Skip to content
quotesby

In a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming as it from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: 'The Voice of the Irish', and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and the were crying as if with one voice: 'We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.' And I was stung intensely in my heart so that I could read no more, and thus I awoke. Thanks be to God, because after so many ears the Lord bestowed on them according to their cry.

Saint Patrick#23

FaithSpiritualityReligionVisionAwakening

About this quote

What does it mean?
Patrick dreams of a messenger from Ireland pleading for help, and feels a deep spiritual stirring that awakens him.
In plain terms
He is moved by a divine request and wakes up with a strong feeling.
What can you take from it?
Listen to inner spiritual calls for guidance.

Where it applies

  • prayer
  • meditation
  • confession

Putting it to work

  • reflect on personal mission
  • seek divine guidance

Questions to consider

  • What inner voice guides you?
  • How do you respond to spiritual urges?

Another view

The narrative is symbolic and may not translate to concrete action.

More from Saint Patrick

  1. A second time, after many years, I was taken captive. On the first night I accordingly remained with my captors, but I heard a divine prophecy, saying to me: '…

    Permalink to quote #22
  2. It is tedious to describe in detail all my labours one by one. I will tell briefly how most holy God frequently delivered me, from slavery, and from the twelve…

    Permalink to quote #24
  3. After three days we reached land, and for twenty-eight days journeyed through uninhabited country, and the food ran out and hunger overtook them; and one day t…

    Permalink to quote #21

Related quotes

  1. Can the 'word' be pinned down to either one period or one church? All churches are, of course, only more or less unsuccessful attempts to represent the unseen …

    Florence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale quote #1
  2. What has been presented as Christianity during these nineteen centuries is only a beginning, full of mistakes, not full blown Christianity springing from the s…

    Albert SchweitzerAlbert Schweitzer quote #2
  3. Today's age of politicized and intolerant Christianism seems to me to be one of those moments when Christianity has estranged itself most thoroughly from the p…

    Andrew SullivanAndrew Sullivan quote #2