HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
St. Patrick
is the patron saint of Ireland. He lived about
1500 years ago, and he was the first man to spread the Christian faith
throughout Ireland. St. Patrick
was probably born in the year 389. When
he was 16 years old, he was stolen from his home in Britain by Irish outlaws and was sold as a slave in Ireland. After six
years as a slave he escaped, but he was sure that he could bring Christianity
to the pagan Irish. The Pope, the
religious leader of the Catholic Church, made him a bishop and sent him to Ireland. In Ireland, St. Patrick opposed the pagan priests called
druids. He converted many people, both
rich and poor, to Christianity. He
founded many churches and monasteries, and by the time he died, in 461, Ireland was well on the way to being a Christian nation.
There are many legends about St.
Patrick. One says that he used the three
leaves of the shamrock to explain the idea of the Blessed Trinity; that is,
that there are three persons - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - in one
God. For this reason, the shamrock is
often used to stand for St. Patrick and Ireland. Another legend
tells that he drove the snakes out of Ireland, but though it is a good story, it is not true because
there were none in Ireland at that time.
His feast day is on March 17 and on that day the Irish people of New York City parade up Fifth Avenue past St. Patrick's Cathedral in his honor.
[Courtesy of
Illustrated World Encyclopedia, One Volume Edition]
