The True Meaning of St. Patrick’s Day
There aren’t too many people walking down the street at any moment of the day that can explain the story and purpose of St. Patrick’s Day. Today’s society has turned this particular holiday into a never-ending party. The only thing people truly celebrate on March 17th is excess.
Wherever did the idea of green beer, green rivers, and corned beef originate? We are all familiar with the many ways in which the world has commercialized St. Patrick’s Day. It is time to take a look at the actual origin of the holiday.
Take a moment of time to ponder upon some of the most accurate histories behind the celebration of this overtly green day. Next year, there may be more of a connection with this particular square on the calendar.
Saint Patrick was not Irish.
It seems a bit deceiving, but Saint Patrick was not born in Ireland. He was a British native, who was captured and enslaved in Ireland as a sheep herder for six years when he was only a young man.
Once he returned to England, the apostle was instructed by a higher power to venture back to Ireland and spread the word of Christ. Here is where he earned his reputation as a famed apostle to the country.
Liberating Ireland of snakes was only a metaphor.
Another hare-brained belief that some people still maintain is that St. Patrick was responsible for ridding Ireland of snakes. Though there aren’t any snakes in Ireland, this man was certainly not responsible for their absence.
The water surrounding the Emerald Isle is too cold for any snakes to travel to Ireland. This is excellent news for the large chunk of the world’s population that fear the slithering reptiles.
Celebration slowly morphed into something else.
It would be easy to say that commercialism took over St. Patrick’s Day rather quickly, but that would be dreadfully inaccurate. When St. Patrick died, there was little to no remembrance celebration.
Word of mouth spread and exaggerated many stories about the life of the Saint. Eventually, there was a feast brought into a tradition in tribute to the Christian saint. This was only the beginning of the transition.
It is not very surprising to hear that the U.S. was deemed responsible for turning the whole day into a drunken rager. Capitalism can work wonders when there’s any reason for celebration.
A four-leafed clover is not a shamrock. There is also lots of shade perennials with pretty green foliage.
A shamrock is a three-leafed stem section of a clover plant. The four-leafed clover is a genetic mutation in the plant’s chromosome formation. The Guinness Book of World Records recorded the largest clover stem having 56 leaves.
The Shamrock got its reputation from St. Patrick himself. He used to say that the three leaves represented the Holy Trinity, and the four-leafed clover adds the blessing of God. It was simply a tool for his apostolic mission.
Wearing green is a widespread practice. Trumpet vines are great for greenery with color also.
Covering our wardrobe in green for one day of the year has nothing to do with the reason for the holiday. It is just kind of a common denominator. Shamrocks are green. Ireland’s flag sports green as a dominant color. Society took the concept and hit the ground running with the idea.
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