Everyone is Irish Today

The Irish people state that on March 17th, Saint Patrick's Day, everyone is Irish. And if this photo from South Korea has anything to say about it, I think the Irish are correct. For years now I have celebrated St. Patrick's Day by wearing green, initially to avoid being pinched by people in school but now to take part in the fun. But as is always the case in such festivities, it is easy to forget why the celebrations are held in the first place. I mean when alcohol and revelry is involved, people generally don't need a reason to celebrate (that too to excess at times) but it's good to at least have an inkling of why we celebrate St. Patrick as opposed to many of the others out there. So I decided to do a little research into why St. Patrick is considered important in Ireland and consequently, around a large part of the world.

The story goes that as a child, St. Patrick was kidnapped from his home in Roman Britain and taken to Ireland to become a slave. While in captivity he apparently had a dream in which God came to him in a vision and told him to escape and make his way to the coast where he would be picked up by a ship and returned home. Following through on his vision, Patrick did indeed return to Britain and soon thereafter joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest. Ironically enough, he returned to Ireland many years later to help spread the word of Christianity and to help convert the aristocracy and nobility to the preferred religion. One of his methods? Using the three clovered shamrock to relate to the people the concept of the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). Again, a symbol that is often associated with the holiday but for many of us, a complete mystery as to its importance.

As a result of his efforts (which were largely successful), Patrick was considered an important personage in the establishment of the Irish Church and was consequently highly revered among Orthodox-English-speaking Christians from the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and the United States. Although he was never officially canonized by any Pope, he is still part of the List of Saints and remains an important icon in the Christian religion. As the years went on, in order to honor his service to his religion and their followers, celebratory feasts were held on the date that was commonly accepted to have been his death date, March 17th. Over time the celebrations continued and soon thereafter it became not so much a religious holiday as a holiday in which merry-making and partying became the norm.

Now looking at what all is done in celebration of St. Patrick's Day I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. While it's wonderful to be able to celebrate the opportunity to have a party in mid-week or to wear green without objection for the whole day, I can't help but think about how many people may not know why we celebrate this holiday. Not being a Christian, I wasn't as aware of the importance of St. Patrick to the religion and why he's so venerated. Knowing a bit more now I feel that while we should celebrate St. Patrick's Day not just because it gives us another excuse to enjoy a Guinness (which is always a good thing) but also because it celebrates a person who served his religion faithfully in a country where he certainly had reason to hate given the circumstances early in his life. But I think he took the teachings of his religion to heart and wanted to spread hope to another country. Now that's worth celebrating.