by Dan Jones
Did you know St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival?
Most of us are familiar with St. Patrick’s Day because it’s been around all our lives, but there are many things about it most of us don’t know.
It is, indeed, celebrated in more countries around the world than any other national celebration. Celebrations take place in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Argentina, and New Zealand. It’s also a national holiday in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland, Labrador, and the tiny island of Montserrat, which is located southeast of Puerto Rico. Montserrat is nicknamed “The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean” and has been home to people of Irish descent since at least 1628.
While St. Patrick’s day is a celebration of Irish culture, many people don’t know that it is a Christian celebration, commemorating the arrival of Christianity to Ireland by Saint Patrick himself. And St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated not on the anniversary of his birth, but on the anniversary of his death.
St. Patrick’s Day (also known as “The Feast of St. Patrick”) is celebrated by both Roman Catholics and Lutherans, in addition to Anglicans and those of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Although St Patrick lived from 385 – 461 AD, well over a thousand years before the Reformation, St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t made an official Christian feast day until the early 17th century.
The tradition of alcohol consumption (granted, sometimes to excess) in conjunction with St. Patrick’s Day is because Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol were traditionally suspended for the day. There are Irish people who object to public drunkenness and the disorder associated with it.
Many people are also unaware that depictions of leprechauns can also be seen as offensive, as they are based on derogatory 19th century caricatures of the Irish.
St. Patrick’s Day has been moved a few times in recent history. In 1940, March 17 fell on Palm Sunday, so St. Patrick’s Day was moved to April 3rd. The same thing happened in 2008, when it was moved to March 14. St Patrick’s Day will not fall within Holy Week again until 2160.
St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated aboard the International Space Station–twice.
It’s also not widely known that St. Patrick himself was not Irish, but was born in Britain at a time when it was ruled by the Romans. He was kidnapped at age 16, taken to Ireland, and worked there as a shepherd for six years, during which time he was saved. He escaped and God told him to flee to the coast, where he would find a ship that was willing to take him back home. Upon his return, he became a priest and was drawn back to pagan Ireland to bring them the Gospel.
Patrick spent the rest of his life in the northern half of Ireland bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to many thousands. While some say he is celebrated for having driven the snakes out of Ireland, there never were any snakes in Ireland. Historians now know this is an allegory for the Christianity St. Patrick preached driving out the druids, who practiced sorcery and human sacrifice, among other things.
And, the reason for the wearing of green clothing and the ever-present shamrock in celebration of the event are because St. Patrick used the shamrock to teach the Irish about the Trinity. He is often depicted holding both a cross and a single of shamrock.
Today’s Praise
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…” Luke 4:18 NIV
