Today is St. Patrick's Day and many of us will be wearing green, attending parades, and eating corned beef and cabbage dinners. But what of the real reason for celebrating St. Patrick's day that is much more than a holiday to celebrate Ireland.
St. Patrick as a young lad had been captured and was sent to Ireland as a slave. Patrick was able to escape, but had a vision from God to return to Ireland as a missionary to those that had once enslaved him. Patrick returned as a missionary and baptized many and started several monasteries. Here are some awesome St. Patrick's Day aids to the visual items of the day.
The Shamrock: He used the shamrock, a three-leaved clover which grows all over the island, to explain the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity ie the theory that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are each separate elements of just one entity.
St. Patrick removing the snakes from Ireland: It is, however, very unlikely there were ever any snakes in Ireland! This particular legend of Saint Patrick is easy to translate as snakes were sacred to the Druids; their banishment reflects St Patrick's success at removing pagan influence from the island.
As we celebrate St. Patrick's Day and put on all our green and orange clothing, may we celebrate the true missionary work and saving souls for Jesus Christ that Patrick completed in Ireland.
May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.
1. Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (San-Francisco: Harper, 1984), 235.
