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Who is St. Patrick?
According to Ireland-born Seamus Hunt, co-owner of Paddy O'Leary's Irish Pub, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated a bit differently here in the states than in Ireland.
"It's very sedate in Ireland for St. Patrick's Day. People usually go to Mass and then have a big dinner," he said. He mentioned that St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland.
History.com tells us he's also one of Christianity's most widely known
figures. But for all h i s celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories t r a d i t i o n a l l y associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of e x a g g e r a t e d storytelling.
Taken Prisoner By Irish Raiders
It is known that St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century. He is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. Although his father was a Christian deacon, it has been suggested that he probably took on the role because of tax incentives and there is no evidence that Patrick came from a particularly religious family. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family's estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity. During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people. Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace, becoming a devout Christian. (It is also believed that Patrick first began to dream of converting the Irish people to Christianity during his captivity.)
Bonfires and Crosses
Familiar with the Irish language and culture, Patrick chose to incorporate traditional ritual into his lessons of Christianity instead of attempting to eradicate native Irish beliefs. For instance, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honoring
their gods with fire. He a l s o superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish. (Although there were a small number of Christians on the island when Patrick arrived, most Irish practiced a naturebased pagan religion. The Irish culture centered around a rich tradition of oral legend and myth.)
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