In brief, it talks about how the Roman Empire crumbled (for a lot of reasons, including the fact that it was no longer in touch with its real position in the world and its society had become complacent), and one man named Patrick felt called to evangelize the wild hordes that populated the island of Ireland at the time (one of the first missionaries we have records for who went outside the "civilized" Romanized world), bringing along literacy as well. He thus transformed the local culture, starting a long-term fascination for both Christianity and copying literature from the continent, without which Latin culture would most likely have disappeared, along with large portions of Greek culture and some Hebrew culture too. And this people's love of their new religion spread like wildfire and brought many people to leave their beloved homeland and re-evangelize lots of Europe, and even humbly reach out and care for the needy when the established church, who had risen in power in the security of the last centuries of the Roman Empire, preferred staying close to political power rather than meet people's needs.
It's a fascinating story!
In the conclusion, the author made the point, which has been sticking in my head, that ultimately history is not changed by those who represent power on the world's terms, by the big names of each age. History is rather shaped stealthily by nobodies in remote corners of the world who die to themselves and live out what absolute love looks like to those who are least loved by the world. To quote the end of the book, "if we are to be saved, it will not be by [the rich and powerful] but by saints."
That gives me great hope.
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