Then, it happened that he was awakened by a severe chastisement from his
Heavenly Father from this sleep of death to a higher life. Some pirates
of the wild tribe of the Scots, who then inhabited Ireland, landed at the
dwelling-place of Patrick, and carried him off with other captives. He
was sold into slavery to a Scottish prince, who committed to him the care
of his flocks and herds. Necessity directed his heart to that God of
whom, in his days of rest in his father's house, he had not thought.
Abandoned of men, he found consolation and blessedness in Him, and now
first learned to perceive and enjoy the treasures which the Christian has
in heaven. Whilst he roamed about with his flocks, through ice and snow,
communion with his God in prayer, and quiet contemplation, were his
portion. Let us hear how he himself, in a confession which he
subsequently wrote, describes this change which took place in him.
"I was about sixteen years old, and knew nothing of the true God, when I
was led into captivity with many thousands of my countrymen, as we
deserved, in that we had departed from God, and had not kept his
commandments. There God opened my unbelieving heart, so that I, although
late, remembered my sins, and turned with my whole heart to the Lord my
God, to Him who had regarded my loneliness, had had compassion on my
youth and my ignorance, and had watched over me before I knew him; who,
ere I knew how to choose between good and evil, had guarded and cherished
me, as a father doth his son.
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