Did you know that St. Patrick was not Irish? He was actually
Welsh and was born in Wales circa 385 A.D. His real name was
Maewyn and, until he was about sixteen, he considered himself
a pagan.
Maewyn was captured by Irish thugs, who raided his village,
and was sold into slavery. During this time he became closer
to God. After about six years, he escaped to a monastery
in Gaul (France), where he studied Christianity under St. Germain.
Twelve years later he realized that his life long quest was
to convert the pagans to Christianity.
Maewyn adopted the Christian name of Patrick. He wanted to
return to Ireland to begin his quest but his superiors
appointed St. Palladius. When Palladius transferred to Scotland
about
two years later, Patrick was then appointed as second bishop
of Ireland.
To the exception of the Celtic Druids, Patrick successfully
converted many pagans. He was arrested several times
but always escaped. For thirty years he traveled all over the
Irish countryside
establishing monasteries, schools and churches. This
aided
him in his quest to convert the pagans to Christianity.
Patrick died on March 17th, 461 A.D. and, ever since
then, the Irish
commemorated that day as St. Patrick's Day.
There
are some myths and folklore about St. Patrick but much
of it
is not true. He did not raise people from the dead
or drive the snakes out of Ireland. Metaphorically
speaking, many
believe that the snakes represented the pagans.
Originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has eventually
unfolded into an Irish holiday. Of course, the
shamrock
became the
traditional symbol for St. Patrick's Day.
The shamrock was a useful tool in St. Patrick's success
for the pagan conversion to Christianity. He used
the three leaves
of the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity; the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. His followers began wearing
a shamrock
on St. Patrick's Day, which is still the custom today.
On March 17, 1737, in Boston, St. Patrick's Day was
celebrated for the first time in America. Now,
this one-time Catholic
holy day is celebrated with parades, parties, drinking
beer and the oft-mentioned leprechaun.
