History of St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day has become a day of the color green and binge-drinking. It hasn't always been a day of drunken stupors and reckless partying. There's a

Born in the late fourth century, Saint Patrick is known for the popularizing of Christianity and converting or driving out pagans. He was not the first to introduce Christianity to Ireland, however. Palladius was the first bishop to the Irish believers in Christ, according to history.com.

The myth surrounding St. Patrick's fame runs along the lines of his banishing of snakes from the island nation. However, snakes have never called the emerald isle home. It is an often-misunderstood metaphor for the Irish patron saint driving out the pagans. Serpent symbols were often worshipped by pagans, such as the Druids at Tara, who St. Patrick is said to have baptized, according to history.com. Much of what is known of St. Patrick is from oral history and the Irish saint's two works, the Confessio, a spiritual autobiography, and his Epistola, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians, according to st-patricks-day.com.

The green holiday is global these days. North America has the biggest celebrations but Australia, Japan, Singapore and Russia celebrate St. Patrick's Day as well. but today's college students know what the holiday has come to mean to young Americans: partying.Greg Sarvas, a transfer student from the University of Illinois, where St. Patrick's Day is an unofficial campus party, recalls his holiday experience two years ago.

Sarvas, a 21-year-old engineering major. "We made green pancakes and watched Boondock Saints. We hit up the bar. Then, in class, I'd say at least 25 percent of the class was hammered," Sarvas said. "Then, it was back to the bar in between classes and we finished the night strong."

"I was going to take off work and start at Malarkey's," said Lauren Clark, a 21-year-old liberal studies major. "But I can't, so now I'm heading to the bar straight after work."

"I'm so sick of people who aren't Irish trying to use St. Patrick's Day as an excuse to drink," said Tina Ganjifard, a 21-year-old political science major. Ganjifard said that people are constantly associating themselves with holidays in the name of partying.

"It's like Persian New Year when everybody pretends they're Persian and tries to claim the cash that's due to the Persians who believe the new year means a joyous year," Ganjifard said.

"I've done the traditional St. Patrick's Day meal [corn beef and cabbage], which most don't do. And we say an Irish prayer," Clark said. "I think it's the best holiday but I don't know why," Clark added.

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

March 17, 2007

St. Patrick

(415?-493?)

Legends about Patrick abound; but truth is best served by our seeing two solid qualities in him: He was humble and he was courageous. The determination to accept suffering and success with equal indifference guided the life of God’s instrument for winning most of Ireland for Christ.

Details of his life are uncertain. Current research places his dates of birth and death a little later than earlier accounts. Patrick may have been born in Dunbarton, Scotland, Cumberland, England, or in northern Wales. He called himself both a Roman and a Briton. At 16, he and a large number of his father’s slaves and vassals were captured by Irish raiders and sold as slaves in Ireland. Forced to work as a shepherd, he suffered greatly from hunger and cold.

After six years, Patrick escaped, probably to France, and later returned to Britain at the age of 22. His captivity had meant spiritual conversion. He may have studied at Lerins, off the French coast; he spent years at Auxerre, France, and was consecrated bishop at the age of 43. His great desire was to proclaim the Good News to the Irish.

In a dream vision it seemed “all the children of Ireland from their mothers’ wombs were stretching out their hands” to him. He understood the vision to be a call to do mission work in pagan Ireland. Despite opposition from those who felt his education had been defective, he was sent to carry out the task. He went to the west and north, where the faith had never been preached, obtained the protection of local kings and made numerous converts.

Because of the island’s pagan background, Patrick was emphatic in encouraging widows to remain chaste and young women to consecrate their virginity to Christ. He ordained many priests, divided the country into dioceses, held Church councils, founded several monasteries and continually urged his people to greater holiness in Christ.

He suffered much opposition from pagan druids, and was criticized in both England and Ireland for the way he conducted his mission.

In a relatively short time the island had experienced deeply the Christian spirit, and was prepared to send out missionaries whose efforts were greatly responsible for Christianizing Europe.

Patrick was a man of action, with little inclination toward learning. He had a rocklike belief in his vocation, in the cause he had espoused.

One of the few certainly authentic writings is his Confessio, above all an act of homage to God for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate.

There is hope rather than irony in the fact that his burial place is said to be in strife-torn Ulster, in County Down.

Comment:

What distinguishes Patrick is the durability of his efforts. When one considers the state of Ireland when he began his mission work, the vast extent of his labors (all of Ireland) and how the seeds he planted continued to grow and flourish, one can only admire the kind of man Patrick must have been. The holiness of a person is known only by the fruits of his or her work.

Quote:

“Christ shield me this day: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me” (from “The Breastplate of St. Patrick”).

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.