Becoming St. Patrick: His Mission
A sequel to the wonderful Becoming St. Patrick: His Slavery, this story starts where the first book ended: with Patricius at home, in Bena Venta, with his parents.
Guided by God, Patricius is ordained a priest and sets about returning to Ireland, the country of his slavery, to attempt conversion of the Irish people from paganism to Christianity. His journey is opposed by the Catholic Church, so he finds his own way of funding his mission. Arriving in Ireland and reverting to his slave name, Patrick, he is faced with hatred from a section of the Druid community, who force him to move on from his original landing place. Finding a welcome with an outlaw community, he sets up his first church. He finds friendship and help from a number of sources, and eventually is able to convince kings of the valuable lessons in Christ’s teachings.
Impeccably researched, this is an excellent vehicle for building a story of St. Patrick, based on the saint’s own words, and cleverly weaving these into a coherent and believable tale.
The story told is both fascinating and informative. Unfortunately, for this reviewer, the novel is not as good as the first. The start is very ponderous. Whilst it is enthralling to learn the history of Druidism, the Rites of Exorcism, or even the process of anointing a bishop as well as many other things, there is far too much detail that continuously slows the pace, at times almost to a stop. There is also repetition of details and thoughts, and an overuse of anachronistic expressions (from the 17th and 20th centuries) in speech.
Despite these shortcomings, it is a book well worth reading for its fine interpretation of what the life of a saint might have been.
