You wrote:
“I don’t know how anyone can “claim” a person as their own.”
Perhaps you do not understand the communion of saints well enough to understand it. We do.
“How is it possible to do that ?”
He’s family. We claim him. I could post more words, but it’s the very idea that you don’t get.
“Are we supposed to ask St. Patrick himself ?”
No.
“This statement is as odd as claiming St. Peter or St. Paul is yours or even Jesus Himself is yours or mine.”
St. Peter is ours too. St. Paul is ours too. And yes, Jesus is ours too. I don’t doubt that a man outside of the Church can know them, can love them and want to be with them, but we actually have them. They are in the communion of saints. Quite frankly we feel a kinship with them that most non-Catholics (other than our Orthodox brethren) don’t. We are one family.