To show tribute to my Irish heritage, I decided to redo my background for St. Patrick's Day. A lot of people think of pots of gold, leprechauns, and shamrocks when they think of this holiday-- which actually, has little to do with it! There is not a whole lot known about St. Patrick; but from what we know, we know the most probable story is this:
St. Patrick was born in Britain about 440 A.D. Yes, this means St. Patrick is not even Irish! When he was still a child, he was captured by Irish raiders to be a slave. Some people believe the Irish, in doing so, were after his family's wealthy estate by. St. Patrick's father was a deacon of his church, but was most likely there to help his estate. While St. Patrick was in Ireland, working mostly by himself, he turned to God for comfort. He was there approximately six years, when he clams (in his writings) that he had a vision from God telling to go back to Britain. To escape, he had to walk almost 200 miles!
It was not long after returning to Britain, that St. Patrick claims to have had another vision from God. This time, he said God told him to go back to Ireland and teach the gospel to the Irish-- to the same place and to the same people who captured him as a slave. St. Patrick did not even hesitate to return to Ireland, becoming one of the first missionaries in Ireland. After arriving back to Ireland, St. Patrick started many churches and schools there. He tried to tell as many people about the Gospel as he could. He knew that he could have been imprisoned, or worse, killed, at any point. St. Patrick is said to have driven out all the snakes in Ireland. This, actually, was originally a metaphor for driving out the pagans.
There are many legends, views, and theories associated with this holiday-- including the very existence of St. Patrick. Another legend is how the shamrock came to be so popular. Many people believe that St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) to the Irish. Although there are many different views and legends on this holiday, I like to think of it this way: 1.) Ireland is known to have been a pagan place then having Catholicism as their major religion after. 2.) Someone had to bring the idea over. 3.) There are writings by St. Patrick about his experiences. Whether or not you choose to believe this view, the exact origins of St. Patrick will remain to be a mystery for everyone!
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Citations:
<http://winners.virtualclassroom.org/0516/popular/stpat/index.html>
<http://www.history.com/topics/who-was-saint-patrick>
<http://www.theholidayspot.com/patrick/historyofpatrick.htm>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick>
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