A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

§ 96. The Celtic Church in the British Isles 621Church, to the Scots 212 that believed in Christ to be their firstbishop. In the twenty-third year of his reign (446), Aëtius, theillustrious, who was also patrician, discharged his third consulatewith Symmachus as his colleague. To him the wretched remnantsof the Britons sent a letter beginning: “To Aëtius, thrice consul,the groans of the Britons.” And in the course of the letter theythus express their calamities: “The barbarians drive us to the sea;the sea drives us back to the barbarians; between them there havearisen two sorts of death; we are either slain or drowned.” Yetneither could all this procure any assistance from him, as he wasthen engaged in a most dangerous war with Blæda and Attila,kings of the Huns. And though the year next before this, Blædahad been murdered by the treachery of his brother Attila, yetAttila himself remained so intolerable an enemy to the republicthat he ravaged almost all Europe, invading and destroying citiesand castles.(b) Patrick, Confessio, chs. 1, 10. (MSL, 53:801.)The call of St. Patrick to be a missionary.There is much dispute and uncertainty about the life and workof St. Patrick. Of the works of Patrick, two appear to begenuine, his Confessio and his Epistola ad Coroticum. Theother works attributed to him are very probably spurious. Thegenuine works may be found in Haddan and Stubbs, Councils [568]and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain andIreland, vol. II, pt. ii, 296 ff.I, Patrick, a sinner, the most ignorant and least of all the faithful,and the most contemptible among many, had for my fatherCalpornius the deacon, son of the presbyter Potitus, the son of212 The Irish were known as Scots. The name Scotland was given to thatcountry on account of invaders from North Ireland.