Scripture
Trust you had a great St Patrick’s Day. From 14th – 18th, we’re celebrating St Patrick with music, the basic historical facts, and a new quote each day.
Please refer to the St Patrick’s Day post for a selection of relevant images.
A short video showing a flavour of Belfast City centre yesterday and the St Patrick’s Day celebrations after an absence of two years due to Covid.
All You Need To Know About St Patrick! The basic facts with pics and text, set to the music of Danny Boy
Friday 18th March
Let who will scoff and revile – I will not remain silent; neither will I conceal the signs and wonders which have been shown to me by the Lord, who knew all things even before the time of this world, many years before, just as they happened. Saint Patrick
Happy St Patrick’s Day. From 14th – 18th, we’re celebrating St Patrick with music, the basic historical facts, and a new quote each day.
Photographed by John Callister at Hill of Tara (left) and Armagh Cathedral (right).
Video: All You Need To Know About St Patrick! The basic facts with pics and text, set to the music of Danny Boy
St Patrick’s Day, 17th March 2022
It was there that the Lord opened up my awareness of my lack of faith. Even though it came about late, I recognised my failings. So I turned with all my heart to the Lord my God, and he looked down on my lowliness and had mercy on my youthful ignorance. He protected me and consoled me as a father does for his son. That is why I cannot be silent about such great blessings and such a gift that the Lord so kindly bestowed in the land of my captivity. St Patrick
Armagh’s two Cathedrals, named after St Patrick, are just a short distance apart.
Slemish Mountain, County Antrim, where Patrick is said to have spent six years as a slave, tending sheep
Saul Church, County Down, built on the site where Patrick established the first Christian Church in Ireland
Down Cathedral, Downpatrick, where Patrick’s tombstone can be visited by the public
A recent replica St Patrick’s cross in the grounds of Down Cathedral
Patrick’s tombstone at Down Cathedral
All photos copyright John Callister 2022
Happy St Patrick’s Day on 17th March: From 14th – 18th, we’re celebrating St Patrick with music, the basic historical facts, and a new quote each day.
All You Need To Know About St Patrick! The basic facts with pics and text, set to the music of Danny Boy
Wednesday 16th March
I have had the good fortune through my God that I should never abandon his people whom I have acquired in the extremities of the earth. Saint Patrick
Happy St Patrick’s Day on 17th March: From 14th – 18th, we’re celebrating St Patrick with music, the basic historical facts and a new quote each day.
All You Need To Know About St Patrick! The basic facts with pics and text, set to the music of Danny Boy
Tuesday 15th March
I plainly told them, ‘Be ye sincerely converted, and with your whole heart, to the Lord our God, for nothing is impossible to Him, that He may today send you food on your road, even until you are satisfied, because He has everywhere abundance.’ And, with God’s help, it was so done: Behold! A herd of swine appeared in the road before our eyes. Saint Patrick
Happy St Patrick’s Day on 17th March: From 14th – 18th, we’re celebrating St Patrick with music, the basic historical facts and a new quote each day.
All You Need To Know About St Patrick! The basic facts with pics and text, set to the music of Danny Boy
Monday 14th March
I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned, the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many. My father was Calpornius, a deacon, son of Potitus, a priest, of the village Bannavem Taburniae (probably in Britain); he had a country seat nearby, and there I was taken captive. Saint Patrick
Your Mind: Colossians 3:9
Ruin of a 12th Century Cistercian Abbey, Jerpoint Abbey, Thomastown, County Kilkenny
God is Love: 1 John 4:8
Andrew Jackson's Cottage: Homestead in County Antrim where the 7th President of the United States (1829 to 1837) was brought up.
Worthy Finding Home
Today’s story comes courtesy of one of our US partners, StoryPartner.
Throughout her childhood, Brandy experienced one traumatic loss after another. Time and time again, the only parent figure she knew was taken from her. With each loss, the question in her heart grew; “Am I worthy of being loved?”
Launching Today, 22/02/22: Scripture Ireland’s New ‘Story’ Section
Today, 22nd February 2022, sees the launch of our new ‘story’ section on ScriptureIreland.com. Our first story is courtesy of our US partners, StoryDrive the 3:15 Project. It’s significant that it features Julie Ann Allen since today marks the 20th anniversary of the sad day when she lost her husband in a work-related accident. As a result, Julie was left to raise a seven-year daughter and a five month old son.
So, looking back, how did she cope? Our prayers, along with Julie’s, are that this story will be an inspiration and help anyone who has, or is, facing bereavement or is still suffering as a consequence.
- DIFFERENT LOCATION: SAME PAIN
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Today’s guest storyteller is Julie Ann Allen. Her story comes courtesy of our partners in the US, StoryDrive and The 315 Project.
Julie Ann understands the pain that many women in Northern Ireland have had to endure after violence took their life partner from them suddenly. She was in a blissful marriage and had a seven-year-old daughter and a five-month-old baby boy, when on 22nd February 2002, her husband went off to work one day as usual, but never returned. He lost his life that day in a work-related accident, leaving her devastated and broken.
For around 30 years, from 1969, more than 3500 people were killed in Northern Ireland due to conflict. Every day of the year, widows and other family members and friends, remember the anniversary of someone’s death. Like Julie Ann, many young mothers were left to raise their children alone, struggling on when they felt like giving up. Understandably, some blamed God and were angry that He would allow that to happen; some, like Julie Ann, turned to Him and drew their comfort and strength from Him.
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It’s probably true that only those who have been through the same type of tragic circumstance can fully understand the intensity of pain that sudden bereavement brings, and how life changes in an instant, often bringing fear and anxiety concerning the future.
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Julie Ann shares her story, trusting that it might in some way, help others going through pain or post traumatic stress disorder due to an incident in the past. She knows how the course of her own life was abruptly altered in a way she didn’t expect, and as a result she went through dark and difficult days. Nevertheless, she has a special message for people who are going through tough times. Hers is a story of hope and healing as she relates how God was with her through her dark valley, and how He turned her weeping into love and joy, and has used her to bring a message of comfort to others.
- If you have a story to share or would like to send a prayer request regarding your own situation, then please send an email to story@scriptureireland.com
The Rock: Psalm 95:1
The Rock of Cashel, also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick's Rock, Cashel, County Tipperary
Merrie Gresham’s Story: Rejection and Restoration
At six, Merrie was rejected by her mother, who wanted to join a religious order and couldn’t be burdened with looking after her. Instead, Merrie was raised by nuns and was trained by them in nursing. Having never known the security of being loved, Merrie thought she had found love at last when she met a boy in her teens. But, her world collapsed when instead, she found herself pregnant and alone. Worse still, there was no way she could confess to the nuns…
Sometime later, it meant absolutely nothing to Merrie that the young man who was continually asking her to marry him was the stepson of C. S. Lewis, one of the most famous writers of the twentieth century. She rejected Douglas Gresham’s proposal for three years before eventually agreeing to marriage. But the life of bliss she had hoped for didn’t materialise, mainly because an unpleasant memory of something that had happened in her teens wouldn’t leave, even though decades had now passed. Instead of maturing into a happy person, anger became a dominant emotion in Merrie’s life. She didn’t want life to be like that but didn’t know how to change. But one day, in a very unexpected way, Merrie took the first step towards her road to recovery.
Camera and Production by John Callister
Please note: We’re looking for compelling stories, like Merrie’s, from Ireland, north and south, to feature on a new ‘stories’ section on ScriptureIreland.com. Some may become interviews or documentaries on our new YouTube channel at SCRIPTUREIRELANDTV. Some may have the potential to ultimately be published as booklets or books through our publishing and self-publishing services arm. If you think your story might fit the values of the ScriptureIreland group, then please email a synopsis in the first instance to info@scriptureireland.com
Douglas Gresham Interview: Stepson of C.S. Lewis
The stepson of C.S. Lewis, and co-producer of the ‘Narnia’ series of feature films, as interviewed in 1998 by the late writer, broadcaster and Bible teacher, Derick Bingham. The setting was Rathvinden House, the then home of Douglas and Merrie Gresham when they lived in County Carlow, Ireland.
Douglas discusses his upbringing and the impact that his mother’s death had on himself and C.S. Lewis. He talks about his ‘wild’ days, drifting from job to job, finding Merrie and securing her hand in marriage in spite of two years of rejection; how he then almost threw away the relationship he had strived so hard for through a regrettable indiscretion, and how that incident led to a permanent change of direction for him.
Camera and Production by John Callister. Original music composed and performed by Keith Getty.
A Promise for Direction
Proverbs 3:1-8
Hazelbank, Whiteabbey, County Antrim,
From time to time all of us reach a crossroads in our lives and need guidance for a new direction. Proverbs 3 gives a promise to those who will acknowledge God in all their ways and not rely on their own ability or intellect to work things out. In this short video, John Callister narrates Proverbs 3: 1-8 against the backdrop of a popular coastal walk at Hazelbank, in Whiteabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Anxiety to Comfort: Psalm 94:19
These are the ancient church ruins of St Cuthberts on the Ballytober Road, Bushmills, County Antrim. The church dates from the late 1630s and was built on the site of a much older medieval church. This was a place of worship for Protestant settlers in the area but it is credited as having been provided by Catholics; namely, Lady Katherine Manners, wife of the first Earl of Antrim, Randall McDonnell, and widow of the late Marquess of Buckingham. It is, therefore, a rare example of church tolerance in this region at that time.
St Cuthbert’s church served the Parish of Dunluce from 1622-1821, when the new Church of St. John the Baptist was built in Bushmills. It originally had a thatched roof, but as was the custom, it was then unroofed and the contents sold at auction.
The graveyard surrounding the church includes the remains of some sailors and noblemen who drowned when the ill-fated Spanish Armada ship, Girona, sank nearby in 1588, at what became known as Port na Spaniagh (or the Bay of the Spanish). It wasn’t until 1967 that the wreck of the Girona was discovered by Belgian diver, Robert Stenuit.
