This march 17th, just like every other year, people from all around the world will come together to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day in style; flocking to their local pubs to enjoy the traditional binge drinking and joyous comradely which are so heavily associated with the holiday. Sure, Saint Patrick’s Day is one of the few days out of the year which provides us with a reasonable excuse to wear our one green shirt that normally lives in the corner of our closet, and even more importantly, justifies weekday binge drinking, but why do we really celebrate Saint Paddy’s day?
Oddly enough, as legend has it, the Patrick referred to in Saint Patrick’s day – the most Irish of main stream holidays – is in fact native to Scotland. However, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated as an Irish holiday because of Saint Patrick’s extensive missionary work throughout the country or Ireland. While Saint Patrick’s impressive resume of charitable works cemented his legacy amongst the noblest of Irish countrymen upon his death, according to the story, his arrival in Ireland is much less of a noble tale than his departure.
At the age of 16, Patrick was supposedly kidnapped from his home in Scotland by Irish raiders and forced into a life of slavery. Despite the cruelty Saint Patrick experienced at the hands of his captors he was still somehow able to use his time as a slave to fall in love with the countryside, the people, and their customs. He survived with strong spirits largely by befriending local druids. Over time this relationship fostered Saint Patrick's understanding of both Celtic language and many of their Celtic rituals. Perhaps as a result of his connection to the country and these druids, Saint Patrick experienced a prophetic dream in which God told him “Your ship is ready.” Soon after, Saint Patrick seized an opportunity to escape his captors and sailed away from his Irish prison by boat. This escape was short lived though, as the story goes, the very next night Saint Patrick experienced another dream in which he received a letter entitled “The voice of the Irish,” and upon opening the letter Saint Patrick heard the voices of all the people he had met in Ireland begging him to return. Saint Patrick chose to follow his dream’s guidance once again and return to Ireland.
Freed from his captors and enlightened by his recent experiences, Saint Patrick began embarking on his mission to heal the nation of Ireland through the teachings of Jesus Christ. The idea of an escaped slave running around and attempting to convert an entire country into a primarily foreign religion may seem ridiculous, but by using the Druid’s teachings, Saint Patrick was able to stretch his influence far and wide by taking traditional Celtic teaching’s and symbols and Christianizing them. For example, its known that Saint Patrick made heavy comparisons between the three leave’s which make up Ireland’s native Shamrock clover and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit which define the Holy Trinity.
From what we know Saint Patrick continued his work in Ireland for around 30 years, and in that time he supposedly converted over 135,000 people, built 300 churches, and consecrated 350 bishops. Accomplishments like these are why even still, over a millennium into the future, people from all around the world come together in fellowship on March 17th, the recorded date of Saint Patrick’s death. It’s pretty weird that a holiday founded in religious roots has transformed into the general celebration of the color green, Guinness beer, and all things Irish, and Saint Patrick would surely roll over in his grave if he witnessed how some people choose to celebrate his legacy today. Modern customs surrounding Saint Patrick’s Day may be peculiar, but to be honest they’re not surprising. Take Christmas for example. If our society can turn the birth of Jesus Christ into the Hallmark holiday it’s seen as now then it almost makes sense we found a way to turn the holiday celebrating an Irish Saint whom many of us know nothing about into one of the biggest drinking days of the year. Nevertheless, Saint Patrick’s story reveals how much good one man can do even in the face of extreme adversity, and I’ll drink to that this March 17th.
