"The modern celebration of St. Patrick's Day really has almost nothing to do with the real man," said Philip Freeman, a classics professor at Luther College in Iowa.
So who was this character behind the March 17 holiday? Or was he a short Norwegian who was once mistaken for a Leprechaun? Or had he been a drunken Irishman's invisible drinking buddy?
Well, here are a few key facts about his life, according to National Geographic :
Though Patrick was born into an aristocratic Christian family that had slaves and a country villa, he professed no interest in Christianity as a young boy. Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies.
At 14, during a raiding party, Patrick was kidnapped. He was sent to Ireland where he tended sheep as a slave for seven years. And I am sure you want to know who would kidnap this kid? Well, Sea faring warriors believed to be the kinsmen of Niall, the most powerful ruler of his time.
That was a major turning point in his young life.
Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.
During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote, "The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was raised, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."
Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found a pirate ship who took him back to Britain, where he reunited with his family.
He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more." He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years.
Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. One legend purports that he met a chieftain of one of the tribes, who tried to kill Patrick. Patrick converted Dichu (the chieftain) after he was unable to move his arm until he became friendly to Patrick. He began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick's message. Patrick by now had many disciples, among them Beningnus, Auxilius, Iserninus, and Fiaac, (all later canonized as well).
Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461. He died at Saul, where he had built the first church.
Why a shamrock? Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and has been associated with him and the Irish since that time.
It is a folk tale that Patrick drove the snakes off the “Emerald Isle.” The absence of snakes in Ireland is already mentioned in the third century by the Roman Solinius. Snakes being commonly associated with Satan, sin and evil since the Garden of Eden, this tale may have arisen as a metaphor of his single-handed effort to drive the idol-worshiping Druid cult out of Ireland.
In His Footsteps: Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.
There was no canonization process in place when Patrick died, that came about in the 12th century. He would have been declared a saint by popular acclamation and his sainthood approved by a local bishop soon after he died in 467. Today only the pope can declare a saint and only after a lengthy canonization process.
History.com reported that the Irish have observed March 17 as a religious holiday for more than 1,000 years. Since the holiday occurs during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon.
So if your Irish, or Irish for the day, go out enjoy the day as I would! With Green Beer and Corned Beef.
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY ALL!!!!
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