40 Crosses for 40 Days: 25th Cross - The Amazing Grace Cross

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, on Sunday, March 17th. This particular saint and his feast day are near and dear to my heart, for many reasons. The witness of his life in the face of significant hardship, from within the Church as well as without, makes St. Patrick a person whom we should frequently call upon, developing a relationship with him and his charism that goes beyond just wearing green on March 17th and drinking green beer. The crosses for the next several days will focus on him and his message, which are so appropriate for the Lenten season.

The Amazing Grace cross above starts us off. First of all, the cross is made of a heavy stone, very similar to the stony outcrops that St. Partrick lived among as a missionary to Ireland. This stone also points to the multiple monasteries that developed around that particular way of life known as 'Celtic Monasticism,' each monastery built not just from stone sourced from the wild and wooly hills nearby, but more importantly, built on and for The Stone, the "cornerstone that the builders rejected."

Secondly, the artwork around the "A" and the "G," as well as the font used to write the words "Amazing Grace" are a version of the Celtic sacred arts. This particular scrollwork was started by the Celtic people and then was carried on and continued in the Celtic monasteries.  It is a link to those saints and scholars of long ago.

This cross reminds us, first of all, that St. Patrick's life was hard. Captured by raiders at a young age from his native Briton, St. Patrick was forced into a life of servitude and slavery. He was left alone to survive the elements with very little food, clothing or shelter. Tasked with being a shepherd, St. Patrick would later write that it was this very experience of hardship that opened him up to receiving God's grace, God's Amazing Grace. Alone out there on the hillside, dealing with rain, snow, and hunger, St. Patrick recalled that he prayed often.

In his Confession, he says, "After I arrived in Ireland, I tended sheep every day, and I prayed frequently during the day. More and more the love of God increased, and my sense of awe before God. Faith grew, and my spirit was moved, so that in one day I would pray up to one hundred times, and at night perhaps the same. I even remained in the woods and on the mountain, and I would rise to pray before dawn in snow and ice and rain."

"In one day, I would pray up to one hundred times, and at night perhaps the same." - St. Patrick, Confession

St. Patrick responded to immense hardship by seeking God. He could have responded to his difficult situation in any number of ways. But he chose to use this experience to pray and ask for help, and God answered him. This decision revealed immense fortitude in the young boy, a virtue he would lean on many times as he grew older and took on the mission God would give him.

This is the first lesson we can take from St. Patrick's life: God is with us in all and every situation, and He can bring good out of the worst experience. We often don't know why things happen in our lives. We can only try to respond in the same way that St. Patrick did, believing that somehow, someway, things will work out for the best if we place our faith in God.

Let us pray: Holy Trinity, we thank You for the gift of St. Patrick. Help us to respond as he did, especially in overwhelming and difficult situations. And in all things, let us praise You. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

St. Patrick in front of his mountain, Croagh Patrick