St. Patrick’s Day

        When we think about St. Patrick’s Day, one may think about four leaf clovers, pots of gold and leprechauns. The holiday is about much more, in fact these things have nothing to do with the start of St. Patrick’s Day.

         The history of St. Patrick’s Day is rooted in England in the year 385 A.D. where a boy by the name of Maewyn was born. He lived a normal life until the age of sixteen, when Irish pirates raided his town and took him to Ireland where he was sold. There he worked as a sheep herder.

         During this time, Maewyn turned to the God he was raised to know. He believed that God was telling him to leave Ireland. To be able to leave, Maewyn had to walk almost 200 miles to Gaul where he felt the Lord calling him to be a priest. He studied under St. Germain and changed his name to Patrick. He stayed at the monastery until God led him to return to Ireland.

Maewyn worked as a missionary in Ireland for over 30 years establishing monasteries and schools throughout the country.  There are lots and lots of fables and tales associated with his work, but we do know that he Loved the Lord dearly, and is most famous for using the Shamrock to explain the Trinity... Three in One!  Legend (dating to 1726) credits St. Patrick with teaching the Irish about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a three-leafed plant, using it to illustrate the Christian teaching of 'three divine persons in the one God.'  For this reason, shamrocks have definitely become a central symbol for St Patrick=s Day.

St. Patrick died on the 17th of March, which is when we commemorate his life as St. Patrick=s Day.  Saint Patrick's is celebrated both in and outside of Ireland, as both a liturgical and non-liturgical holiday. In the dioceses of Ireland, it is both a solemnity and a holy day of obligation; and, outside of Ireland, it can be a celebration of Ireland itself.