Join us for one of our Sunday church services or other events around the Bay.

Next Sunday we will have services in Oakland/Alameda, Tri-Valley, South Bay, Peninsula, Palo Alto, Fairfield and San Francisco. 

We hope you can join us for our All Fellowship Church Service in Berkeley in two weekends. More information is on the website.