Today people around the world celebrate St.Patrick's Day. Now you might automatically think about the color green and beer... lots and lots of beer. But who is St.Patrick? Why the color green? Where did this all start? Well my friends I am about to answer those questions. St.Patrick was a Christian missionary, bishop and a patron saint of Ireland. At the age of 16 he was captured by Irish raiders and for six years he worked as a shepherd. He turned to Christianity for comfort and it's said that he dreamed of converting the Irsish to Christianity. When he escaped he returned to England and then wrote that a voice told him to leave Ireland. When he reached England he said that he had a second dream where an angel told him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Patrick then began religious training to become a priest. In 433 he arrived in Ireland to convert the Irish to Christianity and also to minister to Christians already there, he also built many chrurches around the country. Instead of Partick replacing the pagan Irish rituals he incorporated them into his teachings. Patrick died in A.D 461 on March 17th in Saul,Ireland were he built his first church. Irish for many years have viewed this day as a religious day and have celebrated it by attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drinks in the afternoon.
Now why do we use green to represent St.Patrick's Day? At first the holiday was celebrated with the color blue. However it's believe that it was switched to green becaue of Ireland's nickname "The Emerald Isle", but also because of the green in the flag (frequently referred to as the Irish tricolour), and shamrock. Legend also has it that green is worn to be invisible to leprechauns that will pinch someone if they see them. That's why we wear green and if you don't well hope you enjoy getting pinched!
From this
To this
The Irish Flag
And a happy Leprechaun
How about the Shamrock? St.Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Christian Holy Trinity, the shamrock is also a symbol for Ireland.
What else is there on St.Patrick's day? Parades of course as well as festivals. Many cities have parades for St.Patrick, but the largest by far in the world is The New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. It was first held in1762 by a group of homesick Irish soldiers. The holiday did not go global until 1955 when the Irsih goverment started a campaign to market St.Patrick's day for tourism. Now St.Patrick's day is celebrated worlwide with the color green, parades, and beer.... lots of beer.
Isamar
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