Can we talk?

St. Patrick

      I know the day has passed, but there's still info to be shared. There's been so much false info circulating in the media.

      Patrick was not Irish. He was from Roman Britannia, the southern part of what we know as Great Britain.This covered a lot of territory, including Wales. In his own personal letters, he mentioned his home town, but scholars don't seem to know where it is. So he may have been Welsh; he may have lived outside Wales. At any rate, he was under Roman influence and active in the Catholic church, where his father was a cleric. As a teenager, he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave. For six years, he lived there and his faith grew in intensity. He escaped, making it home again. As the years passed, he had visions calling him to return to Ireland as a missionary to the pagans.

    The legends we know of St. Patrick may actually be a combination of two men. The other was a priest named Palladius, who lived about 50 years earlier. He was the son of a rich man, probably sent by the Roman government to Britannia. His mission was not to the pagans, but only to the existing Christian communities. Neither man was Irish, but they both loved the Irish people and made Ireland home.

    Both men were martyred for their beliefs. We often forget that to become a saint in the Catholic church, one must be murdered for the sake of Christ. In all the merriment and partying of St.Patrick's Day, we overlook the religious nature of the day, the day of his death (the second or real Patrick). It's ironic that he is remembered with the sort of decadence he strove to erase.

    What did he accomplish? Or as so many young people ask, "What was the big deal about St. Patrick?" For starters, he died for standing up for his beliefs. He helped to free the people from superstition and ignorance. And as a symbolic figure, brought unity to Irish people all over the world, for more than a thousand years! His memory took on patriotic and political significance, even though Ireland is devided North and South since his death.

      Why doesn't every country have a saint? History determines that. And many do. Today is St. Joseph's Day, an important saint to the Italians, but it is observed more solemnly. The church has been able to keep his memory and politics separate. Not only the Roman Catholic Church, but also Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox have extremely large memberships, and saints in their history.

      Why do we hear so much about it outside of Ireland?  Apparently, large waves of the Irish immigrated to the US, Canada, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia. These are the only countries where you find big celebrations. in fact, here in America, we probably have made the holiday the big hoopla that it is. It has blown up so big due to retailers of beer, ale, greeting cards, and party hats. The Irish are noted as a party people, but all countries party. Only the Irish brag about it. And on St. Patrick's Day, everyone is an honorary Irishman, in spite of geographic origin or race.

    Erin go braugh! In Gaelic, that's Ireland Forever!