e, but was created by
One whom he taught them to call God the Father. "Besides him," said he,
"there is no other god, nor ever was, nor will be. He was in the
beginning before all things, and from him all things are derived,
visible and invisible." He told them next of "his only begotten Son
Jesus Christ, who had become man, had conquered death and ascended into
heaven, where he sat far above all principalities and powers, and whence
he would hereafter come to judge both the quick and the dead, and reward
every man according to his deeds." "Those," he declared, "who believed
in him, would rise again in the glory of the true Sun, that is, in the
glory of Jesus Christ, being by redemption sons of God and joint-heirs
of the Christ, of whom, and by whom, and to whom, are all things; for
the true Sun, Jesus Christ, will never wane nor set, nor will any perish
who do his will, but they shall live forever, even as he liveth forever
with God the Father Almighty, and the Holy Spirit, world without end."

Such, as it would seem from his "Confession," was the Gospel he
proclaimed, and his words, confirmed and illustrated by his own intrepid
zeal, ardent love, and sincere and devoted life, made a deep impression
on the minds of the Celtic chiefs. With the religious enthusiasm deeply
seated in the primitive Celtic character, which many years before won
for St. Paul so warm a reception in Galatia, their hearts were touched
and they welcomed the missionary, and believed the word which he
preached.

As time went on, the labors of St. Patrick were lightened by the arrival
of the bishops Secundinus, Auxilius, and Isserninus, whom he had sent
either to France or Britain to receive consecration. Their coming
enabled him to extend the sphere of his operations, and he undertook
missionary tours in Meath, Leinster, Ossory, and Munster. These
continued for several years, during which he was occupied in preaching
the word, baptizing new converts, and erecting churches. Knowing well
how much his own acquaintance with the native language had contributed
to his success, he labored diligently to establish a native ministry
wherever he went. Cautiously selecting from the higher classes those
whose piety and intelligence seemed to fit them for the work of the
ministry, he established seminaries and monastic schools, where they
were trained and educated; and to these schools the young of both sexes
flocked with extraordinary eagerness.

While he wa