St. Patrick
was a Christian missionary credited with the conversion of Ireland
from paganism. He lived from the late 4th century A.D. to the mid
5th century A.D., so long ago that it's difficult to separate fact
from legend.
St. Patrick
was born in either Scotland or Wales, the son of Roman parents living
in Britain. When he was about fifteen or sixteen, he was captured
and enslaved by an Irish chieftain during a raiding party across
the sea. He spent several years enslaved in Ireland, herding and
tending sheep and swine. It was during his captivity that St. Patrick
dedicated his life to God. Legend has it that St. Patrick escaped
captivity and Ireland after a dream in which God instructed him
to journey to the Irish coast where he found a ship that returned
him to his family.
After years
of religious study, he became a priest. In a document attributed
to him known as "The Confession", St. Patrick heard the
voice of the Irish in his dreams, "crying to thee, come hither
and walk with us once more." Eventually, Pope Clemens commissioned
St. Patrick as bishop to preach the gospel to the Celtic people.
Arriving back in Ireland, he commenced an incredible mission, travelling
across the country, preaching and baptizing, ordaining priests and
bishops, erecting churches and establishing places of learning and
worship, despite constant threats to his life. It has been said
that he and his disciples were responsible for converting almost
all the population of Ireland to Christianity.
The most
famous legend about St. Patrick is that he miraculously drove snakes
and all venomous beasts from Ireland by banging a drum. Even to
touch Irish soil was purported to be instant death for any such
creature. However, this legend is probably a metaphor for his driving
the pagans from Ireland, as snakes were often associated with pagan
worship.
Finding
that the pagan Irish had great difficulty comprehending the doctrine
of the Trinity, St. Patrick held up a shamrock (similar to a three-leaf
clover) to show how the three leaves combined to make a single plant,
just as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost combined to make the holy
Trinity. The Irish understood at once, and from that time the shamrock
has been the symbol of the land. Irishmen wear it in their hats
on the saint's day.
It is the
death of Saint Patrick, and his recognition as the patron saint
of Ireland, that led to the celebration of March 17th as Saint Patrick's
Day. In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a holy, religious time with
praying, singing and dance. Outside Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is
primarily a secular celebration of all things Irish.
There are
conflicting versions of the first North American celebration. One
source says it was held in Boston in 1737 by the Irish Charitable
Society, and later in Philadelphia and New York by the Friendly
Sons of St. Patrick and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Another
source states that on March 17, 1762, a group of Irish-born soldiers,
en route to the local tavern of renown to honor their patron saint,
staged the first parade in colonial New York, complete with marching
bands and colorful banners. Bystanders and passerbys joined
the promenade, singing Irish ballads and dancing down the cobblestones.
The event was so popular it has been repeated annually since then.
Over the
years, as St. Patrick's Day became a celebration of the Irish as
well as a religious holiday celebrating the life of the saint, the
leprechaun has evolved as another symbol, with all sorts of myth
and legend attached.
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