Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Maewyn Succat

That’s Celtic-British for Magonus Succetus, which is the Latin name for the man who would be known to modern-day Irish Christians as Naomh Pádraig, that is to say…

Saint Patrick

Son of a Romano-British Christian deacon named Calpurnius, it is uncertain exactly when and where Maewyn Succat was born, but it is believed to have been between 385-390 A.D., in the village of Bannavem Taburniae, somewhere along the north-west coast of the Roman province of Britannia. The actual location of "Bannavem Taburniae" has never been securely identified.

Patrick is important to Anglicans because he is, without really stretching, an Anglican. Born in The North (probably not far from Chester), and schooled in early British churchmanship.

Patrick’s mission work in Britain and Northern Ireland, along with that of St. Alba, helps to form the Anglican claim that, not only doth Rome have no authority in Ye Realm of England, Rome hath NEVER primary authority in England, because the early Church in England developed parallel to early Church of Rome, and not under her auspices.

Fifth-century Rome was in no way the juggernaught she would become during the medieval era, and Rome during the 5th century was in no position to enforce her will on any of the near provinces, let alone distant Britain, because of the barbarian Goths.

According to the Annals of Ulster, Patrick was probably teaching by the year 428 AD. Rome was still recovering from the barbarian Sack of 410. Patrick probably ministered to about the year 460 AD, and Rome finally fell in 476 AD.

Fast-forward just over a millennium – 1533 AD. Emperor Charles V of Austria holds Pope Clement VII prisoner in Ravenna. When cardinal Wolsey seeks to arrange a divorce for Henry VIII, it is Charles V, seeking to leverage the Habsburg dynasty into the English Royal Succession, who pulls Clement’s strings and denies the divorce. (If you don’t think the Habsburgs had designs on the English throne, just wikipedia Mary Tudor…)

English Clergy rejected the authority of Rome, and asserted that the Church of England had always been a distinct church, and they cite Patrick as one of the planters. Certainly the Church of England was well-enough established to send Restitutus, the Archbishop of London, to the Council of Arles in 314 AD, while the Church of Rome wouldn’t get her ducks in a row until the Council of Nicea, eleven years LATER.

Second Patrick…
There is an earlier Patrick, who was from Gaul (France) who dies around 361. He is often confused with the British Patrick.

When and where was the first St. Patrick’s Day parade? New York City – 1756. The British Army held a parade in honour of St. Patrick’s Day to show their appreciation to the loyal Irish soldiers (Catholic and Protestant)for defeating the French in the Seven Years War (French and Indian War).

Thank you, St. Patrick.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting post and well written. You bring out historical points and sequence of events that I was unaware of.

    Keep up the good work!

    BTW, I've visited 3 REC churches in Charleston, SC so far. Not one of them was high church. They were all black congregations with an Evangelical bent. At least 2 of them were also a bit on the pentecostal/charismatic side of things but not to the extreme. I have not discovered an REC church here which is openly Calvinist, though. I'm suspecting they are mostly on the Arminian side of things.

    This morning I will visit St. John's in downtown Charleston.

    God bless and keep you always,

    Charlie

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  2. Hi Charlie,

    Sorry about the delay in replying - I locked myself out of the blog and it took a while to straighten out.

    IIRC, the REC Diocese of the South is based on a Methodist-Episcopal inheritance gained fairly early in the 20th Century. That explains the Arminian traits (not sure about the practise).

    May God Defend the Faith,
    Keith

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  3. Hi,

    My name is Rev Robert Wright, Editor for Christian.com, a social network made specifically for Christians, by Christians. We embarked on this endeavor to offer the entire Christian community an outlet to join together and better spread the good word of Christianity. Christian.com has many great features like Christian TV, prayer requests, finding a church, receiving church updates and advice. We have emailed you to collaborate with you and your blog to help spread the good word of Christianity. I look forward to your response regarding this matter. Thanks!


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