A Man Cleansed by God - A Novel based on the Life of Saint Patrick

The story of St. Patrick's life is a dynamic tale of high drama and intense spiritual force. A generation ago, the American Catholic novelist John Edward Beahn retold that story as a biographical novel based on The Confession, Patrick s famous autobiographical work. A Man Cleansed by God: A Novel on St. Patrick's Confession was published in 1959, a vivid narrative with intriguing speculations about the details of Patrick s experience that have been lost to history. St. Patrick s life was a series of heroic adventures: Captured as a young teen by pirates and taken from his comfortable life in ancient Roman Britain, he was sold as a slave in Ireland. Six years later he escaped and, after a long, arduous journey, he returned to his family—only to receive a call from God to go back to Ireland as a Christian missionary. Trained and ordained as a priest, and ultimately consecrated a bishop, he returned at last to Ireland. There, his bold preaching brought many thousands into the Christian