17 March: Saint Patrick's Day

A very special day in Eire -and also in the States, where you can find more Irish people than in Ireland!!-

Well, St. Patrick wasn't Irish, he wasn't a Catholic until he was a big boy, his name wasn't Patrick and he was not the first to bring Christianity to Ireland. Surprised? His real name was Maewyn, he was born in Cymru (now we call it Wales) about AD 385, and he was a pagan until he was 16. At that age, he was captured by a group of Irish bandits who crossed the sea and destroyed his village. He was sold as a slave in Eire

During his captivity in Eire, he learned the Irish language, but the most important thing: he met a few Irish Christians who talked to him about God, and so he started his life as a Catholic. He escaped after six years and went to Gaul (now we call it France) where he studied in a monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre, for a period of twelve years.

During his training period in Gaul he adopted the Christian name of Patrick, he became a priest and then a bishop. It was then when he realised that his mission was to convert the pagans to Christianity, especially the Irish pagans who were the lords of the Island, and so the Pope decided to send him back to Ireland to preach the gospel.

He came back and he started preaching the new Faith, but he also travelled all over the rest of the Celtic countries to convert the pagans: the French Brittany, Cornwall, Wales and Scotland; all of them saw St Patrick walk and preach, converting the Celts.

Patrick's Catholic mission in Eire was very successful, and the Celtic Druids were very angry!! Patrick was arrested by the pagans several times, but he always escaped. He travelled all over Ireland, and he established monasteries schools and churches that helped him in his conversion of the Irish to Christianity. He converted the Celtic druids, princes, chiefs and warriors, baptizing them in the many holy wells we can still find in Ireland.

St. Patrick's influence reaches modern times: today the shamrock is the national emblem of Ireland. Do you know why? well, because Saint Patrick was preaching one day when he started talking about the Holy Trinity. He looked down, saw a shamrock on the grass, took it and used it to show the doctrine of the Trinity: a single person formed by three different parts, just as this plant!! By the way, the shamrock was also a sacred plant for the Celts.

Another legend says that, thanks to St Patrick, there are no snakes in Eire because he threw them away into the sea. It is true that there aren't any snakes in Ireland (probably since it was separated from the continent during the last Ice Age) but do you think St Patrick did it? Don't forget that the snake is a pagan symbol, so it was good for Christians to say that this Saint was responsible for this!

St. Patrick's mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Eire was a Catholic country. Then he retired to County Down. He died in Downpatrick on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since in Ireland, and anywhere an Irish man or woman can be found. For instance, Saint Patrick's Day came to America in 1737. That was the first year this day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.