St. Patrick’s Day!

The 17th of March is the Irish national holiday which honours St. Patrick.

Who is Saint Patrick?

St. Patrick is most commonly known for driving the snakes from Ireland. Your right to think there are no snakes in Ireland and there never have been, but it is symbolic for putting an end to pagan practice. Patrick is recognised for bringing Christianity to Ireland. For those who commemorate this day for the reasons intended, they celebrate this day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries around the globe. The majority of what is known about St. Patrick is from his work including:

• His Epistola, which is a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians
• The Confessio, which is a spiritual autobiography

So what is St. Patrick’s Day all about?

It commemorates the life and deeds of this patron saint. St. Patrick is believed to have died on March 17th in AD 493. Saint Patrick’s Day has become associated with everything Irish. This includes things green and gold, shamrocks and luck. Patrick used the three-leaved shamrock to describe and explain how the Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit could exist as separate elements of the same being. People celebrating this day typically wear a shamrock. This day has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture.
This day is celebrated through parades in large cities, wearing green and drinking the traditional Irish drink, Guinness. In the UK, this day is celebrated in many pubs and cities, such as Liverpool, Nottingham, Birmingham and London.

Symbols

The most popular symbol for this day is the shamrock, which represents the Holy Trinity. Religious symbols can include snakes on the Christian cross which is known as a Celtic cross. Other common symbols of the Irish is the leprechaun which is a mythological creature, and a pot of gold.