Who Is St. Patrick?

March brings with it St. Patrick's day. True to how my brain works (which apparently can be sketchy as proven in my last post "What Is Wrong With My Brain") I like to know why we celebrate the holidays that we do. I am very holiday oriented and always have been. Many of the things we have done, and still do, in our house are centered around some sort of holiday. It makes life more fun when you always have something to celebrate! So, who is St. Patrick, and why do we have a holiday just for him?

St. Patrick's day is always celebrated on March 17th, the anniversary of his death around 460 AD: he was the patron saint of Ireland. For all of St. Patrick's celebrity in the Christian world however, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. There were two authentic letters from him that have survived over the years, so here is what they know from those letters.

St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents, his dad being a Christian Deacon. At the age of sixteen he was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family's estate. They took him back to Ireland where he remained imprisoned for the next six years. While in captivity he learned the native tongue and religious beliefs. Patrick was finally able to escape by walking nearly 200 miles to the coast where he fled back to Britain.

According to his writings Patrick received a revelation from an angel in a dream to go back to Ireland as a missionary: he then spent the next 15 years in religious study to became a priest. When Patrick began his mission, most Irish practiced a nature-based pagan religion. Instead of trying to eradicate their beliefs he combined many of their traditions with the teachings of Christianity. For example; he used fire to celebrate Easter, since the Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire. He also incorporated the sun, a very powerful Irish symbol, into the Christian cross to make what is now the Celtic cross.

The Irish have observed this holiday as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. Since St. Patrick's day falls during the Catholic season of Lent, families would traditionally attend church in the morning and then the Lenten prohibitions against meat were waived. Dancing, drinking and the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage would commence.

Celtic cross picture taken by Valdoria