There's more to St. Patrick's Day
CJ Mobberly
Issue date: 3/11/04 Section: Feature
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St. Patrick's Day just isn't about the American traditions like green beer and "Kiss Me I'm Irish"buttons; there is a religious meaning to the widely celebrated holiday.
In 400 A.D. St. Patrick, as he is now known, was born and raised in Britain. He lived there until the age of 17 when Irish raiders took him from his home and sold him. He then became a shepherd. He led a secluded life where he is said to have turned to religion.
He escaped after six years. On his journey back to Britain he wrote of a vision he had where he saw God and the Irish imploring him to come back to Ireland and teach them the word of God.
Before fulfilling the vision he studied to become a priest. It took him 15 years to be ordained a minister. He spent 30 years converting many Irish to Christianity and building churches, until he died around March 17. Legend also has it he was tried throughout his life to find a symbol to exemplify the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost and came upon a Shamrock.
Shamrocks were significant because they symbolized spring and in the seventeenth century, when the English invaded Ireland, laws were passed banning the Irish language and the practice of Catholicism. The Irish wore Shamrocks to remember their heritage and show their unhappiness to the English.
The Irish also honored their heritage with fire, St. Patrick took their sun symbol and added it to the cross making the Celtic cross.
St. Patrick was also written to have stood at a hilltop and banished all snakes from Ireland. This was a metaphor since there were no snakes in Ireland, it symbolized getting rid of the Pagan beliefs. The Irish used to believe in a Pagan nature-based religion.
Currently 92 percent of Irish follow Catholicism, three percent follow Roman Catholics and the five percent that are left show no signs of Pagan beliefs.
In Ireland St. Patrick's Day was not an all day party. The Irish would go to church to honor St. Patrick and the government closed pubs on that day. This was only turned around in the 1970's.
St. Patrick's Day falls under Lenten, the fasting of meat but usually that is waved for the day. Most Irish families would feast on Irish bacon and cabbage and celebrate the rest of the day.
Many of the traditions of St. Patrick's Day didn't start in Ireland but in the United States.
The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place in New York City in 1762. Irish soldiers that were in the English military took to the streets with their music. They believed that it would help the Irish connect with their roots.
In 1845 the Great Potato famine hit Ireland and millions of Irish immigrated to America. They did not receive warm welcoming and living was hard.
As the Irish numbers grew they came to realize that they held strength in numbers. They started their own voting block called green machine. This would turn out to be a swing vote for political parties. In doing so, Irish celebrations including the St. Patrick's Day parade became an event not to miss.
In 400 A.D. St. Patrick, as he is now known, was born and raised in Britain. He lived there until the age of 17 when Irish raiders took him from his home and sold him. He then became a shepherd. He led a secluded life where he is said to have turned to religion.
He escaped after six years. On his journey back to Britain he wrote of a vision he had where he saw God and the Irish imploring him to come back to Ireland and teach them the word of God.
Before fulfilling the vision he studied to become a priest. It took him 15 years to be ordained a minister. He spent 30 years converting many Irish to Christianity and building churches, until he died around March 17. Legend also has it he was tried throughout his life to find a symbol to exemplify the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost and came upon a Shamrock.
Shamrocks were significant because they symbolized spring and in the seventeenth century, when the English invaded Ireland, laws were passed banning the Irish language and the practice of Catholicism. The Irish wore Shamrocks to remember their heritage and show their unhappiness to the English.
The Irish also honored their heritage with fire, St. Patrick took their sun symbol and added it to the cross making the Celtic cross.
St. Patrick was also written to have stood at a hilltop and banished all snakes from Ireland. This was a metaphor since there were no snakes in Ireland, it symbolized getting rid of the Pagan beliefs. The Irish used to believe in a Pagan nature-based religion.
Currently 92 percent of Irish follow Catholicism, three percent follow Roman Catholics and the five percent that are left show no signs of Pagan beliefs.
In Ireland St. Patrick's Day was not an all day party. The Irish would go to church to honor St. Patrick and the government closed pubs on that day. This was only turned around in the 1970's.
St. Patrick's Day falls under Lenten, the fasting of meat but usually that is waved for the day. Most Irish families would feast on Irish bacon and cabbage and celebrate the rest of the day.
Many of the traditions of St. Patrick's Day didn't start in Ireland but in the United States.
The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place in New York City in 1762. Irish soldiers that were in the English military took to the streets with their music. They believed that it would help the Irish connect with their roots.
In 1845 the Great Potato famine hit Ireland and millions of Irish immigrated to America. They did not receive warm welcoming and living was hard.
As the Irish numbers grew they came to realize that they held strength in numbers. They started their own voting block called green machine. This would turn out to be a swing vote for political parties. In doing so, Irish celebrations including the St. Patrick's Day parade became an event not to miss.