This monograph supports and advances the views of Celtic scholar David R. Howlett. Topics such as the compositional level of the historical St Patrick, the five collections of the sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of St Matthew, on which the thematic structure of his "Confession" is based, are discussed. This work demonstrates that the historical St Patrick might well be considered not only as a first-rate Biblical theologian, but as a wise, monastic, spiritual director versed in moral and pastoral theory.
