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Saint Patrick: Apostle of
Ireland |
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Who was Saint Patrick? This new documentary film delves
beneath the myth of Ireland’s patron saint to reveal that the patron saint
of Ireland was an ordinary man who accomplished the extraordinary by placing
his faith in God. Precious few historical facts are known of this man who
walked through pre-Christian 5th century Ireland. Two documents written by
Patrick, the Confession and his Letter to Coroticus, an Irish warlord, are
all that remain. Yet these brief writings captured his emotional state, his
innermost feelings and aspirations.
Exquisitely filmed on location in Ireland, and using dramatic wide-screen
black and white re-creations, SAINT PATRICK: APOSTLE OF IRELAND, visually
traces the great saint’s footsteps. Patrick’s actual confessions are read in
voice-over, and evocative music further carries viewers back in time to
re-live the experience of walking side by side with Patrick. From his birth
to his death, viewers are able to witness Patrick’s physical struggles and
to participate fully in his transformation and spiritual mission.
St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain during the last days of the Roman
Empire, at a time when order and authority had fallen into disarray and
Britain’s west coast lay vulnerable to frequent plundering raids by the
pagan Irish. At 14 years of age, Patrick was taken captive by pirates and
sold into slavery in Ireland. He spent the next six years enslaved and
immersed in the pre-Christian Druid culture of the Celtic people – the same
people he one day returned to convert. When he returned as a bishop to lead
the Irish faithful, he chose instead to bring Christianity to those Irish
not yet converted, and he did so without bloodshed, over a span of four
decades. Considering the fact that the Irish to whom he sought to bring the
gospel were a barbaric, warlike people who still practiced slave trading and
human sacrifice, Patrick was without doubt a man of great strength of
character, physical toughness, and bravery. As a result of his life and
work, there emerged a uniquely Celtic form of Christianity, a religion
firmly Christian in belief yet not far removed from the ancient traditions
of the Irish people. As author Thomas Cahill writes, this new form of Irish
Christianity exhibits a sense of the natural world "as a healing mystery,
fraught with divine messages. The early Irish Christianity planted in
Ireland by Patrick is… joyful and celebratory in the way it approaches the
natural world. It is really not a theology of sin but of the goodness of
creation, and it really is intensely incarnational."
Structured in three parts to correspond to three phases of St. Patrick’s
life, SAINT PATRICK: APOSTLE OF IRELAND, a production of Insight Film &
Video Productions of Canada, was directed by David Tennant. In addition to
Patrick’s own words, the film features on-camera interviews with two noted
experts on Irish history, Father Frank Fahey of Ballintubber Abbey, and
Michael Slavin, author of The Book of Tara. The film stars Nicholas McCarthy
as Saint Patrick.
LENGTH: 1 x 46 Minutes
ORDER CODE:JM20301DVD
DVD
ORDER CODE: JM20110V
VHS
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