This the season for some, therefore I thought that this week I would blog an old article I had done on the festival named after a man named Patrick.

St. Patrick's Day St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, the only definite statement to be made about his birthplace is that it was not in Ireland. He is said to have been born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, Scotland; in a village close to Glastonbury, England; in Monmouthshire, England; in Tours, France; and in Wales. In his Confession, he tells us he was born at Bannavem Taberniae, but just where that was we do not know. He was, as far as anyone has been able to determine, a Britannic Celt, raised a Roman Catholic. The year of his birth is equally confused; A.D. 373, 386, 387, 389, 395, and sometime early in the fifth century have all been advanced as possible birth dates. He seems to have died in either 461 or about 492. One Irish legend states that he died at the age of one hundred twenty, as Moses did. Some scholars believe that there must have been at least two St. Patricks whose deeds have been ascribed to one man. According to them, this would also account for the long life span. The Irish scholar James Carney discounts this theory, holding that St. Patrick arrived in Ireland in 461 and not in the widely accepted 432. He says that "the Patrick of 432-461 is. . . merely a chronological phantom." Neither is it known whether March 17 was the birth or the death date of St. Patrick; it may in fact be neither. What we know of his life is taken from his two works: the Confession, a justification to his ecclesiastical superiors of his actions; and the public letter which he addressed to Coroticus, a British chief who raided Ireland, killing and enslaving Christian converts. His family was well respected. His father, Calpurnius, was the son of a priest, Potitus. Calpurnius was a deacon himself and also a member of the municipal council. At the age of sixteen Patrick was captured by Gaels and taken by boat to Ireland where he was sold as a slave. His six years of captivity were spent tending flocks. During this time he experienced a spiritual awakening and began to have dreams and visions which he considered to be divinely inspired. One of these dreams contained a message to escape, telling him that a ship would be lying ready for him. He made his escape and traveled two hundred miles to find his expected ship. Three days later he landed in either Britain or Brittany. Wandering through the barren countryside, Patrick and the crew avoided starvation when a herd of wild pigs appeared in answer to Patrick's prayers. He returned to his home, but once more the course of his life was directed by a dream. He saw a man approaching him, bearing a letter from the people of Ireland which urged him to free them from slavery; "We beseech thee, holy youth, to come and walk once more amongst us." The years preceding Patrick's election to the episcopate are not well documented. He is said to have studied at erins, the island monastery off southern France founded by St. Honoratus. He was a pupil of St. Germain of Auxerre, and in Auxerre he was ordained deacon by Bishop Amator. In the year 431, some say, he was a candidate for the vacancy in the Irish episcopate. However, a friend who had formerly wanted Patrick's election to this post revealed an unknown sin from Patrick's past which, with accusations of his lack of learning, was sufficient to deprive him of the job. Instead Palladius was ordained the first bishop of Ireland by Pope Celestine I. Palladius died the following year and Patrick was immediately made a priest and then a bishop. He went to Ireland and spent the rest of his life there. Many thousands of Irishmen were converted through his labors. He founded churches and schools, at least one college, and generally organized the Church of Ireland. St. Patrick and the Druids Missionaries had been to Ireland before him, but the country was still primarily ruled by the Druids. Though St. Patrick never claimed the performance of a miracle in his own writing, tales of his miraculous exploits against the troublesome Druids abound. Once, at Tara, he disrupted the pagan springtime New Year festival. All fires had been extinguished as the people waited for the High King Loaghaire to kindle the New Fire which they would take to their houses. St. Patrick seems to have appropriated the pagan custom and inaugurated the Easter fire in its stead, for he set his fire on the hill of Slane opposite the hill of Tara where the king would light his. The Druids complained to Loaghaire that the fire, lighted in defiance of his royal edict, would blaze forever there unless they extinguished it that very night. Nine chariots were sent against the saint, circling counter to the sun's path. But they were unable to prevail against the power of his holy fire. A torunament of miracles followed, reminiscent of Moses' contest with the Pharaoh's magicians. In dealing with the Druids, St. Patrick fought them with their own methods. He was forced, in his own words, "to curse their fertile lands, so that they became dreary bogs; to curse their rivers, so that they produced no fish; to curse their very kettles, so that with no amount of fire and patience could they ever be made to boil; and, as a last resort, to curse the Druids themselves, so that the earth opened and swallowed them up." His victory won him the right to preach Christianity throughout the land. The Shamrock and the Trinity One of the stories concerning St. Patrick which is often judged authentic, probably because of its simplicity and basis in human ingenuity, is the tale of the shamrock and the Trinity. The doctrine of Three Gods in One, each separate and distinct, yet each totally God, is claimed by Christians to be a mystery and is accepted on faith. In trying to teach his converts about the Trinity, St. Patrick held up a shamrock explaining that the three leaves represented the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while the stem was the Godhead itself from which they proceeded. This is said to be the origin of the use of the Shamrock which is customarily worn on St. Patrick's Day. Scholars have discovered that the shamrock, or trefoil, was initially used in ancient Celtic fertility rites. It represented a triad of goddesses and its green leaves were burned and the ashes sprinkled over the fields to promote growth. Driving the Snakes Out of Ireland The expulsion of all the snakes from Ireland is certainly the most popular of the stories told about St. Patrick. Accompanied by the furious rat-a-tatting of a big drum, St. Patrick arrived at the hill from which he was going to banish the reptiles. The people who had gahtered to watch the spectacle cried out when the drum broke, because they believed St. Patrick's magic power wad dependent on it. A huge black snake slithered down the hill, laughing to see the saint so suddenly powerless. But just then an angel appeared and mended the drum. The drum was sounded and St. Patrick preached the sermon that drove the snakes and vermin from Ireland. Two stories are told about the last snake in Ireland. An old serpent who lived in Lake Dilveen gave St. Patrick such trouble that he was left in the lake with the promise that the bishop would return "on Monday" to destroy him. St. Patrick entirely forgot about him and the serpent is said to be still alive in Lake Dilveen. Every Monday he comes to the surface, looks about questioningly, and says, "It's been a long Monday, Patrick." According to the other story, the last snake refused to be driven away. St. Patrick had a box made and told the serpent to get in. "No," said the serpent, "it's too small." "Nonsense," said St. Patrick, "it's just your size, try it and see." "Very well," said the serpent, "I'll show you it's to small." So he crawled in, and sly St. Patrick snapped the lid shut and plunged the snake into the sea. Many other miracles were ascribed to St. Patrick. He was said to have raise his father and several other people from the dead. He burned snow to make a fire; caused demons in the shape of vultures to die int he sea; fooled the Druids by accepting wine they had poisoned, froze it, poured off the poison then melted the wine and drank it. His staff was supposed to have been given to him by Christ in a vision; it was a miraculous instrument and never left his side. A staff that was reported to be his was kept in the church at Armagh until the veneration rendered to it was thought to be superstition by the Protestants who burned it in the sixteenth century. Another tradition says that St. Patrick was granted by God the right to judge the Irish at the final judgment. After a life of strenuous missionary activity, St. Patrick died in either 461 or 492. His place of death is uncertain, although Saul-not far from Downpatrick-is usually named. His body was thought to have been buried under the Abbey of Downpatrick, in a shroud made for him by St. Brigid (who is also buied under the Abbey). A modern stone marks the spot. **Note: Taken from "Celebrations, The Complete Book of American Holidays" by Robert J. Myers.