The Old Testament heard the syllables of this divine secret without however hearkening to it; such is its sublimity that no prophet was worthy of pronouncing it, and only the Word of God Himself could reveal it: the Blessed Trinity.
Unveiled in some of its enigmas, this divine reality has lost none of the grandeur with which mystery exalts it. Neither the poetic and profound plume of St. Augustine, nor the loving and insatiable intelligence of St. Thomas Aquinas, nor centuries of Catholic theology investigating the mystery par excellence have been able to exhaust its immensity.
For missionaries in particular, the Trinity was a weapon of evangelization, but also an obstacle to overcome. Once the pagans were convinced that there is not an infinite number of gods, but only one true God, how were they to be persuaded that in Him there are Three Persons?
St. Patrick faced this problem and solved it. Not with the golden leaves of human wisdom illuminated by faith, but with another kind of leaf, of fairest green, which he and the barbarians of ancient Ireland interpreted well.
St. Patrick – St. Mary’s Church, Waltham (MA)
A former slave and poorly educated in the sciences of men, knowing only enough Latin to carry out his ministry, Bishop Patrick began his apostolate in the coastal villages, but as soon as he was able, he entered the interior of the island, addressing those in power in order to obtain the greatest number of souls for the Divine Master without delay.
On Easter March 26, 433, the Druids and tribal leaders were gathered at Tara. St. Patrick headed for the battlefield. Before the court and the leaders of the people, the duel between the Triune God and the Druidic “divinities” began.
The first clash was a resounding victory for the Saint: he was offered a poisoned drink, and his blessing was enough to hurl the poison and pagan perfidy to the ground. Then came a second exchange of blows. The druid Lochru was lifted into the air by the demons… Patrick, far from exalting himself, knelt, prayed and brought the haughty man plummeting from the heights.
As they insisted in their wizardry, he suggested a test of fire. The druid Luchat Mael sat on a pile of green wood and the Christian Benignus, a follower and companion of the Saint, sat on another. Then fire from Heaven was invoked. Patrick’s prayer turned the sorcerer into incense for the true God, and the disciple returned safe and sound to his Bishop.
Having astonished the court and everyone there, Patrick did not waste a second. Taking advantage of the overwhelming victory over idolatry, he soon began preaching the Holy Trinity. It was then that he picked up the green-paged theological book that those Irish could read: a meadow clover, also known as a shamrock. And showing that a single plant can have three leaves, he taught how God can be One in essence and Triune in Persons.
The queen, taken by a movement of grace – as she must have been, given such a rudimentary and weak comparison – adhered then and there to the Catholic Faith. Many of the court and tribal chiefs followed her, authorizing the holy missionary to travel freely around the island and preach the faith in the Holy Trinity.
Thus, that Easter day marked the birth of Catholic Ireland. ◊
