My own copy is sans this great dustjacket from the UK first edition, but inside Paul Gallico's life of St. Patrick are many echoes of that Story about the cup, the sword, the tree and the green hill.
Included are the only extant primary sources (in translation of course): the Confessio, in which he defends himself against slanderous charges, recounting the story of his conversion and missionary labours; and Patrick's Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus, demanding repentance of a Welsh chieftain who had slaughtered a band of the newly-baptized.
A small sample from Gallico's comments on these writings of the saint: "Patrick at no time trod an easy way. And the true modesty of the man is gleaned not from his professions of unworthiness and denigrations of himself, but from the manner in which he skips over the trials and hardships that beset him from his sixteenth year until the end of his days, and which he dismisses with a few words, not wishing to bore his readers."
Included are the only extant primary sources (in translation of course): the Confessio, in which he defends himself against slanderous charges, recounting the story of his conversion and missionary labours; and Patrick's Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus, demanding repentance of a Welsh chieftain who had slaughtered a band of the newly-baptized.
A small sample from Gallico's comments on these writings of the saint: "Patrick at no time trod an easy way. And the true modesty of the man is gleaned not from his professions of unworthiness and denigrations of himself, but from the manner in which he skips over the trials and hardships that beset him from his sixteenth year until the end of his days, and which he dismisses with a few words, not wishing to bore his readers."
2 comments:
This sounds great! I'm trying to read PG Woodhouse (Jeeves and Wooster) so maybe after that...
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