Luck o' the Irish!

 There's a dear little plant that grows in our isle

"Twas St. Patrick himself sure that set it

And the sun on his labor with pleasure did smile

And a tear from his eyes oft-times wet it

It grows through the bog, through the brake, through the mireland

And they call it the dear little Shamrock of Ireland

                         -Traditional Irish Folk Song 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! This is dedicated to my grandma from whom I owe the most for my Irish descent. Today I am reminded once again how lucky I am to come from Irish heritage. I know I will someday visit the beautiful country and hope that someday will be soon! It is one of the three countries I long to travel to most. But today, we celebrate and pay homage to Saint Patrick. So...just who was Saint Patrick you ask? A lot of people don't actually know really who he was or what he did. Just that he is associated with Ireland, the color green, and was a saint.

    Well first off, there's one thing that may surprise you. He wasn't actually Irish! That's right. In fact, he was English. He was born in Britain in the 5th century. Another thing to remember is that he wasn't the first to bring Christianity to Ireland. In 431, Pope Celestine sent the deacon, Palladius to the Irish, and while he and possibly other clerics did work among the people, it was Patrick who had the long term effect and stuck in the Irish minds as the central player of bringing Christianity to the island.

   But before we get there, when Patrick was 16, he was captured by Irish raiders and brought to Ireland to be enslaved and put to work as a shepherd. Patrick found religious solace where he could pray in the lonely hours of tending sheep in the woods and mountains. Then, after 6 years, he heard a voice from God say that he would return home. And so he fled from his master and journeyed to a port where he would be taken back to Britain. He didn't stay long however. Now in his early twenties, he had another vision. These are Patrick's words:

  

"And there I saw in the night the vision of a man whose name was Victoricus, coming as it were from Ireland, with countless letters. And he gave me one of them and I read the opening words of the letter, which were 'The Voice of the Irish' and as I read the beginning of the letter I thought that at the same moment I heard their voice...and thus did they cry out as with one mouth: 'We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more'" 

    It was the last thing he wanted to do, to go back to the place that held him captive for six years. But he had a calling. God wanted him to go back and help the lost pagans. He among everyone else was chosen to do this. And so, he ended up converting mass amounts of pagans for 40 years to Christianity, not through changing customs, but beliefs. He sought to convert by persuasion, rather than confrontation, and brought Christianity to Ireland peacefully.

       

                        *the shamrock 

    The shamrock may sometimes be confused with a four-leaf clover. The four-leaf clover is a symbol of good luck. The shamrock may have been used by St. Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity, for it has three leaves. There has been reason to question the authenticity of this story, but I like to believe it's true. The shamrock is now the symbol of Ireland. The name shamrock is derived from the Irish word seamróg, a version of the Irish word, seamair for clover.