History Of St. Patrick’s Day, St. Patrick Happy Birthday to you! Today is the day that the Irish waiting for each year – the day the non-Irish became Irish for 24 hours.
Or, if you’re like me with an Irish last name, but little Irish in you is the day you politely tell people that you are not wicked excited that it’s St. Patrick. No offense to those of you who are Irish through and through, or if you wish you were Irish on March 17.
So what is St. Patrick’s Day is all about anyway and why do we celebrate? Well, according to various sources on the Internet, St. Patrick was born in Wales about AD 385. Prior to becoming St. Patrick, he responded to Maewyn name and, until turning, he identified himself as a pagan (no real shocker there, like most people these days were pagan). It was not until he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and held as a slave for six years he turned to God.
After his escape from slavery, he went to Gaul and studied in the monastery for years. It was during this period that he came to believe that it must convert the pagans to Christianity. For years he traveled through Ireland establishing monasteries and successfully converted the pagans to Christianity before dying on March in AD 461.
As I mentioned earlier, many of our present days are rooted in paganism. St. Patrick’s Day is no different, even if this party was born because a pagan converted to Christianity and in turn, worked to convert the people of Ireland to the Church.
There is much folklore about St. Patrick and what he did as he traveled around Ireland to convert pagans. One is that it led the snakes from Ireland. This should not be taken literally, “snake” refers to the Gentiles he converts to Christianity. Snakes, for those who may not be aware, are symbolic to pagans and if you see someone wearing a pin of snake or other piece of jewelry snake on March 17 it is likely that they are pagans.
He also used the three-leaf clover in his travels as a tool to teach the Irish about the Trinity. Each of the three-leaf clover, he explained, represented the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The clover was adopted as a symbol of St. Patrick in the future. Of course, there are other symbols of this day, including the green goblin and on, for example.
And did you know that until 1737, the day of Saint Patrick’s Day was not celebrated in the U.S.? That is until our city fair held the first public celebration of St. Patrick. Yeah, right, Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day in the United States. Of course, these almost every day all the major cities – and some smaller – celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with parades and / or other events.
So, the day of St. Patrick (and during the holiday weekend) when you’re outside your door “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirt and drink green beer may the luck of the Irish be with you. Please remember to be safe there and make sure you drink if you have a designated driver to help at home.
Or, if you’re like me with an Irish last name, but little Irish in you is the day you politely tell people that you are not wicked excited that it’s St. Patrick. No offense to those of you who are Irish through and through, or if you wish you were Irish on March 17.
So what is St. Patrick’s Day is all about anyway and why do we celebrate? Well, according to various sources on the Internet, St. Patrick was born in Wales about AD 385. Prior to becoming St. Patrick, he responded to Maewyn name and, until turning, he identified himself as a pagan (no real shocker there, like most people these days were pagan). It was not until he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and held as a slave for six years he turned to God.After his escape from slavery, he went to Gaul and studied in the monastery for years. It was during this period that he came to believe that it must convert the pagans to Christianity. For years he traveled through Ireland establishing monasteries and successfully converted the pagans to Christianity before dying on March in AD 461.
As I mentioned earlier, many of our present days are rooted in paganism. St. Patrick’s Day is no different, even if this party was born because a pagan converted to Christianity and in turn, worked to convert the people of Ireland to the Church.
There is much folklore about St. Patrick and what he did as he traveled around Ireland to convert pagans. One is that it led the snakes from Ireland. This should not be taken literally, “snake” refers to the Gentiles he converts to Christianity. Snakes, for those who may not be aware, are symbolic to pagans and if you see someone wearing a pin of snake or other piece of jewelry snake on March 17 it is likely that they are pagans.
He also used the three-leaf clover in his travels as a tool to teach the Irish about the Trinity. Each of the three-leaf clover, he explained, represented the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The clover was adopted as a symbol of St. Patrick in the future. Of course, there are other symbols of this day, including the green goblin and on, for example.
And did you know that until 1737, the day of Saint Patrick’s Day was not celebrated in the U.S.? That is until our city fair held the first public celebration of St. Patrick. Yeah, right, Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day in the United States. Of course, these almost every day all the major cities – and some smaller – celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with parades and / or other events.
So, the day of St. Patrick (and during the holiday weekend) when you’re outside your door “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirt and drink green beer may the luck of the Irish be with you. Please remember to be safe there and make sure you drink if you have a designated driver to help at home.
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