St. Patrick (389-461) while one day preaching a sermon to the king of Ireland on the patience and fortitude of Our Lord Jesus Christ during His passion, leaned upon his bishop’s staff as he spoke. As it had happened, St. Patrick had unknowingly set it down upon the king's foot, piercing the foot with the sharp pike at the staff’s base.

The king, bravely bearing with the pain, assumed that St. Patrick had done this intentionally, in order to move him more quickly to a greater patience and to the faith of God. When St. Patrick at last noticed that his staff was in the foot of the king, he was shocked! While dreadfully embarrassed by this mistake, he was deeply impressed by the king’s remarkable attitude. Then, with a fervent prayer, St. Patrick miraculously healed the king’s injured foot.