ST. PATRICK’S DAY LORE

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ST. PATRICK’S DAY LORE

ST. PATRICK’S DAY LORE

St. Patrick was actually born in Britain

The man we know and honor today as St. Patrick was actually born in Britain and came to Ireland after being kidnapped by pirates at the age of 16.

His real name was Maewyn Succat and he came to Ireland originally as a slave

The man we know and honor today as St. Patrick was not born with that name. In fact, he wasn’t even born in Ireland. He was born in Britain somewhere between 373 and 390 AD (probably 385). His real name was Maewyn Succat. He wasn’t raised in a Christian home.
Maewyn, the son of a wealthy landowner and army officer named Calpurnius, was kidnapped by a band of pirates at the age of 16 and sold into slavery in Ireland. He spent six years herding sheep before escaping to Gaul (present day France).
It was during his time in bondage that a change came into Maewyn’s life. He found himself turning increasingly to God and to prayer. One day, the young man saw a vision in which God directed him to escape on a ship that was leaving the island.
After boarding the ship and finally arriving in Gaul, Maewyn built a life there. He attended a monastery and became a priest and then a bishop, studying for 12 years under St. Germain, the bishop of Auxerre. It was after becoming a bishop that Maewyn, who had adopted the Latin name Patricius (that was later shortened to Patrick), had another vision. The first vision had directed Maewyn to flee Ireland. This one, more than a decade later, called him to go back.
Patrick had a sense that the Lord was calling him back to what had been his land of captivity to spread the Christian faith. In “The Confession,” Patrick’s autobiography, he described seeing in a vision a man named Victoricus giving him a letter with the heading “Voice of the Irish.”
Patrick was obedient to the heavenly vision. He returned to Ireland and there spent the final 30 years of his life converting the Gaelic Irish to Christianity. He was arrested several times by the Celtic Druids who opposed his message, but God preserved him and he always escaped.
Patrick’s ministry had an enormous impact in Ireland. Patrick established monasteries and set up schools and churches all over the island and made many thousands of converts. He set up dioceses and even organized church councils.
According to legend, Patrick employed the shamrock, a three-leaf clover so prominent in Ireland, as a means to explain the Christian Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
This legend may well be true but other fanciful legends, such as Patrick driving all the snakes out of Ireland and into the Irish Sea to drown, are mere folklore.
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17 because that is the date in 461 AD that Patrick died.
Through the years the Catholic feast day has evolved into a day for the celebration of the Irish culture and heritage.

Here are some interesting tidbits about St. Patrick’s Day:

•   The first St. Patrick’s Day celebration in America occurred in Boston in 1737.

•   In spite of legend, snakes are not native to Ireland and never have been.

•   The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York is the longest running civilian parade in the world. More than 150,000 take part in the march annually and more than 3 million people view the parade.

•   There will be nearly half a million spectators who attend the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland and there will be nearly 7 metric tons of fireworks set off.

•   According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14.

•   According to the 2003 U.S. Census, 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry. That’s nearly nine times the population of Ireland itself (4.1 million).

-- Compiled by Mike Dunn