St. Patrick

Did you know….

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God.

He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery for a period of twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.

His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.
He is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans.

One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity.

The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.

True or False?

1. St. Patrick loved to listen to Irish tales. So much so he declared that they all must be told in poetic verse from then on.
2. St. Patrick changed Ireland's national color to green.
3. Ireland is the only country to have a musical instrument as a national symbol.
4. There are about as many Americans of Irish descent in the United States as there are Irish in Ireland.

1. True – He declared all Irish tales be told where "every third word have melody".
2. False - During St. Patrick’s time, the color was blue. Green wasn’t popular until the 19th century.
3. True. The Irish harp is the national symbol of the country.
4. False. About 34 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry. Ireland has a population of about 4 million.