St. Patrick's Day
Oh St. Patrick's Day, truly
one of the most entertaining holidays in the year. A time where everybody's wearing green, getting their drink on,
and exhorting people to kiss them because they're Irish, St. Patrick's Day is
one of the most festive holidays in the year.
A holiday that was originally designed as a religious celebration for
St. Patrick, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into a celebration of all things
Irish, and it's so much better for it.
The origins of St. Patrick's
Day can be traced back to the life of the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. Born around AD 385 in Britain, St. Patrick
is responsible for founding hundreds of Catholic churches in Ireland and
converting thousands of Irish to Christianity paving the road to Ireland's
strict adherence to Catholicism. One of
the most well known figures in Christianity's canon of saints, St. Patrick's
life is loaded with myths, symbols, and exaggerations.
The history of Saint Patrick's Day revolves around the life of St. Patrick who
at the age of 16 was taken captive by a group of Irish raiders who transported
him to Ireland where he was enslaved for six years. Due to his dire circumstance, the man who would become St.
Patrick turned to religion as a way to comfort himself from the fact that he
was a slave. Eventually, St. Patrick
would be freed where he moved to Gaul and studied in the monastery under St.
Germain, bishop of Auxerre, for twelve years.
Once ordained as a priest, St. Patrick was sent to Ireland with the mission
of ministering to the few Christians in Ireland and to convert the
predominantly pagan Irish residents.
In Ireland, St. Patrick
found success in converting many Irish people to Christianity. By incorporating traditional Irish ritual
into his lessons of Christianity, he was able to have great success in
converting Irish pagans into Christians.
Considering that most Irish people at the time practiced a nature-based
pagan religion, St. Patrick was able to successfully incorporate natural
symbols to explain Christian concepts.
This is best exemplified by the symbol of the shamrock, a major St.
Patrick's Day symbol that St. Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity. By showing the three-leafed shamrock, St.
Patrick was able to detail how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were
able to exist as separate elements of the same entity.
After thirty years of
exemplary service, St. Patrick left Ireland to retire to County Down. He would later die in AD 461 on March 17,
which has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since. For thousands of years, the Irish celebrated
this day as a religious holiday.
Families would attend church in the morning and have a celebration in
the afternoon. Typical traditions would
include eating the traditional Irish meal of Irish bacon and cabbage following
by festive dancing and drinking. St.
Patrick's Day would make its first appearance in America where the first St.
Patrick's Day parade in the world took place in New York City on March 17,
1762. The parade was made up of Irish
soldiers serving in the English military who wanted to celebrate their
roots. Eventually, St. Patrick's Day
would become a major part of American culture.
A formerly despised immigration group, the Irish would celebrate St.
Patrick's Day in the early to mid twentieth century in America, as a show of
strength and solidarity to their Irish roots.
As the Irish became more accepted in American culture, St. Patrick's Day
became a general celebration of Irish culture and the Irish people. Irish symbols like leprechauns, shamrocks,
and the rap band House of Pain would become major St. Patrick's Day symbols in
America throughout the years. Happy St.
Patrick's Day, everyone!
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