그의 할아버지는 가톨릭 사제였지만 패트릭은 처음에는 교회를 믿지 않았습니다. 패트릭이 열여섯 살 때 아일랜드 해적들에게 붙잡혀 아일랜드로 끌려가 노예가 되었다고 합니다. 노예 생활을 하는 동안 그의 종교적 신념이 성장했다고 합니다.

His grandfather was a Catholic priest, but Patrick was not a believer in the church at first. When Patrick was sixteen he reports that he was captured by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland where he was made a slave. It is during his enslavement that his religious beliefs grew.