BY: S. Raymond Rajabalan
[monsoonJournal.com] Saint Patrick’s Day, is the feast day which annually celebrates Saint Patrick (386-493), the patron saint of Ireland, on March 17. It is the national holiday in the Republic of Ireland ; the overseas territory of Motserrat(a carribean island) and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Celebration overview
Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide by Irish people and increasingly by many of non-Irish descent. Celebrations are generally themed around all things green and Irish; both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food, imbibing Irish drink, and attending parades.
The St. Patrick’s day parade was first held in New York City on 17 March 1766 when Irish soldiers marched through the city. Ireland’s cities all hold their own parades and festivals. Other large parades include those held in a number of citities in America.In Canada a large and colurful parade is held annually in Toronto and Montreal. Large parades also take place throughout Europe the Americas , Australia and Asia.
As well as being a celebration of Irish culture, Saint Patrick’s Day is a Christian festival celebrated in the Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland (among other churches in the Anglican Communion) and some other denominations.
History
The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn’t get the job of Bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship.
At the age of 16, Patrick, who was still a pagan, was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders who 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 12 years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.
His wishes were to return to Ireland and to convert the native pagans to Christianity. His superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius was transferred to Scotland. Patrick, having adopted that Christian name earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.
Patrick was quite successful at winning converts, a fact that upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times but always escaped. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches that would aid him in his conversion of the Irish to Christianity. His mission in Ireland lasted 30 years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. The day has been commemorated as St. Patrick’s Day ever since.
Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick’s Day. Not much of it is 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, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. 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 adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
The St. Patrick’s Day custom came to America in 1737: That year St. Patrick’s Day was publicly celebrated in Boston. Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick’s Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring.
It was only in the mid-1990s that the Irish government began a campaign to use Saint Patrick’s Day to showcase Ireland and its culture.
The first Saint Patrick’s Festival was held on March 17, 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2000 was a four-day event. By 2006, the festival was five days long.
The Flag of the Republic of Ireland
Shamrock (”three-leaf clover”)
Many Irish people still wear a bunch of shamrock on their lapels or caps on this day or green, white, and orange badges (after the colors of the Irish flag).
And although Saint Patrick’s Day has the colour green as their theme, one little known fact is that it was once blue that was the colour of this day.
The biggest celebrations on the island of Ireland outside Dublin are in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland , where Saint Patrick was buried following his death on March 17, 493. The day is celebrated by the Church of Ireland as a Christian festival.
Saint Patrick’s Day parades in Ireland date from the late 19th century, originating in the growing sense of Irish nationalism (The first parade did not begin in Ireland but in the United States )
In Canada
The longest-running Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Canada occurs each year in Montreal. The parades have been held in continuity since 1824; however, St. Patrick’s Day itself has been celebrated in Montreal as far back as 1759 by the Irish soldiers of the Montreal Garrison, following the British conquest of New France.