French-American Center Newsletter
The History of St Patrick's Day
The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get the job of bishop of Ireland because he did noy have the required scholarly background.
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 under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.
He returned to Ireland, to convert the native pagans . He adopted that Christian name Patrick, was appointed as second bishop to Ireland and became quite successful at winning converts. This fact upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries, schools and churches.
His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down where 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. Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, snakes were never native to Ireland, this could be 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. His followers wore a shamrock on his feast day.
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.
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